Atlanta, GA
Land of Coca-Cola, Home of the Peach tree, and City to over 5 million people; the Service Bus just hit up the ATL!

What a wonderful time spent with folks from the Outward Bound Atlanta center. Our first day of service was spent with OBA’s AmeriCorps team. This group of 9 amazing individuals has committed 10 months to serving the Atlanta community. Talk about an inspiration to our Bus! Josh and Christie were especially happy to see these people again as they were their instructors this past September for the team’s wilderness expedition. After some time chatting over coffee and cake, the two crews joined forces to paint a memorial mural at Parkside Elementary for a teacher who passed away in a shooting last year. The bright purple and yellow paints cheered up the rainy afternoon and soon the fence was complete. Don’t forget about the holiday show put on by the pre-K through 5th grade students; we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the glittery hats and hearing the festive songs.

The 7th annual Thanksgiving Red Rocks Extravaganza was once again a success. With 44 people at our ‘give thanks’ circle, we managed to eat a lot of scrumptious, home cooked food and enjoyed each other’s company. The random two days of rain may have slowed down our rock climbing but did not slow down our appetites! Thanks a lot to MR for doing the logistics and thanks to everyone else for showing up and helping make Turkey Day a delicious one (even our entourage was there!)

In preparation for our time in Los Angeles, a unique service opportunity surfaced. In Malibu Creek State Park, about a half hour north of downtown, clandestine marijuana grows have become a huge problem in the remote parts of the park. It appears organized crime sends crews deep into the most inaccessible parts of the park and sets up grow sites complete with miles of irrigation tubing, fertilizers, and everything a few people need to live for a few months, which includes food, tents, propane, car batteries and all manner of other necessities. These grow sites are routinely busted by the local authorities and the growers are chased off and the marijuana is removed by helicopter, to much fanfare and news coverage.

Imagine seven-thousand people without homes. Transport your self to an area of downtown Los Angeles named “Skid Row”. Now, imagine those seven-thousand people without homes spread out over a five city-block radius. That’s right; five block radius, seven-thousand people with no where to call home. That is Skid Row. There are several groups attempting to empower and to serve this community of folks, one such organization is called the Midnight Mission.

Eighty degree weather, beautiful blue skies and amazing rock climbing…yes our chapter of Joshua Tree has come and gone. It was a breathtaking event that involved our classic free pancake breakfast, service with Joshua Tree National Park, climbing impressive granite, and many locals that made us feel welcome.

Prescott, AZ
Thanks to all the folks in Prescott that made our visit successful! Robin and Ethan were most hospitable, thanks for the floor space and offering the bike usage. Courtney, thanks so much for setting up the college tour and marketing booth in the courtyard, thanks to all of you who stopped by the table! Finally, a BIG thanks to Gail and the crew at the Habitat House where we helped install cabinets, shovel earth for a drive way, and where we built a stone border between the adjacent property/houses. Jojo even got to use the front end loader to drop off some rocks for our border- check out the video! Although our visit was short and sweet, sandwiches coffee and internet at Cuppers provided some quality “downtime” (aka we all caught up with friends and family for a few hours while Corey and Christie busily updated the webpage- thanks ya’ll!).

Before departing Moab for the sunny climes (climbs?) of Southern California, we met up with Scott Braden of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance(SUWA) for a day of service, education, and hiking.

We started the day by driving from Moab out to Kane Creek, where we mobilized in the name of keeping vehicles on marked roads and trails. The actual work involved raking up illegal Off Road Vehicle(ORV) trails, blocking entrances to these trails, and generally making it difficult for ORV's to leave the road. While the work might seem mundane, there was a feeling of being a foot soldier on the front lines of the environmental battle.

While most people wouldn’t even consider spending five days floating down a Utah River in November, with weather reports putting the low temperatures in the forties, it wasn’t near enough to deter our hearty crew from setting out on a 58 mile journey into the desert wilderness. Nor was the winter storm that struck our camp late on the first night.

Carrie Fritsch

The wind blew, the rain (then snow) fell, and as we hastily fortified our tarps and carried everything out of the potential flash flood zone, I think maybe, just maybe, we left our comfort zones and noticed that this wee expedition was starting to look more and more like a bona fide adventure.

At Olmstead Park the Service Bus was pleased to be joined by native Louisvillian and fellow instructor Lark Gardner. Thanks to everyone who voted and stay tuned for our next poll!

"Head West!" they say, and so we did. I-70 took us from Louisville, west, west, across Big Muddy, west, west across ALL of Kansas, and finally deposited us, with a couple turns… in Boulder, Colorado. Yay!
Boulder was a jam-packed time which included a college visit, socializing with OB West, two days of incredible climbing, Halloween, and some really touching service.

