Christmas 2010

I am writing this mostly as a journal entry for myself but if anyone cares to take a look into the world of my holiday travels you are more than welcome to read along. I exited the school on the 17th of December at about 4 o' clock. I had submitted my grades for the last grading period and then was out to celebrate the holidays. I hung out with friends Friday night and made it back to my apartment in time to enjoy holiday movies and drink warm tea and eat the end of my cookies.



Saturday morning I woke up early and drove to my friends house to go for a hike. They live in the coast range and as I turned the corner to get near their house, the snow began to fall and it was a beautiful start to my morning. My car tires were spinning out on the road, but I made it to their house safely. We took off hiking in the beautiful falling snow and walked through the woods. We saw many animal tracks and spent the morning in a winter wonderland.



I then returned to my apartment and cleaned it from top to bottom. Saturday night I wathced more holiday movies in anticipation of my travelling to see family the next day.



Woke up Sunday and I went out for breakfast. Just me, a cup of coffee, a news paper and a great amount of food. My friend came to pick me up around 1 and drove me to Portland. We walked around downtown for a while, entered Powell's books, walked through the lobby of the Hilton and played "Is this a good idea." She then dropped me off a the train station and I was only there for about one hour before the full trail left from the station.



I sat in my chair and started my book for the vacation. After Vancouver I went to the Lounge car, charged my phone and read more. As we steadily passed through the gorge and into Eastern Washington, I steadily turned page after page of my book and made great headway. I took out my laptop and played some solitare when my eyes needed a rest from the page turning. I stepped out of the train in Spokane, went through the station among sleeping passengers, luggage, and empty shops. I found a restaurant open that served pancakes and hashbrowns. Three dollars later, I ate my food back on the platform in 0 degree weather before reboarding and watching Youtube clips on my cellphone. I did fall asleep after we started moving but only for a few hours. I was awakened with a stiff back and cold shoulders. I moved back to the lounge car and proceeded to finish my book amidst intermitten sleeping periods.



I arrived in Whitefish around 8:30 am and was greeted by my brother in weather teetering around zero. He drove me to his work and then I proceeded to his house where his wife and son awaited my arrival. This is the first time I had met my nephew. At 7.5 weeks old, he spends much of his time in Mom's arms, getting carried up steps, getting moved through the air and also being fed.....every 2 hours. I enjoyed my time conversing with my sister-in-law and spending time around the baby.



Through the next few days we stayed at their house, with a tree, a fire and family. It was beautiful. We did go to dinner at a neighbors house and had a great time shopping for out upcoming road trip.

We then took off for the farm where I grew up. We made it in the late afternoon and were greeted by my parents as well as my Mother's sisters family. We ate a feast, and then retired near the fire for conversation.

The next day we went to my uncle's farm and skated on the reservoir. We had to spend about an hour pushing away the 5 inches of powdery snow, trying to make enough room to skate around. We hit around hockey pucks and rediscovered how to skate on frozen water. We had a blast. I then stayed over with my cousin to play pinochle with family before dinner. After dinner we played a group game of taboo with lots of cookies and laughter.

On Christmas Eve, we woke up and celebrated by opening our presents. We all then ate a great brunch and played games througout the afternoon. We then went to an evening church service and I was able to see some of my old friends. Although breif, it was great to meet a new baby, hug old teachers, and check in on family friends.

We then stayed up late playing games.

Xmas day. I woke up and helped cook a great breakfast, then proceeded to go x-country skiing through our yard(s). It had warmed up to around 40, and I was in a long sleeve tee shirt and did not use gloves. It was a beautifully sunny experience and made me long for more sunshine and winter sports in Oregon. As I returned to the house, my cousin and mother were beginning to build a snowman. They had great snow for it and used lots of accessories. There was some unsure participants when we brought up the idea of innertubing behind the pickup, a snowy tradition, but luckily most everyone decided to go. We had too much fun getting sprayed in the face going 25 miles an hour behind a pickup and rolling off giggling into snowbanks.

We got back in time for a delicious duck dinner. We all stuffed our bellys and played games and enjoyed each others company as the evening came and turned to night. We watched a few X-mas movies and everyone slowly dispersed packing for the next travel phase of the break. I am leaving for the Chicago area in the morning. I will be driving with my parents, sister in law and nephew. Aunts, Uncles and Cousins were all returning home and I am just recently the last one up. I have filled my winter cup but cannot wait to see my other siblings and aunts, uncles as well as my only living grandparent. We are gathering for New Years and it should be a great ending to my year. Merry Christmas and Peace to you all.

The Rogue

From the Wallowas, I was home for one night before taking off for a 5 day trip on the Rogue river. A group of 10 of us with 3 gear boats and a paddle raft departed Almeda campground near Grants Pass. On the first day we were treated to Osprey and Eagles as well as Turkey vultures as we got on our way. We floated through the first few miles and got out to spot Rainie Falls. Two boats took the middle shoot which was of slightly more difficulty. The paddle raft and our other boat took the fish ladder. We went a few more miles to Whiskey Creek and pulled off for the night.

