This week on Wednesday, we had our "wet training day" where we went out
to a nearby lake (Park Lake, in Lansing) to test our equipment and
protocols. Everything went really well!!
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| One of our volunteers, Jennifer, checking out the view of Park Lake! |
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| This was a great lake for a practice run! It had some of the same plants that we'll be seeing at ISRO. |
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| This is Charlotte as we discovered that... the blow-up kayak worked!! I was sort of surprised, because I couldn't imagine a blow-up boat successfully holding two people and sampling gear. But there wasn't a problem all day! |
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| This is Sarah on one of the practice runs with sampling gear. |
We ate a delicious lunch of peanut butter and nutella sandwiches when we were all done!! We also tried using our SteriPen, and it worked really well!! I'm not gonna lie, I was really apprehensive... There was a lot of stuff floating in the lake water, and I didn't know if it would all get filtered out- but it did a really great job! After the water was filtered and cleaned with the SteriPen, I was still a bit nervous to try it. So one of our volunteers, Sarah, took the first drink. We warned her before drinking it that it would probably have a lake-y taste, but as she said when she drank it, "Nope, it just tastes like water!" I'm so excited that it worked well!! Can't wait to try it out in the field. :)
In addition to having a great training day, we've received more of the products from our sponsors!! We got a fantastic 75L backpack from Eagle Creek! When Angela got the package, the first thing she did was try it on- we're so excited to have it!! We also got our care package from Coghlan's- it had a foot pump, biodegradable soap, mini lanterns (which are adorable :P), and a first aid kit! What a useful care package!!
We also got another sponsor!!
http://www.shoplafuma.com/
Lafuma has generously offered us sleeping bags for the trip! I was just about to buy a sleeping bag, so this came at the perfect time! Thanks, Lafuma!!
So far, everything's going swimmingly. I can't wait until we get up to the island- we've got so much great gear, and there are great people working on the project, so it's going to be loads of fun. :)
You has a great blog. I'm just blog walking, and very interesting to stopping here and leaves you a comment. Good work.
ReplyDeleteLets keep writing and blogging
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Hi Kim!
ReplyDeleteTraining did go very well:) I am so happy that everyone loves being around (and in!) the water. As the departure date gets nearer, I can't help thinking how awesome it is to be able to call swimming, boating, standing, and sitting in lakes 'work'. Everyone in our crew is enthusiastic and has a great attitude and I think those things make a big difference when you are at 'work'... But the beautiful scenery and shinning sun also help! Keep up the good work Kim and see you next week.