Tallac Sessions Two

Second Session

It is amazing how time flies.  Already the first session is behind us and it is the beginning of the second week of the second session.  The main differences?  Less manual work and more interpretation. 

   The first session was getting the site open; taking off all the shutters, repairing any building that has had a hard winter, cleaning all the buildings, pulling out the materials that are part of the display for each building.  Also, the grounds are in need of prepping too.  Raking the millions of pine needles, weeding the flower beds, mowing and watering the lawns.  It was rewarding but lots of work.

    Memorial Day came and we went into the transition mode.  On week-ends  tours of the Pope house began and the museum was open. 

   July 16 was the magic day and the Tallac site went on full schedule.   It seems it is the magic day in this area because other places also went on full schedule on this day.  Full schedule means more tours.  More tours mean more fun.  More fun for our visitors and more fun for us volunteers.  R conducted her first two tours of the Pope house on Thursday and I gave mine on Friday.  We are encouraged to conduct the tours in costume if we wish.  One of the bedrooms of the Pope house is used as the costume room and it is filled with costumes for both men and women. 

    While Fort Vancouver has costumes for eras from 1820’s thru WWII, Tallac is aimed at a specific timeframe of the 1920’s.  As I mentioned before flappers dresses do not look good on every body.  So R has found a maids costume that works and conducts her tours as one of the Pope staff.  I have discovered two costumes.  One of them includes a beige sport coat, shirt and tie and a straw hat.  Adding my own black slacks and shoes and it was complete.  The straw hat makes it.

Monday 6.25.12

   It's Monday morning.  I am typing this up in the office at Tallac using the only WiFi here in the site.  It has been mentioned to our supervisor that it would be great to have WiFi in our campground area, but that has not been accomplished yet.
   R is over at the Pope house, trying on costumes.  The person who is what you would call the "head costume person" for the site is there today and so it is a good time to see if she can find something for R to wear when she gives tours.  It is not a requirement to wear a costume, but many of the volunteers wear them and I think that it adds to the fun.  My wife does not have the the slim figure that the 20's dresses require so the "flapper" type dress is out.  It will be interesting to see if they can come up with something.
   I "shadowed" the Pope House tour guides on both Friday and Saturday to watch and learn.  Everyone has a different style and tells the story differently.  I "know" most of the facts about the site.  But I will tell the story my way.  That's the fun of it and that's why it is important us to hear other people's stories and learn the little side stories of the site.  The side stories are what make the tour more special.
   The park has "ramped up" to the summer mode.  The visitor numbers have increased.  The number of programs that we offer has increased and are continuing to increase.  In addition to the museum being open 7 days a week now, and the Pope House tours offered 6 days a week, there are such things as the Servants Tour, the Tallac Site Tour, an Evneing with Mrs Pope, and Tea with Mrs Tevis so there is lots to do here are the Tallac site as well as the nearby Visitor Center and Valhala sites.  It is a fun place to be working right now.

Pope House Tours 6.23.12

We are getting ready.  Next week we will be giving tours of the Pope House.  R says she is ready.  I think I am also.  I am going to "shadow" another volunteer on her tour in twenty minutes to get another person's perspective on the tour.  Then I will choose which parts I want to use to make the story My story.  It is fun to listen to other volunteers and hear how they conduct their tours.  It is the way I learn.  My wife, likes to write everything down and then by reading it several times, she gets it learned.  Neither way is better than the other, it is just the way it works for each of us.
   I already have my costume figured out.  If we wnat the guides can choose to dress up for the tours.  I have found, in the "prop room", a tan sports coat that looks time apporpriate ( the mid twenties) along with a shirt and tie.  With it I will bring my own black slacks and shoes.   Did I mention the straw hat?  Very stylisth.  I will tell you more later after my first tour.  

Tallac Musings

1919 Pierce Arrow R-9 5 Ton Truck

First session is history.  Things are gearing up for more visitors, more programs, and more fun.  There are 4 five week sessions here at Tallac.  The first and fourth are basically work sessions.  Number one is opening up the site; taking the shutters down, uncovering the furniture, hanging the curtains and putting down the rugs and accessories and getting the grounds ready for visitors.  The fourth session is just the opposite.  It involves putting the items away, replacing the shutters, and just getting the place ready for the snow and cold winter.  Sessions two and three is running the site at full speed with programs and visitors going on everywhere.  Lots of confusion, lots of activities and lots of fun for everyone, vistors and volunteers alike. 



1949 International

   And that's where we are right now.  If only the weather would find out that summer is here.  The wind has come for a several day visit and it is cooling the temps and blowing the pine pollen around like dust on a gravel road.

Wine Tasting 6.10.12

   Fifty miles west and south of here is Placerville  ( pronounced like glass).  Placerville was an important town during the gold rush of 1849.  Gold was to be found in the creeks and rivers of the area having been washed down from the surrounding rocks.

   The gold ran out, of course, and the miners moved to another place.  The town shrunk.  Today Placerville is fueled by tourist gold.   Highway 50 runs through it. People hurry by on their way to and from Lake Tahoe.  I hope they stop.

   Nearby, to the south is the Amador wine country, and area lower then Placerville but above the valley of Sacramento.  As one person put it, “This area is above the fog and below the snow.”  An area, it seems, that is perfect for growing grapes.  And going grapes is what happens here.  In this altitude zone of lots of small and large hills, there is a winery in every direction.  Neat fields of green stretch up and over each bump of land and many of the hilltops are locations of shady farms and wineries beckoning you to stop and sip.  And so we did.

    If you are in the area of Placerville and the small towns nearby such as Lincoln or Plymouth and you have a sunny afternoon to kill, do some winery exploring.  The scenery is excellent and most of the wineries do not charge for tasting.

Waiting

It's Tuesday morning June 5th, 2012.  I'm in Les Schwab Tire in South Lake Tahoe, waiting while they do a brake check on the truck.  It pulses when the brakes are applied, especially when towing the trailer.  Warped front rotors, no doubt.  They are checking and will give me an estimate.  And so I wait.  But at least they have WiFi here so I can catch up on the blog.
  

    Yesterday was a Tahoe weather day.  Because of it's location and elevation, the weather here is quite unpredictable and yesterday was no exception.  We have been told that it can snow here any day of the year and yesterday was one of those days.  R and I took Mollie for a short walk around the Tallac site about Noon and the weather was already starting to change.  Clouds and sprinkles warned of things to come.  A look across the lake showed the future.

 By  1:30 it was raining and by 3:30 the rain turned to snow.  Big fluffly flakes.  The drive to the restaurant for our Monday night dinner was in a snow storm.  By the time we left the restaurant the parcipitation had ceased and blue sky was showing.


  This morning's walk presented several snowy vistas that will not last more than a day or two.

The Lunar Traverse May 2012

   We were in the path.  It was a sunny evening.  The volunteer group was having a BBQ to celebrate, the end of teh day, the getting together of friends, and the lunar event. 
   There had been some preparation.  A hole had been cut in a piece of cardboard by one volunteer.  Another had a glass from a welding mask.  John had four pairs of dark glasses that he stacked for his viewing arrangement.  They all worked to some degree.  The cardboard was the best to get a photo of (as you can see).-->>>

  The welding glass provided a great view through the eye, but the my camera was not able to see the actual event.                             ----->>>



 I am glad we were there to see it.  I'm the group got together.