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Main Page > Places > Lost Valley

 http://www.lostvalley.org
 intern@lostvalley.org
 (541) 937-3351
 81868 Lost Valley Lane
 Dexter, OR 97431
 USA

Size: 29 + interns and visitors (20 adults/9 children)
Accomodations:
Cost:
Availability:
Dates: Visitor days 2/15-16, work trade 3/6-20

Internship Info Interns work approximately 30 hours per week in their program and participate in 5-7 hours of community-related activities (cooking, cleaning and well-being meeting) per week.

We offer this position as a work exchange for food and lodging.

if we can't get worktrade, our options are:

• Visitor Days in February: 2 pm Wed/15th–> after lunch on Thurs/16th ($25+/person $35+/family)
• Heart of Now event: February 17-20 ($50deposit (each?) + sliding scale donation sugg 300-650)
• Community Experience Week:2 pm Tuesday February 21st –> brunch Sunday February 26th: (Couples: $350-$700)

Contact Log

Hello, My partner April and I will be traveling around the U.S. during 2006 visiting sustainable communities, and we would love to visit Lost Valley. From your website, it sounds like you are a very well-organized establishment with a broad support base. Do you still have internship opportunities available for 2006? If so, are there specific dates that you have open? The two of us would like to visit for a few weeks, preferably in early 2006 (February - March). I look forward to your reply.

Cheers, Benjamin --Benjamin 08:57, 3 Dec 2005 (PST)

• • • • received response 5 Dec. 2005:

Hi Benjamin,

Thank you for your interest in Lost Valley. We would love to have you visit, please see our website, http://www.lostvalley.org/membershipprocess, for scheduled monthly tours and Visitor Days. You may also be interested in one of our Heart of Now workshops, held here monthly, http://www.lostvalley.org/hon.

Internships are a minimum 3-month commitment. It may be possible to have you here for a shorter period on a worktrade basis if you have skills that one of our programs can use and we have available housing. Can you please let me know what skills each of you have and your full names and contact information? I can then put it out to the community and if a department is interested they will contact you.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

In peace,

Karen Suwinski Human Resources Coordinator

• • • • e-mailed 7 Dec 2005

Hi Karen, Thanks for the quick response. The Heart of Now program sounds interesting, and it sounds like you guys have a pretty well-thought out application process. I know that we will probably not be able to stay for more than a month or so, at least not on this go-round. If we can't work out a work-trade, we'd still love to come by for one of the Visitor Days stayovers.

I have done some basic coursework in Permaculture, although I haven't had much chance to apply it yet. I have also taken a class in herbal medicine, which focused on botany/plant identification. I am also very detail-oriented in my organization and can learn new tasks and processes very quickly.

April has focused her skills mainly on cooking and nutrition (organic and sometimes vegan). She was a Director for a non-profit environmental group (TexPIRG) and she loves kids.

full names & contact info: Benjamin Bradley <benjamin @ nomadicscribe dotnet> my phone # April Rains <april @ nomadicscribe dot net> april's phone #

I have also attached our "sustainability resumes" which tell a bit about our philosophy, experience and goals.

Thanks, Benjamin

• • • • received reply 13 Dec 2005:

Hi Ben,

Thanks for sending your information. I will let the various community programs know you are interested in worktrade and they will contact you if they can use your help. Right now lots of folks are away for the holidays or leaving shortly. You probably won't hear back from anyone until January.

Our biggest challenge in the winter is offering housing. Would you be able to bring your own housing (small camper or van)? Let me know.

Peace,

Karen

• • • • replied 16 Dec 2005:

Hi Karen, Thanks for passing on our information. We will also be out of town for the holidays visiting family, so we look forward to (hopefully) hearing from you in January. We will be traveling by car and camping in a three-season tent. We are prepared to winterize the tent with additional tarps and will have sleeping bags rated to +20 deg. F, so if the weather is not too bad we may be able to camp outside?

What is the weather like up there around February - March?

Peace, Benjamin

• • • • received reply 16 Dec 2005:

Hi Ben,

We have a covered platform that you could pitch a tent on. It doesn't add any warmth, but at least keeps the rain off. Your 20 degree bags are probably pretty adequate, but you might consider sleeping bag liners or additional blankets. Though it's usually in the 40's (though this week morning temps have been mid-20's - clear and cold), it is damp here and feels colder than the thermometer leads one to believe. My 20 degree bag is my summer bag. I like a 0 for winters here, but maybe i'm a softie.

Have a great end of your year and we'll touch base in January!

Peace,

Karen

• • • • received e-mail 3 Jan 2006:

Hi Ben,

Happy 2006! Are you still interested in coming to visit us here at Lost Valley and doing worktrade in February/March? Please let me know and I will let the community know.

Things are still slow here so long-term worktrade may be minimal. But, at the very least, we should be able accommodate a short visit from you along your travels. I'll let the community know how to contact you. If you don't hear from anyone, please get back in touch when you are in the area and we can schedule a shorter visit.

In peace,

Karen

• • • • replied 6 Jan 2006:

Hi Karen, Happy 2006 to you as well. I hope your Holidays went well. Yes, I and my partner are still interested in doing worktrade in Feb/Mar. We will be heading up to Oregon at the beginning of February and have some other stops in the area, so our schedule is flexible right now. Ideally, we'd like to visit and work with you guys for a few weeks (2-4?) so we can get an idea of what life is like in your community and have a chance to get into the community spirit. If that is not possible, we'd still love to drop by for a shorter visit.

Thanks for all your help, Benjamin

• • • • e-mailed 6 Feb 2006:

Hey Karen, April and I have started on our road trip! We are currently staying with a relative in Oklahoma, but will head up to Oregon in the next week or so. We would like to join you for the upcoming visitor days on the 15th-16th if possible. We will be blogging our journey at www.nomadicscribe.net with journal entries, pictures and occasionally videos. I would love to do some interviews of Lost Valley members for the website, if any would like to be interviewed. Do you think anyone would be interested, and if so, will there be time during the visitor days?

Thanks, Benjamin

• • • • received 7 Feb 2006:

Hi Ben,

I'm so glad you guys are visiting. I let our Membership Coordinator, who runs the Visitor Days, know that you will be coming. I also forwarded your message to the community so folks can think about if they want to be interviewed. I'm sure some will.

Safe travels and we'll see you soon!

Karen