Washed Ashore

Last round in AmeriCorps! Hang on to your seats cuz it's gonna be a crazy ride! Heading into this round, we were all very anxious to see what was in store. We knew the type of work that we would be doing (beach clean ups, building sculptures, giving tours in the exhibit), but we also had to prepare for some living arrangements that none of us were really used to. That's camping for 6 weeks, cooking off of a 2 burner Coleman grill and storing our food in the back of a truck. It's not the worst living scenario but it's still something that we would have to adapt to as a team.

Blue 4 headed to Bandon, Oregon, located oceanside in Southwest corner of Oregon. We took two vehicles. Blue Ox, of course, and also the newest member of Blue 4: The Ambassador. I had the honor of driving the Ambassador, a beast 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 to Oregon from Sacramento. We arrived safely to Bandon, Oregon on June 3, set up camp and prepared for work the following day. 

The Ambassador and Myself <3

The Man-Cave. Home of Hunter, Michael, and myself

We were given a tour of all the beaches we will be cleaning up by our coworkers Justin and Abe. We swung by Art 101, where we process all the garbage that we found, and went to the Washed Ashore exhibit, where Angela, the founder of the organization was. We were given a more thorough tour of the exhibit, learning about all sorts of neat stuff!

We began working with Washed Ashore by doing beach clean ups. Here, we would walk 4-6 miles each way, sometimes in 60 MPH winds, dragging 100 pounds of debris back to the Blue OX. You can say that this helped us stay in shape. We would find tires, water bottles, fishing gear, styrofoam, and so much more! 

Hard Days Work

  After collecting the debris, we brought it to Art 101 to clean it, sort it, and cut it into pieces for the sculpture. Inside the yurt, we would jam out to everything from African Grooves, to the 1998 Grammy Awards show, to the Beatles. It was a blast working in here. 

We would then bring the art supplies to the Washed Ashore exhibit, where we would help volunteers put together the pieces properly. Since Bandon is a tourist town, many of the volunteers are actually tourists from all over the globe. We also gave tours of the exhibit. Having to interact with people from different backgrounds was very interesting. Some people were so shocked by the amount of debris that has been collected off the beaches. Some were disgusted, as one lady even said that "We all deserve to go to hell!", and some were hopeful because they finally saw people taking action in cleaning up the beaches. Too get a small electronic glimpse of these sculptures, click THIS LINK. 

To receive a tour of the exhibit by Curly and Cactus, just click the Play button!! 

Blue 4 had a blast working with Washed Ashore. We met some very amazing people, including Mary Johnson, who made sure Blue 4 was spoiled beyond belief. For Father's Day, she invited the team over to her house and BBQ chicken and ribs. Like I said, she SPOILED us. A fun fact about Mary, she has one of the greatest voices on this planet. Her band, Done Deal, played on the 4th of July and Blue 4 was there for the bands support!

For our last day of work, Angela invited Blue 4 over, as well as all the coworkers and some volunteers. She has a beautiful house on a lake and we went swimming, at fish and 50 pounds more of food, had a jam session, made s'mores, and even lit of fireworks. It was a great day and I will never forget how much fun we had in Bandon, Oregon. Finishing out the last work day of AmeriCorps NCCC was a very strange feeling. Packing the tents into the Ambassador, and throwing our red bags into the Blue Ox was also a very strange feeling. Washed Ashore treated us very well and they will forever be in my heart. Thanks for reading the Round 4 update, and I will have one more blog to conclude the overall experience. 

Dumpster Diving!

Our entertainment

Free Spirit!

Typical Oregon Coast Scenery

How do you lose an engine block?!

Sea Life!

Round 3: Camp Marston!

On April 1, 2013, Blue 4 packed the Blue Ox and hit the road for Round 3 with destination: Julian, CA on the map. It took 8 hours to travel from Sacramento, through LA and to climb the mountains to reach Julian. Julian was actually founded during the Gold Rush. It was a blast learning about the history of the town and with the small town in mind, we were not quite sure on what to expect of Camp Marston. We were told that we would be living in yurts with no electricity, but we'd be fed every meal. We were also told that the main focus was trail work. As all projects have been, our expectations were absolutely blown away. We arrived at Camp Marston in the afternoon, throwing our bags into stand-up tents with electricity (BOO-YAH!), and headed to the dining hall for supper. With our first impression of camp being 200 kids yelling "WELCOME AMERICORPS!," we knew that there was already something special about this place.

Food First!

