Thursday March 1, 2012-Caddo Lake NWR

It felt very cold this morning, but it was just 50 degrees outside. I was nice and warm and snug under my blanket when I woke and dreaded getting up, but when I did, it was much warmer than I thought. The coffee was made, so the day had started!

Around nine, I heard Todd leaving for Broken Bow Oklahoma to pick up a new trailer with John, the forester here at the refuge. I didn't think they'd be gone too long, but Ron and I got together and decided to start the restriping of the parking area at the headquarters building. After a bit of misinformation, we got started. There was a lot of dirt in the parking area and we began by trying to get it out with a shovel, but soon realized that we couldn't get in between the rocks to remove the packed down dirt, so I got a heavy bristle broom to try. That was better, but it soon became apparent that we would need more power and decided to use the power washer to blow it out. There was no water available nearby, so we called Josh to see if he would bring the fire truck over and he said he would be back after lunch. We knocked off for lunch and met back at 1 o'clock with Josh and the fire truck. That did the trick, and we soon had it all cleaned up but now we had to wait for the water to dry so we could paint. I've never seen water dry so slowly! It didn't get done by the time we quit working for the day, and I checked it again when closing the gates and there was still a couple of small puddles. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

We got together with everyone again about 5 for a happy hour. We sat around visiting with our friends until Stella and I had to leave to lock the gates and make a round through the park. Another day down!

So long.