Work In Progress

Whew.

So I finally made it to a library and a free computer. We have a computer at the base camp, but it's a communal one, and I don't feel right taking up so much time on it. So I drove to the not-so-tiny town next door and found the library, which is quaint and awesome. They have cats. Just walking around and following the patrons. I've seen two so far, one black with green eyes who looks just like my cat at home and another who's got some white patches and is chubbier. They're both really subdued and let you pet them. But enough about the cats!

So what have I been up to? Orientation was last Wednesday to Friday at a camp in southern Maine. We learned some first aid, did some team-building things. On Friday morning we finally learned who would be on our teams for the summer and what our projects would be. Then they let us loose for the weekend! So I spent Friday night and Saturday with my mom and aunt in Auburn and Boothbay. We went on a whale tour, on which I promptly got seasick. Not too bad, but enough to make me nauseated and sleepy the rest of the day. I got some good pictures though!

Sunday, I drove over to the Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor area to meet up with a few people in my group. We camped in Lamoine State Park, right near the water, and I grabbed some nice shots of the sunset. On my way from Augusta to Bar Harbor, I passed at least eight used book stores. I wanted to stop at all of them! I ended up stopping at one, which was this huge, three-story barn that sold antiques as well as used books. They had some signed Terry Goodkind books, which would have been really neat to have, but they also would have made a nice little dent into my budget.

Wednesday, we reported back to HQ and drove to our base camp. We actually got to work with tools yesterday, and we learned to side hill, dig water bars, and dig ditches and drains. Woo.

About base camp - it's a sheep farm. There aren't sheep there yet, but there are supposed to be by next week. We have lofted tents and cots, which is a bit nicer and feels a bit more permanent than sleeping on the ground. As I mentioned before, there's a computer. There's also wireless internet, which is no use to me since I did not bring my computer. With such decent technology, you'd think they'd have nice facilities as well. But we've got three outhouses and no showers. I used to joke about taking weekly showers and now that's coming back to bite me in the butt. Our work schedule is Saturday to Wednesday, so when we get back from our work/camp sites on Wednesday afternoon, they take us to the local YMCA to get showers and do laundry. Sounds like heaven, right?

We pack up tonight for our first assignment, which is at Rainbow Lake on the AT. Our gear's getting flown in (we have to hike), which is pretty cool, but we have to lug it all back out, so we'll see how that goes . . . I think that's it for now. I'm going to explore the library a bit more!

A few random things before I go: There are Moose crossing signs on the highway. Yeah, I'm going to need a little sticker or magnet of one for a souvenir, lol. And in Augusta, there was an AHOP - Augusta House of Pancakes. How fantastic is that? Haha, until next time!