Lake Arrowhead and Deep Creek Hot Springs

We didn't plan a big backpacking trip this weekend. For a number of reasons it wasn't going to work out. One being that a fellow employee here who has been with the school for a long time was leaving and moving on to bigger things. In Lake George, NY. I'm jealous, I miss the green and the forest. So we gave him a fond farewell and then we were left to figure out what to do with our long weekend, which at that point we hadn't planned anything and we didn't have anything ready. One person suggested we go to Lake Arrowhead. She had heard it was pretty and wanted to make the day trip over. So we all thought that sounded like a good idea. I really had no idea what Lake Arrowhead was going to be like. I figured I could be surprised. So I got in the car and was along the for the ride.

The drive up to Lake Arrowhead was breathtaking. It actually did steal my breath. The road climbs high into the mountains with great views, all the time. For anyone who has ever take the Kancamangus Highway through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this road was equal if not better. Although, I do have a soft spot in my heart for the North East, the Kancamangus just doesn't quite make it. When the climb was all done we were over 5,000ft.

We were looking for a place to go hiking and ended up stumbling into town on Old Wooden Boat Convention Day! I love old wooden motor boats. I think they're so pretty. My family has one at our camp which needs some repairing but I still think that it is one the prettiest things I've ever seen. We then walked around a little ways and decided that maybe we should find somewhere to go hiking. Our plan was to go to Lake Arrowhead and find a place from there to go by asking some locals. We just walked up to someone and asked them about hiking spots. She gave us some muddy directions and sent us on our way. But she peaked our interest when she said something about 'natural hot springs'. We thought that maybe we might be able to find the place. As we were looking at free maps of the area a man inside said that he had been a local all his life and that he would be happy to help us with anything we needed. So we asked him if he knew of any hot springs in the area. He said 'Well sure! Deep Creek Hot Springs! I know a great trail to get out there, no parking fee necessary and here are the directions...' He did warn us that we would 'pay the toll on the way out' because it was so steep, he also warned us of snakes and that we needed to carry in a bunch of water. Snakes and water is not a worry to us, working as outdoor educators we pretty much deal with both these items on a daily basis. In fact, the two weeks I've worked in the 'field' I've taken groups of kids hiking. As each one of us is a leader, and have experience backpacking in Joshua Tree, this hike was nothing we couldn't handle. 3 miles in, 3 miles out, steep in parts. Good day hike. His information was great we thanked him and went on our merry way.

We arrived at the trail head without much trouble. The hike was fine. We met some college aged kids and they seemed completely out of breath, said that the hike was tough stuff. I also looked at their equipment, and took their advice was a grain of salt, as they were pretty unprepared for spending the night in the desert, even if they were right next to a source of running water. I still wasn't that worried. We then passed about 6 of his friends all having the same weary face, all carrying bookbags instead of hiking packs, and all had sneakers on instead of boots, granted we were all wearing sneakers but we at least had water and were wearing running shorts. Some of these kids were wearing jeans. I hate hiking in jeans, it's a good way to get really uncomfortable chaffing.

They all were coming out and I thought to myself that they probably had a good party out there at the hot springs. Not a bad place to kick back a few beers. We continued. I then almost stepped on a snake, which was small and had dark and white stripes. Cool stuff. We couldn't identify it, we continued on. Then in the distance we see someone is coming. A friend of mine says 'that man is wearing a lot of tan clothing'. That didn't looked right. My other friend goes 'Yea, that man is completely naked.' The man was hiking nude. We all didn't say anything. This was an unexpected turn of events. I've never seen a nude hiker before, but I also have heard that they are out there. We passed each other on the trail I really didn't know what to do so I said Hello and he said Hi back and then added 'don't mind me.' OK nude hiking man, we won't. We had a couple of a giggles about it. Said things along the lines of 'wasn't expecting to see a nude hiker today.' and 'hiking nude would be uncomfortable.' we then wondered about him why was he hiking nude, did he want to be hiking nude? The questions kept piling up.

We continued down the trail to find that it became steep just as the man had told us the last mile. It was also sandy and we slid most of the way down. We could see where the springs were and we wanted to get to them. Finally the trail evened out and we walked along a river. We saw from a distance that there were numerous people hanging out over in the springs. A popular spot. The river was deep in places and people jumped in and swam around. Lots of nooks for people to lounge out in the sun. Then I saw it, a a naked bottom. It stuck out like...well... a ghost white ass. Then I saw it, there were others who were nude. Apparently this was a popular spot for nudists and skinny dippers. My friend joked that we might be a bit over dressed. The hot springs were pretty awesome. Water coming out of the ground at 150 degrees. People had rigged up a hot shower and also had pools of different temperatures. The river was nice and cool. We chit chatted with some nice people, a nude man offered to take a group photo of us. Of course we accepted. Overall a good day. I wasn't bothered at all by the nudity but it was definitely not what I expected when I got in the car today. Keep in mind anyone who wants to go to Deep Creek Hot Springs in Southern California, don't be surprised if you meet nude hikers and skinny dippers.

Picky Eaters

Working with children poses a whole slew of problems which other jobs don't face. Some things that I deal with on a daily or weekly basis are homesickness, immaturity, and my least favorite picky eaters. While in Benin the kids are great, working girls camp was all the good parts of being a camp counselor, missing all the bad parts. The girls listened intently, rarely did we have to repeat ourselves, they would clean up after themselves and also they would eat the things that were served to them, without so much as making a face at it.

I was sitting at a table with some kids. There were 8 children and just me as an instructor. Not really a big deal, this is normal. We all go up for dinner. The chef likes to try new things, today the thing he wanted to try out was korean bbq. Great for adults, but american children were a little hesitant. There were other things on the menu such as salad, rice and corn, asparagus, and potatoes. A balanced meal. Everyone came back to the table, maybe with plates less full than pasta night, but at least they had something. I look to my left and the girl next to me had nothing, not even a plate. This is the conversation that then occurred:

Me: Why didn't you get any food?

