20,000 plants in the City of Gresham

Welcome to Boring, Oregon

Service, Adventures, and the End of Round 1

Green 2 Holiday Flip Book

Happy Holidays From Green 2!

Having a Sierra Nevada Journey at Grizzly Creek Ranch

I am now a full three weeks through my first project as an AmeriCorps NCCC Team Leader. It has been a bit of an adjustment getting better acquainted with the project life of a Team Leader as opposed to the project life of a Corps Member. Work on this project has been a bit of a struggle and I have to make sure to always to keeping one step ahead of the project list, always anticipating when a project will be complete so we are ready for the next agenda item. Work is constantly changing and we are flying through projects.

Some work we have done includes...

Fuel Reduction, using chainsaws and buck up "ladder fuel" on the forest floor

Then splitting that wood and transferring it down to the camp to be used as firewood

Installing snow poles along the road to camp so that the driveway can be plowed when it snows

(Break time)

Refinishing outdoor furniture (Before)

(During)

Refinishing camp entry archways

And all sorts of other odds and ends.

In other news, yesterday was both our midsite visit and my birthday! It was the best birthday present to have Katie and Jeanine come visit. And hopefully the meetings during the visit will prove helpful in making the second half of our project as successful as possible.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

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.

NCCC Has Hops

One of the Class XVIII Corps Members made this video and showed it at our final Community Meeting at the end of CTI. My dance ended up on the cutting room floor, but I still thoroughly enjoy the video and hope you all do. Video Credit goes to Corey from Silver 5.