I'm going back!

That's right, this summer I will returning to the Badlands to serve with the NPS once again and I could not be more excited.  I have truly missed the people and the park this year.  The beginning of this school year has presented a lot of challenges and I really thought this was not going to be an option for me but things have worked out and the position is mine.  To top it all off, Virginia is having recording breaking snow right now! We have over 12 inches on the ground and it is supposed to keep coming.  Amazing! Keep you posted as I prepare for this summer and finish the rest of the school year. 

Back home again

Well I am back in Virginia and getting unpacked.  Guess I brought some rain with me as well.  We had a very nice drive back and got a chance to stop in at New River Gorge National River.  My husband came out on Thursday and we were able to spend the day together on Friday in the Badlands.  We saw lots of bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and did some hiking as well.  The temperature was great and it was nice to share a little of what I had been doing on a daily basis with him.  This has been a totally awesome experience.  I will continue to maintain my blogspot for the duration with updates about Ranger Cindy:) and more adventures.  I have a feeling this is just the beginning of more adventures.  Keep safe and I will have some more photostories to share with pictures from the Badlands and our travels.

My time is getting short

I cannot believe my time here at the Badlands is coming to an end.  Days just flew by and there is so much I still want to see and do.  I just now feel like I am finding my way, if that makes sense.  Things are becoming more comfortable and now I am busy with trying to wind things up and get things in order for my leaving.  I am really going to miss the Badlands and the people I have come to know as my extended family. To all of them I have no words to express how wonderful you all have been in your support.  We have laughed and joked about mistakes and you have helped me to grow and find myself as a ranger.  Thank you! You have made this a great experience.
I do have some pictures from last weekend to share from our Heritage Celebration. We had Lakota dancers and music.  It was wonderful. Did I mention that before?
I also am looking forward to this week as the motorcycle rally in Sturgis takes off.  Everyone says it will be an experience to remember and the thunder of the bikes is already being heard in the park.  Overall I have not met anyone that wasn't pleasant thus far.  Some of the attire is interesting and could cause some major road rash if an accident occurred. HA.
I continue to explore the park at different times of the day and it still amazes me.  We had a big storm move through this past week that dropped about an inch in less than an hour. Mind you that may not sound like a whole lot of rain but here it caused the streams to "rage" and when it rains the reds in the buttes come to life.  Clouds also make for the most spectacular sunsets.
Coming back from one of the overlooks the other night I saw those little green beady eyes on the prairie which designate black footed ferrets. COOL. I also saw 4 rattlesnakes on the roadway on my way back to my apartment.  They are neat, really.  Not too concerned about a car coming down the road. 
I am on the lookout for a snake right outside my apartment.  Two of the other rangers saw a 5 foot, yes 5 foot, bull snake right outside my door on their walk over to the visitor center. I got all excited and went right to look, wouldn't you know even though I am sitting on my porch waiting for him, he has not shown his face again.  I would love to get a look at him, if not a good picture.  I am sure he will be out when I least expect him.
Today one of the rangers is acting as a guide to a big PowWow down on the South Unit and that will be very interesting.  It will be a late night but well worth the time and effort.  The more I learn about the history and culture of the Lakota and other local Native Americans, the more intrigued I am. I will get back to you on how our trip goes.

The Ranger Picture

Here they are, the mandatory ranger pictures! I will be writing more about the weekend as I get a chance.  I am getting pictures together of the Heritage Celebration the park had this weekend.  It was wonderful.  The Lakota danced, I danced:) Although it was busy it wa a marvelous chance to work with and get to know some very special people.  My hats off to all that made this event happen.  More about that later...

