Rodent 007...

So lately it has been cold at night. Very chilly in fact that you can't really get away with walking in sandals anymore here at 10,000 feet. That's ok though, but it will be weird to go back to Duluth and find that I can still wear sandals.

Be that as it may, because it has been so cold, the mice have been finding unique ways to enter into the apartment. One of them pushed the screen of the window open on my bedroom window and just climbed in James Bond style. It was weird. Since then, there have been just a ton of mice running around the apartment. A ton meaning like 5 and I've had to set traps and I hate doing it because I know their going to die and part of me just weeps at the thought of having to kill these little guys that are just trying to get into someplace warm and safe.

It has also been rainy and stormy the last few days, but the rainbows have just been fantastic! When Wendy was here, we got to see rainbows, hear a coyote party in the meadow behind my house, and the lightning of course is always spectacular. That's if you don't think about the risk of fires with all the dead wood, it's just wonderful.

We're having our end of the year/season potluck and it is a plaid party. That was my doing because I thought it'd be fun to spice up a party with something else other than just sitting around and eating. I like the idea of requiring that everyone wear something plaid. It's up to them how creative and crazy they want to be. Knowing some of the personalities at our park, I wouldn't be surprised for some craziness! Hope you all are well and send me a line or ring me in the next two days because I'm going to be off. I will also be bouldering and using my new crash pad! Yeah! Cheers to all of you!

The Outdoor Retailer show and more!

Ok, so here are the pictures from girls night out that I told you about first of all. Soo cute!

Last week Emily and I went on a small adventure locally to explore a report of an amazing slot canyon 30 minutes away with some great water falls. So we went to the Kanarraville slot canyon and it was so awesome! It was wonderful to get out and hike, but it was also nice to be hiking in the water. Footing was interesting, but well worth it. A strategic trekking pole well placed is a handy tool. We had to hike a little ways in on an off road vehicle road before we got to the trail because although the little escort wagon has now been upgraded to being named "The Mountain Getter", she's not quite stream crossing worthy and still doesn't have much in the way of clearence on the bottom. So, we hiked in and out of the stream and finally got to the slots and it was amazing! I had never been in a slot before and I really enjoyed this one because it is not well known and there aren't a lot of people going through it which makes the experience so much nicer I think. So, this ladder by this really sweet waterfall we had to climb up and then back down again
which was a really interesting process. I liked it though.

The Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City was great. I rented a room for two nights at a hostel that was only a mile from the convention center and the temple in the middle of the city. I got in late, so I figured having a room to stay in was preferred to trying to find a place to camp at 10:30 at night in a strange area. It was well worth it though because the room was clean and wonderful and I was so hot and icky feeling after the drive that a shower before bed felt like pure bliss!

I met up with the Granite Gear crew and got my pass from them and had some time to wander around before I started to work. That was nice of them to let me explore around. I ended up purchasing a crash pad for bouldering so now I don't have to worry as much about landing on the ground when I boulder now.

I helped them out in the booth selling some stuff and also packing things up at the end of the day as best as we could. I was then invited to a bbq at their hotel which I of course went to! I met a lot of the sales reps for Granite Gear, Crazy Creek, and the owner of Waldies which was really neat. I also met a couple from Columbia who are traveling around the States and meeting some people and seeing what types of products they want to sell in their outdoor gear shops back home. Louis and Katarina were just amazing and it was such a priviledge to meet them. After a night of some amazing grilled Alaskan Sockeyed salmon for dinner mixed with some moose drool and witty conversation, I went back to the hostel. What a great day!

Today I drove back to the mountain for another week of work, but my godmother Wendy is coming on Wednesday, so the week will go very fast for me I think. Hope you all are well and having some of your own amazing adventures!

Cheers!

Where did summer go?

