ORPI

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, ORPI for short.   The National Park Service has a four letter code for each of it's parks.  It usually takes the first two letters of the first two words of the name.  Thus ORPI.  Fort Vancouver is FOVA .  Petrified Forest is PEFO.

  ORPI is as beautiful as ever.  I think it is the most beautiful desert in the United States.  Lots of interesting flora and fauna.  The campground has not changed.  We are in the same spot as we were two years ago.  The VC (visitor center) looks the same as well.   j

  What has changed is the management and the management attitude.  This is our 5th or 6th year as volunteers here.  We loved this place for its beauty and the great amenities that are provided.   However, the real reason we loved it was the fact that we were given the opportunity to do many varied activities; give evening programs, lead hikes, give patio talks, drive the van for the van tours, be the guide for those van tours.  Those activities gave us the opportunity to interact with the public, teaching them about this great desert, and establishing relationships with some.  Every week 3 or 4 programs were conducted by volunteers on subjects from cacti, to Roadrunners, Coyotes, Desert Tortoise, "Ouchy Things", Vultures, history of ranching in the area.  We were spending several nights a week at the amphitheater learning and enjoying one another.  Usually those events were followed by desert in the volunteer building afterwards.
   Prior to coming down here I communicated with the volunteer coordinator that we would, in fact have those same opportunities this year.  I had told him that if this was not true, we were not interested in returning.  When we had our arrival interview with the interim coordinator( the previous coordinator has left) we were told that we would not be giving programs this years because they has hired several seasonal rangers and "that was their job."  So it looks like our 3-4 month stint here will consist of working in the visitor center answering questions and pointing to the bathrooms and driving the vans for the van tours.   Have you ever been promised something by a retailer or friend and then it turned out not to be what was promised?   That is us.  We are not happy campers.