July 24-Across the Park

Yesterday was just a day to play around in Rapid City.  The town of Wall is on the way and famous for their free Ice water and the hundreds of highway billboards they have! I dropped in and just looked at all the stuff they have for sale.  If you are ever out this way you definitely have to stop at Wall just for the tourist appeal, amazing.  I did a little exploring and shopping in Rapid City, found a marvelous gift shop called Prairies Edge. Oh I found the painting I want from a local artist...$4,800 dollars, just kidding about getting it.  The artwork was amazing and I did get a really nice pair of earrings produced here.  I also stopped on the way back and got a chocolate shake at the DQ!  See I did have a big day!
Today I set out first thing this morning and did a 5 mile hike across the park priarie.  If anyone does not fall in love with the Badlands just by driving the scenic route they have to get out and walk this trail. My mourning was amazing and I took nearly 100 photos. Not going to bore you with all of them but the weather was marvelous, a breeze was blowing over the prairie, no one in sight most of the trail and it is like discovering the earth all over again.  It is still usually green right now and the birds are everywhere.  The sights from parts of the trail range from grasslands to an overlook at the intersection of Saddle Pass and the Castle trail which lets you look down into the basin.  The formations and landscape tell the story of the erosion process and each turn and hill brings you up on even something more amazing.  I took a little over 2 hours to do 5 miles I just kept stopping and looking all around me marveling at the sights. It is energizing and somehow humbling at the same time.  You feel very small and yet so significant, if that makes any sense at all. 

My time is passing quickly and there is so much I still want to do and see.  My friend and roommate is now back on her way to Baton Rouge to get ready for school.  We plan on getting our students to write each other, that will be fun and interesting. She is a marvelous teacher and person.  I really enjoyed getting to meet her and know her.  It has been a treat to get to know all the staff here!
So I will leave you with two new posts today and that brings me up to date.  We will be hosting a heritage celebration on the 31st and I will post pictures and highlights of that sometime right after.  Hope you are taking time to stand still and listen to the world around you, the little things that seem like noise are truely blessings when you stop to think about them.  Isn't life grand?!

Off on another adventure July 17

What do TRTs do on their time off? Go exploring! This weekend I am hitting the road to adventure.  I took off early in the morning on Friday and drove up north to Spearfish Canyon.  The temperature dropped as I entered the canyon and the smell of pine was in the air.  This is a scenic route and was wonderful.  It was at the encouragement of fellow rangers that the canyon drive and I thank them for that piece of advice. I hiked up to the waterfall and enjoyed that view.  It was cool and quiet since I went so early in the morning.  I finished my hiking just in time to eat at the Latchstring and sat at the base of the canyon in the sunshine sipping iced tea and feeling like the day was a present.  My room mate had been to Devils Tower, Wyoming on her days off and it was just a couple of more hours of driving so up the road I went.  It is an amazing sight to be at the base of this formation and look up to see people climbing.  I also talked with the TRT at the park and we chatted about what they are doing with their summer assignment.  Very nice people indeed.  What next? I headed south to a little place called Newcastle to spend the night and then into Custer State Park.  Custer is another great place to visit.  In the Black Hills so lots of trees and on the wild life loop I was able to see lots of buffalo and pronghorn.  The scenery was beautiful, I walked along a lake and enjoyed the sights and sounds. Had to wait in a traffic jam for several buffalo cows and calves to cross the road.  At Custer the buffalo know who is actually in charge and they take full advantage of it.  They also have wild burros who have the whole hijack the traffic down pat.  If you slow down to look they come right up to the cars looking for handouts.  It's fun because this is the time of the year they have the babies with them and people interact with them, sometimes too easily.  It is easy to forget with the animals being so close that they are wild. I ended my weekend adventure with a fillup in Rapid and my treat of Sam's pizza:) I know it sounds like a busy weekend but it was very relaxing as well.  I enjoyed my time in the hills.

June 13

Each and everyday when I sit at my little dining table and read I look out onto the formations of the Badlands and just marvel.  I am very thankful for the opportunity to spend time in the splendor of creation and it is a time to reflect on what life has to offer and all that I have been blessed with.  I never knew how intricate each type of grass was, the variety is staggering.  There are no less than 60 varieties of grasses here at the park. 60! Yes, you can develop an appreciation for that many grasses and while I never would attempt to memorize all of them I am getting a few of the common ones under my belt (and in my socks HA).  I was in Rapid City this weekend and visited the museum at the geology college, it was very interesting lots of rock, minerals and fossils. I continue to walk the trails of the park, find new things at around every corner! This weekend my plan is to take a trip into the Black Hills and see some of the sights as well.  I can tell you the Badlands is a great place to slow down, enjoy the quiet, the meadowlarks and other song birds as well as listen to the grass sing its prairie songs.  Marvelous.  Remember to stop and smell the flowers.