In a not so surprising move, Jo Jo busted out a bright pink gown and broke it down even before we reached Louisville. New Poll coming soon!

After an amazing several days of service in Louisville, KY, and staying with Chelsea’s family (thanks again for the amazing hospitality Leslie!), it was time for the Service Bus to head toward the Red River Gorge, a prime Appalachian climbing spot and home to the famous Miguel’s Pizza…


For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Red River Gorge, it is among the eastern rolling hills of Kentucky. At a slightly higher elevation than much of the state, the weather can be significantly cooler with fall foliage setting in earlier to create an aesthetic climbing atmosphere- basically the perfect place to begin our professional development in the vertical realm. The climbing was simply amazing.

We spent three days in the land of the Kentucky Derby. Chelsea's Mom opened up her home and baked us lots of yummy sweets and decadent meals. Thanks Leslie!!! But most importantly we did what we do best SERVICE!

We kicked off our time in the Ville with a presentation at a local outfitter store Quest Outdoors. The following day we prepped and served dinner at a local womens shelter. We worked with Chef Ian who was super fun and let us make a giant cookie cake! We followed this project up with a game of Frisbee down at the river front park and a visit to the Louisville Extreme (skate) park.

After a whirlwind two days, our service in Charlotte is complete. A gigantic thank you to Amanda from the Charlotte NCOBS office for setting us up with so many wonderful service opportunities, procuring a place to stay, and treating us to pizza! We also appreciate Elizabeth from Myers Park United Methodist Church for putting us up for the night in a most hospitable facility.


Ready for the play-by-play? Here it goes:

1. Our first task Monday was to meet with vocational students from Mallard Creek High School to talk to them about what it's like to work for an organization like NCOBS; we got lots of questions, maybe potential instructors?

The Service Bus members have logged 269 hours of service to date.

Whoaa Charlotte!

On Oct. 20th we're meeting with a class at Mallard Creek

Check out all the pictures here!

High School, building with second graders at Albemarle Rd. Elementary, brainstorming with a Unity crew at Vance High School, and beautifying at Turning Point Academy.

On the 21stwe're building at Oakdale elementary, organizing with another Unity crew at Butler High School, joining one more Unity crew in an Outward Bound Club kick-off at Myers Park High, and then helping out around the NCOBS Charlotte Office.

We'll be removing trash from remote areas in the park.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=614

Last day of Service Bus Goodness...for this year!

From Atlanta, GA to the Everglades in FL

From New Orleans, LA to Atlanta, GA

From Prescott, AZ back EAST!!!

From Red Rocks, NV to Prescott, AZ

From Los Angeles, CA to Red Rocks, NV

From Joshua Tree, CA to Los Angeles, CA

Joshua Tree, CA

Climbing in the desert.

From Moab, UT to Joshua Tree, CA

Utah

5 Days of expedition canoeing on the San Juan River. Who is the new President? We won't know for 5 days!

Trail maintenance and invasive species removal with the Louisville Olmstead Parks Conservancy. Chelsea played in this park as a child :)
www.olmstedparks.org

From Boulder, CO to Moab, UT

Climbing in Boulder

From the Red River Gorge, KY to the WEST!

In the Red River Gorge, KY

From Louisville, KY to the Red River Gorge in KY

We'll be serving meals and providing child care at the Center which supports victims of domestic violence.
www.thecenteronline.org

From Charlotte, NC to Louisville, KY

Atlanta, GA

Visiting a former NCOBSer and working with her awesome students.

Atlanta, GA

Also known as the happiest place on earth! Working in co-operation with the amazing AmeriCorps Team from Outward Bound Atlanta to create a mural in memory of one of Parkside's beloved teachers, as well as garden boxes and benches.

Showing off pictures and information about courses and employment at NCOBS.

Making our way from Asheville to Charlotte.

Getting our service on at the Midnight Mission http://www.midnightmission.org
Check it out!

Putting in a little quality time at our Charlotte office.

Charlotte, NC

The kick-off meeting for this group of Unity Project students, and we get to be involved. Games, initiatives, and even a little diversity thrown in the mix.

Charlotte, NC

More fun with students from the Unity Project.

Charlotte, NC

Courtyard improvement project for the good people at OES.

Charlotte, NC

School beautification project with area alumni, Unity students, and folks from the Educator's Initiative. Come and join us if you're free!

Charlotte, NC

Meeting with students from the Unity Project to help plan their community service project.