June 29, 2009

Saturday was highway cleanup day for the refuge. We have 2 miles of highway we adopted....it was a breeze! Not anything like cleaning the Texas highways. I am so disappointed in my state!!!! We had a cookout and fishing day after the cleanup!! Fun day!

Sunday we were supposed to power wash the 5th wheel, truck and jeep but decided to be tourists instead. We went to Taos, Angel Fire and Red River, NM. Nice drive and fun day.

Today was another work day, drat!! Mike had to do his online Defensive Driving course...BORING!!! I worked on getting the Visitor Center ready to open this weekend. I had signs printed for the highway. San Luis Valley is the land of tomorrow...my signs were scheduled to be ready Friday...went to pick them up this morning and "Oh, the will be ready tomorrow!!"

June 26, 2009

Yesterday we played tourist again. We went to Chimney Rock archaeological dig....the brochures say they have kennelSSSS for your pets because they are not allowed at the dig....NOT SO!!! They have 1 kennel and it already had a dog with several others waiting.. That trip is for another day (again) when we can leave CoCoa in Alamosa. It was still a great day....beautiful drive.

Today we stayed home and did the necessary housework. LAUNDRY, VACUUMING, ETC. Mike installed 2 electric plugs for me. YEA!!

June 23, 2009

Another fun filled day!! Mike had the YCC kids paint the posts today......what a joke. I don't think any of them had ever painted before. They had more paint on them than on the posts. Nice yellow kids!!!!

I worked on getting the Visitor Center ready to open this weekend. It is a great interactive center. The former refuge environmental education person did so much work. Lots of hands on activities.

June 22, 2009

Monday and back to work....Mike had several of the YCC (Youth Conservation Corps) kids help him today. They poured concrete to set the 6ft metal posts around the fuel tanks. Hard day for Mike, we are so NOT used to physical work any more. On the other hand, I spent 5 boring hours in front of the computer taking a required Defensive Driving Course....BORING!!! The up side is that Mike has to do the same course. The next class we both have to take is for ATV's. Mike has already taken the certification courses for Agriculture Tractors and Heavy Equipment. Such fun working for the Fish & Wildlife Service.

June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day to all you guys!! It is a beautiful, sunny, nice 80 degree day. We started our day getting up early to go trout fishing***not my idea but not my day***caught 6 nice keepers so guess what's for dinner!! In the afternoon we rode over to the bluff overlook on the NWR. Saw several elk, pelicans, hawks, prarie dogs and many ducks.

Friday (19th) we drove to Elizabeth, CO to check on the kid's house. It has been empty for almost a year and the weather is starting to affect it. They have had a small roof leak, minimal damage but damage nonetheless. The livingroom ceiling has water damage to the texture. They are going to have to file an insurance claim as Dad can't fix this one.

Saturday (20th) was a dreary day....overcast most of the day. We had plans to do lots of outdoor stuff but NO. Watched movies, read and played cards. Still a fun day. Today is our baby girl's birthday. Happy Birthday Tanya.

June 18, 2009

Totally finished with the Kid's Fishing Day.....got the press release with photos to the paper and got all the thank you letters out to the merchants for all the door prizes. YEA!!! Now I am working on getting the Visitor Center open and ready for the season. That is next weeks project.

Mike has been taking DOI computer training all day....privacy act, information security, etc. Now he can take some online courses for DOI certification to run the machines he has been running for years....tractors, mowers, skid loaders, backhoes, etc. Of course, these certificates will make him much more marketable....need to put that guy to work!!!

The weather has gotten so much better!! Highs in the 80's and lows in the high 50's. I might survive up here after all.

June 17, 2009

Monday was spent with followup doctors visits. Everything is good!!! Actually, Mike got a really good physical....better than he has in a long time. Then last night, he had to do another sleep study for his sleep apnea. They were checking to see if the settings are good for this altitude....they are. So, now we are cleared to go to higher elevations after another 2 weeks. We plan to go river rafting as soon as we can. Even though it is about another 1,000 feet higher, we did go check out some rafting companies in Creed.....Mike only got out of the jeep long enough to go into one of the companies. He could feel the higher altitude so down we came!