I can't believe that I have been here in Utah for the last two months. I feel like the summer is almost done. There is so much that I have to go and explore yet and I feel like time is running short before we all leave to go our different ways.
What is really neat is that Emily, who I drove out here with, got hired on to stay for another 6 weeks! I am so happy for her for it is now official and she is for sure staying. It is great that she is getting a job right out from her internship! It means that I will be driving back to Duluth alone and road tripping home alone. *tear* I can't be too sad though because it is such a great opportunity for her and a great way to get some money right out of graduation from college. Yeah Emily!!
We recently had a girl's dress up night for Jenny's birthday and it was a lot of fun! I'll have to post a picture later of all of us dressed up and gorgeous because I don't have the pictures uploaded onto my computer yet. Things have been busy. So we went to this fabulous restaurant called The Garden House. I had a stuffed baked salmon with rice and steamed veggies on the side and we had calamari and baked brie for appetizers. It was the most I've spent on dinner probably since prom or when the roomies and I went to Scenic Cafe for Valentine's day, but it was way worth it because the food was fantastic, the atmosphere serene, and the company irreplaceable. It was a wonderful night out and I even wore my red lipstick. Lookout!
The other good news in my world is that after months of trying to figure out the financial aid system for my senior year (yeah, yeah, I know I'm not technically a senior) of school in Duluth, things are all settled and I was able to get all the aid I needed and even like $4000 in grants! Hurray! Grants are good because there is no interest to pay nor do you have to repay them which is also really quite fantastic. So that is really, really exciting and I am glad that I no longer need to worry about that aspect for the future.
As for the interpretation happening here, things are great. I feel confident that this is a good choice of an occupation for me for now. I also feel that after struggling for so long in so many areas of my life that things are going well. It's nice. Challenge is good for the soul and the character, but sometimes I feel like too much of it can break you and bring you so low that life tends to suck for a bit.
So, here we are at the beginning of August and only a few weeks left of my time in Utah. It's not over yet, so I will try not to get all sentimental on you yet. Cheers all!

The "Grand" Vaccation

All right. Vaccation has come and gone, but honestly it was great. Another intern and I drove all over Northern Arizona and went to 8 different parks and monuments. She decided to buy the interagency parks pass just in case and it is totally worth it.

The North Rim was cool. I don't know how else to describe it other than it is a really deep canyon with tons of fault lines going through it making it just really intreguing to view. I have seen pictures of it before, but it can't compare with viewing it in person. The sky was a little hazy because of all the fires going on in SW Utah and Northern Arizona. That would be the only thing that I would change about the visit. We also saw a bunch of different ancient ruins along the rim which were really neat too. We hiked along the rim, but not into the canyon because we didn't have too much time to spend just because we had to travel to Flagstaff and be there before dark. We did do at least 5 miles of hiking though along the rim and then had lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge. I had the Turkey Ruben with fries which was fantastic. I highly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys ruben sandwhiches.

So Shelly and I left the canyon at about 3 pm and made it to the campground just outside Sunset Crater NM near Flagstaff at about 7 pm and got the last campsite! Whew! I'm glad we stayed there because it was honestly a beautiful campground. Just surrounded by ponderosa pine and the ground is ground up lava rocks. It was actually very comfortable. The next morning we got up early to do several hikes around the park. We hiked to Lenox Crater which was a viggorous morning hike that got us more than warmed up for the day. We then went and hiked the lava flows which is a much easier hike and has a brochure to guide you through the trail to points of interest. I have decided that this form of interpretation is fantastic! After Sunset Crater, we drove into Flagstaff for some Subway for lunch and to fill up on gas before heading north. We then ate lunch at Wupatki NM which was really, really hot. We saw most of the ruins, but the last bunch we did the drive by thing because we both were too hot and dehydrated.

We then headed north to Page and then to Lake Powell. I have to say honestly that Lake Powell is one of the worst places I have visited. The campground was terrible and we had strangers walking through our campsite all night long. Egh! It was also very hot there too all night long, so sleeping proved elusive to both Shelly and myself. I would go back, but only to hike the slot canyons and then I would rent a hotel room in Page instead of camping there. Needless to say, Shelly and I left there post haste the next morning only to find that not a single gas station apparently opens before 8 am anywhere near there on a Sunday morning. We had no water because the water available was so hot that it was unbearable to drink it.

We then stopped to get some gatorade at the gas station in Kanab and then got some breakfast in us too. From there we stopped in Pipe Springs NM and that was an interesting place. They do more of the dramatic side of interpretation which was neat to see implemented. Also, the monument is located on the Southern Paiute Indian Reservation so they have a partnership between the NPS and the Indians who live there. It is an interesting partnership to be sure, but the museum that they have there describing Paiute culture and history is absolutely amazing. I really liked it a lot.

So now I am back at home base in Utah and feeling so much better about many things and just overall have a better attitude about work now that I have had time away from it and from Cedar City. I was like a flower wilting due to lack of rain. Although the flowers here are way hardier than anything I have ever seen. I suppose they have to be to live in such a harsh and dry environment like this one. There are some more fires that are popping up all over the place and effecting daily routine for many. We have been getting more afternoon storms building which means rain=good but it also means lightning=fire=bad. We'll see. We haven't had to be evacuated yet and let's hope that it stays that way!

On the road again...