Not only are our meals prepared for us, but they also spoil us. A well balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, meat, bread, etc. makes the hard work that we do worth while! It also gives us something to look forward to. Ohh, did I mention that desert is almost as amazing as my mother's?! I said ALMOST! No one can beat momma's homemade cookies and cinnamon rolls ;)

One of the best meals at Camp! (I'll say that about every meal, actually)

The RainTree Trail

Our very first day of work at Camp Marston consisted of closing down the RainTree Trail and building a switchback right next to it. The old trail was worn down and was actually a hazard for hikers to walk on. Camp Marston is also home to the RainTree Ranch which has horses in the summer and has a "Western" feel and look to it. Since campers walk back and forth using the RainTree Trail, it was essential to finish this project as soon as possible. So we ripped out the rail road tie steps and rebar,covered it with fallen branches, and used a deer trail as a the blue print for the new RainTree Trail switchback. We had the RainTree Trail dug out and widened in a few short days and before we knew it, we were working on building more new trails and widening some old trails. However, the following week Cactus and I were given a mission which was to build steps on the RainTree Trail. One of the maintenance fellas, John Smith, brought up a generator, drill saw, jackhammer, and more smaller tools so we can git'r done! We started at the bottom of the trail and put in 7 steps or so. With a few steps in between the bottom of the trail and the top, the main focus was at the top, where it was almost impossible to walk down without sliding down like Tony Hawk. Cactus and I put in 18 steps at the top of the stairs. It took about a week and a half to finish the steps, but we finished! The clay that we had to clear away was thicker than anything we'd imagine. We would pull out chunks bigger than softballs but this allowed for a more enjoyable time with the jackhammer. Once we'd clear away the clay, we'd lay down a railroad tie, level it, drill in 2 holes, and sludge hammer the 30" rebar pieces into them and voila! Steps. It became a very enjoyable project that we took a lot of pride in when it was finally finished.

Cactus drilling!

Myself with Hammer, Jack

Not only are we hard workers, but we're also cheesy...

I'm pretty level headed.

The stairs are complete! 

San Diego! (Or Sandy Eggo's)

My love for baseball is huge. I love my Milwaukee Brewers! So I decided that since we're 1.5 hours from San Diego, that I should see if my teams coming to town. Sure enough, they were! Hunter said he'd tag along for a trip to the city. We took 2 out of our 3 personal days and headed to San Diego on a Monday and returned Tuesday night. Our project sponsor, Simon, gave us a 30 minute ride to Ramona to rent a car. Since they don't accept out of state credit cards, he had to drive us another 15 minutes to Powway. There, we waited 2 hours for a car. Eventually we got the car. We would not have been able to go if Simon wasn't so amazing. You can only meet him to truly understand. A friend we made who works weekend at Camp Marston, Kim, let us crash at her house. A HUGE shout out to her because she showed us around the city and put up with us for those 2 days. When we first arrived, we were hungry so the 3 of us went to a vegan restaurant. That's right, I, Connor Daniels, ate a vegan meal. We then headed to the beach for a little bit. We jumped in the ocean, avoiding the chances of being bit by sharks and stung by stingrays. Then we took a stroll along the tourist section and bought some shirts. Hunter and I headed to the game after that. The stadium is really nice, but doesn't have nearly as much life as Miller Park. The game was phenomenal though, as Brauny Boy and Yuni-B jacked homers and scored 5 runs in the first. When we first arrived, I was receiving some words for my Braun jersey, something about steroids or some false accusations along those lines. I talked to these two men, lifelong fans of the Padres who have visited about half the parks in the MLB. Throughout the game, I talked straight up baseball with them. I later on convinced them to visit Miller Park. They both looked at the schedule, and agreed to go to the series at Miller Park in late July. Anyways, the Brewers won 7-1 and walked out of that stadium with a huge smile on my face. 

On Tuesday, Hunter and I went to Balboa Park and walked around the garden there. We walked past a few museums and Sea World, but didn't have enough time for either attraction as we had to return the car. We went to see the USS Midway but didn't go on the tour. The ship is massive though, and I would really like to go back to enjoy San Diego some more. The trip was a success!

A Moment of Silence was held for the Boston Marathon Victims

Hunter sporting his AmeriCorps sweatshirt and I

Late night stroll across this gnarly pedestrian bridge

Hunter, Kim, and I at the beach!