Learning everyday!

I had my first observation this week and my supervisor, Julie, is so awesome! I really enjoyed hearing her thoughts and ideas about how I could tweak my program to get the most out of my time with visitors. So with her ideas and feedback I continue to learn about what it really means to be a ranger in a national park.  Everyone here is supportive and willing to share their experiences, tips and help out in general.  It is really  like a big family for the most part.

 I wish each visitor could stay in the park for days but that simply is not possible for most people given their busy vacation schedules.  Many people don't realize how much there is to see and do in the park.  This park is a hidden treasure! You could spend one day on just looking at the formations, another at the plants and another at wildlife.  I went out into the prairie this week and took photos of the different grasses, just grasses!
(Those will be up soon).

Funny story: I went to give a talk on the fossil trail and as I arrived a gentleman was on his hands and knees with a stick in his hand on the far side of the trail. HUMMMMM, this doesn't look good.  Sure enough they had found a rattlesnake and he was trying to get it out of the little crevice the snake had tucked himself into.  So he was nicely asked to step up on the boardwalk and then I was able to keep others on the boardwalk in that area while I was there.  Cool snake, interesting guy:) Lots of talking to visitors that "rove" since everyone wanted to see the snake-makes for good contact numbers to report at the end of the day.

My awesome story this week:
It rained two evenings ago and the clouds were big and dark.  Not a big drenching but enough.  I looked out the window and honestly, the sunsets get prettier and prettier.  The sky was orange and so bright as just on the horizon the sun could peak through as it went down for the evening.  Unbelievable oranges, then purples.  As I turned around to look the other way the most spectacular double rainbow was in the sky over the other end of the park I can view from my quarters.  I wish I could report that my camera caught the whole thing but it didn't.  If it ever happens again I will make it a point to use both cameras.  I was breathtaking to say the very least.  The air was sweet, the temperature cool and all is right in the world:)

We have a program with some students today so I am helping with that project and although my plate is full I am soaking in every moment.  I love learning all these new things and having so many people around that seem to really enjoy their work even with the demands it places upon them. My hat's off to all!
Blog you later!

Busy is the name of the game.

I have now done my first programs and really enjoyed interacting with the groups that came.  I did a geology walk, a fossil talk and a junior ranger program.  This has been a whirlwind of events and my thanks to all that are being so patient for updates.  I have created a video of my wanderings today, hope you enjoy. Today was my day off and I played tourist in the park.  I took off for the primitive area and stopped at every overlook on the far side of the park. It was a great trip and I saw a whole lot of wildlife.  I saw the bighorn sheep laying around on one of the buttes, pronghorn with young, lots of prairie dogs, and a handful of bison.  In fact one I had to stop and wait for him to come down the road at me then off into the prairie.  Once I edit that I will get it posted..I think I may have said something during my taping since a vehicle was fast coming up the hill on his other side and I wasn't sure if they saw him or not as he came down the road. Not the guy you want to run into out in the middle of the prairie.   Then I headed back to the other side and took a leisurely stroll on one of the paths.  Up on that one, the Cliff Shelf, I ran into a mule deer and she didn't seem to mind me or the other visitors a bit.  Cliff Shelf is are area where the butte has slumped down and can sustain trees so you can actually tell the temperature difference in those areas. The animals like it.  Of course I had to catch a prairie dog on tape and some of the beautiful prairie flowers as well.  It was a fun day!
I am slowly learning the grass species in the park, there are over 60 types. Heaven knows how many flowers there are.  Only have seen one rattlesnake, the one from the first day. 

I also ran over to the town of Phillip to check out their grocery store last night.  It is a little one but has just about anything you would need, the plus is it is only about 30 miles from the park as opposed to 70+ miles to go into Rapid City. The trip to Rapid is a straight drive so it is not too bad:) I was telling my husband Tom that on the way to Phillip these little green and yellow grasshoppers were covering the road by the thousands.  Those of you that know me, know grasshoppers are not my most favorite bug.  However, it was amazing to see the road just covered with them. 