Girl: I didn't see anything that I liked up there.

Me: Can you please go get something. You won't eat again until breakfast, and I don't want you to be hungry in the middle of the night, because there's nothing we can do for you then.

Girl: No, I'm not hungry anyway.

Me: Why don't you just take a little bit of a few things, maybe you'll like something.

Girl: I'm really OK thanks.

During this time other kids at the table told her that the food was really good and that they thought she might like the rice, the salad....

Me: How about you go jump in line again and get one thing.

Girl: No thanks.

Me: Its not really a request. Go get something.

The girl goes up to the line and comes back with the korean steak. I looked at that, and knew she was trying to set herself up for failure by choosing the thing that was the weirdest to her. I smiled at her, and sat back and ate. She poked, prodded, scraped, flipped over, and in all ways throughly inspected her food.

Me: Is it polite to play with our food?

Girl: No

Me: OK just checking.

She continued to play with her food.

Me: You know, I'd prefer you'd eat it rather than play with it.

30 minutes later and 2 more times of telling her to not play with it and eat it instead. I got up and got her a knife (in order to save on water usage they only give our forks and cups instead of knifes and spoons as well). I put it down next to her.

Me: Does the steak seem like a good consistency?

Girl: Yea

Me: Is it pretty thin?

Girl: Yea

Me: Have you throughly inspected the spices on it?

Girl: Yea

Me: You've looked at both sides?

Girl: Yea

Me: OK now that you know all that I'm tired of asking you to stop playing with your food, and it is now time to eat, I brought you this knife so that you could cut it up into small pieces.

She looked at me worried, but I didn't falter. She then slowly cut off the smallest bite. She had it on her fork and began to cry a little. I told everyone else to look another way. She had people encouraging her and telling her that it wasn't bad, her friends were supporting her. Finally I said, "Ok we're going to look away and you need to take your first bite." Keep in mind this is 45 minutes into dinner.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as she at the smallest bite through tears, off the smallest piece she had cut. I wanted to make sure she wasn't going to put it on the floor. She dried her tears and I watched as she had another bite. I asked what she thought of it.

Girl: It's weird.

Me: Can you eat it?

Girl: Yes.

She ate the steak and because she finished she did end up getting desert, which I think was the driving force in her finishing her food.

I get picky eaters, I was once one of the pickiest eaters ever. But this girl was over the top.

To Move or not To Move?

I've been grappling with this question for the last couple of days. As a drifter, I feel the need to explore different areas of the world, try new things and generally learn to be comfortable somewhere else. Being a seasonal employee is perfect for me, I go one place than in about 6 months to a year I'm ready to move on and my job is over. I pack up my car (or my backpack in some cases) and head on down the road to whatever life i'm going to lead next. The world that describes me is a drifter. When I'm not drifting I'm dreaming of where I'm going to drift to next.

Of course living this life there is a lack of security. Questions such as what is my permanent address? and weather or not I'm a citizen of one state verses another is always a problem. The biggest problem is not knowing where I'm going next. In this job market the field is highly competitive and I have friends who are my field who have applied to 15 or so jobs and heard back from 2, keep in mind just heard back, not received offers. This is a lot of energy to put forth all the time. A good job search takes about 3 months for all applications, resume tweaking, and cover letter revisions. Then you have to set up phone interviews on your time off, gather your references (by the way thank you so much to my references you guys are amazing!), and do your research with each company all while the end date of your current job looms over your head. It's stressful and exhausting.

Since about 6 months before leaving Benin until now I feel like I've been on a constant job search. So I'm considering just staying. I like it here, I've only been here for a few weeks so I don't feel like I've gotten to explore the area, and I don't want to go through another job search. I'd like a break. I'm tired of sending out my resume, tired of annoying my references, and tired of the unknown. I'm not saying that I'm ready to settle down, I'm just not ready to so quickly jump into a completely new everything.

To move or not to move? I have a few choices, I could stay here in southern California for another year, job search for another job, or live with family/ friends and get some sort menial waitressing job or something. I think my best choice, while it goes against my normally adventurous spirit, is to come back for the year and gain more experience before moving on to the next whatever it may be.

First Week

When I was hired for this job I wasn't real sure why they were hiring me. Frankly, by the time I had been flown out, trained and settled in, it would be time to leave. I'm happy that I was invited to work the month of May and 1st week of June but at the same time I also was apprehensive about it. Were their expectations too high for me? I'd never done a job like this before, sure I'd worked as a camp counselor but not as an educator.

My training when I arrived was less than traditional. All the other staff members had gotten into the 'groove' and worked well together, each having their own strengths, which equally compensated for others weaknesses. They knew their jobs, and they did them well. But yet here was I, completely green, a new cog in an already well broken in machine. I shadowed for two weeks watching and learning with students, focusing on class management skills, information passed, teaching techniques and time management. I received very little one on one time with the boss/ supervisor. I learned by observation and participation in classes. I preferred this better than sitting in a room all day being talked at.

So my first week of classes came about. I prepared as much as I could, but really how much can you prepare for something you've never done before? The most amount of learning takes place in the trial and error. If you did everything right the first time you wouldn't ever really learn much. As the kids got off the bus I shrugged and figured, I would either be alright or I wouldn't. I decided that I would be alright, and if I wasn't than there was always tomorrow to start again new. I wasn't worried. And while I did have some stumbles along the way, there was definitely room for improvement and I found some flaws in my teaching strategies I made it through. Knowing that was going to be the worst week of teaching I ever had, it wasn't that bad. The only way I can go from here is up!

