Kelsey and a Ten Day

Hey!

A girl in my program needed a companion to drive with her to Michigan, so I drove with her and got dropped off in Chicago. I love Chicago. I went and visited my awesome friend Kelsey and we went all over the city. We went to the Field Museum, which is the best museum I have ever seen, we ran a race, and we went to Goose Island Brewery

Start of the Cinco de Miler

Kelsey having a lot of fun running

Well hello lake

Action picture

Kelsey was passing every one

Chicago in the background

Goose Island beer tour

Sweet city scape

Logo

Free beer

Two thumbs of for free beer

Hey Goose!

And then I was back on my way back to St. Louis on the Mega Bus. It left Chicago at midnight and I got back to St. Louis at 5:30 am. I slept for an hour, and then went to work. I learned I was going on a ten day with service sites all around Missouri. I first started at Thousand Hills State Park up near Iowa for two days making a fire line, and then we went on all the way near Kansas City at Knob Noster State Park making a fire like from scratch. After 5 days there, I went all the way back up near Iowa to Mark Twain State Park and cut down hundred of Cedars.

Construction line behind me

Forest in front of me.

Trying to figure out where in the world we were suppose to put the line in at.

Cutting down snags that were in the way.

Line after we finished with it.

Getting ready to cut down a lot of trees.

It takes a lot of energy to cut down a cedar.

Warren fishing

Sweeet sunset at Mark Twain Lake

I camped on the shore for one night.

 The next 10 pictures show all the work it takes to cut down a cedar. Got to remove all the limbs down low, then fall it, and then stump it.

Finally can fall the thing

Felled

Stumping

All done!

I now have 4 days off, but I really only have two. I'm going to Joplin tomorrow night to run the 1 year anniversary half marathon. I haven't been to Joplin in 7 months and I am eager to see what has changed. I love the city.

Until later,

Shamucas.

Cuivre River

Well hello,

Two weeks of back to back blogging. Thats a first. This last week I was at Cuivre River State Park again spraying invasive garlic mustard. It's pretty boring at times, but its not too bad. I just haul 10 liters of round up through the woods and went on a little hike trying to find the garlic mustard. I don't take pictures while spraying because it's really really boring.

This week at Cuivre, our contact let us have a little fun in the mornings. He told us to fall some trees near a campsite to thin the forest boundary line. I woke up every morning,  rolled out of my sleeping bag, and went and fell some trees. When I fell the trees, I had to buck them up small enough so that the boy scouts that were coming during the weekend could carry them out make fire wood. It was a lot of cutting on one tree, but it wasn't too bad.

Look at all the fire wood I left for the boy scouts to cut.

Taco Tuesday

Running to the lake to swim.

Swimming in the lake