I am continually amazed at how beautiful it is here.  It seems to change each and every time you look at the formations.  The old prairie flowers finish blooming and new ones take their place.  The sky is such an amazing shade of blue-it looks almost fake.  When lightening flashes around here it really makes itself know dramatically.  Wish the pictures I post could get across the "bigness" of the whole thing. 
Oh, I will have the traditional ranger at the sign picture to post soon as well.  I am enjoying doing ranger things and although I miss my friends and family, I definitely am very thankful to have this opportunity.

WOW! It has been a packed week! I arrived at the Badlands. I have been going pretty much nonstop since arriving. There is so much to learn about the park and programs. I am just soaking it all in and it is like drinking out of a fire house.


The scenery is breathtaking and the people are absolutely marvelous. The colors of the formations, buttes, change hourly dependent upon the light, moisture and other factors.  The sunsets are fantastic and I have seen lots of sunrises as well since my body would like to stay on Virginia time, which is alright it give me lots of time to reflect and meditate on the Word. 

I have been observing lots of other rangers’ programs getting ideas and tips. Each ranger prepares their own programs, the basic content is the same but theme and presentation vary from ranger to ranger; so I am preparing to do a 15 minute fossil talk, a 45 minute geology talk and a 45 minute Junior Ranger program for this coming week. What time is not spent working learning about the park and visitor policy is spent studying and preparing for my presentations. Busy schedules for sure. Dottie is my roommate you will hear her mentioned often in my blog I am sure. She is great, very friendly and very intelligent. She is up from Baton Rouge.

I got to see my first rattlesnake my very first day. As we were training a call came out that there was one right behind the visitor center where I am working most of the time. He was really cool and it was interesting to see close up now the rest can just be happy and consider their obligation to be seen by my fulfilled. I have also gone down the what the call the south unit which is on the Reservation and that was a wonderful side trip.  They tell me that this is the most rain they have seen and are well above average so the grass is really green right now and the prairie flowers are really abundant.  I just can not begin to tell you how much there is to see and appreciate.

Working with the visitors is fun and they excited to be in the park.  Lots of questions and I am learning the answers as quickly as I can.  I have seen bison, pronghorn, big horn sheep, lots of birds, prairie dogs and just a few deer.  The meadow larks are everyone and their song is so neat.

Today has been my first day off so I made my grocery run into Rapid City which is about 71 miles to the west. I had a good drive and grabbed up a supply of groceries that should last a while. I also was able to get cell service and call Tom to chat a little. 

This is the view out my backdoor. Can you believe it!

And the view from my trip down to the Reservation.This is all quill work.  Porcupine done on a buffalo skull at a commerce center on the reservation.  The Native Americans run that visitor center in the south unit and don't get as many visitors so when we had to run down to take literature and I explained what I was doing in the park this year they were so pleasant and gave me the grand tour.  They even burned sage which is used in a lot of their ceremonies while we were there. Unbelievable. 

Well I have to get off and get back to the ranger quad.  Hope you enjoy the pictures and I will post again as soon as I am able.

Day 2 Indiana, Illinois, Iowa...oh my!

I know I should have taken a left at the one turn.  This has been a busy traveling day.  We put in several miles and made a stop or two.  Most of the landscape looks just about the same as you travel across.  Lots of farm country.  We are under a flash flood advisory right now here in Iowa and looks like we will be having rain this evening and tomorrow as we drive into South Dakota.    They have had so much rain the rivers are high and the land is saturated to the point the fields have standing water.  They are hoping the system will not dump as much rain as they expect.  However, on the up side, everything is green and the wildflowers are very pretty. And yes, we did have to stop when we saw the sign for the World's Largest Truckstop.  Oh my, it was like a mall in one building including at least 2 Semi Tractors in the downstairs area so you could see how tricked out they could be.  Truly an amazing place.   Our trip has been a lot of fun.  We are enjoying being in the car with little distraction and solving the world's problems as we discuss them of course, by the time we get to the Badlands all should be right with the world.  I truly love traveling and seeing the country and how it changes. 

