A 2.898Mb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE
I recently spoke to the annual gathering of senior Caltrans surveyors in Sacramento. As I always do when speaking to groups like this, I closed my presentation by urging the members of the audience to keep The American Surveyor in mind when it comes to articles. Shortly after I returned, I received the following e-mail from John Grisafi, Senior Transportation Surveyor, Caltrans District 11 in San Diego:
Marc, I was thinking about your presentation "The Future of Surveying" at the Caltrans Senior Surveyor Seminar on April 17 in Sacramento wherein you mentioned sending you articles of interest for the magazine. I just got an e-mail from one of our contract surveyors, Dan Hooper of Hooper Land Company in Fallbrook, California, who has his daughters helping him on a project out in the desert. He attached some really great photos that could be titled "A Family That Surveys Together". Here’s what Dan had to say the first time around:
"I’ve attached a picture of what my girls and I have been doing lately. We camped near Ocotillo for a couple of nights, staking out two 80-acre parcels in the foothills and part of a 380-acre parcel in the plains. We packed our donkey with thirty 1/2"x2′ rebar and twenty 1/2"x10′ PVC pipes, as well as a few miscellaneous items for each site, including 2′ pipes for new section monuments. The portions in the foothills were too rugged for vehicles because of the ravines and large boulders. We set the rebar and PVC at less than 300′ intervals around the perimeter of the parcels. The attached picture of the girls is at the 380-acre parcel. The 80-acre parcels are to the right in the foothills. I hope that after 20 or 30 more projects, the girls will have plenty of motivation to be good students in college!"
When Grisafi suggested to Dan that he publish his story, Dan replied: "Feel free to forward the photo to anyone you like. I don’t want to bore you with a bunch of pictures, like a proud new dad, but I’m basically a proud old dad. I’ve attached two additional pictures. The first is of my girls after a day of work. The second is the youngest waiting to be picked up near a control point. The girls got the donkey when he was 12 months old and he literally didn’t even know how to eat grass. He had been raised in a stall with a feeder. Now he is 3½, and we bring him trail riding with our two horses. The girls have done all the training themselves. Enough bragging for now. Dan"
A 2.898Mb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE