Friday the 13th

November 13, 2009
So I made it through most of the day not really realizing that it was "Friday the 13th". I got home and was grabbing a glass out of the cupboard and as I grab one another one falls out! Yep, into pieces on the counter and on the floor. It is rare that I break a glass but I'll leave it to my luck to happen on Friday the 13th!

In The Office

Road Log Example:

176.528 - INTERSECTION - PAVED ROUTE (VA ROUTE 603 / NON NPS) - L

October 11, 2009

Many people have asked me now that I'm home what do I do. Well, I still have to work...in the office. Then the response is "OK, so what do you do". I decided to let everyone know a little about what I do when I'm in the office. One task that takes up a lot of my time is going through something called "road logs". It is basically a log of all intersections, parking lots, bridges and overpasses that we come across when we drive the route. After we collect the route I have to watch all of the video and update the road logs. I make sure all of the intersections are there and in proper order, I make sure the entries fit our program's format, and most importantly I add the updated mileage. I posted one entry above as an example.....imagine a whole .xls list of these and on a 500 mile long route (like Blue Ridge Parkway) can take up a lot of time. While I'm doing this I also look at the GPS we collect with the truck and compare that with the parking lot shapes our program collects (image of GPS is above). Oh, and if you were wondering...YES it is boring, but the pay check is always nice :). I also do other things in the office but I'll save that for another post.

Funny Sign

November 6, 2009

Today I was watching some video from when we were working in Blue Ridge. I came across this sign. It is a pretty funny sign. If you are on blue ridge parkway be careful because if you take a curve too fast you might fly off your bike with your arms up in the air! Ha! A park service guy told us that people steal those signs all of the time so they started selling something similar at their visitor center and they also put the image on t-shirts.

So Many Miles

November 3, 2009
Today I tried to find the truck mileage from when I first started this job. I found something close to when I started. Over the past 5 years and 3 months I've been in the truck for approximately 131,500 miles! What a journey. That is a lot of miles and a lot of parks. Not all have been easy, as you have read the truck has put up a pretty big fight over the years. I'm glad the truck is going into hibernation for a few months. We will take that truck out one last time in February but from then on everything will be collected with a brand new truck.

The Drive to Denver

November 1, 2009
Today I made it back to Denver. We drove the truck back so we took I-70. It seems that no matter how many national parks I've been to nothing compares to the Rockies, especially when there is blue sky and snow on the mountains. The drive went pretty smooth but we stopped in Eagle, CO at a rest area only to find out the "real" bathrooms were closed and they had outhouses/porta potties/biffies...no thanks. We went to Wendy's instead. Maybe some of you have heard on the news but over the past few months mass budget cuts in several states means closing rest areas. Which is OK if they cover up the signs on the interstate so you don't waste time going to a place that is closed. The rest drive was pretty uneventful until the last 10 minutes when there was the moment of panic when I thought I might be getting pulled over for speeding. The cops have this pretty sneaky hiding spot on I-70 east of town and today I wasn't thinking about it. Sure enough a cop was there and as I pass his lights go on BUT luckily the guy next to me was the one getting pulled over. He was in the left lane and I was in the right lane, he was passing me. I have no idea who the person was but "thanks for taking one for the team!" After I dropped off Jeff to get his car (near the airport) I decided to wash the ARAN for one last time before it hibernates for a couple of months. I then took the truck to the office and headed home. What a weird feeling. No more trips in that truck...one last trip will be in February but then all trips after that will be with our brand new truck. I can't wait!

Even though I will not be traveling in the truck over the next couple of months I will still make periodic posts to my blog so keep checking. I will still be traveling over the next couple of months but it will mostly be for meetings (and a couple of vacations I have planned). I am definitely looking forward to less stress and getting things done around the house.

Oh, all of the snow that fell in the Denver area last Wed./Thrus. has pretty much melted. There is still some snow on the grass but the roads are clear and dry. We timed that one perfectly :) !