Today we completed service at Hontoon Island State Park. We
were broken up into two groups. Those “unlucky” enough to wear shorts were
tasked with moving mounds of dirt from the mainland to the island via the
ferry. Apparently, they had a blast and are now all expert wheelbarrowers. Also
they swear they saw a 4x5 “box” alligator on the shore. When asked for further
information we were all told to “Google it.” (Kudos to Elena for burning
Sean). The much cooler panted group got
to “Indiana Jones It” and worked on creating a new trail extension that linked
an existing trail to a section of preserved Native American culture. There were
friends “tropping” (aka clipping excess foliage), friends using the weed
“eater” (aka weed whacker), and strong friends carrying heavy logs lumberjack
style. Our ranger contact from Hontoon, Tess, was literally the best and was so
helpful (though, still a little bitter she wasn’t open to naming the new trail
the “Terrapin Trail”… jk Tess we love you). “Wild Card” Ken, the park’s
mangier, was eager with assignments and had a great sense of humor. After
service, we ate our lunch by the river and play a very intense round of Gravel
Monster, in which there were more than one causality. After which Tess hooked
us UP with some “invasive cleanup” in the river. We took the canoes out and
paddled around the island for an hour. We saw a total of NINE alligators,
numerous sunbathing turtles, and plenty of waterfowl. It was a few of our
members first times on a canoe and they handled beautifully. Personally, this was our favorite day or
service so far. We had such an enjoyable time doing the work and felt like our
effort was really appreciated and made a noticeable difference. We were all
bummed to leave, and wished we had another day of service there.
After our
service some friends went back to camp whilst a few ~cool~ friends went to the
grocery store to get the second half of the weeks food. We jammed real well to
80s tunes and a classic Disney mix and were able to go under budget for all of
our food. Initially, it was difficult to plan food for so many people on a tight
budget, but we all gained a valuable lesson on being sustainable and
economically and environmentally contentious in our shopping and food habits.
Tomorrow, we do service again at Katie’s Landing and we are all really excited
to continue the project we begin with, in order to really see it through.
Reflections have been key in this entire experience and we are all beginning to
open up to each other and feel vulnerable. Some of the crew is currently out on
a night hike to find bears…. Really hoping they don’t and come back in one
piece… find out next time on the next episiode of the Manteam.
p.s. we found out yesterday that the state park this trip is
named after is Blue SPRING, not Springs. There is really only one Spring. That
is all.
p.s.s. Night hike team made it back. Gonna do a soundoff to
make sure they all have their limbs.
Xoxo B and K (Gossip Squirrel)
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