Joshua Tree and Me

The number one thing that I wanted to do while living in Southern California is go to Joshua Tree National Park. When I flew in I road into where I was working with some of my co-workers. I had found out that they had gone camping Joshua Tree that last weekend before I arrived. I was jealous and disappointed that I wasn't there to join them. I was then quickly reassured that I would get the chance to go, 'We can go again'.

I then met a new friend while working here, my first night. I told her that I was going backpacking with teenagers, she was doing the same this summer and fall. We made a plan to go backpacking as much as possible to train for our summer programs. The first place we decided to go was Joshua Tree. two weekends later, there we were. Me, and three of my new friends got our packs on our backs and went into the desert.

I have never been to the desert. Before coming I assumed it would a barren and lifeless place, although the desert that was directly north of me in Benin was the Sahara, which is pretty much barren and lifeless, not sure what I expected to see in Joshua Tree, other than Joshua Trees. When I arrived I found that there were numerous cacti, small flowering plants, lizards, and even though we didn't see them rattle snakes and kangaroo rats that lived in the park.

In Joshua Tree you need a permit to camp and a parking pass ($15). Once we got our permit and pass from the visitor center we were in. We were recommended to take another trail when we arrived because the trail we had initially chosen was on a back road that was in need of some repair, a little bit more rugged than what our car could take. We passed all kinds of people using the park. The range was huge, there were those who drove through with air conditioning on the whole time, and then there were backpackers and rock climbers who were going to spend the day in the sun, sweating, and enjoying the inside of the park.

We stopped our car at the trail head and registered. We then ate some lunch as it was noon and there was no reason to start hiking in the beginning part of the heat of the day. There was a gentle breeze blowing across the desert, Joshua Trees dotted the landscape of short and scrubby looking vegetation. We ate our hummus wraps dreaming of what lay ahead. The landscape was flat except for rock formations that looked like they had been piled up by giants. In order to back country camp in Joshua Tree you have to be at least a mile from any road and 500 ft from the trail. This minimizes the impact of campers on the park. If everyone were to camp right next to the trail the same people would more than likely use the same spots over and over again, where as if previous campsites are harder to find less people will be camping the same locations. We hiked in a mile and half and dropped our packs. I realize this isn't very far but I can explain. While talking to the rangers we decided to take the Willow Hole Trail that led us through a day use area. Bighorn sheep were active at night and so the park had designated that no camping take place in amongst the rocks where they live. We were told also that the landscape changed quite a bit on Willow Hole. Willow Hole broke off from The Boy Scout Trail at 1 mile. The Boy Scout trail had begun at our parking lot and camping to the west of the Boy Scout Trail was a place we were allowed to be. There was no reason for us to continue down the Boy Scout Trail as the park rangers said that everything we would want to see was on Willow Hole. So we dropped our packs 1.5 miles from the road and 500ft west of the trail. We set up camp.

We all quickly realized why gators might have been something that was good to have. I have questioned the use to gators for a long time thinking that maybe like thick sleeping pads they were things that people used to keep their boots from getting sopping wet. This is nice, but wet boots aren't going to kill you. Now the desert everything is clinging to life so hard that it doesn't care if it hurts you, in fact that's the point. If it hurts you 1st there's less chance that you will hurt it or kill it. So in looking at the picture I posted, everything is growing has thorns, prickly bits or uses your socks to spread their seeds. The amount of prickly things stuck in my pants, socks, boots and legs was a bit amazing. Gators would have been helpful to keep the prickly bits out. You couldn't sit down without having to mash down the plants first because you would then have things in your butt. The prickly bits even went through the footprint, and bottoms of our tents!
We then got back on Willow Hole Trail. I could see how Bighorn Sheep could live in a place like Joshua Tree. The hills of solid rock, all piled together and vegetation in the crevasses, looked rather perfect for sheep. We hiked until the trail ran out at a spring. The only trees and grasses we found were at this place. Common Yucca/ Our Lords Candles were in bloom. They send out these huge spikes where the flowers come off. They kind of look like white Pine Trees growing out of a ball of green spike. They would grow in between the rocks, and stick out in odd places.
Total that day we hiked 7 miles when we returned to our camp site. Not bad for a hiking day we started in the afternoon. That night we camped and ate pasta sides from communal pots. The moon was so bright that it cast shadows across the desert. The wind began to blow hard from the west, coming down from San Gorgonio. I was wearing a sweatshirt, and rain jacket and I was a little chilly. I went to bed in a 40 degree sleeping bag, which I was fine in but I might have liked some long underwear bottoms. The wind hit our tent all night long. I went to bed under the full moon. A friend woke us all up at 4:30. The moon had set, it was a clear night, in the middle the desert, one of the best places to view stars in all of the United States. Only when the power was out in Benin and when I was on Safari did I see stars so amazing. The Milky Way looked as if it were painted across the sky rather than an afterthought in most light polluted places. Just to see the stars like that made the whole trip that was much better.

Leaving that morning we all left with a sense of peace in our hearts. I know it sounds corny but I cant explain it any other way, we were experiencing a full body and soul kind of happiness not the kind of happy where you laugh for a long time and then don't find it funny anymore, but the really content sustained peaceful kind of happiness that emanates from your very being. We had recharged our emotional batteries and become closer as a result. Stripping your life down to what you carry on your back can be a very rewarding endeavor and to share that feeling with others is something that you remember for a long time to come.

Touring North Dakota

I'm here for a few days before I fly out to southern California. My dad and I decided that we were going to take a drive. He thought that I would like to see the ski area in the region. I looked around and didn't have much hope. 'Flat as a pancake' as my family would say. No hills. Very few trees. The only things that stuck out on the horizon were big industrial farms, every now and again a town would show up and you could stand on one end and see where it ended. Like I said, not a whole lot of hope.

