I went to the Abyss, some call it Iowa.

Day 7-17: Chicago, Camp Albrecht Acres (Dubuque, IA) and a moment in Kansas.

So it’s been a busy week in Iowa, but here the update:

Chicago:

I will never reside on the south side of Chicago. Our stay was at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology – not to be confused with the commercial school ITT tech). The campus was okay and conveniently our dorm was right next to the IIT Pi Kapp chapter and we were given free food and tours of the house.

What pulled away from my experience in Chicago was the endless work and no down time. Our team was exhausted from camp cheerful in Cleveland and we were still learning how to pace our selves, then we get this gazebo project for our Saturday. This project was the remains of last year’s BAM team trying to build a gazebo for Chicago’s CARC (Chicago’s Association of Retarded Citizens) in behind their facilities in a park that they built for their employee’s. Everything had been completed except for the roof. There were just eight 4”x4” posts sticking up in the air and nothing to block the Chicago wind. We began work at 8am and needless to say, with the help of one of the most down putting down carpenter’s I’ve ever met, we were done at 6:30pm. However, we did finish and completed a ton of landscaping at their small park and built a 20ft long picnic table that a crane my have difficulty relocating.

Camp Albrecht Acres – Dubuque, IA:

I didn’t really know what to expect on the trip down to Iowa, but it was a beautiful drive. It reminded me of driving to school in the spring time because of all the damn cornfields and nothingness down here. The camp is much nicer looking than our last stop in Cleveland. Everything is cleaner and well maintained, not to mention air conditioned. They have this pathway near the entrance to the camp which is lined with flags from all the nations which there counselors are from (they are a member of the Camp America program which connects international students with positions at non-profit camps). The only string is that we are not sleeping at the camp but at a church which is a mile down the road (which is on the other side of the town in Sherrill; the “suburb” of small Dubuque).

Our project at this camp consists of building a 30’x80’ steel shed with two large bay doors, a window and a man door. The slab and anchors are already cured and ready to be built on; the rest is for us to build. The campers seem much easier to connect to because they are more able then the campers at Camp Cheerful.

Rest of the week in Iowa:

The impossible happened, we actually finished the building during our stay at the camp (4 days is probably some kind of record). Also, the guys at the Push America office confirmed that our project at camp Albrecht Acres is not only the largest and most expensive undertaking Build America has ever done, but is the largest and most $$ of any Push mission period. With that said, we of course signed our names on all the truss inside so our team can be remembered for the life of that shed (which could be a week in the tornado ally of Iowa – which by the way, hearing a live tornado alarm is probably the quickest way to relieve constipation of any west coast resident).

I really enjoyed Albrecht Acres and our lead carpenter, Brian Hefel from Brian Hefel Enterprises. The camp was great and Bryan gave us all one of his company hats and those of us of age went the one and only local bar in Sherrill, Iowa, the “Barn” and bought us all a round. It was a great time.

Kansas and Kansas City, MO: probably one of the most confusing locations to tell anyone where you’re at.

Our weekend stop is in Kansas City - Missouri, however we are sleeping at the Kansas City school for the Deaf which is in Kansas; understand? We are moving some furniture for the school at one of their facilities and if we’re done by lunch actually have some time off. I would love to go to one of those Bass Pro shops which appear to be a bible belt Mecca for rednecks. I’m so excited.