We left Wednesday morning to drive the 4 hours north for our retreat in the redwoods. Not a bad drive, until you get to the winding roads that go along the side of a mountain, which as it turns out make me tearfully car sick when not sitting in the passenger seat. We got to the camp and found games to play while we waited for the other teams to arrive because of our staggered leaving times. This would be the last time we saw anything resembling sun light for about 80 hours! As soon as we were directed to our cabins and told to get settled in- it started raining. And it didn’t stop until the morning we left, and even then there was the chance of more rain to come.
Our first few hours there, while we were still waiting for the others, a group decided to go seek out the big tree. Somewhere about a mile away from camp was a HUUUGE redwood. About half way in our 1.5 mile trek away from camp we discovered that no one in the group we were with knew where we were headed. So we stuck to the train tracks until we came across A big tree. We were later told it wasn’t THE big tree, but so what. It’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen and I’m kind of content with that. Plus we got to see some pretty cool nature stuff.
Everyone's so excited... even though it's the NOT big tree
I didn't want to hold this because I was pretty sure it was poisonous
As much as I want to see Montana or Washington, I really hope we don’t have any camping projects in the rainy mountains! Mendocino was eye opening for what SPIKES could be like… and we had it easy! “Camping” in open-air cabins and our meals provided to us by the camp cook. There were only 3 places that were guaranteed to be dry- the cabins, the chow hall, and the one room “museum” about the forest- only the dining hall was heated. When there are no dry places to play outside and no normal rainy day activities like tv/movies, computers, or cell phones time seems to pass very slowly.
The facilitators tried their best to keep us dry, entertained, on schedule, and learn all the things we needed to have for our team building. We played games like the Newly Team Game, Birdie on a Perch, Swamp of Chaos, Number Pit, Cyclops, and Mafia. And true to sleep-away-camp form we preformed skits!
The facilitators tried their best to keep us dry, entertained, on schedule, and learn all the things we needed to have for our team building. We played games like the Newly Team Game, Birdie on a Perch, Swamp of Chaos, Number Pit, Cyclops, and Mafia. And true to sleep-away-camp form we preformed skits!
It was important that we have the team building classes because on Thursday we were to go up the high ropes course. And guess what! I actually did it! I didn’t get the least bit nervous! I should have been terrified because not only was the course half way up the redwood trees, but it was raining the whole time we were up there! I did get a battle scar from slamming my shin into the platform on the tree trapeze.
the tree trapeezes... trapeezi?
obviously I didn't take any of these pictures because it was raining the WHOLE time we were at camp
By Friday I was ready to find civilization, so it was rather lucky we got the service project we did. Now, the reason Pacific NCCC is allowed to go to camp Mendocino is because we’re free labor for them. We use the camp and they use us to beautify the place. So all the other teams had been sent out in the rain to dig trenches along the side of the road into camp to help with drainage make sure the road lasts longer. We got to drive 40 minutes down the mountain, past all those wonderful trenches, into Fort Bragg to help the Starr community center build their haunted house (AND on the drive down I got to see the Pacific Ocean! It was stormy and gloomy, but I saw it!). We walked into the center and everyone started cheering for AmeriCorps. One of the women who worked at the center showed us to a room that was to be the kids’ games room and just told us to decorate it and another room that needed to be completely blacked out for the haunted house. I spent most of the time cutting out bat bodies so the kids could trace their hands to make the wings and stuffing the plastic bag pumpkins with news paper. Our TL Abby and a couple of the boys went to get 50 pumpkins for their aquatic pumpkin patch! That’s right! They had stickers for the kids to decorate the pumpkins and then they would all be thrown into the pool. Let’s just say most, if not all, of Green Unit hates my team for escaping trench duty.
Saturday could not come fast enough. I was so ready to be warm and dry and sleep in a real bed! We woke up at 5 and had our first day of PT since getting to camp because the other days’ had been cancelled due to rain. I know I was glad, and those around me were thankful for only having one day of PT at the end of the trip because it was so cold and packing space was so limited that most people (myself included) did not plan to shower while at camp. Don’t judge! I technically had a lot of little rain showers!
After a quick clean up of the camp, the AmeriOlympics were held! The winners of each event were awarded medals. The events:
1) boot toss- throw a steel toed boot from one end of the field into a hula hoop at the other end of the field
2) wheel barrow race- one person is the wheel barrow one way down the field, the other person is on the way back
3) 4-legged race- 3 people, one had to face backwards and we had to go across the field and back. It’s a lot harder than you think! We thought we had it all planned out- we definitely made it half way down the field the first lap and fell over laughing and couldn’t finish!
4) egg relay- 5 people relayed an egg balanced on a spoon
5) PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) race- one person started on one end of the field, ran to the other and had to quickly dress in coveralls, hard hat, work gloves, and eye goggles before running back to the start line.