So we drove 1.5 hours to the turn off from the interstate and saw the road we thought we were going to take lead straight into a lake. It was closed. To my right I could see a flooded cemetary, and cringed. We weren't going to go that way. So we went to the south and approached the mountain from there. As we got closer, I still was wondering where this ski area was. Then all of a sudden, hills. There's about 15 miles square of hills where a river has torn into a plateau. Pretty country full of wind bent trees and scrub brush. The ski area was just that, an area. Not really a resort, or even on a mountain. But it looked like it could be fun to someone who had never been on a mountain before. I checked ticket prices, $35 a day, compared to $81 which is what the going rate was at Okemo last season. Although you'd probably get to noon on the little ski area and have skied everything twice, maybe three times.

On our way back we went through some farm country. Saw lots of little towns in the middle of nowhere. Can't say that it's really pretty out here, actually looks a bit like a disaster area with all the flooding. Dad says that happens every year. Think of a foot to a foot and half deep lake as far as you can see, and then driving on and on and there being only small patches of ground. That's about what it felt like. Roads just ended, you could see houses under the water, trees standing in lakes. It's quite incredible actually. Although, today we woke up and there's a snow storm, so maybe instead of a giant lake its' turned into a giant ice skating rink!

Road Trip Part 2

So I made it to Fargo without incident, including speeding tickets. My car a 99 2-door Honda Civic named Otis went pretty well for being an 11 year old car. Although, I'm pretty sure my old '90 Oldsmobile Cutlass (Cecilia) would have given me fits on more than one occasion.

So Otis and I trapsed through the remaining portion of Illinois, through Wisconsin and then up to St. Paul, Minnesota. Illinois didn't leave much of an impression on me. In fact, it looked a lot like Ohio, which isn't saying much. Granted I was only in the top corner and most of the time I was avoiding Chicago like the plague. Didn't leave the state much chance to impress me. Wisconsin was pretty, rolling hills dotted with farms. I imagine Vermont might have looked similar at one point when there were no trees because they were cleared for farmland. Only difference would have been Vermont has hills and mountains verses Wisconsin has petite hills. Minnesota was a lot like Wisconsin, maybe less hilly. I came into St. Paul/ Minneapolis and the roads between those cities aren't fun especially around 4pm. I would highly reccomend not doing this, in fact unless you have some reason to be there, don't go if you're just driving therough.

The reason why I didn't go around, was that I had a friend living in the area who I hasn't seen since college. Thanks once again for letting me crash at your house. It's nice to be in a home rather than a hotel room. Hotel rooms are sterile and lack life, a home is welcoming and comfortable.

The next day I drove on to North Dakota, my final destination. I thought about stopping at the worlds largest ball of twine, it was only an hour out of my way, but I decided an hour was a long way to go to take a silly picture of myself giving the thumbs up in front of a gazebo that houses the worlds largest ball of twine, arguably the most boring attraction ever created. If anyone is wondering where exactly it is, as it would be fun to get their picture taken in front of it, it is located in Darwin Minnesota, halfway between St. Paul and Fargo, but not on the main road. I ended up at my destination around 10:30am, I left St. Paul at around 5:30am. The road between Fargo and my destination of slightly north of there was water on either side. A huge lake due to flooding. That's what it was like, driving through a lake.

And so my road trip is over, 4 days, 1,700 miles, 2 hotel rooms, 1 friends house, 3 foot long subway sandwiches and 7 muffins.

Moving

Right now I'm in the process of moving from my hometown of Belmont, to my next residency near Fargo, ND. So I'm driving my car out.

I've so far left Vermont, drove through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and I'm now in Illinois. Yesterday I never left New York and was mostly on I-90W the whole way. I stopped and looked at Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. When I say looked I mean I got out of my car, walked around for 20 or so minutes, snapped a couple of pictures, ate a sandwich, went to the bathroom and got back in my car. It was cool to see them, but I was a little dismayed at the amount of tourist traps they had. But what did I expect, it was NIAGARA FALLS not the Falls of Lana. The rest of the way was nice, farms all over the place. But nice rolling hills, well kept old barns (I have a soft spot in my heart for old red barns and get very sad when I see one that collapsed).

I ended up staying a Quality Inn in Hamburg, NY. Which had a bar/ restaurant downstairs. Looked like it was hosting the young male red neck societies weekly meeting, I decided to skip take out and ate a yogurt in my room. The place was nice, clean and just fine for the night. I had their breakfast, which was OK.

Here is a rant: Coffee. Continental breakfast coffee. The only word that I would use to describe this is fowl. Does good continental breakfast coffee exist, anywhere? I'm not asking for Starbucks here, just maybe something that doesn't taste like you're drinking a liquid that might be used to thin paint, clean out drains, or make babies throw up. I didn't think that anyone would actually want to say 'Hey look I make this fowl coffee' much less anyone who would want to serve it to their guests.

Hamburg was located just south of Buffalo. My goal was to get to Dunkirk, NY the night before, but just didn't quite make it due to a few snags which took a few minutes to get worked out. New York has these really cool service stations that are on the turnpike so that you don't have to get off to get gas, get food, go to the bathroom and walk around. I was also impressed that unlike Maine where the gas prices are much higher on the turnpike, New Yorks are lower. So you don't wonder if it would have been worth it to get off the turn pike only to pay the toll again to get back on.