June 14, 2009

Nice lazy day after a very hectic week! Mostly just stayed home and did all the necessary stuff----laundry, vacuum and shampoo carpet, etc. The wind picked up early today (before noon) so most things needed to be done inside. The weather had not been as promised---Floyd told us "warm with light breezes". HA!HA! So far I think the highest has been 75 with strong winds every afternoon. It gets into the lower 40's each night with down to freezing a couple of nights. Come on summer!!!

June 13, 2009

The Fishing Day turned out very good!! We had a couple of hundred people (kids and parents). They only caught 4 of the tagged fish----I was so worried they would catch all 40 of the tagged fish and I would not have enough prizes. Well, we had enough prizes that all of the kids got a prize plus Wendy's gave us over 300 coupons for free Frosty's so they got those also. All of the kids had a great time. Because they put 1,000 trout in this small pond and only about 200 were caught, we are going to have special groups come fishing over the next 2 weeks. This is a spring runoff fed pond so it will dry up during the summer.....want all of the fish caught before then. Maybe tomorrow Mike & I will go fishing....nice trout dinner sounds nice.

June 11, 2009

YEA!! Finished collecting all of the prizes for our Kid's Fishing Day. We collected more prizes than we have tagged fish so we will be able to have several drawings during the day.

Mike is so much better...thank goodness. Prayers ARE answered!

June 10, 2009

This is a much better day!!! Mike was release from the hospital yesterday, the original diagnosis of Acute Altitude Sickness was also the final diagnosis. Still, he had to go back a couple of hours later for a stress test. All results came back good (no signs of pulmonary or cardio vascular disease). I was in the room while he did the stress test and watched the films of his heart....looked good to me. He is feeling much better. We won't be doing any hiking at higher elevations for a few weeks. He should be adjusted to the altitude by then.

Our Kid's Fishing Day is starting to come together nicely....we have all of the prizes, the 1,000 fish have been delivered, newspaper and radio releases have been scheduled, mowed around the pond....now just wait for the big day! Of course, we are hoping for better weather than today. It has been COLD (high of 53) and overcast or rainy all day......somebody forgot to tell Colorado that it is summer! Can Texas please, please share some of their heat.!!!!

June 8, 2009

The weather this weekend was not the best.....lots of wind and very cool. Saturday we did some more sightseeing and Sunday we just kinda hung around home. Watched movies and cleaned the house. All in all, a good weekend.

Then today was a mess!! We started off our work week okay, collecting for the Kid's Fishing Day went good. Got some really great prizes. Mike was still having trouble adjusting to the altitude...short of breath and chest pressure. We decided to stop by the clinic to have it checked out.....next thing, he is in the hospital. They are just being cautious because he is diabetic and has a family history of heart trouble. They are keeping him overnight to be sure but the preliminary diagnosis of Altitude Sickness still stands.

June 5, 2009

This was our first full day off this week. We are only assigned Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays but I am still collecting prizes for the fishing day so off to the merchants we went. Walmart finally came thru with a $50 gift card. Some of the local merchants were very supportive (fishing poles, backpacks and many meal coupons).

We hiked to the base of Zapata Falls today. You have to hike thru COLD water to get to the falls. That is saved for next week when we are better prepared (water socks) and maybe a little warmer. It is an easy hike (1/4 mile) but it climbs over 500ft in that short distance. We are both having a little trouble getting used to the altitude. We also hike the sand dunes. Check out the tiny prickly pear with a big sign....definitely not our Texas pear. The horse cripplers were in beautiful bloom.

June 3, 2009

We just completed our first week of work this season. Tuesday was the most fun. We toured all three refuges and met the other volunteer couples.

Monte Vista and Alamosa NWR's are close to town and are like most of the refuges we have visited throughout the country. Baca; however, is much different. It backs up to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It is a 94,000 acre 1800 Spanish Land Grant ranch. The refuge system acquired the ranch in 2006, until then it was a working cattle ranch. There are still several old buildings dating back to the 1800's. The plan is for us to switch sites the middle of July with the couple that is parked up there. Am really looking forward to that. Baca has several large herds of elk.

On our way back to Monte Vista, we went thru a hail storm. The hail is much different than we are used to.....it was soft. Just like driving thru snow. The weather has been cool and wet but we are assured this is not normal. We are ready for warm dry weather.