In the Redwoods

Last week, I enjoyed four amazing days in the hauntingly beautiful redwood forests of California. The entire corps spent some time at Camp Mendocino, a facility operated by the San Francisco Boys and Girls Club, to conduct service and catch a glimpse of what life on project might be like. Our unit left early Sunday morning on the four-hour drive through the enchanting landscape of Northern California. While Sacramento may be flat and drab, the outskirts of town give way to a unique terrain of gently rolling yellow hills and sparse green trees against a vivid blue sky. We passed by several stunning lakes as well, including one in a town named Lucerne, which was in fact reminiscent of its European namesake.

Camp Mendocino provides a safe and nurturing environment to at-risk, inner-city youth from the Bay Area. Each year, it hosts about 900 kids ages eight to 15 years old in a magnificent setting among California's majestic redwood forest. Activities offered include archery, photography, hiking, and arts and crafts. Over the course of their stay, the campers learn about responsibility by assisting in chores and adhering to a schedule and camp rules. For many, it is their first experience in nature, not to mention the first time they are being held accountable for their actions.

We stayed in bunk beds in wooden open-air cabins. It all appeared very rustic, but there was hot running water and a soft place to sleep, so I couldn't complain. Our team leaders repeatedly warned us that it would be cold there, so we were well-prepared for the chill, which wasn't nearly as bad as we had imagined. Our sleeping bags were warm, and all of us were stocked with plenty of thermal undergarments. The afternoons were actually quite sunny and pleasant and sometimes downright warm. Nights were definitely frigid, but a roaring hot campfire helped fix that in a hurry.

On the first day, we arrived mid-afternoon after I got us lost (as front-seat passenger, it was my duty to navigate, and I didn't realize we missed a turn until 15 miles after we passed it). We started the trip with yet another training session, complete with a video about maintaining positive attitude. It was tedious, but it was still nice to have a change of scenery.

We had a few free hours after that, so many of us took the mile-long hike to the "big tree," which we were told was one of the largest on the premises. The trail followed the railroad that ran through camp, so we walked along the tracks to get to the famed tree. It was quite enormous, but not nearly as spectacular as I had hoped.

In the evening, the Silver Unit played the Newlywed Game as an icebreaker with the teams competing against one another. Our unit leader would ask questions like "Who on your team is most likely to not shower all weekend?" or "Who on your team is least likely to eat their vegetables?" Using flashcards, our team, divided into two groups, would try to come up with matching answers. Our team hadn't bonded very much at this point, so we essentially cheated like nobody's business (but still came in third).

The following day, was all about team-building. Our team leader, Jessi, took Silver 3 out on a hike deep into the redwood forests. When we reached a clearing, we circled up and did a "hot seat," where each member stood in the center of the ring and answered whatever questions they were asked. I was one of the ones chosen to be in the middle, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wish I had a better memory though, since some of my responses were pretty dull.

Next we did an awesome survivor-style activity where we split into three groups and competed to build shelters using only what we could find in the forest. We gathered sticks and branches and twisted, snapped, and wove them until we had some amazing woodland structures. Each group was judged based on our creativity, use of resources, and how many people it could comfortably fit. Our structure won! It was an extremely fun assignment that had us scampering through the trees like little kids but still really brought out the leader in each of us.

In the afternoon, we performed our actual service, which consisted of cleaning the camp buildings. In years past, they had to be repainted annually, but then someone discovered the dinginess was caused only by mold, which could be combated with a wash of bleach. So our task was to clean these two big buildings, which was actually quite a feat since they had us using undiluted bleach. However, it did make a marked difference; it was really cool to see the mottled wooden beams miraculously change color from a dingy brown to a bright, vibrant red.

Our third day at camp was by far the highlight of the trip: We got to get on the high ropes course! This was my very first time doing one, and I had an absolute blast! Because they were short on the carabiner hooks, my partner Julian and I went last so we could take pictures of the rest of the team up on the course. This actually worked to our advantage because by the time we finally got out there, everyone else had cleared out, leaving the entire place to ourselves. Julian brought his camera up on the ropes, but I decided I'd leave mine on the ground so I could truly just enjoy being suspended from cables dozens of feet in the air. We disembarked from the course using a zip line, which was incredibly exhilarating and freeing. I decided to let out a huge yell as I went flying down through the woods and over the river before alighting to earth once more.

After coming down, our next treat was the rock wall. Each of us had a chance to climb it, and it was perfect: not too challenging, but not too easy either. The course was crowned with a pyramid that jutted out from the face of the rock wall, and most of us managed to "kiss the tip" as part of our personal goal.

We had a couple more team building games that were equally fun and slightly more challenging than you might expect. For the first activity, our team divided up and stood on two small wooden platforms. In between them were plastic balls scattered in the dirt and a dangling rope. Our task was to swing on trapeze-style on the rope to collect the balls without ever touching the ground. Each person had to pick up at least three balls, and furthermore, everyone had to have switched from one "island" to the other by the end of the challenge. It was a very difficult and sometimes painful game, and we had to start over twice, but it was loads of fun.

Another challenge we had was getting through a "spider web" made of ropes tied and knotted between two trees. Each of us had to go through the "web" without ever touching the string, but each opening could only be used once. We therefore had to hoist people up and pass them Superman-style through ropes. The games and activities at the ropes course were by far the highlight of the trip to Camp Mendocino, and it went a long way toward bringing our otherwise aloof team closer together.