I was only in New York for a little while and then on to Pennsylvania which did not have service stations so I had to get off the interstate to get fuel. One thing I did notice in Pennsylvania is that on almost every single exit there is a Subway close by. Which if I have to chose fast food, I go with Subway. So I got off and got a foot long sub, one half for lunch, and one half for dinner. I decided that Pennsylvania, the piece that I drove through was pretty, some rolling mounds (I wouldn't call them hills). Then after Pennsylvania it was Ohio.

Ohio was crap. The only thing good about the whole state were the service stations, and New Yorks were nicer. Trust me, I've been to a few. Ohio was mostly brown in color. It was also WINDY. My car got blown all of the place. I got out of my car to get gas at one point and I really had to lean into the wind. About the time I realized it started to get pretty was after I crossed the boarder into Indiana. Sorry for anyone who lives in a pretty part of Ohio, I'm sure they are there, but the northern I-90 pieces I saw... not so much.

Indiana green and had rolling mounds like New York, and was not as windy as Ohio. Although keep in mind there was a tornado warning for the piece of Ohio I was in so I'm guessing it's not windy like that all the time. There's nothing really to report about Indiana, other than that there were a lot of farms along the road.

The little piece of Illinois that I've seen so far has been my successful attempt at getting around Chicago at 4-5pm without getting stuck in traffic. If anyone is wondering take 80W toward Des Moines Iowa.

Tomorrow my plan is to visit a friend of mine in Minnesota near Minneapolis, only about 7.5 hours of driving (more when you add in stops). Friday I'm going to be coming into North Dakota with only about 5 hours of driving!! Short day! I'll keep you all posted.

I live Everywhere

I've had a few changes take place in the last few days. Around a month ago I started looking around for work in the fall. I contacted a few Outdoor Environmental Science Schools which are kind of like camp for school groups during the school year. Elementary aged children usually in 5th or 6th grade can go, spend a few days focusing environmental science, team building, and outdoor skills. I emailed a few asking what their hiring process would be for the fall. I received responses from a couple programs.

One emailed me back within hours and told me to submit my application as they had a rolling application process. Made sense, if they had someone who wanted to apply for the fall semester early it fills up a spot for them so they have one less position to fill. So I sent in my resume, cover letter, and reference contact information. I got a response from the school about 24 hours after receiving my information, they wanted to set up a phone interview.

A few days later I interviewed for a position, at the end of the interview the interviewer asked me what I was doing this summer, I explained that I was working in Wyoming starting the 12th of June. He then asked me if I was still working for Okemo. I figured this was a backwards way of asking why I was unemployed for the months of April and May, so I explained that I wasn't working at Okemo anymore due to the end of the season. I also explained that in Vermont there is literally nothing to do. Once winter ends everything stops and shuts down until summer starts. There is NO work to be found. He then offered me a job right then, from May 3rd until June. We worked out logistics and the next day I had bought my plane tickets out.

So here's my plan:

Drive out to Fargo and drop my car off/ spend sometime with my dad

May, fly out to Southern California for the month

Fly back to Fargo, spend about 48 hours in North Dakota

Fly out to Salt Lake City

The End of Winter, Beginning of Mud Season

The mountain is closing for the season, sad day. Granted it's still open for another week, but skiing the last week basically means that you got to say that you skied the last week. Kind of like opening week means that you're too impatient to wait for better conditions closing week means that you can't accept that conditions are bad and aren't getting any better. I skied on friday and it was good for the first couple of hours. It was also sad because Southface and Solitude (different areas of the mountain) were closed, meaning 1/2 the mountain was open and everyone was skiing on it. Conditions got too slushy for my taste. I was told that in order to truly enjoy this mashed potato like snow you needed wider skis, ones that almost look like snowboards. I had fun but skiing through slush is a lot harder than normal conditions. There were also starting to get bare patches in the trials as well. Towards the bottom the snow kind of resembled margarita mix. And so with a heavy heart, I packed up my ski gear and got out my mud boots.

Now some places in the world have spring. That nice time of year when the birds come back, the air smells fresh, and trees bud. Everything is nice and new. In Vermont we have that too, but instead of taking a stroll in the woods we walk through mud (keeping in mind real spring comes later, in June). Imagine all those nice things about spring covered in a layer of mud, and you're basically got mud season. Did you know mud has a smell? Smells about how you would imagine. Mud season is the worst, mostly because it comes right after ski season, and then there's not a whole lot of fun things to do anymore outside. Hiking should be kept to a minimum because hiking on muddy trails erodes them, boating is cold because the water hasn't heated up yet. None of the bars are open anymore because even the locals don't want to go out at night they're so depressed about the season. So if you were thinking of taking a trip up to Vermont anytime soon, don't. No offense against tourists, but this is the only season that we don't have a crap ton of tourists around. At least let us wallow in our mud alone.

Job Search... Encore!

I finally have a job for the summer. June- August. That has been a welcome relief as now the job posting I'm seeing are less for Instructor/ Guides as are for camp counselors. Jobs that don't require any sort of prior certificate or education. If I didn't already have something lined up I would be getting a little nervous seeing the majority of places having a hiring age of 16, with positions for 15 years olds in the counselor in training (CIT) programs.

I then started to feel weird, now that I didn't have my job searching hobby what would I do? I finished knitting a blanket, read a few environmentally themed non fiction books which were cited in my classes. I went skiing. I then was thinking about it the other day, when should I start looking for work in fall? I figured that I should apply for fall jobs in June. I them remembered that I'm moving potentially late April/ May from VT to North Dakota with my parents and then in June I'm going to start work, and won't be done until maybe August (no internet, no phone service). I then thought that if I did apply for jobs in August they might all be gone and it would look real bad. Guess I was going to apply real early, like now. Such is the life of a seasonal employment hopper, once one job starts you have to apply for the next.