USS Midway

Spazzy Cactus thing at Balboa Park

Paintball Land

While Hunter and I were in San Diego, the team built a lasso ring at the RainTree Ranch. Using the skills acquired throughout that project, the team applied them to the next project, building a shade shelter at the Slingshot Range. We got to work with Darin, who is basically the man in charge of Camp Marston and RainTree. He has a strong background in construction, so we were well off. We marked off the ground, dug holes, leveled out the holes, poured concrete, put in the brackets and 4X4's, and took off from there. We finished the project by hanging a camoflouge netting as the shade. It turned out very well and we were the first ones to shoot paintballs in the new building! 

The team in action

Blue 4 with the final result!

Amphitheater!

Our last project with Camp Marston was pouring cement around a campfire and building an amphitheater style seating around the fire pit. We poured cement, leveled it all out, and added salt for special effects. It turned out really nice, and now the real fun can begin. We had to dig 48 holes total, but were lucky enough to rent an auger. We put in 4 sections of seating, with 4 rows in each section. While half the team worked with Darin, pouring concrete into holes and leveling out the posts, Molly, Cactus, and I began to make the benches. We cut up the boards, sanded them, routed them to give it a cleaner edge, and then stained the bench pieces. Towards the end of the project, we were really getting the hang of it. We ended up finishing the project on our last day of work scheduled at Camp Marston. It was a very cool project that I'm fortunate to be a part of. Darin had a lot of patience with us as we gradually got the hang of things. 

I was the only who could reach the fire pit once the cement was poured. Thanks for the long legs, mother!
*This picture was posted by Simon on the Camp Marston Facebook Page. 

Amphitheater in Progress

Final result view from the RainTree Trail

Independent Service Projects

In AmeriCorps, we have to do 80 hours of Independent Service Project's (ISP's), which is volunteering at organization's outside of our work time. Silver 5 was in Julian, California as well so we teamed up with them for 3 different ISP events. The first was working at a Bluegrass festival in Ramona, CA, 30 minutes from Julian. We put in roughly 18 hours that weekend. It was a pretty relaxed ISP, as I worked "security" backstage. Basically, I just talked to bands the entire night. Doing this ISP was pretty nice because it allowed us to get to know Silver 5. 

Yee-Haw!

Shaya and Kelsey from Silver 5, and me

We also had the opportunity to work at Hearts and Hands, an animal shelter for exotic animals, more or less. They had miniature horses, cows, donkeys, regular size camels, Mongolian horses, donkeys, camels, zebras, zebra/horses (zorses), and more! We cleared out a lot of overgrown brush and were rewarded with petting the animals. It was a very unique ISP to say the least. 

Mohawk Camel, that's whats up.

Zebra!

Another ISP we did with Silver 5 was working at the 33rd Annual Ramona Rodeo! Now this was pretty sweet, as Ariel and I were put on VIP Security the first day, then Liz and I the following day doing the same job. We got to sit in the front row and watch the entire rodeo. The dodge ram trucks, Coors Light advertising, and redneck atmosphere reminded me of Country Thunder. 

The wonderful Liz and I working security. 

As you can tell, Blue 4 did a lot this round. We experienced a lot that the Julian area had to offer, and we got to work with some amazing people. If you can recall the fire of 2003 in the San Diego County, it actually started in Julain. The fire came within a few hundred feet of the Camp, but the smoke caused the city of San Diego to be on lock down. Around Camp Marston, there are many burnt down trees still, and when the Outdoor Education staff take the kids out, they will ask the students if they remember the fire. A few do, even  though they were toddlers when the fire came around. It's an amazing area with so much nature, as we live at 4,300 feet above sea level. There are rattle snakes, tarantulas, mountain lions, deer, turkeys, and so much more. Also, because of this project I have a new favorite tree. The Manzanita Tree is a beast that only grows in the mountains of SoCal.

Me standing in the trunk of a burnt down tree

I didn't even come close to explaining everything the we did at Camp Marston. We brought the garden on Camp back to life, we removed wooden panels, scrapped, and painted the basement and stairwell of one of their lounges, expanded and created many trails, cleared logs from a dried up pond, and even got to shadow the Outdoor Education (OE) instructors for a few days. Everything we did at Camp Marston we enjoyed. I would personally like to thank the OE staff for welcoming us with open arms and allowing us to be a part of your camp family. Also, for letting me be a part of your volleyball team for a few weeks!

The maintenance guys for putting up with these young adults. Dale especially, because he lent us his fishing poles so we could relax every now and then. 

Thank You Dale!

Also John, for being there to help us throughout the course of our time here. JC, for trying to convince me to join the Navy. Dani was always willing to help us out by bringing tools to the project site.

Everyone we met at Camp had a huge smile on their face. We became family at Camp Marston and it was very hard to leave. I hope to return soon. THANK YOU CAMP MARSTON!