Later than night, we had a closing bonfire. Each team was charged with developing and performing a skit, but ours was pretty awful. There were some pretty stellar performances that made the night worthwhile, including one amazing three-act musical. There were also yummy S'mores to be made!

Our final event before leaving was the AmeriOlympics, a series of cheesy games involving our AmeriCorps gear. Contests included the boot toss (using our official, government-issued steel-toed boots), a four-legged race, an egg toss, and a PPE race, in which people had to get dressed as quickly as possible in the Personal Protective Equipment. Our team actually won the PPE race, which was astonishing considering our utter lack of enthusiasm for the games.

I definitely miss waking up every morning to gorgeous mornings of towering redwood trees shrouded in fog, but by the time we left, I was definitely ready to feel warm again. I'll conclude this post with some photos from the van on the ride back to Sacramento.

The Campus

In an earlier post, I gave you some information about the city of Sacramento, but I'd like to bring you in even closer with some information about the AmeriCorps NCCC campus itself. As I mentioned previously, we are living in former barracks on the old McClellan Air Force base, but the area is actually much more colorful than that.

We are located along Watt Avenue, which we learned is famed for its underground prostitution ring. On our second day here, we had a training session during which a local police officer came in to talk to us about crime. After half an hour of dull, common-sense safety tips, he jolted all of us awake by warning us about the johns and hookers we may run across during any nighttime walks we may take. There is a hookah bar across the street from our campus that seems particularly shady. Every evening, the parking lot is packed with luxury cars, and police have conducted prostitution raids there in the past. We're by no means in a safe area, but the campus is well-lit and fenced, so I feel secure enough.

As part of another training, we conducted a "community mapping" project in which we walked through parts of town to talk to the locals and identify assets and challenges in the few blocks we were assigned. I learned that the community is the way it is because of the Air Force base, which tends to attract seedier businesses that play to soldiers' vices. Also, higher-income folks generally stay away from the military post and the jet fumes and loud noises that come with it. Now many of the former barracks have been converted into low-income housing. Since the base ceased operations and shut down eight years ago, the economy in the neighborhood has been particularly depressed. There are lots of homeless people wandering the streets, and drugs are a definitely problem in the area.

On the bright side, the base has been renovated into quite an attractive business park with a lot of government agencies renting out the buildings. Several people had a chance to talk with the locals in the surrounding residential areas, who were very friendly and gave an altogether different impression of the neighborhood: a close-knit and caring group eager to turn their reputation around.

As I mentioned in a prior post, we have physical training, or PT, four times a week at 5:30 a.m. We generally alternate between circuit calisthenics and running. Corps members have been divided into running groups based on our abilities, so the one I'm in, known as River Cats 2, jogs about three miles around the campus on those designated mornings. However, the worst part of PT (aside from waking up so early) is the stretches we do in the perpetually wet grass. It tends to get very cold and uncomfortable.

We have more leisure time than I realized, but most of mine is spent on graduate school applications. Many people go on jogs or play Frisbee, hacky sack, baseball, football, soccer or other sports on the adjacent field. A couple weeks ago, I had a blast with an old-school game of wall ball. There's a local dive bar across the street called Harvey's that's also really popular among the 21 and up crowd here, and an unfortunately named Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant/bar called Jee's Pot (try saying it out loud and you'll see what I mean).

For quick and easy shopping, corps members go to the nearby BX, or Base Exchange, which is essentially a mini-Target or Wal-Mart. It's usually only open to military personnel (a remnant from the days of the Air Force base), but the NCCC worked out a deal to let us use the outlet. It's great for buying those emergency toiletries or medicine, and I've also bought a deck of Uno cards, a flashlight, and a water bottle.

As I've mentioned before, there are plenty of tasty restaurants in the area. Adalberto's Mexican Food, located conveniently across the street, has dirt cheap food and is open 24 hours. There's an In-and-Out Burger joint a few miles down the road, but I still haven't gotten to try it! We actually make most of our meals ourselves. Two teams are assigned to each kitchen and cook their own food, and we get a debit card with which to buy groceries. Sure, there's a fair share of frozen pizzas and PBJ sandwiches, but I've also had some pretty tasty, pasta, tacos, and chicken. Our meals are definitely hearty and well-balanced overall. We all eat family-style in our community building.

We have access to computer labs (but no printers) and wireless Internet in the lounges. Each dormitory has a big-screen television where people can watch movies and contains an inventory of books, cards, puzzles, and games (including Apples to Apples and Settlers of Catan!). I managed to get a group together once to play Nertz, and I also taught some of my old pod members how to play Click Bang. There are a few people here who know how to play Mafia, but we haven't been able to start a game together, and I haven't gotten anyone interested in Bang! yet. Wah is apparently a really big deal here too.

Because many of us were leaving town for a project on Oct. 31, some corps members organized a Pre-Halloween Party here on campus. I duct taped an empty box of Total ceral to my chest, stabbed the cardboard with plastic knives, and went as a "cereal" killer. I didn't think it was that original, but I managed to take runner-up in the costume competition! My pod also choreographed a little performance for the dance competition, but we unfortunately were not as successful with that one.