I had a few places in mind that I was waiting to apply at. They're all outdoor environmental science schools. Schools can come to these places for a few days (3-5) and spend a week in environmental outdoor learning. Mostly public schools come, it's like a vacation, teachers bring their classes and also participate. The educators at these centers lead all classes and workshops. I'm applying to be one of these educators. All places that I'm looking at applying to have free housing on site as well as meals when the center is 'in session'. Surprisingly there are a bunch of these schools centered around Southern California. There's only one such company that I have found in New England.

One I had wanted to apply to has a rolling application basis but they're based in the Bahamas and basically I wouldn't be making any money because I would spend the money that I did make on plane tickets. While the program did look good, and the location would have been amazing... I ruled that one out when I did the math. I don't need to make a lot of money but I least need to pay my student loans. The company based out of New England didn't have a very good breakdown on their website about what they pay, how you can advance through their system, and what the housing is like (is it a tent in the woods with a wood stove in the corner or is it a private dorm or is it a shared house?) basically there wasn't a whole lot of information. The only concrete information that I gathered from the whole experience of perusing their site was that in big bold red letters at the bottom of the employment page WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS AT THIS TIME. I shrugged, well that answered my question.

The other two that I was looking at are based in Southern California. The one that I was originally looking at back when I was still in Benin had a great employment page. Honestly, the company in New England needs to look at this page because if someone who's serious about applying sees this it spells out everything right away and shows that the company might actually be a bit motivated about their hiring process. There is so much information on here I really don't have any questions to ask, it's all answered in the website. I'm sure there are aspects of the school that they don't post on their webpage, i.e. videos of screaming children, employees pulling their hair out, and fights between the classroom teachers and educators. All things that I'm sure do happen. But they did a good job portraying the company without it coming off all sugar coated. The second place that I found also did a very good job. Probably what happened is that they're competitors and need to keep up with the latest hiring techniques (such as a good employee page).

I looked on their webpages and I saw that they both are hiring for the winter/spring semester. I figured that there was no harm in asking if I could apply early to one of these places. So I explained my situation, that I was going to be gone when I wanted to apply but I had already made up my mind to do so. I suggested that I could submit and application and they could keep it on file until they were ready to review it. I sent out both emails at around the same time. Both companies email me back right away two hours later encouraging me to apply and that they would be review my application right away! So I have begun to submit applications for September. Hopefully I will have lined something up before I leave in June. The hiring process begins again!

Snow

Today was supposed to be my day to skiing, and it is snowing. Now there are many people who may ask, 'well isn't that a good thing?' Yes and no. Let me break down the weather conditions that are my favorite to go skiing:

Day Before: Not 40 degrees or above for a long period of time

Temperature: 25-40

Weather: Clear and Sunny

Base Depth: 2-4ft

Snow Conditions: Groomed packed powder or fresh snow

Day of the week: Midweek non holiday

Time: Somewhere between the hours of 9-2pm.

Yes I realize I'm picky. But I can afford that luxury as I live here and have a seasons pass. My job also allows me to ski in the morning before I go to work. Keep in mind that this my perfect day. No day is ever perfect and I do go out when the temperature is 0, or when the snow conditions are icy or when there are more people. Here's why this is my perfect day:

Day Before: On a day that the temperature gets above 40 degrees the snow becomes water logged. This is great spring skiing in the morning as everything is soft, but it also harder skiing and takes considerably more energy than a day where it's bitter cold and fresh snow. The next day is even worse if the temperature doesn't do the same. The water logged snow will become a large block of ice overnight when it dips below freezing from about 5pm until 8am (conservative time for the temperature to get above freezing and the snow to start to soften) When you get to the mountain it is then a block of ice, with maybe some ice shavings on top. And unless your edges are razor sharp you're going to have a rough go of it. Although at around 10/11am if the temperature continues to rise the snow will eventually soften. In this case you need to be very picky about where on the mountain you ski. The lower elevations will soften faster than the higher elevations.

Temperature: For obvious reasons a day that is too cold isn't going to make me very happy. Days were the top of the mountain is -15 and windy are days that are better spent reading by a fire. People might not think that living in a hot climate will 'thin your blood' they may say that it made me whiny instead. But I tend to agree with the thinning of the blood rather than just forgetting how to tough it out. My toes go numb faster than what I remember, skiing for only an hour an half on a cold day because both my fingers and toes are numb is kind of lame. But hey, that's what my body is doing now. Around the time that I can ski for at least some time without having to go in for a hot chocolate break starts at around 25. At around 35 if i layer properly I can ski in my sweatshirt, which are my favorite spring skiing days.

Weather: When the weather is clear and sunny it's easier to see all the ups and downs of the trail. To see one bump as different from another. When the lighting and flat and overcast it's hard to distinguish where one bump ends and another begins. When it's snowing you lose visibility. Only being able to see 20ft in front of you is fine if you're going the speed of turtle down the trail, but I'm a little beyond that and go a lot faster and carve my edges into the slope. More fun, but more work, not fun when you can't see more than 20ft in front of you. Rain is the worst, goggles don't come with wipers, although they should. You're constantly having to wipe them off only to have to do again 5 seconds later when you can't see again because of all the rain on them.

Base Depth: Simple, I don't like skiing over exposed rocks. Skis are for snow, not mining.

Snow Conditions: It's easiest to ski on groomed packed powder, the groomers make a sort of corduroy up and down the trial making the snow uniform. You know what to expect and it allows for easier skiing. Fresh powder is really my favorite. You have to go early in the morning to get the best runs, but it's worth it. The glades are places the groomers can't go are the best after fresh snow. But, after about noon unless it's a really dead day, the entire mountain is full of little moguls where everyone has pushed the snow. Fresh powder is harder to ski in, but more fun.

