Nature is Awesome

Breath taking sunset in Cape Charles

Sea Turtle

Cain and his "monster fish"

Staircase of doom

Crab fight!

Beach House

Squishy

First snow

Team Sawyers

Get er done

Nature Conservancy

taylor hahaha

Southern style

Well, a lot has taken place since arriving in Cape Charles. Working with the Nature Conservancy has been a blast.  I cannot stress how awesome our location is (despite the freezing cold), I can only imagine how amazing this place is in the spring when migrating birds inhabit it.
So far this week Cain and I have worked with Park Ranger Chris.  After trail clearing we had a ton of pine tree's laying around the nature trail which we threw in a pickup truck and moved to another spot in the park.  Next on the agenda was repairing picnic tables.  We had to replace some of the old and rotted wood on a good 10-15 tables throughout the park which we became pretty efficient at as time went on.  As you can see from the picture of Cain sending sparks everywhere, some of the bolts were really rusted on there and we had to take a more serious approach to remove them...
Today we worked with a different part of the nature conservancy and worked down by the dock replacing old wooden trails and doing more trail clearing.  The people we work with are awesome, and I'm still pretty shocked at the thick southern accent some of them have for being this far "north".
Tomorrow I head to D.C and get to see my twin sister! Hopefully on Saturday I will be heading to northern Virginia to see my aunt, cousin, and grandparents as well. Should be a nice weekend get away from AmeriCorps...
Oh and MommaB Maine sounds pretty amazing, as long as you appreciate what you have access to daily that's all that matters.  I could definitely get used to living in a place like this, so peaceful.

Exploration of Cape Charles

Went for a run around Cape Charles and stopped at a few scenic spots to snag some pics. I'll let the pics do all the talking for this one

Virginia alas!

La Flama Blanca begins the 23 hour journey to Cape Charles, VA

Our Lodge

Double toaster/preloaded cabinets

Fireplace, check

River 7

Deer

Ever wonder what they feed people in comas? This is it.

Down the hatch

well?

Nature trail

Pine Trees

Nature trail

 After settling into our lodge last night and unpacking, we began our first day of work with the Nature Conservancy this morning in Cape Charles.  Sam, the Park Police manager gave us a tour of the area, as well as a nice history of the park which was pretty fascinating.  When we were by the Chesapeake Bay he told us about an eagles nest that was not far from where our lodge is, and right on que came swooping down the eagle attempting to snatch a fish from the water, which is the first time I've ever seen one in the wild.

After lunch we began working in Kiptopeke State Park, taking down pine trees and other small shrubbery that was infringing upon the nature trail.  I worked with Kari, Ruth, Ashlyn and Taylor, and we were led by Park Ranger Daniel Turner who loved to chainsaw down everything he could.  Felt good to work outdoors again, although it was cool (30's all day) the sun kept us warm, along with the hard work of course.

By the end of the day everybody was exhausted, and we ventured off to the food lion as we were all starving as well.  By the time we got back it was past 7:30 and upon exiting the van I looked up to see more stars than I've ever seen before.  It was truly awesome, Long Island is just too inhabited to allow such a view to take place.  Even the Milky Way was visible I could not get over how many stars there were.  I'm looking forward to spending a month here and enjoying every night I can.

Oh, and to explain the coma food.  Remember MLK day when I volunteered at an elementary school? Well they had a lot of things they were trying to get rid of such as medicines, and other random stuff.  Apparently Liquid nutrition or "tube food" as my team calls it, was one of those things.  It's basically a canned liquid meal filled with nutrients, protein, fiber, carbs, and other awesome stuff made for people who can't eat in a hospital  and rely on getting fed through a feeding tube.  Can you believe they were going to toss away 3 full cases of this stuff? I was pretty outraged myself.  Granted I am not hospitalized, I do love a quality nutritious meal which this provides.  The taste is left to be desired though.

Back to business

Patrick House, winner of The Biggest Loser season 10

I'm back!  After a relaxing winter break at home, as well as a 2 week transition of training in Vicksburg it is  once again time to embark upon another Spike.  Tomorrow morning River 7 will be heading out bright and early to Virginia to begin working with the Virginia Nature Conservancy.  Travel time is estimated @ 18 hours which will be split up between the next two days. The only good news that derives from this will be the hotel accommodations provided for us Thursday night; complimentary breakfast here I come!

While on campus the past week of training focused on life after AmeriCorps and MLK day.  Crazy how fast this program is going by and how much has been accomplished in such a short time.  To honor MLK day we served at a local elementary school improving the environment for children from inside to out.  Working along side local community volunteers tasks included pulling weeds, installing insulation, removing thousands of staples from doors, painting, and other various activities.

For an ISP about 20 of us volunteered at the Vicksburg 10k run/5k walk early Sunday where we ran into local celebrity Patrick House, winner of Biggest Loser.  Myself, Brittany, Sam, and Mario waited at the finish line to tag the runners with their placements and complete their race forms.  This was not the easiest task, needless to say plenty of them were exhausted by the end of the race but I give them a lot of credit for completing it.

Alright I better get back to packing, next update will be from VA!

edit: May not have internet for a while, we're headed to a pretty desolate place... time to put Verizon's nationwide coverage to the test

edit #2: Wednesday night arrived in Asheville, NC after a 13 hour journey in the 15 passenger van. Heading to Cape Charles tomorrow, should be another 8 hours.