More updates

As I opened this up to post a message, there was a request for smokejumpers going out. Anyone still sleeping is not sleeping anymore. In case some of you weren't aware, we're stationed at the air attack base that also dispatches smokejumpers. Yes, we have to put up with them and we even have to live with their rookies.

So I got to hear the industrial strength fog horn that serves as our dispatch bell. There's a different number of blows on the foghorn (way too loud to be called beeps) for each resource. I guess jumpers are two. We might be three. I don't know, we're not available so I haven't heard ours yet. So this foghorn just went out along with an announcement of "smokejumper request, smokejumper request" I can hear people moving around right now, unhappy with the rude awakening.

We get a lot of rude awakenings around here. Last weekend we all thought a plane was going to crash on top of us at some ungodly hour of the night. Turned out to be a snazzy little car with a jet engine proving his stuff on the drag strip positioned on the other side of the runway. My bedroom window is about a hundred yards from the runway.

So anyway, last weekend I headed over to the coast to visit Corey on her side of the state. This is Mt. Shasta, as seen from my side of the state. I drove north on the 5 up through Oregon, over Grants Pass and back down into California. It took a little over 4 hours. There are roads that will connect somewhat straight across, but they're long and winding, so it would take longer anyway.

When I got there, we had a snack and Corey and I went for a much needed hike with Tony, from the engine. Corey is not always the happiest during PT, but then again, neither am I. She does much better than I do with steeper hikes and this one was a faster, less steep hike-- which I like much better.

I finally made it to our stopping point before heading back up the hill. This mile marker on the tree was like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert.

After our hike, Corey and I went to go see some redwood groves around her new neighborhood.

That night we camped in the Jedidiah Smith rec area with some guys from her crew. We made Hobos for dinner and breakfast the next morning. Hobos are basically a bunch of food folded into a piece of aluminum foil and thrown into the fire to cook. At night we put beef, potatoes, onions and carrots in them. For breakfast we had corn beef hash and eggs to throw in.

Mmmmm, yummy!!

So after breakfast, Corey and I broke free from the guys and went on our own little excursion. We heading west and south along the coast to see all the cool trees. It was absolutely amazing!

I would post more pictures but my computer is getting squirrely.

Yesterday myself and two people from my crew met Corey and 3 guys from her crew for a Wildland Firefighter benefit run up in Etna (nowhere), CA. It was put on by the Klamath Hotshots and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation in memory of a fallen Klamath Hotshot firefighter. There was the 5K, 10K and half marathon. Unfortunately my shin has been acting up, and to avoid getting on crutches again, I wussed out and ran the 10K instead of the half. It was a fun day, but I'm a little sore this morning.

Well it's past 10:30 and I'm still in my pj's, so I better go. More to come!

My Epiphany!

Yesterday as I was sitting in my Fire Weather refresher class, I suddenly had an epiphany. We were talking about an unstable atmosphere and how heat rises and cold air sinks. For some odd reason, my mind went back to a conversation I had with Candace one night while we were watching tv.

We were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, curled up against our respective armchairs so that our butts were pretty much facing each other. I believe it may have been me that farted, although I can't be sure now. It actually smelled pretty bad. So we got into a conversation about how sometimes farts smell and sometimes they don't (seriously). So Candace made a comment that she has noticed that when farts are warm (when you can actually feel the warmth on exit) thats when they smell bad. I figured this may have had something to do with something so rank coming out of your body that it's actually warm. Weird.

So here's where the epiphany set it. Hot air rises, right? Very basic science. So if for some odd reason, your fart wasn't so warm, it may stick around in the vicinity of the origin- or even sink. Now if some one had a nose on their toes, this may have led Candace to make another conclusion. However, our noses are usually positioned in an area above our butts, and therefore only smell it if it actually rises. See, scents are actually air particles of whatever you're smelling (think about that one for a minute or two), so if the particles aren't near your nose, you aren't going to smell it.

So there you have it folks. Warm farts smell worse than cold ones..... because the warm ones make it to your nose more efficiently. And yes, that does have a lot to do with fire weather. Warm and cold air masses and all....

Redding!

Well today is Sunday, and I've been in Redding since Friday afternoon. I would've written sooner but it's actually been a pretty busy weekend.

I drove up from Frazier Park on Friday. It was about seven and a half hours, and boy was it windy!! It was blowing me all over the road. I was so worked up from trying to keep my car on the road for 7 hours, that when I met my captain I could've sworn I was shaking like a leaf!

My captain's pretty cool, he showed me around the base (we're stationed at a training center/air attack base) and the dorms I'm staying in. I've met a few of my crew mates as well as some rookie smoke jumpers that are staying at the end of the hall. Apparently they aren't good enough to stay with the veteren smoke jumpers in their dorm. I have a roommate but I haven't met her yet. The room is pretty small, especially with all of our gear in it. But I guess we'll be loading our gear into the buggies (crew carriers) this week and that'll give us a lot more room.

I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures yet, but here's a few. One of these days I'll get some photos of Mt. Shasta and Lassen. You can see them from around my training center.

Oh yeah, so Corey came to visit (from my engine crew). She's right across the state on the ocean side, by a town called Crescent City or something. She's actually in Gasquet, but that might not be on a map. So we were looking for pets we could safely (and legally) have in government housing. We almost got matching ant farms, but instead we got Sea Monkeys. Does anybody remember those? Well they've got new habitats. Corey got the original since she's never had them, and I got the City. Most of you who know me know I feel more at home in a city than in the backwoods. Maybe it's convenience, who knows.

We went to the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay. This is the Sacramento River. Yes, it flows through Redding as well as just about every other town I passed through getting here.

This is the Sundial Bridge. Apparently it's the largest working Sundial Bridge in the world.

Another pic of the Sacamento River.

We walked through a garden/arboratorium and saw some really cool trees and plants:
A Monkey Puzzle Tree

I forget what this is called. A Chinese Red Blossom or something to that effect.

This is called the "Lookout Tree". I don't know

if you can tell or not, but it's actually a tree with this weird basket weaving thing around it. An artist did it, and had the staff helping him. It was pretty cool.
In the gardens was a mosaic oasis, and this was just one of the many amazing mosaics there. Some of the pieces were really incredible.

So this is only a small portion of Redding. Like I said, I'll have to go around taking pictures closer to my station, as well as some of the local parks and attractions.