First Day on the Road

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I was totally amazed at the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia-by the time we crossed we didn't have time for a picture so I found one to give you and idea of the country we are experiencing. Wikipedia states:With a length of 3,030 feet (924 m), it was for many years the longest in the world of that type. It is now the third largest arch bridge in the world.[2] Its arch extends 1,700 feet (518 m). Part of U.S. Route 19, it is crossed by an average of 16,200 motor vehicles per day.[1] Its construction marked the completion of Corridor L. In 2005, the structure was further immortalized when a depiction of the span was placed on the West Virginia state quarter. The New River Gorge Bridge carries US 19 over the New River at a height of 876 feet (267 m), making it the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas, and the second-highest in the world. Before the 2004 opening of the Millau Viaduct in France, it was the highest in the world.[3]

Today I traveled from Virginia to Ohio.  West Virginia is certainly a beautiful state. The mountains were amazing.  As we hit Ohio we did notice a much flatter terrain. I always marvel at the many different shades of green that nature has to offer.  My daughter, Erika, made me a beautiful quilt to bring with me on my journey.  She modeled the colors after the many pictures she previewed of the
Badlands.  It will be a piece of home for me and a treasure forever.  Our driving for today put us right on schedule and I am really looking forward to seeing some of the other country we will be traveling across.  We took time to picnic next to this stream and watch the ducks.  There was a mother mallard with two tiny ducklings who just plopped themselves right over the little falls and then complained that they could not get up to mom.  Needless to say she found them and they happily went on the way. Tomorrow takes us into Iowa. 

Getting Ready

Just about 2 weeks left and on the road to the Badlands.  Uniforms are being ordered and school is coming to a close.  So much to do and the time is flying past.  My roomie is already there and working.  Way to go!
Excited and a little nervous, in the past it has always been my husband taking off to places for great lengths of time with the military, my turn now.  My friends are so supportive and have threatened to come out and visit.  Wouldn't I be surprised to see some familiar faces while I am out there.  My whole school is cheering me on as well.  What a great group.  Any way at this point hotels are being booked for the trip out, plane tickets are bought and the maps and routes are ready. Packing in serious begins next week (no I don't like to do things last minute if I can avoid it or it isn't my idea!)

Less than 20 school days left in the year and just a few weeks to my road trip out to the Badlands.  Hotel reservations are being made and odds/ends are started to get packed in a "my trip" box.  I have recieved my room assignment and a room mate name.  My roomie will be from Baton Rouge, how exciting is that!

How did I get here

In January of 2009 I heard of and submitted my application to the TRT program with the National Park Service.  The program basically allows teachers to apply to work as a park range in the National Park system.  They work in all areas and help bring a teachers perspective and creativity to the park.  Teachers help the park with curriculum and programs, etc.  For more see my link to be posted at a later date.  Any way, I received a very nice letter of no thank you from the parks I applied to, however, this year the Badlands National Park contacted me!  I was excited, ready, willing and as able as possible.  My husband Tom encouraged me to accept the position and the process was on.  Lots of paperwork and trying to get my school administration to understand the program.  Security check paperwork filled out, fingerprinting and all the other odds and ends.  The plan is to be in the Badlands the week after school ends and come home just before teachers report back to work, approximately six weeks. I will live right in the park and walk to work.  70 miles from Rapid City, South Dakota and primarily a wilderness area, life is good...I am blessed. I have been making flashcards, studying my geology, searching the Internet for information about the Badlands National Park and the surrounding area.  Simply awesome is an understatement! I even had the opportunity to schedule a distance learning session with the park and my class via the Polycom setup at my school.  They got to meet my summer "boss".  So when I come back from my summer position I will be an advocate for the National Parks, wear my uniform during National Park week and give at least one (probably more)presentations on the National Parks in my school and hopefully others.  I am looking forward to keeping my friends and whoever is interested updated through this blog.  I will let you know how things are progressing and give at least weekly reports while I am there.  Taking you with me virtually on my adventure will be fun!
Excitedly yours
cindy