Night Trekking

What a fun week! On Monday 3 of us were scheduled for a first aid class. We thought it was in the class room on our compound, so we sat around the office until the last minute. Turns out, we were supposed to be in Sonora, 45 minutes away. Since we were so late, the only seats open were right in front. At least were first for all the practice blocks. I got to meet several other forest service workers, so it wasn’t too bad. Even though I’ve done first aid and buddy care classes for the Air Force for 28 years, I actually learned some new stuff this time. Instead of sucking chest wounds and impaled objects, this class covered what to do if someone has an epileptic seizure or diabetic coma.

On Tuesday we finally got to take the ATV class. It was so much fun! We went to a clearing way out in the middle of nowhere and did different drills like riding figure 8 patterns around cones, (harder then it sounds, those things are hard to do sharp turns on), driving over logs, up and down hills and sideways along a hill. We had to be split up into 2 groups, so while the 2^nd group did their drills, the rest of us went on a trail ride. I’m hooked, it was a blast!!! After class we had to ride the ATV’s up onto the flat bed trailer. The girl in front of me gave it a little too much gas and almost went over the other side. Not wanting to make the same mistake, I didn’t give it enough gas and took me about 4 tries to get up the ramp.

Wednesday, Kim and I headed into town for a movie and dinner. We saw Battleship; it was OK. It was nice seeing two characters from Friday Night Lights in a movie together. We had dinner with some of the girls staying at the barracks next to us. After dinner they invited us over for a bon fire. Kim had to work, so Brutus and I went. That’s where the fun came in. The barracks are about a mile from our clearing if you go by the road, but it’s just a short hike thru the woods. Of course, by this time it was 9pm, really dark and cold! So I tucked Brutus into my coat, slung my chair over my back and headed off with the flash light. Of course things look very different in the dark - I quickly became disoriented and ended up in the worst terrain. I was stumbling over logs, climbing up and down boulders and crashing through streams. I could see the lights of the barracks compound and smell the fire, but I kept having to go around obstacles. I finally made it and rested up for the trip home. This was much harder because the light from my RV wasn’t nearly as bright and I had a hard time finding the clearing again. After crashing through the brush for what seemed like forever, I finally made it to the road and the going was much easier. I only fell once, and lucky for Brutus, I slid down a hill on my butt and not forward on him. He was fast asleep, snuggled inside my jacket.

On Friday, my workday, I was expecting to be out on the trails again. Too bad I didn’t check the weather forecast! I got to work at 0800 and by 0830 the temperature dropped and it started to snow. By 0900 it was coming down fast and hard. By 0930, we started getting reports of road problems. Fish and game was stocking the lake before the holiday weekend. He backed the truck down the boat ramp and got out to release the fish. Suddenly the truck started sliding down the icy ramp and into the lake. He jumped back into the truck and when he gave it gas, instead of moving up the ramp, it slid sideways. Eventually they were able to stop the truck and release the fish. There were 3 fully loaded logging trucks that were also on icy roads. Rather than take the chance of going over the edge of the mountain, they stopped in the middle of the road, effectively closing the road. There were 3 or 4 cars behind them. That’s when the plow trucks headed out. By the time we got out of work at 2:30 (early for the holiday) most of the snow had melted and it warmed up again. Of course, there was more snow at the higher elevation and the pass in closed again. Today is Sunday and it’s still pretty chilly. I hope it warms up by tomorrow, I’m going biking on an old railroad.

I'm a bit slow, but here are the pictures from last week and this week. Most are from Lake Tahoe, but some are from Stanislaus, including the ATV class. We have to wear a lot of safety gear, including a back brace. When I saw how it made my fat belly bulge even more, I begged to put it on backward. They kindly informed me it was not meant to be a girdle. I’ll have to come up with a plan, wearing it the right way just won’t do!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/118205599704530902363/LakeTahoe02#