Last weekend my mother and brother came to visit. The first day they got here they got dinner for the team and had a pool party at the hotel. On Friday we went to Goblin Valley state park PIC. Pretty cool place about 30 miles away from green river. You can walk and climb all over the place.We went back to green river to see the community center get knocked down. The CMs planned a community day for all to come and witness the tear down. Several community members showed up as well as many kids from the after school program. The kids and community members made pie and there were a bunch of different kids and plenty for everyone. The CMs had cleaned out a lot of stuff from the old community center that could be re-used such as insulation and 2 by 4s, but after the bulldozer and frontloader were done there was still plenty to clean up.
After the knock down I showed my mother and brother the buttes and river in Green River and we continued on to Moab. We walked around town a little bit and had dinner at a local place. It was my first time away from the team AND sleeping more than 5 inches above the floor. Was kind of afraid of rolling out and ending up on the floor but it never happened. On Saturday we went to Arches. Mom got an annual pass for the national parks that I can use and that the family will also use on their trip to Grand Canyon later this year. (Thanks!) We stayed at Arches for a while and did all of the shorter hikes. 
It was nice being able to only have to agree with 2 other people how to spend the day rather than 9 like usual. So simple! We had planned to go to canyonlands (another national park) the next day but it didn’t work out because it was raining and visibility was bad. We started on our way there but as we got higher in elevation it turned to snow, making visibility even worse. 
Instead we headed to grand junction and did a little shopping. Was strange to be in a full size town again, but kind of nice to have the convenience of a variety of stores and restaurants. David got his first taste of sonic, which he would not let me take a picture of. On the last day of the visit we went to the dinosaur museum in grand junction and Colorado national monument. The monument was a giant canyon with many rock formations in the middle of it. The drive was a little nerve-wracking...up and down the side of the cliff, but clearly we made it. I caught the afternoon train out of grand junction back to green river. It was a fairly scenic ride and 2 hours later was back in the little town of green river. Glad mom and david came to visit. It was a great break from my life here.
The team continued to work hard this week, clearing debris into dumpsters from the old community center knockdown. They also tore down the front fascade of the Baxter building and put up some new temporary walls. They finished scraping and polishing all the tiles from the Baxter building that will be re-used. They built a scaffolding to be used to scrape the tiles still bolted into the top of the walls in Baxter that will be repainted. Corps members continue to work in the classrooms at the elementary school, head start program and after school. And those kids are crazy. Many of them come from very large families and need a lot of attention that they probably don’t get at home. So corps members have their hands full.
This past weekend the corps members helped out with the half marathon in Moab for ISP hours. The two girl VISTAs in town were kind enough to let me tag along on their shopping trip to Grand Junction. Didn’t need anything, but the road trip was appreciated. The team stayed in Moab for the night and I joined them on Sunday to go to Arches. I saw some of the same things as the weekend before but also did the hike to delicate arch. It was pretty impressive close up.. PIC The hike was almost all uphill for 1.5 miles there, but of course that means we got to go downhill almost the whole way back too. It was a perfect day, clear and about 55 or 60 degrees. Can’t imagine going to Arches during the summer when its 100 + degrees!
The team continued to work hard this week, clearing debris into dumpsters from the old community center knockdown. They also tore down the front fascade of the Baxter building and put up some new temporary walls. They finished scraping and polishing all the tiles from the Baxter building that will be re-used. They built a scaffolding to be used to scrape the tiles still bolted into the top of the walls in Baxter that will be repainted. Corps members continue to work in the classrooms at the elementary school, head start program and after school. And those kids are crazy. Many of them come from very large families and need a lot of attention that they probably don’t get at home. So corps members have their hands full.This past weekend the corps members helped out with the half marathon in Moab for ISP hours. The two girl VISTAs in town were kind enough to let me tag along on their shopping trip to Grand Junction. Didn’t need anything, but the road trip was appreciated. The team stayed in Moab for the night and I joined them on Sunday to go to Arches. I saw some of the same things as the weekend before but also did the hike to delicate arch. It was pretty impressive close up.. PIC The hike was almost all uphill for 1.5 miles there, but of course that means we got to go downhill almost the whole way back too. It was a perfect day, clear and about 55 or 60 degrees. Can’t imagine going to Arches during the summer when its 100 + degrees!
And we are back to work for our final full week in Green River. The next few weeks are going to be packed with activities! Half the team is going to work at Habitat for Humanity in Castle Dale for the next 2 days, so we will have a quiet house. This is also the last week for the two interns that are here that we’ve become friends with. Hopefully we get to have a fun send off for them this weekend. Tuesday is our last day of work here and Wednesday we begin our 2 day drive back to Sacramento. Am trying to convince the team that they want to float in Salt Lake on the way back because for some reason this is something I want to do…? Will arrive back in Sacramento on Thursday evening. Will spend one night there and then head off on spring break with my 10 favorite team leaders to a house on the coast near San Francisco. Looking forward to our 4 day weekend with some time to relax. Will then be on base in Sacramento doing activities like debriefing our current project, briefing for our next project and completing paperwork until Sunday April 12 when we will leave on our 4.5 day drive to New Orleans. I am never going to know where I am when I wake up…