Simon, Myself, and Darin

Me and John Smith

Blue 4 and Camp Marston!

Going Coastal!

Talk about a drastic change, Blue 4 went from the hectic streets of Queens, New York to the quiet shores of Vashon Island. Arriving to Vashon Island by ferry on February 8, we instantly fell in love with the area. We had a three day weekend to explore Camp Sealth and all that it has to offer. I was able to walk on the shore, taking in the amazing view of the Pudget Sound and take hikes up the massive hills and all around the camp. The scenery was overwhelming and there was so much nature in just a small little island. With bald eagles, black tailed deer, seals, sea otters, and the sea life, there was plenty of nature to experience! We were introduced to our on-site supervisors, Steve and Chad, on the first day there. Along with meeting them and the staff, we had to come up with camp names. Naturally, mine was “Curly.”

Our first task was to remove beach logs that washed up over the winter’s storms. The logs took 6 of us at a time to move because they constantly sit in water. The tide comes and goes every day and is actually one of the coolest things I've noticed about the island. Sometimes the water will be crashing against the rocks, covering the entire shore and other times the water will be lowered about 40-50 feet, allowing us to walk that far on the beach. We had to take the tide into consideration whenever we did work on the beach. Once we removed all the logs, the chain sawyers did what they do best while the rest of us split the logs. We also had the opportunity to rebuild a bridge on one of the trails, which required 6 of us hauling logs quarter of a mile into the slope changing woods. It took us the entire morning just to get the supplies to the spot. We finished the project right away once everything was there and made the bridge looked brand new.

High tide

Low Tide

Beach Logs!

One of the main projects that Chad and Steve had us do was remove the docks from the Sound. This required the entire team’s cooperation. We removed the docks in pieces and brought them to shore. Once we pushed them ashore, we flipped them upside down, and that’s where the fun began. We remove the docks because sea life attached to them, eventually weighing them down and causing them to wear out faster. When we saw the sea life underneath the docks, we were like children in a candy factory. Well, we didn’t eat the sea life, just went crazy when we saw the astonishing variety. The star fish were bigger than my head, and I have a pretty big head. There were hundreds of anemone, small star fish, muscles, and other species that I have no idea the name. It was a really cool experience to see this sea life in person, and we tried to salvage as much as we could. We had to set the docks up for a week to let them dry out. A week later, we came back and it smelled like the complete opposite of a candle shop. It was nasty! We had to scrape off all the dead sea life and then thoroughly clean the docks. It was not the most enjoyable job that we’ve had, but we saved the camp $10,000 by cleaning it so that made us feel much better about completing the job.

Bigger than my head. NO JOKE

One of my team positions is a POL (Project Outreach Liaison), which means that I have to reach out to other potential organizations that might be interested in hosting AmeriCorps NCCC team. While me and a few teammates were eating dinner at a pizza restaurant in the little town of Vashon, a lady approached us and thanked us for being here. She told us how she used to be the director of the camp and is currently involved with the Rotary Club on the island. She explained how she wants to host a team for the island, and I got her contact information. After coordinating with her and Camp Sealth, I hosted a Community Service Day at the camp. 7 Rotary Club members came out for 3 hours and worked alongside us, remove brushes off of a hill. This allowed the Rotary Club get a feel for how AmeriCorps NCCC works, while we learned how the Rotary Club works, and at the same time, Camp Sealth is getting renovations. The Community Service Day went very well and they are now in the process of applying for a team!

Blueberry Hill- Midway through

Blueberry Hill after

The hill that we worked on is called Blueberry Hill. This hill was completely covered with invasive species, trees, and brushed. As a team, we tackled this hill and cleared out all the invasive species and unnecessary trees in about 5 days. I don’t think Chad and Steve were expecting us to completely gut out the hill, but needless to say, they were impressed with our work. All the trees were sent through the wood chipper and the brushed were set a fire! (Which I was in charge of)

We were able to refurbish a deck on one of the cabins, putting up new beams and flooring. This was a pretty awesome project because we were given electric saws and hammers. It’s a perfect combination to get the job done while having fun.

Some of you may have already heard, but I started a little YouTube adventure show called “The Curly and Cactus Show!” The show has been an internet sensation (34 views) and we are taking the phrase “YouTube Sensations” to a new level. Check it out RIGHT HERE!!!

I also had the opportunity to visit Seattle for a day with some friends, and we went to Pikes Place, eat sushi, and roam the streets. It was definitely a great visit, but it rained towards the end! Apparently it rains a lot in Washington. Who would've thought?!

