Greetings from the Jersey Shore

This summer has been somewhat different than the ordinary, at least for me. I spent the first six weeks of my summer break recovering from extremely invasive surgery (during which portions of twelve of my ribs were cut!). So, needless to say, I knew I was in for a relatively subdued list of summertime activities.

However, I started work in July at Wells Mills County Park, where I’ve volunteered and worked every summer since 2004. It is a beautiful, 900 acre slice of the unique New Jersey Pine Barrens ecosystem. The park serves as a passive recreation site, where people are encouraged to enjoy themselves hiking, canoeing, and birdwatching without impacting the natural beauty of the area. The park has to be one of my favorite places in the world. I consider myself very lucky to be paid to enjoy myself in a beautiful natural area for eight hours a day. I spent my time at work this summer renting canoes, illustrating songbirds in watercolor for a display, drawing ink sketches of waterfowl for the park’s Decoy and Gunning Show literature, and eating wild blueberries. Time well spent, in my opinion!Just the other day I went down to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge where

I was actually working that day s a tour guide on a birdwatching van trip with a fellow coworker and bird nut. We spent about five hours birding on a fantastic stretch of tidal salt marsh with a view of the Atlantic City skyline in the distance. In total, we catalogued 58 different species of birds, including: terns, gulls, plovers, sandpipers, herons, Black Skimmers, Clapper Rails, Glossy Ibises, and an extremely rare (and frankly unheard of) juvenile Roseate Spoonbill. We got some good looks at the AC Utilities Authority’s five windmills, too.

Recently, some friends and I took a day trip to Cape May to spend some time walking along the streets and seaside promenade looking at the local gingerbread Victorian homes – in full costume! It was about ninety degrees that day, and there we were, in full length Victorian-style dresses and suits, posing for pictures and ducking into shops to soak up the air conditioning. Needless to say, we decided to spend a few hours at the beach afterword to cool off!

I had a great summer, but I am very excited to return to Richmond!

Adaptation: the key to survival

Those of you who joined me to scout out our campsite for this year's retreat will notice that this image shows that the lake we planned to swim in is even lower than it was when we saw it in May! As you can see below, I did swim in it with some Summer Scholars, but the mud was deep and it was no fun getting in and out of the water, so we're adapting our plans...















I will be scouting out two possible alternatives the week before we meet and I'll go for the one with the most water and the promise of a cooling dip. The St. Mary's Wilderness Area is supposed to have a small falls and a swimming hole. Originally the plan was for a short, easy backpack into a campsite from which we could swim. We can still backpack into the woods, but the trail will be a bit more challenging. Alternatively, we could "car-camp" on Bald Mountain and take a short day-hike for our mountain swim - without our heavy backpacks. But no matter where we choose, any spot near the Blue Ridge Parkway is likely to be a good one.

Think about the options and we'll decide when we meet on Friday the 21st - see you then!

Travis's Summer

Hey guys!

Immediately after returning home to Baltimore from Richmond, I enjoyed three weeks of nothingness: lying around the house, eating too much, getting sunburn, catching up on reading. To keep up with my 4-year plan (who could afford a 5th at richmond??), I enrolled in a summer calc II course at Towson University for the next five weeks, while also working at Morris Meadows Recreational Farm as a lifeguard and cook. I took a weekend trip to Ocean City, MD with some friends after I finished the class. I continued working, and in mid-July made my way to Connecticut to visit fellow Richmonders, Shelby Brown (Parker's girlfriend :) ) and Lauryn Esposito.

Since my trip to the nutmeg State, everyday brings more hours of staring at a 5-foot deep pool of yapping soccer moms and their toddlers; is it bad that some days I wish someone would need saving? In three days I'm tagging along with my friend's family to Ocean Isle in North Carolina for a week-long beach vacation!

I have yet to go camping this summer, and can't wait to hit the trail in two weeks. More importantly, it'll be great to finally get to know all of you!

Enjoy your last days of summer '09, and take it easy!

Travis

summer time when the weathers fine

hey everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying your summers and are excited for the return to Richmond. This summer I have been working about 5-6 days a week as a hostess and counter server at a gourmet French/Italian restaurant called Sovana Bistro. It's just a mile away from my house so it's really convenient. The owner/executive chef there, however, is pretty cool because he uses local produce and dairy whenever possible and changes the menu seasonally, so the food we serve is fresh and local. One part of the menu is a 100-mile menu meaning all the dishes are made from foods sourced within 100 miles of the restaurant. Pretty neat.

Besides my job, I have been keeping busy by enjoying this gorgeous weather. I joined at summer frisbee league (as Sally said) and she and I have games every Monday and Wednesday night. Playoffs are next week so I'm really excited!! We'll let you know how our team does. I have also been kayaking on the Brandwine River, which is a pretty big river about 15 mins from my house. My dad's real big on kayaking so he tries to recruit me to go with him almost every weekend.

My big summer trip was a road trip to Canada with 4 of my friends from high school. We drove up in a minivan and stayed at my friend's grandmother's guest cottage in St. Gabriel. It's absolutely gorgeous up there. It was my first time going to Canada and I loved it! I hope I can go back again soon.

I can't wait to get to know everyone! It sounds like we have a really great group of people. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to make the camping trip because I'm an OA this year and we have a packed schedule. I'm really bummed about it because the trip sounds like so much fun and it's been too long since the last time I've gone camping, but I hope you all enjoy it and you'll have to fill me in on all the details.

See everyone soon!!

-Kelsey