1) boot toss- throw a steel toed boot from one end of the field into a hula hoop at the other end of the field
2) wheel barrow race- one person is the wheel barrow one way down the field, the other person is on the way back
3) 4-legged race- 3 people, one had to face backwards and we had to go across the field and back. It’s a lot harder than you think! We thought we had it all planned out- we definitely made it half way down the field the first lap and fell over laughing and couldn’t finish!
4) egg relay- 5 people relayed an egg balanced on a spoon
5) PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) race- one person started on one end of the field, ran to the other and had to quickly dress in coveralls, hard hat, work gloves, and eye goggles before running back to the start line.
I am sad to report Green 2 won no medals that day.
Then we packed up the vans and headed out! Yay! It’s so nice to be back on base!! I’m pretty sure it was in the 30s every night and the rain didn’t help so now I have a bit of a cold. Just to go to sleep I wore 2 pairs of socks, long underwear, sports bra, under armor (which I never took off the 4 days we were there), sweatshirt, neck warmer, beanie, fleece vest, and zipped myself all the way into my sleeping bag. Getting up in the middle of the night to put on boots to trudge across camp in the rain to go to the bathroom was a ridiculous task!
On the way down the mountain I felt the need to pop my ears but I couldn’t get it. I self-diagnosed an ear infection and cold. Went to Sick Call Monday morning, accidently told the receptionist I had alternative healthcare, was charged a $30 co-pay instead of the AmeriStandard $5 to be told I was right. I have a prescription for 7 days of antibiotics. First AmeriIllness- history in the making people! When I was at Sick Call, I was honestly surprised it was only me and 2 other girls. I was expecting most of Green Unit to be complaining of flu-like symptoms… or pneumonia!
The last couple days have been pretty easy. I think I've only had a few meetings and they've been at night. I missed my Red Cross Save the Children meeting due to Sick Call but it's basically opening a box of toys to provide care for children when we're in a disaster shelter. I had the training for SLI (Service Learning Initiator, my team role) and last night was the intro meeting to the Governance Council (AmeriCorps' answer to Student Council). So there's been a lot of sleeping in and spending time with pod friends and friends on other teams because today is the last official day of CTI (corps training institute). This morning was our last PT of CTI so we re-did the baseline test. I think I've pretty much stayed the same... if not worse. I joked that I wanted to add 2 minutes to my run time because I thought that was a goal I could accomplish, but I'm pretty sure I shaved a minute off. As far as the push-ups/ sit-ups, I think I might have done worse. I hate sit-ups. They should have had us do crunches. I can rock crunches! And the stretch test I think I lost an inch or two on. Oh well- personal best is always changing.
Tomorrow is our induction and we get to wear our AmeriTux, which consists of black BDUs with a white polo and our steel-toes. We had a big AmeriBoot Polishing Party yesterday. I don't think I did it right. They still feel kind of sticky from the waterproofing. I don't really know how I could mess it up- you just put the stuff on a towel and rub it into the leather- but I think I accomplished it.
Induction also means tomorrow is departure day- everyone is leaving on SPIKE until December 14!! The base is going to be so empty! Only 7 teams out of the 28 that are here will be staying local. I'm going to miss everyone so much but I can't wait to start the adventure and get SPIKE mail from everyone about their projects. 5 weeks is a long time in AmeriDays. I hope we all learn a bunch.
The last couple days have been pretty easy. I think I've only had a few meetings and they've been at night. I missed my Red Cross Save the Children meeting due to Sick Call but it's basically opening a box of toys to provide care for children when we're in a disaster shelter. I had the training for SLI (Service Learning Initiator, my team role) and last night was the intro meeting to the Governance Council (AmeriCorps' answer to Student Council). So there's been a lot of sleeping in and spending time with pod friends and friends on other teams because today is the last official day of CTI (corps training institute). This morning was our last PT of CTI so we re-did the baseline test. I think I've pretty much stayed the same... if not worse. I joked that I wanted to add 2 minutes to my run time because I thought that was a goal I could accomplish, but I'm pretty sure I shaved a minute off. As far as the push-ups/ sit-ups, I think I might have done worse. I hate sit-ups. They should have had us do crunches. I can rock crunches! And the stretch test I think I lost an inch or two on. Oh well- personal best is always changing.
Tomorrow is our induction and we get to wear our AmeriTux, which consists of black BDUs with a white polo and our steel-toes. We had a big AmeriBoot Polishing Party yesterday. I don't think I did it right. They still feel kind of sticky from the waterproofing. I don't really know how I could mess it up- you just put the stuff on a towel and rub it into the leather- but I think I accomplished it.
Induction also means tomorrow is departure day- everyone is leaving on SPIKE until December 14!! The base is going to be so empty! Only 7 teams out of the 28 that are here will be staying local. I'm going to miss everyone so much but I can't wait to start the adventure and get SPIKE mail from everyone about their projects. 5 weeks is a long time in AmeriDays. I hope we all learn a bunch.
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