Different Workamping Tasks

Before you think all we do here at J. Strom Thurmond COE is get lost in the woods and fall down in ravines while pin hunting, there are other interesting tasks that we’ve been able to do.

Recently, the park rangers had their annual preseason refresher training.  I was invited to participate and I taught a short course on defensive tactics, something I have a lot of experience in from my law enforcement career in the Coast Guard.

The rangers filled the conference room, under the watchful eyes of Old J. Strom himself.

I touched on some defensive techniques,

and even some every day items that could be used to protect oneself.

After some classroom lecturing, the rangers got a chance to try out different techniques, some practice punching and kicking went on, surrounded by much laughter.  It was a lot of fun and it was nice to share some of my hard earned knowledge.

Our Water Safety Group of volunteers has been presenting the Water Safety Program we’ve developed to many of the schools surrounding Thurmond Lake.

Mike and Terri did the “drowning oranges” demonstration with some student volunteers.

Bill demonstrated the different types of life jackets and how to fit and wear them properly.

Marti and I demonstrated the designated swimming areas that are all around Thurmond Lake.  The students enjoyed helping out.

The kids were well behaved and very interested.

We ended our thirty minute program with a review of all the points we wanted to get across.

As the kids left, Jacquie passed out throw rings to each student with a “Wear Your Life Jacket” message printed on them.

The kids wore them like halos.  I told you they were well behaved!

Different tasks, very rewarding and lots of fun to do.  But but before you think Marti and I have abandoned our favorite task, pin hunting, we went back to find that one pin covered up by heavy plant growth.

About ten minutes of hacking with a machete and we found and marked it.  No pin left behind!  :cD

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Pin Hunting Challenges

As much as we enjoy Pin Hunting (checking boundary line survey markers) at J. Strom Thurmond COE, it’s not always a walk in the park.

There are over 5 million pins around the Army COE owned properties covering over about 800 miles of boundary lines.  And no, we haven’t found them all (not even close).  These pins much be inspected every five years, so the boundary lines inspected are broken down into sections, divided up among the park rangers to cover, so many miles every year.  That’s where the COE volunteers make a big dent in this requirement.

We’ve gotten pretty good at finding the boundary line pins, but sometimes, they are a real challenge.  We’ve found that having a small hand spade and hand rake are essential in digging the ground around where a pin is located using the metal detector.

Sometimes the nearby homes have filled in or landscaped over the pins and they are buried deeply.  Much digging is required to expose the pin.

The metal detector indicates the pin is here.  After digging and raking, there is the pin.  Can you see it?

How about now?

After hitting the head with a wire brush, the unique serial number is exposed and recorded on our master map.

Then pink ribbon is tied on the pin to aid in locating it in the future.  That really helps.

It’s not always that easy.  Some of the boundary lines and pins are deep in the woods.

Other times, when we find the pin, the head is so corroded that the serial number is not visible.

We ran into a wrongly marked pin today, we noted the discrepancy on our master map.

Some homes are built near the boundary lines, and construction debris makes it almost impossible to find the pins.  The metal detector cannot differentiate pins from nails.

Then there are homes that have built over the pins and nailed the marker pole to the side of the house.  The rangers will have to deal with this one.

We were defeated by some landscape plantings around a pin marker.  The pin is buried deep under thick bushes.

But we’ll not remain defeated.  Tomorrow we’re returning to find this pin…with a machete!  Just another challenge to overcome.  :c)

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Free At Last

Hopefully, the anchor will not be stuck and easily come loose when we get ready to roll.  It’s been in place here in South Carolina for way longer than we ever anticipated.

The reason we spent so much time in or close to South Carolina was for dealing with the Veterans Administration (VA) Regional Office in Columbia, SC for issues concerning injuries I received while on active duty with the Coast Guard.

There were many appointments, tests and interviews that I had to do, and I had no control over when they would pop up with little or no warning.  I sometimes had a week’s notice, but one time, on a car trip to visit our granddaughters in Missouri I received a phone call indicating an appointment in two day’s time.  Since we had already driven more than halfway of the 700 mile trip, we continued all the way there. I then had to catch a plane from St. Louis back to SC, and rent a car to make the appointment.  Several hundred dollars later, I made the appointment.

When you’ve applied for a disability claim with the VA, you don’t want to miss an appointment, or your claim gets put on the bottom of the huge pile of backlog cases.  It’s bad enough of a wait, even when everything is done on time.

I received a notice in the mail that my disability claim has now been resolved and the results are way better than I could have anticipated.  It opens up a whole range of lifetime VA benefits for me, for which I am very pleased and thankful.

In the end, looking at the big picture, the result was worth the 29 month wait.  We now have additional peace of mind.  I will continue to use the VA for my routine medical checkups, but now, further appointments I can make for myself, when I want or need them.

We are free at last, free to travel without the worry of potentially missing an appointment.  We are making plans now for the rest of the year and even next year.  We will be departing our home of six months at J. Strom Thurmond COE the end of March, it was a great place to stay, lots of enjoyable people, fun tasks and a campsite that was one of the nicest we’ve had this side of Disney World’s Fort Wilderness.

Two “incoming” granddaughters are the first priority, one in Missouri in April and one in New Jersey in July.  We’re now looking to fit in a cruise (our first).  A trip to the Winnebago factory in Iowa early May for some maintenance on the Journey, late May to Branson, MO with my dad, possibly a Disney World trip in June (and hopefully another Disney World trip in September) as well as a visit to Marti’s sister in Rhode Island in August. 

We might even return to J. Strom Thurmond for October through December (yeah, we like this place) before a long overdue visit of the great American West in 2015 for some Arizona fun in the sun.

Or not. 

Our motto is:  Semper Gumby (Always Flexible).

Thanks for visiting (and hanging in there with us).  Feel free to leave a comment.