Off we go!

CTI came to a close about a week and a half ago, and we had our induction ceremony. It was an awesome day for FEMA Corps Class 20, and we had great speakers and really excellent cake. Everyone was ready for FEMA Academy, which was this past week at campus. FEMA Instructors came from all over to teach our corps about specialty positions and make sure they are all certified in their roles. Aside from a few technical glitches, the week went smoothly for the corps. Us TLs were supporting the instructors and preparing to head out on round 1.

That reminds me, it is now round 1. We are all preparing to head out to our first projects, and we've had quite a busy week with project assignments,  preparing clearance packets, and the million other things that we need to do in order to depart. My team is very excited for our trip, and really excited for our assignment. Round 1 lasts until December 22nd-ish (we don't actually know the date, we just guess), and we will return to Vicksburg and then head to our families for Christmas. Well, that is, if a disaster doesn't strike and we end up working through Christmas and don't have a break for the holidays. Anything can happen, disasters are unpredictable and it has happened before. 

So I've kept you in suspense long enough. My team is made up of public assistance specialists, hazard mitigation specialists, and logistics specialists. We have been assigned to FEMA's region 10 office in Bothell, WA to work on mitigation and public assistance projects in the pacific northwest. There are also chances of of working with tribal liasons and some fire planning projects. We are SO EXCITED for this opportunity, and we are really excited to be near Seattle for the next couple of months. Personally, I am also excited to be near my sister! She lives a little south of Bothell, but I should definitely be able to see her some weekends. And my dad! My dad is visiting her at the end of October with my grandmother, so I'll be able to see some family. I am really excited to see everyone. She also invited us over for Thanksgiving, which is super awesome of her and I realized today that I'll be able to witness the first birthday/first cake celebration for one of my nephews :) How awesome is that?!

My biggest challenge right now is planning my travel route. Crazy weather right now in the Dakotas, so the north-then-west route seems like a bad idea (remember, we are in a 15-passenger van!) and then with everything that happened in Colorado, Google Maps says that some roads might be missing. AWESOME. Also, taking a directly east-to-west route across the rockies from Denver to Salt Lake City in a 15p seems like a bad idea (the snow could be bad, and the roads might not be the best). So we could go South, and take routes through the desert in New Mexico and Nevada, or we could go through Arizona and up through California. No matter which route we take its 4-5 days, we are only allowed to drive a max of 10 hours per day and no more than a 12 hour total travel day. Oh, and we can't exceed 65mph in a government vehicle. This could take forever... Any road trip hints for 10 people traveling in an enclosed space together for 100 hours?

The other challenge is that I have spent 11 weeks here. I have made many new friends and I love all of Team Green and I really don't want to leave anyone. Many teams are being deployed to areas where there are also other teams, but I am the only one from here that is going to Washington. Actually, everyone else is in DC, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Chicago, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. I'm the furthest away, without other teams nearby. It's exciting, and I know Gulf 2 will have many opportunities to bond and hang out together, but I know I'm going to miss my Team Green friends. I really love being surrounded by these people every day and knowing that we'll be far apart is a bit sad. We just lost 3 of us to Baltimore's campus, but they'll also be near some of our teams. I know I'll always have all of Team Green for support, and I'll always be there to support everyone on Team Green, but I'll still be 2000-3000 miles away from everyone. I'm trying to remain positive and look at the exciting things about this journey, because I know there will be plenty.

Right now, all teams are scheduled to depart on Tuesday, so the rest of today and all of tomorrow will be spent prepping for departure. Bon Voyage, FEMA Corps Class 20! Best of luck to all of our teams, and I'll send as many pictures from G2's road trip as possible.