I started doing some work around the Refuge today helping out with various projects and moving some of my belongings to the cabin. It feels a little odd to be moving into someplace after spending so much time preparing to move out of the house in CO. It is also odd to see how little of everything that I had is really left, but I am okay with it all. It spells “freedom”! I had to do that to get to where I am at.

To move I have to load up what I can into a Kawasaki Mule and take it ½ mile down the trail to the cabin (it is on the bluff overlooking the Spit). I unload it, then go back for more. I have not had the chance to get it all down there yet with all the various things going on I have been helping out with, but I hope to get it all done tomorrow.

This weekend is the River Festival so my boss, me, and two Refuge volunteers went over and set up a booth for it. We took over some items that have washed up on the beach, including an oblong float that is about 3-4 feet high and about 4-5 feet long. It is an enormous damn thing, and it is from an oyster farm in northern Japan. They find anything you can imagine on the beach – car engines, pieces of ships, tsunami debris, kayaks… many, many things. After the set-up the Audubon Society at the Railroad Bridge park grilled burgers for us all and had other things to eat as well. I did not get lunch so it was a welcomed surprise after that and then smelling the burgers cooking up. Luckily, there are blackberry bushes everywhere up here so I was able to survive on some of those until we got to eat. The main theme of the Festival is conservation. On Friday they will be hosting mostly school kids and teaching them about nature and conservation. On Saturday it is for the general public and is a big town event every year. These tyopes of events are great for getting to know the local culture and meet some neighbors. It will be a fun time I am sure.

One of the volunteers, Helga, is from Germany. After she and I got back from setting up we went for a walk and picked up her friend Gunter (who is about 65 and another German, but from from Vancouver) along the way. The three of us went for a hike along the top of the bluff to see the sunset on the peninsula. It was a beautiful evening for a walk, and Gunter is a very interesting guy. He runs every day and says you should walk six miles a day minimum. He and I talked non-stop the entire hike. I hope to see him again before he goes back to Canada in a few days. He is camping in the county park next door to the Refuge.

This should be the last night in the trailer. It is bittersweet; it will feel so good to sleep in a bed with a real mattress and support, but it has been a great three weeks.

One more thing… September 27, 2006. Bailey, Colorado. We will never forget. May peace be with you, Emily.