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 ;)
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| 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.
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| Cactus drilling! |
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| Myself with Hammer, Jack |
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| Not only are we hard workers, but we're also cheesy... |
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| I'm pretty level headed. |
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| 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!
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| A Moment of Silence was held for the Boston Marathon Victims |
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| Hunter sporting his AmeriCorps sweatshirt and I |
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| Late night stroll across this gnarly pedestrian bridge |
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| Hunter, Kim, and I at the beach! |
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| USS Midway |
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| 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!
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| The team in action |
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| 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.
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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. |
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| Amphitheater in Progress |
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| 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.
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| Yee-Haw! |
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| 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.
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| Mohawk Camel, that's whats up. |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Simon, Myself, and Darin |
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| Me and John Smith |
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| Blue 4 and Camp Marston! |
