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Lonn, Champ and I at Reenactment[/caption]We said goodbye to our volunteer counterpart Lonn, this morning. He will be dragging his heels back to Iowa, as will we in a couple of days. The weather report from home is not very enticing.
We've had a busy weekend of socializing and soaking in the beauty of this park. The next 36 hours will be full-on prep for travel. We did our exit interview this morning and delayed the real goodbyes for later. This is by far the hardest part of being a full-time RV Volunteer.
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C.C. and I with the Sage[/caption]We got to know C.C. quite well. Her smiling face greeted us each morning as we started our day cleaning in the HQ building. She had some sage growing outside the building that she started from saplings and was very nurturing to. I showed her how to prune it and it really smiled in the warm spring sun and is in full bloom now. She was so interesting to talk to and so very sweet. We'll really miss her.
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Desiree and I[/caption]Desiree found a spot in both our hearts. She is a maintenance ranger here and we had a chance to become friends with her and meet her kids and husband and spend some time socializing. Every now and then you meet someone on the road that makes you want to stay longer. She is one of those to us, especially me. It's been like having a sister around this past 90 days.
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Walter[/caption]Walter, the head of maintenance is what you would expect from any native Texan from an ag family. He is Texas through and through, we loved him. Chances are, by the time we return here, he will be retired so it will be especially hard to say goodbye to him.
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Rachel[/caption]Rachel the Volunteer Coordinator who hired us is another one that will be part of what draws us back someday. Just like last winter, we will have to let go of people we have made connections with. While it is sad at the moment, it gives a reason to return. Jobs and parks are about the same with small differences is mission, climate, layout etc. It is the people who make this life so rewarding. We will leave here Tuesday leaving a piece of Champ behind ( his appendix) and taking a piece of these great people in our hearts. We haven't had any rodent issues here so I doubt we will be trapping any Texas mice in the compartments like we were last year when we return home. The memories from our time at Wilderness Lakes in Mathis and all the friends we made there and our time at Goliad State Park are taking up quite a chunk of space in our short-term memories. The web of the full-time lifestyle has grown a bit broader this winter. Next winter is planned and we are now counting our time as full-time RV Volunteers in years rather than months. Time really does fly when you are having fun.
Until tomorrow...
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