Life After the NCC..

So it's almost been a month since my term with AmeriCorps ended, but I am still living in Reno. I am very happy I decided to make the move and sign up for this job. I don't regret one moment of it and I have learned SO much. Not only how to chainsaw (which is a favorite activity of mine now), but also a lot about life and people and how to deal with them. I loved being outside every day and physically working hard. I could have done without the 20 degree nights, but that just made my skin thicker. I have made some lasting friendships with people all over the country and world! I know I have grown a lot because of this job and it has done wonders for me physically and mentally. The NCC has a lot to work on, but overall, it was a great year!

The first thing a few of my friends and I did was go tubing down the Truckee River. What better way to celebrate the end than by floating down a river in a tube with some friends and beer?! Our original plan was to tube down the river and then go to the BBQ the NCC was putting on for us. However, with some minor disasters on the river and an underestimation about how long it would take to get down the river, we missed the BBQ. The tubing trip was definitely worth it though.

The rest of the month has been pretty laid back, although, it's been full of sad good bye's. My two roommates have moved out so now I have the apartment to myself until Sept 12th. Those good bye's were probably the hardest because the three of us are the only three crew members that survived the entire year from my original crew of ten! Everyone is venturing in their own directions, either returning home or heading off to some new place for another adventure. There were even a few crazies that re-upped for another year!! It's kind of funny because for the year long crew members, we always knew exactly when our term was ending and almost none of us have jobs lined up for the end of the term. ;) Oops! Needless to say, most of us are now unemployed and desperately seeking a job. Which is exactly where I am.

What are you doing next in your life? *sigh* I hate that question and it's definitely one that's been around a lot lately. Well, as far as location, I am staying here in Reno until Sept 19th. My Tough Mudder race is Sept 18th and Dave is flying out to watch me. Based on my survival of the TM, we will then take a few day road trip to Madison, WI, where I'll be moving to be with Dave. We've done the long distance for the past year and it has been really difficult at times, but we made it and since I really have nothing going on in my life and he does, I decided I could move there. Yes, I know, it snows in Madison and it's awfully cold during the 8-month winter's they have, I know this. And I have taken this into consideration but after camping in a tent while it's been in the teens, I think I can handle it. I may still not enjoy the cold and snow, but I'll endure! One of Dave and my first goals is to possibly compete in this Triathlon. We'll see though!

From now until the TM, I don't have a lot planned. My mom is coming out to visit me, which I am very excited about! Besides that, there will be a lot of training and pool lounging (and yes, of course, job searching). I'll keep you posted, but I feel like there will be a lack of entertaining news to report on. :)

Lamoille - Week 6

Week 6 of my summer crew finally came around. My last week of tour after an entire year of camping, hiking, chainsawing, trail building and questionable hygiene. Of course, since it was our last tour (for some of us it's been a year, for the newbies it's only been 3 months) motivation was hard to come by. Amanda and Ruby (the two supervisors) did a pretty good job of keeping us working yet still having fun though.

The main goal of our project sponsor for us was to get the timber walls installed and finished by the end of the summer. Because of all the setbacks we hit, it came down to the last day, but we accomplished our goal. Here are some fun (at least I consider them fun) statistics about what my crew did this summer. We added about 1.5 miles of new established and sustainable trail, making the total length of trail now 3.5 miles. We installed 3 different timber walls on switchbacks which, combined, measured a total of 252 feet of timber. All those timber's, which we had to haul up the mountain side, weighed about 1 ton. And I wish I had the number, but it's hard to calculate how many tons of rock we had to remove from the trail. A reporter from the Elko Daily Free Press came out one day and wrote an article about the trail!

It was definitely a summer of hard, hot work but it was a lot of fun. When else am I going to be able to hike 6-7 miles a day as my commute to work? Have my work day be a total body workout? Take a dump with a view like this?

Not have to shower for 8-days at a time? Have 6-day weekends? There are definitely going to be a lot things I'll miss but also some things I won't mind leaving behind. One example, would be the dreaded ride in the van to and from Elko. We had no AC so it would get unbelievably hot in there, driving through the desert mid-day. The cool kids always sat in the back. :) This last tour I tried to take some more pictures of us actually working and around our camp so here are some: Switchback #10 - before and after


Some trail - before and after

Quintin and Tyler working on a re-route.

Hugo chipping away at some rock to put in the deadman.
Wildfire in the distance
Irish Mike and Will chilling at camp after work.
Tyler doing some dishes.

Our "kitchen." Irish Mike and Ming Xuan getting some grub.
Tent City!
A brave little visitor.
Sometimes we got bored and came up with games we could play, such as this one. Oreo plinko! (put an Oreo on your forehead and using your face muscles, try to get it down into your mouth)
It was a good summer and we got a lot of work done. It was bitter sweet saying g'bye to the NCC and my summer crew, but mostly sweet. :) My last day was August 8th and now it is August 23rd. What have I been doing since and why am I still here? Good questions..

You Know You Were in the NCC When...

I know I have a post to write about my last tour and how I'm done and how it feels and what I am going to do next, and I will. Eventually. But in the meantime, here is a post I find highly entertaining, although some of you may find it frightening, disgusting, worrisome, crude and unruly or, perhaps, funny as well. Enjoy. This is a list my fellow NCC'ers and I put together.

You know you were in the NCC when...

• when you took the job based on its lack of hygiene requirements.
• when you feel like a kid in a candy store at a gas station mid-hitch.
• when you start talking as "Mother Nature".
• when you hope your commute to work is longer than 4 hours.
• when you and everyone else hasn't showered in 8-days and its considered "normal".
• when off hitch your normal pants seem to get dirty extra fast since you forget your pants are no longer a napkin.
• when you refer to cookies as "luxury items".
• when instead of "oh man, I forgot to put on deodorant today," it's "Yes!! I remembered to put on deodorant today!!"
• when you have to constantly remind yourself to shower because you are no longer at work.
• when off hitch you'd much rather just squat behind a telephone pole on the street to pee rather than going through the hassle of finding a bathroom.
• when you make an awesome lunch, put it in the cooler and a bear eats it.
• when pooping becomes an open topic with your co-workers.
• when you look forward to your daily poo to drop your pick mattock and enjoy the view while everyone else is working.
• when the "pants tucked into your socks" look becomes normal.
• when you hike with your fly purposefully down for that extra breeze.
• when you flip over a 400lb boulder, note the peculiar flatness of the grounded face, and an impromptu arm wrestling match ensues upon the rock.
• when volunteer days are mandatory.
• when your peanut butter jar boasts streaks of apple butter, strawberry jam, nutella, and honey and not only are you completely okay with that but you're actually looking forward to such a menagerie of flavors.
• when your bedtime varies between 7-8pm.
• when no matter how high you are up on an exposed mountain, you are desperately hoping for lightning.
• when you know where every bar in Reno is, and you hate Vegas.
• when something is growing in the bottom of your Nalgene and it doesn't bother you.
• when you walk into a store and you realize you don't smell like everyone else.
• when cleaning any kitchen utensil consists of either licking it or wiping it on your dirty Carhartts.
• when your shower curtain is being held up by WinCo twist ties because you're too poor to buy rings.
• when your shower shelf consists of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and beer.

Most likely there will be more to come..