Lone Star Travelers Blog » volunteering

Petrified Forest National Park Volunteer Training

joanie7 — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:17:40 +0000

Yesterday we completed training at Petrified Forest National Park and will now settle into a regular schedule as volunteers for the National Park Service here. The last day of training was “program training.” We accompanied one of the interpretive rangers for the day as she presented programs to the visitors in three different locations. They were Puerco Pueblo, Painted Desert Inn and Crystal Forest. At the end of the day we were given an outline and information on how to prepare and present our own programs. We have a lot more information coming about this beautiful park and lots of pictures to post.

Petrified Forest National Park Volunteer Training

joanie7 — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:50:27 +0000

We have completed our first week of training at Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. Internet access has not been readily available until now so I am back and from now on should be posting regularly. We have had 5 days of training and now are in the middle of 3 days off. The first day of training was a brief orientation, a little bit of paperwork and then we were off for the day in a government vehicle with one other volunteer who is training with us to explore the park. The second day was in a conference room with the supervisor ranger and 5 staff members including we three volunteers mainly going over rules and regulations. The third and fourth day consisted of training in the Painted Desert Visitor Center and the fifth day training at the Painted Desert Inn. As I learn more here at Petrified Forest National Park I will blog in detail about the various features of this park. We will also be posting lots of pictures and a photo gallery so everyone may see how beautiful a park this is.

Petrified Forest National Park

joanie7 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:53:07 +0000

We arrived at Petrified Forest National Park midday on Monday. We are now settled into our RV spot for the summer and will begin a two week training period on Saturday for our volunteer jobs with the National Park Service. So that means this whole week is “off” and playtime. The RV area consists of 6 spots. 4 others are currently occupied but 2 are about to leave. A cold front has approached Northern Arizona with high winds and gusts of up to 50 mph ahead of the front so we really haven’t explored the park yet. Our training consists of two weeks of four (8-hour) days orienting to the park with 3 consecutive days off together. After that we will be on the sked 4 days on/3 days off but only one of us needs to go to work. I say whoever DOESN’T work needs to have dinner ready at 6PM. I think that means Bob may work most of the shifts?? Maybe.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

joanie7 — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:22:25 +0000

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is truly a magical place. If you are in the process of making your summer vacation plans and are heading west to tour the Grand Circle of National Parks and Monuments including Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Mesa Verde and more you definitely should put Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on your “must visit” list. It is the 6th largest National Park Unit in the lower 48 states. It is one of 18 National Recreation Areas under jurisdiction of the National Park Service. (Lake Mead was the first.) During the construction of Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960′s it was agreed that the National Park Service would administer the reservoir (Lake Powell) for public use thus Congress established Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. I invite all of you to read my blog and link into our website for in depth and inside information on things to do in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area including where to camp or find lodging, good hiking choices and a couple of restaurants that the locals frequent. Trust me on this one. My husband and I spent four months last summer in Glen Canyon National Recreation area volunteering with the National Park Service. Time and time again we heard visitors comment “How come I didn’t know about this place?” ”If I would have known I would have allowed more time to visit here.” ”You mean I can actually join a smooth water float trip here down the Colorado River through the canyons for a half day and later swim or boat in Lake Powell!” ”I had no idea I can hike anywhere in the back country and find my own adventure without the crowds.” If you have questions please leave me a comment and I may have the answer, if not I can probably find out and get back to you. Happy Travels!