Day of the week: Midweek non holiday= less people= more space for me

Time: I enjoy getting up and having a cup of coffee. 9am allows me to feel not rushed. In all reality though, unless it's a perfect day, I'm not on the hill until 10/10:30. In the afternoon the mountain gets a little harder to ski if the snow is too soft or if people have skied certain trails too much.

There you have it, my perfect day to ski.

Summer Job

So I keep on forgetting to tell everyone the good news. After applying to multiple companies, filling out long and excessively detailed applications and having to repeatedly contact my references I finally had someone say 'Yes' instead of saying no using some long winded specious response.

The problem that I'm facing is that I'm breaking into a new field. Lets face it, there are no jobs anymore which state on their announcements 'entry level' instead they all say 'experience required' unless you want an internship. Therefore my options were, do something that was in a field that I didn't want to be in, or not make any money doing something that I actually wanted to do. I'm not afraid to try new things and live outside my comfort zone, Peace Corps taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to, even though it appears to be something that's impossible such as learning French in 9 week. In my opinion ambition trumps experience. I chose a third option, which I created myself. I figured that I would just apply to many different organizations and companies which work within the environmental education field and hope for the best. Maybe I didn't have the experience but I was qualified based on the criteria that many had posted, related degree, WFR training, been camping in the past...

So I started to apply. I signed up to a list-serve which sends job announcements directly to my e-mail. Keeping in mind that all these job announcements also get sent to thousands of other email addresses of others who have more experience. But, c'est la vie. I wasn't going to let that fact slow me down. I figured that if I didn't find a job doing wilderness trekking through a summer program I could always apply to be a camp counselor somewhere. There were a few companies which I filled out long applications for, some where they only wanted my resume cover letter and reference contact information. There were others which wanted my drivers record. Most wanted copies of my Wilderness First Responder card and healthcare provider CPR card. Applying to jobs became my hobby.

I applied to probably about 15 places. I heard back from about 6 or 7. I interviewed with 3. I have as of now received one job offer, with one pending. One job that I applied for back in December just got back to me to say that there weren't any positions available, no shit. Almost wanted to email them back and let them know that I already figured that out anyway. The job that is pending I interviewed for and they told me they'd be contacting my references but they haven't done that yet, which doesn't leave me much hope. But I'm not worried as I was offered a job from the company that I really wanted to work at anyway.

A friend of mine encouraged me to apply to the company that I've accepted the job offer from. She said that with my Peace Corps experience they would love to have me. So I applied. The company looked very similar to another company that I had applied to, interviewed for, and was unfortunately turned down from. I heard back from them which was a positive sign. They wanted to interview me. A representative from their company would be in Hanover, NH in the next month. So I drove over. Thinking in the back of my head ways to sell myself better than how I had before. I decided that being myself and open and spinning my Peace Corps experience as an educator in Benin rather than a development worker.

I ended up early to to my interview, about 10 minutes I figured that was a good sign. As I interviewed for the position I connected with the interviewer on having both a love of all things African. She was planning a trip to Kenya, and I lived in West Africa. I realize that Benin and Kenya are on complete opposite sides of of a large continent, but it was something that we both found in common. I also felt that the interview was a whole lot less stressed and the interview was more of a conversation rather than me basically saying how awesome I am. There's a fine line between selling yourself and sounding like a egotistical know it all.

I still continued to apply to a few places. I was told that I'd hear back from the company by a certain date. I did actually hear back from then the date that they set, which I was pleasantly surprised by that heard from them. They said that they'd be getting back to me just before I went on my cruise. When I got home I had a message waiting for me telling me to call them back. Either yes or no, there was no other way that conversation could have gone. I took a deep breath before calling, being told no, no matter how tough you say you are, sucks and it helps to mentally prepare and not get your hopes up too high.

I spoke to my interviewer she was happy to hear from me. I told that I was out of the country for a few days that's why I didn't call her back. She then asked what I was doing and we had a nice 10 minute conversation about the cruise I had just been on and she talked about her time in the area I was in, what she did, and I talked about what I did. At the end of that I was thinking 'really I just told you about my families vacation which we have now dragged out for 10 minutes, are you really not going to offer me a job now? because that would really stink if I just sat here and chit chatted with you, oh by the way no job offer' Thankfully I did get offered a job!

I'd let you all know the company but I don't want to have that information on my blog, I don't have their permission to do so. But basically I'm going to be a counselor for an adventure camp which operates throughout the west doing backpacking, biking, white water rafting, sea kayaking and rock climbing. What exact program or where I'll be is still up in the air I'll let you all know when I get that information. Very excited about this great opportunity to break into the field of my choice.

Phone

Many of you know that I do not have a cell phone. I realize that I might be the only 20-something year old in the states without one. I had one in Benin, but when I returned didn't want to pay $70 a month for a phone I would only use when going to and from work. My message would probably be "hey it's melissa, call me at home. or leave a message and i might get back to you in three days during hours that really aren't convenient for you" really useful. But since I'm not going to be living in Belmont for very much longer I figured it might be time.

So I looked online. I decided verizon was a good plan to go with. I picked out a plan included text messaging bundle and also a free phone off their webpage. Funny how I decided on the least expensive option out of all the plans and phone combinations I could have picked. I then decided before I went ahead and got this plan online that I should probably go to the store and see what they have there, maybe they have some great deal that I don't already know about.

And so I went into the verizon store in Rutland before work. They had this little kiosk where you 'sign into' the store. Then people help you as your name comes up. A glorified version of the number system at the deli counter. I was the only one waiting and a guy comes up peaks his head around a display and goes 'melissa?' looks at me continues to look around. I knew right then, this was going to be fun.