So I'm off on my long awaited, much anticipated trip to see the sights in Southwestern Utah and Northern Arizona. Thank God! Work is good, but when you've been doing it for 9-10 days straight without much of a break, it can really start to wear you down.
It was interesting though the last two days there was a man who visited the park. He was an older gentleman, who will remain nameless, and he was very interesting to talk to. And talk he would. He had a lot of great stories to share about living in Alaska and Hawaii, how he built his homes, and how much he goes fishing. He seemed to like fishing. The topics of his talking was for the most part interesting, but irrelevent. It was the intensity-I noticed-in his voice and how much he seemed to need to tell someone his story so he wouldn't become irrelevent or some random old man who tells stories.
This got me thinking about how many things in our lives define us and mold us to our current sculpted state. It got me thinking how many things had sculpted this man who so much wanted to have someone listen to him. What made him live in Alaska, and Hawaii? How did he come to be camping at the place I work at? So much of a life to tell, and not enough time to hear it because all these other people are demanding your attention.
I will have some pictures posted after my trip to show you a little of the journey I am going on right now. And, if I'm lucky some climbing with some other staff on Sunday the afternoon when I get back! You maybe jealous reading this, but also know that I haven't had a real vaccation of exploration in over a month. I will say happy trails to all and try not to start any forest fires! The largest one is only 10% contained and is roughly 30 miles north of where I am living. Ciao!

Yeah, I kind of like this blog idea! So last night, full moon again but there were clouds out so when the moon rose all orange and beautiful, I got some great exposures with my camera. I have had that camera for almost a year now and I am still learning how to use different features on it. I guess that I should maybe read the owner's manual and I would learn a lot more of this stuff quicker. I will try and figure out how to post a lot of new picutres on this site too. Lots of learning going on with technology.
Things have just been blooming away despite the fact that there is a drought here. Lots of Scarlet Paintbrush, Silver Lupine, Alpine Larkspur, and Colorado Columbine. They are all really beautiful. I love looking out into one of the meadows and hearing and seeing the bees and hummingbirds going nuts with all of the blooming beauties.
Last night was such a wonderful night because we-interns and one of the campground hosts-made tofu and chicken coconut curry with brown rice. OMG it was amazing! We all contributed different ingredients to make it a great community meal and then we had s'mores around a campfire. It was my first campfire of the summer and it was glorious. I woke up to my hair smelling like campfire smoke and thought that someone aught to bottle that smell because I would totally use it as a perfume!
Internet time done again! Off to buy groceries for the week!

A new beginning...

So here is my first posting on a brand new blog. For those of you who are my first guests here, welcome to the random inner workings of my life and mind.

June went by in a flash. With all the worrying about my car and just trying to make sense of the inner workings of Cedar Breaks National Monument, this month has gone by faster than I thought it would. I knew that this summer was going to go fast, but not like this.
There are things that are working well. Like my programs are all working great and are all set. I have had a lot of time to work on them being slightly stranded on all of my days off in June thus far. I have made a few side trips with the other interns, but nothing very far away to explore the local cool things that I am surrounded by. That is going to change though: July is the month of exploration.
So far, I have a trip planned to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sunset Crater (near Flagstaff), and Pipe Springs National Monument. I am excited to get out and go exploring. Now that my car is finally fixed (apparently it was the radiator), I will be able to explore a little bit farther abroad than my own park here. Again, exploration here I come! I am more excited than words can say because the last week or so, I have felt rather trapped by the lack of transportation.
It is interesting to me how things are working here. In some respects, it feels like everything is going great on the surface, however underneath it all, there is so much chaos that it is dizzying. I feel that the communication between all staff could be vastly improved and I include myself in that too, because I am not exempt myself from not communicating well. I feel that there is always so much to do and this month on average I've been working 45 hour weeks, which probably helps with my current state of frustration due to the lack of good, wholesome fun and free time. Again another reason why I am really looking forward to having a trip out of the park.
I don't want people to think that I don't love it here, because I do. Living in the mountains and so far away from modern stuff that it is rather refreshing. I would suggest it to everyone to get in touch with more green spaces. There are simply various management things that occur that I would like to see improvement on. That is all that I will say on the matter, so if you want details, email me for more.
I have been taking so many pictures of late and I am glad that I had earlier this year bought a second memory card for my camera because there are many times that I have been running out of space on my 256 card. I never would have thought that Utah is so diverse geologically, but it is. Just 2 miles east of the park are miles of lava fields which I never would have expected to find here. They are very neat and fun to explore.
Also, the last few nights have been glorious too because of the full moon. Last night we went on a night hike along the rim of the ampitheater and the previous night we drove up to Brian Head Peak and just watched it rise over the plateau. The beauty here is often so dramatic that it will often take your breath away.
Internet time for the day is up, so I hope you enjoyed the new site and the blog idea. Oh, feedback is always encouraged and desired!
Cheers.