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Weekly Reflection #2

  Jackson Lalla  Kelly Griffin-Brown Senior Project 23 May, 2022 Weekly Reflection #2 This week of our project delved more into the research side of the goals that we set out to complete at the beginning of this journey. We traveled an hour or so to the town of Leadville Colorado and did some exploring with my good friend, Mike Brown. Mike, who has lived in Vail his whole life knows every nook and cranny as well as everything there is to know about the area. He took us to many mining sites which once were thriving during the fallback of the gold rush (when everyone backfilled from California and pioneered the area. Much of this particular area was built around mines, some of these mining towns still thrive while some have been reduced to ghost towns. It was very interesting to walk around these mines (some still functional and some very much abandoned and sunken into the earth) and to learn about the history of colorado. On this same trip, Mike took us to Camp Hale which was...
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Blog Day #12

 Today Brody and I woke up and I made scrambled eggs which we coupled with banana bread and some toast. Since it was our last full day out here we decided to do some work on a Sunday just to finish up our hours. We went into the office with Jen and discussed the necklaces we had made and how they were going to be used next week in a fundraising event. Jen then walked us through some aspects of her job one final time, such as the hiring process. A few hours after lunch, we were done at the office we went to the community tennis courts and played there for a while. We then ended the day by purchasing a bus ticket and packing up. Total hours: 6
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Blog Day #11

 Today when Brody and I woke up we were both very surprised to see snow dumping down from out of the window in our bedroom. We were expecting snow but I don't think either of us realized truly how much there would be. When we arrived at the office, Jen gave us the task of assembling pretzel necklaces out of the supplies that we bought earlier. Basically, we were lacing pretzels along a string and tying it together for most of the morning. For lunch we had turkey sandwiches on this very gourmet style bread that was very tasty. We then finished up our work with the necklaces and explored the winter wonderland for the rest of our afternoon.  Total Hours: 6.5
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Blog Day #10

 Today Brody and I woke up and I made pancakes again which wound up being fantastic (except for the use of Mrs. Buttersworth syrup). We then drove to the office with Jen where she gave us some small tasks such as doing inventory of much of the bins of gear that the foundation uses to lend to vets. This gear is used for a multitude of outdoor activities like skiing, hiking or climbing. We also did a few runs to the dumpster outside of the office in order to get rid of some things that were no longer of use to the company. We then took a break for lunch and returned in order to sit-in/help Jen write a proposal for upcoming events. After working, Brody and I drove 50 minutes to Leadville and played 9 holes at the highest elevation golf course in North America.  Total Hours: 6 
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Blog Day #9

 Today Brody and I woke up and made ourselves cereal in preparation for the work day. When we arrived at the office Jen gave us the task of ordering pretzels and string in order to make necklaces for the aforementioned event coming up. Then, Jen gave us a pile of very interesting books on the history of Vail and its ties to the tenth mountain division. We then took a break for lunch and soon thereafter, we continued our research on the tenth mountain division by visiting the Colorado ski museum. Surprisingly, the museum was centered around the tenth mountain division because of its involvement in developing the ski industry and Vail itself. There was a lot of information and exhibits to take in and Brody and I found it super cool and thought provoking so we ended up walking around, reading and taking pictures for the rest of the day.  Total hours: 8 
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Blog Day #8

 Today Brody and I woke up and both had a bowl of cereal before driving into Jen's office. Jen gave us the rundown for the day and we finished the project of organizing the office space which we began yesterday. We then sat in on a virtual meeting with Jen where she discussed an upcoming event for veterans and their families which we will begin to help organize soon. The meeting took us to lunch time and Brody and I ate the sandwiches that he made in the morning. After our lunch break we stuck around the office and did a couple small tasks for Jen that weren't that notable. Finally after work, we went and watched a white water kayak event that was taking place in the river that runs through Vail Village.  Total Hours: 8
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Blog Day #7

 This morning Brody and I got up and went to Jen's office where she instructed us to begin a new project of organizing another office space. This involved starting to turn a somewhat cluttered mess into an organized space that could be utilized by the company. We then stopped at lunchtime, ate lunch and then began a trip to Leadville to check out some tenth mountain division notable areas. This drive took around an hour but when we arrived we were given a tour by Mike Brown (Jen's husband/ex US ski team racer/lifetime Colorado resident) of Camp Hale and multiple locations surrounding it. Camp Hale was the site in which the tenth mountain division used to train for mountain warfare. We also went to Cooper mountain which was the ski mountain that they used to train for skiing exercises and other things. This took until sunset and was the prettiest/ most interesting leg of our trip to date. I gained so much information from Mike that can now be utilized towards my project as well ...
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