I then wave and go up to the counter. He definitely had a work face on. Anyone who has worked in customer service knows that face, the face the person just painted on. Sometimes the fake nice face is an easy thing to keep up, other times you just don't have the energy. I begin by saying that I went online and I wanted this plan with this text messaging bundle and this phone. I was wondering if there was a better deal in the store or maybe he could suggest another type of plan I might be interested in based on what he had just heard. He suggested that I get the plan I had asked for, and then he suggested a phone for me. I asked if they had any free phones at the store, they did not. I knew that the phone that I wanted was online for free with free shipping. I asked what the phone was in the store that was the cheapest they had, it was a $20 phone. I then asked if they were going to waive the activation fee for me, which was another promotion online. His painted nice face was quickly melting away to the 'you're wasting my time' face. I would have bought the $20 phone if they had waived the activation fee for me just so that I knew I had a working phone in my hand when I left. I then point blank asked him "So if I can get the same plan online, free phone with free one day shipping, a waived activation fee, which if I went with your plan in the store I'd be paying approximately $75 more than online, what's the incentive for coming in the store other than to look at your phones that you've put on display?" Note there were only about 4 phones on display. His nice face was gone, replaced with the angry 'not only are you wasting my time but I might now have lost any commission I might have made on anyone who's in ear shot.' he gave me some lame excuse about competing and how they compete with other verizon stores and blah blah blah about the only thing I caught was "you're going to get a much better deal online" The guy literally gave me no reason why coming to the store was better than not. Even speaking to a person was unhelpful. All the information was online!

I went home and ordered the package, phone, and text message plan that I wanted in under 10 minutes (I did actually time myself). So for anyone asking themselves if the store gives them a better deal than online in the case of cell phones, no it does not. It only gives you the same deal or worse. And you might have to watch the nice melt off someones face.

Cruise

Imagine sitting on a Caribbean beach, drinking rum watching sails break the horizon and listening to the wind play with the palm fronds. Unfortunately, there is not a hilarious pirate with thick black eye liner frolicking around you. Instead there are numerous members of your extended family. I realize not everyones ideal vacation involves a family reunion, mine does.

I went on a cruise with my mom, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Our group was 16 people. As a family we are very close. My family are some of my favorite people on the planet. It is not unusual for us to get together in large groups. Every summer we all make the time to go to our cabin on a lake and spend time together. Water skiing, swimming, boating, games, laughter and fun.

The last time my family all went on a large vacation together was Disney land about 10 years ago. Once again, the group was about 16 people, maybe more maybe less. We all had a blast, and we were due for a new family vacation. My grandmother and mother decided that they wanted to go on a cruise. Then my brother decided that this sounded like a fun vacation too. I was then on board. My grandfather was also coming. From there it mushroomed out into our family, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, basically anyone who wanted to come was invited. We are an inclusive bunch and don't necessarily wait around for an invite for vacation. By the time we all got done we looked and realized that there weren't many people who were staying home.

My mom and I went down to Florida to meet my grandparents and then from there drive down to Miami where we would meet the cruise. The drive down was all well and good, except for my mother being an insane backseat driver, and some minor complications/ disagreements with a GPS. We did end up making it to the cruise.

On the cruise we hung out at the corner of a bar, were served drinks from two bartenders we nic named Guido and Shampoo. I also toured St. Thomas, went snorkeling to a shipwreck, visited a national wildlife park near Samana in the Dominican Republic where there were cave paintings, took a boat ride out to an island where we swam into shore and then drank a stiff drink called painkillers. We went out to eat, and saw shows. One of the better vacations I've ever been on. Not because of the cruise, no offense to the boat while it was impressive, it was the people who made it.

Jobs

Why haven't I written lately? Mostly because I don't really have anything to say. This blog isn't a sounding board for my opinion on world events or a dirge about applying for jobs in a field that I'm new to. It's about my life, events that have happened with people that I come in contact with. I see my life as a series of hilarious stories, and frankly there haven't been many of those stories working at Okemo. I've got some great one-liners don't get me wrong, but they haven't been anything to write to you guys about. But while I have your attention, here are some great Okemo one liners.

Recap: I work at a call center taking reservations for lodging and tickets at a ski resort. I pick up the phone and say 'Okemo lodging, Melissa speaking, how might I help you?' and then I answer questions about Okemo/ help people book lodging.

Customer: "What is in the condo unit I've rented"

me: "A queen size bed in the bedroom, a queen sleeper sofa in the living space, full kitchen and outdoor area"

customer: "What is exactly in the kitchen?"

me "full size oven, refrigerator, microwave, and cookware"

customer "so there's a full size oven?"

me "yes"

customer "are there spices in the unit"

spices? seriously? do you want us to stock the freezer with steak to? how about a 5 course meal already prepared for you and your 2.5 children.

Customer: "What is the nicest place to stay?"

What do you think I can say? Do you honestly think that I'm going to tell people that some properties at this resort that I work at are crap?

Customer: "So I see there's a fire pit where people are making 'smores. Can I do that?"

me: "yes"

customer: "So you're 'smores they're pretty good right, better than other peoples 'smores?"

Better than others 'smores? It's graham cracker, chocolate, and toasted marshmallow how do you mess that up?

Me: "I'm sorry we do not currently have any availability throughout the entire resort"

Customer: "Are you sure?"

Me: "absolutely no availability."

Customer "What about Jackson Gore"

Me: "no"

Customer: "What about the Adams house?"

When we check our lodging we can do a resort wide check, It's like if they continue asking questions something will just magically appear. Another thing about this that gets me is Jackson Gore is a property, and the Adams house is a building within the Jackson Gore property. If we didn't have anything in Jackson Gore, there would definitely be nothing in the Adams house.

Keep in mind that most people are easy enough and understand the things that were being said. Just a few people keep me on my toes and make me laugh when I get off the phone.