Summer 2012--First stop, Thunder Bay

So, it’s June. Which by tradition now, means I’m in Thunder Bay, finishing up a tree planting contract. Jordan and I are finally doing the road trip out West that we had wanted to last year, so since I was done a bit earlier than him, I caught a cheap flight up to T Bay and now I’m in the bush, planting until he comes to pick me up and take me to the Rockies.

I arrived at the airport on Monday, and got picked up by Justin, guy in charge of the plants. When I arrived, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was getting 6 hours into the bush, but as it turned out, Justin was driving out that day, so he offered to take me. It seems the less I plan, the more easily these things work out. It was a long drive, and Justin’s easily bored. One game was “turn on the heat and see how long until Danielle turns it off”. Just to ruin his fun, I refused to turn it off. Which turned into a stubborn standoff, to see who could handle the truck blasting heat with the windows closed for longer. About an hour and a half later he pulled up beside a lake, and, as it turns out, I am the more stubborn.. He got out first and lost. And then I had the best swim. A few more shenanigans, a few more swims / bridge jumps, and a few wrong turns later, we pulled up at camp. Cue nervous pit in my stomach.

At camp I’m staying in classy conditions this year—Muller is letting me bunk with her in her trailer, which comes complete with electricity and sometimes running water. We watch Community together before bed. Life is good at night. During the day…well…planting is planting. Lies. Planting sucks. I’ve only been here for a week, but I’m seriously wimping out this year. I’m ready to leave already. The first two days were really hot, and I spent a lot of my time swatting away deer flies, puking between bagups, and wondering why the heck I had decided this was a good idea. Thursday morning I woke up with my eye swollen shut from bites, and since it was also getting hard to breathe and swallow, I decided to stay back at camp for the day. Allison drove me into Manitouwadge to the hospital, just to be sure, and they gave me a couple shots of Benedryl, which knocked me out for the afternoon. That was nice. By evening I still looked like an ogre, which earned me the nickname “Fiona” from Brandon, but since then it’s gotten a lot better.

"Fiona"

Swamp foot has begun 

The next two days of planting were a lot better. Cooler, more wind, less bugs, no ogre-face. And a bug turban. I planted with a girl named Lindsday, which also helps pass the time a bit faster.

PB Friday for Linsday

Things that I like about planting--laying on a gravel road is comfortable 

Now it’s Sunday and we’re in town, waiting for the bus to bring us back to camp. Oh, side note—our bus is awesome. Dan got a ticket because it was yellow, so we painted it on Friday night. One guy at camp can do graffiti, so he painted “The Wizard” on the side in silver, and we all helped paint the rest blue. It’s the coolest planter bus I’ve seen yet. Photo to come. Anyways, I heard a truck is going back to the bus, and to avoid walking, I’m gonna jump on that. Two more days of planting, and then Jordan will pick me up and I can start telling you about adventures out West! Peace!