After an easy arrival at Grizzly Creek Ranch on a beautiful sunny day, a blanket of snow transformed the landscape at our new home. Our first night at Camp we accompanied camp staff and a middle school group on a night hike through the snow and we awoke the next morning in a winter wonderland with a day full of shoveling ahead of us. But I am getting ahead of myself, no where in this explanation is there any account of the gigantic snowball pictured above. The first prank of the Green 2 year was upon us when the girls found ourselves nearly trapped in our cabin by this monstrosity.
Luckily there was a back door to the cabin and the snowball proved entertaining to all involved.
With the snow our first few days were a little different than originally planned. But by the second week at camp we were finally able to participate in the camp's challenge course led by GCR staff educators Denise and Adam. It was an absolutely wonderful day for the team: challenging for the group and for individuals, and fun for all.
Particularly exciting was the end of the day on the alpine tower (pictured below) and an element called the flying squirrel, where we sent eachother (safely) flying into the air.
Grizzly Creek Ranch is absolutely beautiful and while the education staff is still here it is wonderful to have other young and adventurous people around. Sadly they are all slowly leaving for the season and we are quickly becoming the only people around.The work here has been moving fairly slowly and has been hard to find at times. I find there is a lot to be done, but not a great understanding of how to organize the work that surrounds us. Still, the team is flying through projects and finding ways to enjoy our time in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas.
Trips to Reno have proved entertaining as well. Our first week of work included a trip to the Sierra Nevada Journeys Offices in Reno. It was wonderful to meet the rest of the SNJ staff and learn more about all of the work the organization accomplishes in the Reno area. Each staff member talked to us about their hopes for the future of SNJ and then all joined us for a pizza lunch and game of two truths and a lie. The trip to the office was followed by exploring downtown and grocery shopping. We will continue to drive to Reno once a week for groceries, as the one market in Portola, "Leonards" is hardly in our price range. Portola as a town has very little to offer though the team has been drawn in by a few thrift stores in town.
