4/1: Conservation Day
Today the team took some time to plan out future conservation days. A big part of the day was spent on the phone, email, and doing research to plan out the rest of the season. The plan paid off, so look for some great conservation projects in the next couple hitch reports!
4/2-4/7: Surveys
Once again the team surveyed visitors to Waco, Belton, and Stillhouse Hollow Lakes. Things really picked up this weekend with so many families visiting the parks to celebrate Easter weekend, there were even a couple backups! We got a sneak peak of what summer season will look like, with visitors non-stop and and lines of cars. Everyone did a great job handling the traffic, and we probably set a Waco spring team record for our most surveys yet!
4/8-4/9: Survey Group 2
This week we switched things up! In an effort to keep the scenery interesting, and to let the whole team get to know all of our sites everyone switched survey groups this week. Annie and Josh will be spending their time at Belton and Stillhouse, while Stacy will be interviewing visitors to Waco and Belton Lake. It was a nice change of pace for the team, and everyone is excited to get to know some new sites and meet all the regular visitors (animal and human) we have heard so much about.
4/10: Conservation Day
For this week’s conservation project the team volunteered with Waco Habitat for Humanity. We had the opportunity to do some work on a house for a local family in our own neighborhood. The house was pretty near completion, so it was exciting to work a house that would turn into a family’s home so soon. We spent the day caulking anywhere air might leak through, installing outlet insulators and switch plates, and painting kitchen cabinets and the front door. It was a happy coincidence that we had the chance to do so many energy saving measures, giving us the opportunity to help that family practice conservation through home efficiency.
4/11-4/14: Surveys
After a fun conservation day it was back to the grind! The team returned to their new sites for another couple days of surveying. The weekend crowd dwindled a little from the previous holiday weekend, giving the team a little time to relax and take in the scenery at some beautiful Texas lakes (check out Annie’s lake photo’s below and you’ll see what we mean). This hitch also marked the start of one of Stacy’s conservation projects, a Texas vs. Georgia vs. Tennessee site cleanup effort. All teams will spend a few minutes picking up trash at their sites (some really need it!) during setup or takedown, in a no holds barred competition to become the trashiest person and trashiest team of ACE VUS Spring 2013! The winner will be announced after hitch 4, so look for some serious bragging at that point. Annie also made some great recycling boxes for one of her projects, where we all do our best to recycle and reuse everything we can at home. The team also managed to squeeze in a little fun time to explore some unique Waco attractions like the downtown suspension bridge, the Waco Mammoth Site, the illustrious Texas Ranger Museum, and a free Eddie Money concert on the river. The town of Waco, Texas has earned some serious bonus points these last two weeks, and the team is looking forward to finding out what other hidden gems central Texas has to offer.