Well, I hope I didn’t bore you with this blog update.  I will be coming out with another update within the month, giving a summary of my experience here in Camp Marsten in Julian, California. Too keep it short and simple, it is AMAZING!

Thanks for reading everyone. Love and miss you all!
-Connor “Curly” Daniels

Thank you Chad (L) & Steve (R) for an experience of a life time!

I will definitely miss this place.

Summary of Hurricane Sandy Relief

So I'm sitting here trying to think of the last time I updated the blog. Actually, I cheated and just looked to see when and it was about 2.5 months ago. A lot has happened since we finished up with SFBFS. Blue 4 headed into winter break knowing that when we get back on January 4, things are going to get serious. Finding out that we are headed to New York City for disaster relief brought a lot of new expectations for the team. We became very focused and knew we had to bring a strong mentality and work ethic to those in need.

We were in New York City for a total of 5.5 weeks. The first week and a half there, our living quarters was located in Breeze Point, located in the Rockaways, next to Long Island. Since we worked with the National Guard for the first half of the round, we only had a 10 minute commute to work everyday. It was at a very convenient location, but we ended up moving housing to Queens (45 minute commute) to accommodate our basic needs. For example, our grocery shopping went from a 30 minute drive to 10, we now had showers available in the building, we had more space to sleep, and we had a full kitchen and fridge. Whereas at the Breeze Point location, we had to live amongst 40-50 people total in an open space. (We lived and occasionally worked with another Americorps team Blue 2 & Conservations corps of Minnesota)

The first half of our time in New York City was spent with the Army National Guard. We'd show up at Floyd Bennett air field and get briefed with the days tasks. Everyday we would go to Breeze Point, Far Rockaways, or Staten Island to do canvassing (wellness checks) on individual homes. We would team up with the National Guard in groups of 4-5, take a map, choose a grid, and knock on any doors that didn't have heat. We'd ask the owners if they had heat, water, electricity, food, and more. If they didn't have those necessities, then we would provide them with them.

The first day on the job, half my team worked with the National Guard in Breeze Point. In Breeze Point, a fire broke out and as a result, 115 houses burnt down. Two other soldiers and myself canvassed the area, where the houses were still barely standing, but nobody was living there. We talked to a few home owners and they appreciated what we were doing. The pictures won't be able to describe how overwhelming this area was. All the housing appliances such as stoves, washers & dryers, were all rusted. Debris was all over the place, melted down power lines, and all that's left of the houses are the concrete foundations and basements. Truly an eye opening experience on just the first day!

The second half of Sandy Relief was spent getting our hands dirty! Now working with New York Cares, Blue 4 went to an apartment complex in the Rockaways and did some gutting! Wearing our full PPE (coveralls, heavy duty gloves, safety glasses, helmet, earplugs, and TyVek suit) we were able to remove the wood flooring like a bunch of pros! Or so we thought, because for a day we had some volunteers come from Pennsylvania to help out. I was in charge of 5 of them, and I gave them the lowdown of how to do the job. Put the crowbar underneath the flooring, use the hammer to git-r-in, and yank 'er up! Turns out one of the volunteers does flooring for a living and finished the job like no ones business. The guy also looked like Dwayne Johnson on steroids. It was cool working with the volunteers though because it allowed us to step back and supervise, which is something we have to do sometimes.

Also with New York Cares, we took down a full cement patio, cleaned out garages, removed tree stumps, and more! The home owner of the cement patio was a great guy. He's lived in his house for 39 years and he's never had his basement flood despite living right next to the ocean. He said during the storm there was a 17 foot wave, followed by a 36 foot wave. After the water receded, there was so much sand that it fully covered the cars. It's like an aftermath of a huge snow blizzard, but with sand. It was hard to imagine.

As fast as the time went in New York, we definitely made our time there worth every second. Having just 3 days off, we made the most of them also. I went to Manhattan twice and did all the tourist stuff there. I think I annoyed the friends I went to the city with because of all the "Elf" references I would make.

On a more serious note, I am so grateful for the experience I had in New York City. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done and it was hard to leave. With all the groups we worked with, people we've met and putting in hard hours, we had a life changing 5.5 weeks. I will never forget my time on Sandy Relief and hope to respond to more natural disasters in the future! Actually, I hope I don't for the sake of natural disasters never happening, but if there is, I would hope to respond!

Thanks for catching up with my AmeriCorps adventures! I'm having a blast although I just typed this entire blog on my phone! By the way, I'm writing this blog while currently living on an island. Meaning a new blog will be published shortly after this one.

Thanks again, and love you all!
-Connor