I never thought I would get so comfortable around bugs and poison ivy. This week has definitely provided character growth for myself. Now you all will get to hear about it!

I love the crew that I’m working with! They have all chosen pseudonym names for themselves for my blog, so lets introduce everyone! My crew leaders are Gramps and (forgot name lol, I will add it in soon enough!) and I am working with Pigeons, Marlee, and Trash Can. We also are working closely with some people from the National Park Service, their chosen names are Badger Milk and Lou Dog (I had no input on the names lol!)

My initial impression on West Virginia is… drum roll please… I have never seen beauty like this before. Now I understand why John Denver sang about it. These really are some country roads and it already feels like home here. Don’t get scared friends and family, I thoroughly promise, I will be coming home!

The work that we are doing is on a Turnpike Trail, but it’s not one yet… our job is to clear out everything so it can be turned into a turnpike trail for hiking and horseback riding. If I’ve ever seen a trail that needed to be elevated and drained, it’s this one. We’ve been walking through water and mud up to our ankles in some sections. But before we can elevate anything, we have to clear out the trail so it’s 8 feet wide and 10 feet tall. We’ve been using hedge trimmers, weed eaters, pole saws, and hand saws to accomplish that. After we clear everything out, we’ll be digging culverts before placing down the causeway. For that part, the National Park Service will be bring in lumber and gravel, and we’ll be placing it down. As a group we hiked the whole section that we’ll be doing this to, and it is about 3 miles worth. Thank heavens we have 2 months to work on it! So far, we’ve cleared about 1.5 miles of the trail in 3 and a half days, but our efforts will slow down, because we have to carry in our heavy equipment every day! Muscles, here I come!

The weather out here really is something to reckon with. In this region of the state, it is a humid subtropical deal. It will start pouring out of nowhere and the humidity just makes you feel constantly damp. We’re all trying to figure out how to handle this weather, none of us are really familiar with it besides Gramps, Badger Milk, and Lou Dog.

I have found that I’ve been praising God in ways I never have before. Thank God that the snake in the shower was not venomous and it didn’t bite Marlee! Thank God that another snake that was slithering above me did not fall while I was showering! Thank God that the tick was on the outside of my clothes and not on the inside! Thank God that someone had jumper cables so we could jump my car with the help of Trash Can, Pigeons, and a Park Ranger! It’s safe to say that God is looking out for me, just in a different way than I’m used to.

So to everyone back home, I miss you all dearly! Please keep praying for me, I really need it!