All is well with the transmission pump and we are officially back on the road. After a muggy weekend at a state park near Jasper, we finally left Texas and added a new state sticker to our map.

We’re spending a week in Bossier City/Shreveport, Louisiana, so that we can volunteer at the nearby Chimp Haven, a sanctuary for chimpanzees who were previously part of biomedical experiments. There are 260 chimps at the sanctuary, and they are building more compounds for the 200 chimps still in labs across the country.

As volunteers, we’re helping with food prep and making enrichment snacks. We have no direct contact with the chimps. Only a handful of doctors, behaviorists and medical personnel have any interaction with them. Everyone else needs to stay at least six feet from the enclosures for safety, because chimps are aggressive and strong, and they will throw feces at you if they don’t know you.

Amy, our volunteer coordinator, drove us around the facility, explaining that, when the chimps arrive, they are studied and assessed, then assigned to a family group of about 21 chimpanzees. Some of the chimpanzees prefer having access to the forest and outdoor habitats. Others won’t leave their bedrooms without enticement, and only feel safe with a roof always over their heads.

We saw several chimps lumbering in the grass, and others moving between their enclosures. They scream and bang things and keep an eye on the people working around the facility.

After the tour and safety lessons, we put on masks and gloves to protect the chimpanzees from any germs we may be carrying, and went to work. We stuffed bananas into PVC tubes with bigger-than-finger sized-holes. The tubes will be frozen, then hung on the mesh of the enclosures for the chimps to enjoy.

We mixed together industrial-sized cans of vanilla pudding, mandarin oranges and pineapples, then spread it inside a PVC U-joint. They’ll also be frozen, then hung on a chain from the mesh.

We got to see a chimp being wheeled out of the medical room on a gurney, and then we walked over to the food storage area, an air-conditioned hangar-like building with walk-in refrigerators, freezers and several pallets of biscuits specially formulated for chimpanzees. There was a full-sized garden shed with wall-to-wall metal shelves of huge jars of peanut butter, family-sized bags of peanuts, and industrial-sized cans of fruit cocktail, applesauce and pudding.

There was a stainless steel counter with three sinks, and two long tables where we worked. We cleaned recycled plastic drink bottles, then filled them with a mixture of Cheerios, raisins and a sugar-free maple syrup. We chatted with a few staff people, and then filled some more bottles with frozen blueberries,  grape syrup and water.

On our second day we finished making the blueberries juice bottles, then squirted the same grape syrup and water mixture into Boomer Balls, hard plastic balls with three bowling ball finger holes drilled out. The juice balls are frozen and the chimps love scraping out the slush. The biggest challenge of the job was to stack the balls in 5 gallon tubs in the freezer without the liquid spilling out.

After our lunch break we made a foraging treat, stuffing finely chopped pieces of apricot between the bristles of a utility broom. The chimps have to separate the bristles to find the fruit, mimicking their grooming behavior.

Marika asked if we could come a little earlier on Thursday and do another drive around to really observe some of the chimps, and Amy said, “Absolutely.” And then she asked if we wanted to do a feed throw, tossing some of the enrichment treats into the compounds. So tomorrow, we’ll get a great look at more of the chimpanzees, and watch them literally enjoy the fruits of our labors.

We only work half a day, then come home to relax and hang out with Cody. In the evenings, I’ve been luxuriating in the RV park swimming pool, and last night, Marika had her first taste of real barbecue. Next week we head to Memphis, where we’re meeting up with a friend to explore the area and sample more barbecue. I’m hoping this unseasonably hot and humid weather passes so that we’ll be able to enjoy some outdoor time.

It’s great to be back on the road, seeing new places, enjoying new experiences. And it’s really nice to have a place to show up and be of service. Free time is great, but we both need some structure and purpose in our days, or we can get mighty cranky.

Finding the balance seems to be the key.