Memorial Day May 28, 2012
Another beautiful
morning. I walked the girls over by the Visitor Center
I think it’s time
to take our Molly and Peaches onto the grounds and introduce them to the place
and the place to them.
Since it has been
awhile, I [R] thought I’d share my thoughts for a change.
Two weeks and two days ago, we arrived at the Baldwin
Campground for the Tallac Historic Site volunteers. For awhile there, our arrival date was a bit
sketchy due to several mishaps. We
arrived at the National Forest SE of Williams, AZ after a day’s travel from
ORPI. To our surprise we discovered a
tire problem on one of the 5th wheel tires; about 2 inch of tread
had peeled off the tire down to the cord; we never felt anything wrong and no
blowout! Fortunately, a new tire was
purchased at Flagstaff Grand Canyon . Actually, his bed bladder’s air seeped out
while J was sleeping and he was in a canyon. J
Fortunately, it was fixable; unfortunately, we had to wait 5
days for a new bladder to arrive in Williams.
As soon as the bladder arrived, we headed for a couple of nights at Valley of Fire NE of Las Vegas Valley
of Fire is the first Nevada State Park Lake Tahoe . There was a new adventure; however, it
wasn’t one we expected. Gassing up in
Tonopah an antifreeze leak was discovered.
Thank goodness the discovery was made in town, rather than out in the
desert where there were NO services.
Again someone was watching over us.
The new water pump was inserted the next day, even though someone had to
drive to Bishop, CA. [110 miles away] to pick up the pump. Saturday morning, we headed for Lake Tahoe . J had
puzzled over which route to take due to the high elevations from the desert up
to the Lake .
Naturally, we chose a steep climb and descent over Luther Pass
Upon our arrival, two couples came out to welcome us as
volunteers to Tallac Historic Site. What
a wonderful way to start our two five-week sessions at Tallac! So far, our welcome has continued in our two
weeks volunteering at this location.
Because we are newbies, we don’t have one of the premium sites. Five of the eight sites are located around a
small loop amongst the Jeffrey pines, etc.
The remaining three sites are side by side just below the other sites,
next to the volunteer trailer. They are
not bad sites, just close together. For
the first week and a half one other couple were next to us; now, we are by
ourselves. That couple came for the
cleaning and setting up of the Tallac Historic Site; they will be back to take
down at the end of the last session.
One other couple will be leaving this week; they, too, only come to work
on setting up. The summer is divided
into four, five week sessions. The
first and the fourth sessions demand hard work.
I don’t think either of us was
quite prepared for the manual work awaiting us!
The cooperation amongst the seven couples has been outstanding! Everyone has been very patient with us, as
well as the willingness to direct us in a positive manner. The
men were busy taking down shutters on the two large homes [over 4,000 square
ft. each] and all the outside buildings that housed the servants, guests, and
work rooms. The shutters were repainted
or repaired and then stored. Raking up
pine needles, pine cones, aspen leaves, and mowing is a full-time job for
everyone. Inside, the women were busy
dusting ceilings & walls, removing sheets covering the furniture, sweeping,
moving furniture to correct spots, and setting up each room with the decorative
items. Most of the items are protected
in boxes up in the Pope House Linen Room [aka the Sewing Room] in a tin-lined
closet from rodents and bugs. It is
amazing how organized everything is at the Tallac Site which includes the
Baldwin House [Museum] and the Pope House, along with all the out buildings. Some of these couples have been coming for
ten to 20 years. The whole set up in the
spring is a well-run machine. The
history of the buildings is so interesting!
The setting is so beautiful!
And, the staff & volunteers have been so positive and friendly. Every Monday evening the volunteers go out
for tacos or pizza. And, we’ve already
had one BBQ. At noon during the setup
everyone meets on the patio of the Baldwin House for lunch; that will be missed
now that the Site is opened to the public.
All of us will be on different schedules. And, every Wednesday morning, we gather for a
weekly meeting and then help clean and work on maintenance. The camaraderie amongst the small staff and
the volunteers is great; everyone works together so nicely. Wonder how it will be the second session?
I’d like to take a moment to describe what and where I’ve
been the past two weeks. The Baldwin
House was a 4,000 sq. ft. summer home built by Dextra Baldwin, the
granddaughter of Lucky Baldwin, around 1923.
There are two cabins outside that were used for visitors. The cabins were moved from the Tallac Hotel
and Casino that operated in the late 1800’s by Lucky. About a five-minute walk to the east one
comes upon the Pope House Estate. The
Pope House is very upscale compared to the rustic appeal of the Baldwin House
with many out buildings for the servants, guests, and for the running of the
House. The Popes, the third owner of the
buildings, brought 8 permanent staff members with them from San Francisco Baldwin Museum
Each room has a booklet with photos to help set up the room
as it might have been in the 1920’s.
What a help for all of us, especially me who had never seen how the
rooms were set up! I cleaned up Granny
Pope’s room. No set up was
required. The room is left as it was
when the Forest Service took over. The
house had been left empty for 15 years.
Since the buildings were not built for winter living, the weather had
take it’s tole on the interior of the house.
Granny’s room was left as is for visitors to see how the walls were
layered. From there, I vacuumed what
would have been the children’s room; now, the room is used as a sewing room for
the costumes worn by the tour guides and during the Gatsby Festival held in
August. I cleaned up and decorated the
east bathroom. By that time we all
headed for the living room which is probably close to the size of my home.
After helping set up the dining room I sent to the servants’
dining room and kitchen that is located outside of the main house, due to fire
possibilities. By the fourth day we
were working on the servants’ quarters in the other outside cabins. I tackled the head maid’s room, as well as
the chauffeur’s room and the nanny’s room.
The nanny’s room was a big job for all the young children’s furniture
was setup with the nanny. This was the
era when children were with the nanny.
The children also ate with the servants until they were 17; at that age
children were invited to eat with the adults in the dining room.
The sixth day I helped others with the guest cabin and the
Indian cabin. Then, it was time to tackle
the raking around the Pope House. The
first afternoon was a bit much for my back; so, I worked on making schedules
and tickets for the upcoming tours.
Wed., I spent more time on the copying and then raked some in the
afternoon. The last day, I raked all
day around the visitors’ bathroom. It
was a big, tiring job; however, I was able to work all day at the raking.
Saturday was the opening of the Museum and the tours for the
Pope House. Jim and I did our turn at
collecting trash throughout the Site before cleaning up the Baldwin Museum Baldwin Museum
Jim and I were coming home absolutely exhausted those first
eight days. This wknd we are ready to do
some other exploring. We’ve been around
the Lake itself checking out the area. Today, we will be biking about the Site,
particularly to areas I haven’t explored.
Jim has walked the dogs to
different spots; this afternoon is my chance to explore more.
