Reno

Yes, I know I’m a week behind, I’ve been busy!  Last week work was really boring.  All we did was paint signs, over and over again.  They are 2 tone signs - brown background, yellow letters - yellow background, brown letters.  These signs have been out in the weather and they need sprucing up.  We sand them down and sometimes re-router the letters, then paint.  The letters are the problem, it’s almost impossible not to get the background paint in the letter paint and vice versa.  So, we paint the background, then the letter, then touch up the background, then touch up the letters, then touch up the touch ups, then fix those smudges with more paint. The paint dries really fast, and is super thick, so you have to keep washing out the tiny brushes and refill our tiny containers with fresh paint. 

To break up the monotony, I cleaned the entire shop one afternoon.  My boss Charlie mentioned that he was tired of people working on projects and just leaving everything right where it was, so I put everything back in its place, I hope…  I spent a lot of time wandering around the shop saying, “If I were an ax, where would I live?”  “If I were snow chains, where would I live?”  (I was by myself, so there was no one to ask) I’m happy to report everyone noticed my efforts and had good things to say, except the other volunteer I’ve been working with.  He feels at the end of the day, it’s easier to just stick all the paint brushes in the paint cans so they don’t dry out, pile everything on the work bench and call it a day. I spent the first day cleaning the paint brushes, which were dipped in paint up to the handle. I got most of the paint pried off, but had to throw away the roller.  Every piece of equipment or paint we’ve used is right where he left it, so I put everything away.  He was not pleased and commented that come Monday when we’re back to painting, everything will be left right back on the bench.  Maybe so, but only what we use that day, not for the last 2 weeks.  We actually work pretty well together despite our difference of opinion. He’s volunteering right now, but has applied for a full time, temp job.  We’ll be on the ATV crew together, hopefully having more fun out on the trails.  Thankfully, we’re almost done painting and will get the signs back out in the field this week.  The problem is neither of us knows where they go, so someone will have to take us to each campground or location.  We have a first aid class Monday and the ATV class on Tuesday. After that we’ll start patrolling with the ATV’s.  I can’t wait!!!! 

On Friday I got to work with Josh.  We went out to a campground and spent the day cutting down dead or dying trees.  Another crew had been out and marked all the trees that could potentially fall on someone.  It was up to us to find them and cut them down.  Josh had the chain saw, my job was to carry the ax and gas and be ready to call 911 if anything happened.  Of course, the campground host told us there is no cell reception and the last time she called 911 it took them over 45 min to respond to an asthma emergency.  Good thing I have so much self aid and buddy care training, I could save Josh on my own!   I learned a lot about cutting, first he made a wedge cut on one side.  He then went to the other side and cut a straight line just above the wedge and almost to it.  If all went well, the tree would begin to topple.  Most of the time it did, but in some cases, he had to insert plastic wedges into the straight cut and use the back side of the ax to drive the wedges into the tree.  That was hard work, I almost broke into a sweat just watching him!  I was amazed at how accurate he was.  All of the trees fell exactly where he was aiming, except the last one. He was just a tad bit off, but that tad bit brought the tree right down on a picnic table.  Charlie was in the area working on a water pipe and came to investigate.  OOPS!!

Sonora Pass, between here and Reno finally opened, so I made my way over to see Stephanie last weekend.  She looks fabulous, Tim is doing great and their house is beautiful.  Looks like it was a great move for them.  On Saturday we headed to Lake Tahoe and had an awesome time.  We stopped at Garwood and got some soup.  What a beautiful restaurant, right on the water.  We walked out on the dock and were amazed at how clear the water was.  Someone had dropped a pair of sun classes, about 12 feet down.  You could see them as clear as day.  We made our way around the lake and stopped many, many times for the incredible views.  We even saw a coyote jogging down the bike trail.  They are bigger than I thought.  After tons of pictures, we stopped again at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a pecan, caramel apple.  When we got back home, we topped our day off with some awesome Thai food.   On Sunday we did some shopping and spent Mother’s Day at her bosses house.  It was a large family gathering and I had a great time.  They were so warm and welcoming, I hope to see them again soon.  Steph had to work on Monday, so I spent the day shopping for some needed items.  Remember I don’t have access to the city every day.  I’m 45 min from Sonora which is not a large town.  I’m an hour and a half from Modesto, where they have a mall, Super Wal-mart and my phone gets 3 bars and I am connected again.  I enjoyed myself, but all too soon it was time to head back up the mountain.   

On the way to Reno I stopped near the pass to go hiking at Kennedy Meadow.  It was the most beautiful spot I’ve seen since being here.  There were snow covered mountains everywhere.  It was a pretty level trail which was an added bonus.  I didn’t have much time so it was a short hike.  Yesterday I went for a bike ride down the same road I was on a few weeks ago.  It was just 10 miles, but it was all uphill and I almost died!!  I must be getting more acclimated to the elevation, because I didn’t pass out once from oxygen deprivation!   It was still hard mind you, but I was able to continue peddling up all the hills.  My lungs and my quads are finally getting with the program it seems.  Today I went for a 4 hour hike and it was great - for about 3.5 hours.  I went just a little too far I guess.  I’m still having problem with my knees and my feet, but I’m not letting that stop me.  Of course, now that I’m home, I can’t walk.  It’s hard to ice my whole body!!

I have tons of pictures, but can’t upload them till I ‘go to town’ later this week.  So check back to see pictures of me and Steph, Lake Tahoe and Kennedy Pass.