July 30, 2009

WooHoo!!!??!! Our safety inspection is over....did get some gigs but also got some kudos. All in all, it went okay. Floyd, the Alamosa/Monte Vista Refuge Manager, has been here less than 1 year and badly needs an assistant. The refuges are 20 miles apart with totally separate needs...hard, hard job but he does good work.

That has been our entire at work focus this whole week. Monday was spent doing last minute preparations for the inspection. Tuesday, we drove to Denver for personal business.....long day, long drive. Yesterday and today was the actual inspection.

Now we have three days off...what will we do????

July 26, 2009

Another fun filled sightseeing day!!!! We finally made to to Summit Pass, this is the same road where we were stopped by a snow bank in June. Of course, there is still some snow along the road. It was an interesting drive in the rain, the roads are slick, muddy and steep along the Alamosa river!!!! There were lots of pretty wildflowers, sheep and cattle. I was disappointed by the town of Summitville....it is a ghost town. The mines in that area were uranium mines and have all been closed. With special funding from the government they are cleaning up the area and decontaminating the soil.

Would be nice if someone were to let Colorado know it's summer.....it is 64 degrees!!! It was funny to us Texans, it was 82 last week and everyone was complaining of the heat.

July 25, 2009

Well, it was bound to happen****THE DREADED MOUSE!!!! Because we are parked in a field and have several empty buildings around us, it is no surprise. SOOOOO today has been spent cleaning out the basement OOPS!!??!! IT found our bag of sunflower seeds for the birds, now it's mostly shells all over the place!!!! Vacuumed, threw away things and gave others to Goodwill.....hadn't planned on cleaning out the basement now but it worked out for the better. We have lots more storage space than we did. Tomorrow we will tackle the inside...the mouse didn't make it that far but we are going to put mouse packets under the bed, in the bottom of the closet and the backs of the cabinets. Can't be too prepared!!

Thursday, we made a quick trip to Home Depot and Sam's in Pueblo. Mike is building me a cabinet/end table to store my craft stuff. We bought the wood and hardware for the cabinet and some groceries. It is a pretty drive and Pueblo is a nice town. Yesterday, we used the wonderful carpenter shop at Monte Vista NRW. All the latest tools and lots of room to use them. Mike has finished building the cabinet. Now we are working on staining it. Will be really nice with lots of storage.

July 22, 2009

I need to keep reminding myself this is a volunteer position...we are only scheduled to work 24 hours a week but somehow when Floyd asks we always say yes. We have been working for the last 5 days updating the fire extinguishers for all 3 refuges before next weeks safety inspection. Lots of miles, hours and still not finished but are taking off until Monday!! Time for fun!!

I worked at the Visitor Center this weekend...SO MUCH BETTER!!! We had several family groups that really enjoyed the center. I had one family with 5 little ones under 8 that stayed for almost 2 hours. Such fun!!!! Cute kids. My sign is working.

July 17, 2009

We have been playing the last 2 days. We took the boat to the Smith Reservoir. It was a really small lake. Lots of ducks and pelicans! It was a nice outing. Along the way we spotted several mustard fields in full bloom....pretty.

We went to Saguache County today. It is a really nice area. The county museum was so interesting and the ladies giving the tour were so much fun.

Wednesday we went to Baca NWR (part of the San Luis Valley NWR Complex). It was an 1840 Spanish land grant ranch before being willed to the public. It was a working ranch until a few years ago. There are several old buildings...bunkhouses, barns, etc. Such a great place. Check out the old fire extinguisher!

The cat is Bridget, the office cat and our neighbor. Plus the prairie dogs, coyotes and the great horned owls.

July 13, 2009

Another day, another dollar. I think that's about right!!! We are getting paid this time but not much. If you consider we get our FHU site, laundry, propane, etc. guess it's okay. Sure is fun!!!

Mike is working on new kiosks for the refuges. They will have all of the rules for the duck hunters and different seasonal information. He is going to have to use a backhoe to set them as they are HEAVY (4' x 6' treated wood).

My project (didn't even get the option of if or not I choose to accept it) is to find all of the fire extinguishers on all 3 refuges. We are scheduled for a safety inspection the first part of September. All of the buildings, equipment and vehicles need current extinguishers. What a job!!! The refuges are 20 to 60 miles apart so lots of driving. Most of the ones I have located so far have not been inspected since 2003.

July 12, 2009

The most interesting thing we did this week was taking an ATV certified safety course. In order to be able to use the Refuge ATVs, we are required to be certified. I spent the last several work days arranging this class. I set it up as an inter-agency (BLM, Forrest Service and us) class. We were scheduled to have several students; however, we ended up with only 4 students......just us volunteers from the Refuge. It was a fun class and now we qualify to rent an ATV.

I am very disappointed with the coverage of the visitor center this weekend. The volunteer that worked this weekend did not put up the open signs on the highway!!???!! Without those signs, nobody knows the VC is open.

July 7, 2009

We worked the visitor center this weekend. Friday was very disappointing as we only had 6 visitors but it picked up Saturday and Sunday. The visitor center has not been open for several years so it will take some time for the area residents to be aware of it's reopening.

We have been playing tourist for the last 2 days. Of course, we had to start off the day with a trip around the wildlife loop for another duck picture. The first stop was Creede to see the old mines, once again we drove thru rain and hail???? What's with this weather? After lunch we drove up to the Royal Gorge area. We did not ride the train as once again had CoCoa with us. We have a friend here in Alamosa that has kindly offered to CoCoa sit for us any time...we will be taking her up on that offer as we want to do several train rides. We spent the night in Salida. Today we visited Cannon City...a friend of ours from Colorado was "Mountain Woman of the Year" several years ago...we wondered if this store was named after her. She is such a neat lady!!!!

We took back roads over the mountains for the return trip. We have several new rattles in the jeep after thoses roads!!! The sights were worth it....beautiful flowers, mountians, etc.

And now back to the real world....dishes, laundry, etc.

July 3, 2009

So far, this has been a very disappointing day!!! We worked hard to get the Visitor Center ready to open this weekend....cleaned the center from top to bottom, got my signs made, got a new coffee pot, etc. Put the new signs out on the highway before 10am and it is now 3:30pm....one couple!!! VERY DISAPPOINTING!! It is a wonderful visitor center, lots of hands on activities. I think people are so used to it being closed they don't realize it what a treat it is for the kids. Hopefully, my signs will attract people. I think they are going to use the month of July as the test...if there are is not enough activity, then they will close the center. Such a shame.

The wildlife loop was great today. Ruddy Ducks, Cinnamon Teals, Mule deer, and a couple of Sandhill Cranes that are not supposed to be here at this time of year!