Who's Idea was it to Hike?

Ian borrowed my laptop for the time he and Ev are in Alabama for two weeks. I didn't think it would be a problem. I just wouldn't be able to watch anything, write anything or do much by way of computers. That being said, I've done a lot of dishes, cooking and hanging out with Jane....

We've watched a lot of movies, but mixed it in with an equal amount of work and errands. I kept hearing from people how cool the Lime Kiln hike is and how we should do it. So Jane and I decided to give it a go. Mom has so many people in so many different directions, she didn't seem at all concerned about two of her girls going hiking. Rosie, not so much. So loaded with pepper spray and directions not to get kidnapped or mugged, we set off. 

The hike itself was okay, a little boring besides the cute little butterflies everywhere. The destination was pretty cool. The Lime Kiln was awesome and huge, but I have to admit we loved the river even more (it was about a mile further on). We spent a good half hour eating lunch and enjoying the river view before we stacked a couple more cairns and heading out. 

We finished the day off with fish tacos with Gracie Hacking, watched Champagne for Caesar and The Village (once Jane was in bed)... After all that, Gracie and I talked until nearly two before falling asleep. It was an awesome day!

Cascade Falcon XXI

Wow, I haven't posted for ages! Mostly because I've been gone. Again. This time, however, at least I was in the state of Washington....

Four days after I got back from Louisville, Kentucky, Ian, Ev and I left for Camp Casey to work at Cascade Falcon XXI, Civil Air Patrol's basic encampment. Camp Casey has ZERO internet, so naturally, I went the entire time without it. It was only partially missed... The day we left, Ev gave me the wrong time to arrive, so we were there two hours early. I really had no problem with that, however, Whidbey Island and Camp Casey are gorgeous and it was easy to kill time in conversations with the other cadre members who arrived early.

For the next 9 days, I was a training officer for the encampment. Which meant...

During the day: I followed around my flight (Bravo flight) making sure everyone was okay, hydrated, healthy and not hazed. I had 17 people in my flight, plus two cadre members and another two who were in and out between Alpha and Bravo. I passed out a lot of sunscreen and cough drops during the week. I gave my advice to cadre and dealt with students who were emotional and homesick, dealt with minor injuries and took pictures of my people.

Bravo Flight touring Fort Casey

During the night: I had 22 girls in my barracks to take care of. I had one girl working under me, kindly referred to as Dormlord (although Dorm Chief was the official name). Anna (my Dormlord) got all the girls efficiently through showers each night (45 minutes to get them through the three showers we had). It was a fairly hard job at first, mostly because the water pressure sucked. It was a mist. I had to wash my hair in the utility sink... Anna and I did foot checks, asked how each was doing, if they were hydrated, answered uniform questions, handed out snacks and news letters and made sure the lights were turned off on time.

All the girls from Cascade Falcon XXI

After lights out was almost always entertaining. I would shower and get a few personal minutes (usually spent watching the sunset from the edge of the field) or the even more rare times of going to the staff barracks to talk/hang out with the seniors (which was hilarious), but by the time I got to bed, all the girls were deep asleep and that was what was amusing. A lot of my girls snored, a few would groan, one coughed almost non-stop, a couple rolled restlessly, I'm pretty sure one cried in her sleep and my favorite... sleep-talkers.... it was hilarious. They talked about food, apologized to one of the officers, mumbled and went back to sleep, but it happened almost every night from at least three different people.

Inside the female barracks

I got to work with a great group of senior members. We had fun bantering back and forth, making up fake awards for the annoying people, taking care of students, eating meals together and being overly-critical about the food- perhaps that was just me- and taking naps.

There was one particular day where three of us training officers took an hour long nap on the parade field while the cadets were doing parade practice. It may or may not have been the best nap of my life. I had my first cup of black coffee thanks to a senior member. Not something I'll get into, but I can definitely handle the bitter brew (it was Army Strong)... 

There was drama. Cadets wanting to go home, multiple knee injuries, nausea, dizziness, the occasional vomiting, the cadet who passed out after PT and some other things worse than that, students faking injuries to get attention... The list goes on, but at least there was like no senior member drama like the year before... When the cadets complained of stomachaches or headaches, the fix-all cure was to drink water. It almost always worked. 

Did I enjoy my training officer job? Yeah, it was fun. I walked an average of 7.2 miles a day totally more than 65 miles during the duration of my stay. I learned a LOT about the cadet program, mentoring people, dealing with students and cadre, problem solving and so much more I couldn't write it all down. 

Basically, I am beyond proud of my flight and the cadre running it. They did an outstanding job. And, I can't wait to go back next year, although I'll probably be doing some better shoe shopping. ;-)