We had a great night with delicious food and appetizers and lots of fun with cards and conversation. We decided to leave fairly early the next morning and moved along the river. A perfect day led us to Battle Bar and we pulled off the river for a delicious Mixican night. Margaritas, Fajitas and chips and dip were the treats of the night, as well as an impromptu dance party in a shelter just up the trail from our camp. We stayed at the camp for one day. We all slept in and then decided to cross the river and hike to Zane Grey's Cabin. We then hiked back to the boats, grabbed lifevests, and headed up river about a mile and a half. 7 of us decided to jump in the river and float back down to the boats. It was great.
That night after a delicious chili, we relaxed playing cards and watched a bear across the river catch a fish.

We took off early the next day with the goal of putting lots of water under our oars and reaching Tate creek. As we began, we spooked a black bear from the edge of the river and watched it rush up through the bush. We then scared another, and another, ...and just when we thought we wouldn't see any more, a Mom and two cubs slowly made their way away from the water and into our view. We stopped at the ranch near Mariel and then moved on to Blossom Bar. It was flawless. All of us made it through like champions and then floated the rest of the way to camp. At camp, the males walked up the trail to a waterfall/natural water slide and each took our turn feeling the cold rush of the water. When we returned we preformed one of the most importatnt tasks ever, cheap beer taste off. The winners: Tecate and Pabst. I thought I loved Coors, now I know that I should be drinking Pabst. We again played cards until the light went away.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of a bear eacting blackberries on the opposite side of the river. As we watched, a cooler came floating down the river. It had been preceded by a few peices of debris that we were not able to identify. We jumped in our partially deflated paddle raft and gave chase. We were able to recover the cooler and brought it back to our beach. A dam had breached up river and the river level rose. We were lucky enough to be warned by boaters the night before, but a camp was not so lucky.

We then packed and took it easy on the way out. It was a great trip on the river with no hiccups. The group was close, the food and drinks were incredible and the water treated us right. It was a very laid back crew and trip.

We saw river otters, 5 bald eagles, 12 bears (3 cubs), deer, osprey and turkey vultures. There were also numerous jumping fish. We were also treated to meteors every night. I saw at least 5 each night. It was incredible seeing the sky with nothing to pollute it. We even had a new moon to boot. I forgot how full of stars the night sky is. The entire sky has light in it, and the milky way is an absolute full band of light that fills the middle of the sky. I slept in my sleeping bag everynight without shelter and was as content as any 5 nights of my summer.

Last day in the Wollawas

I woke up at 7 and boiled some water for tea and warm powdered goats milk. I ate my breakfast and packed up camp. I filled my camel back and two Nalgenes and was on the trail by 8.
I decided to hike down West Lostine river, and that meant that I would need to climb up over a pass. I made it to the ridge at 8:40 and was down to the other side by 9:15. I walked along the bank of Miniam lake and was impressed by the size and beauty. I passed a few hikers that all made mention that I had made it an early start. The silence of the trees and the singing of the birds entertained me for most of my journey. As I approached the end of the lake, a couple that had just finished bathing were dressing and caught slightly off guard by me, the silent single hiker. I would not have noticed except that they audibly reacted to me. They were fully clothed, but just barely.

I then decided that I wanted to hike at a pretty fast clip, just to see how fast I could hike. I moved my sleeping pad to a more strategic location on my pack and started moving. I made it to copper creek trail and saw a family there at 10:33 and was at my car by 11:25. I was alone in the parking lot and actually found a beer in my trunk that I had forgot about. The best part is that it had stayed cold from the chill of the night before and not having direct sunlight on it. A COLD BEER! I changed clothes and snacked a bit as I cleaned my car. A few forest service workers came along and asked me about my trip. It was nice to have a conversation. I drove into Joseph to wait for my friend to come out of the wilderness.

I walked around downtown and looked at the little shops. I then drove over by Wollawa lake and found a public park/swimming area. At the park there were many families, sunbathers, a woman playing her guitar softly on a picnic blanket, and a group of high school kids swimming with inflated innertubes. I soaked my feet for a good thirty minutes and then went back to town. I then sat outside the bowling alley and watched a movie on my laptop as I borrowed their wi-fi network in the shade of their building. I then found a small bakery and ate a cookie and found that they had live music in the evening.

I went back and forth between town, the lake, Chief Joseph's grave, and snoozing for most of the afternoon. As the sun began to go down, I decided to go to the lake and enjoy it at dusk. I played my guitar in the stillness and had one audience member. An old man took a folding chair into the water and listened to me as he drank a beer.

I then went back to town and listened to the live music from 8-10. At ten I drove by where I picked up the book and my friend Talia was there. They were finishing up a bbq. I was given a plate of food and I shared with all present my dino bones and other rocks from my travels. As I went to leave, they invited me to stay in the bunkhouse. It was nice to have a mattress for the first time in over 25 days. I hung out with the forest service workers and it was like being amongst my brethren. I wish I could have spent more time there.

I woke up early and started by drive back home. I stopped in Portland to visit my friends and have food. I finally got home at around 6 pm for the first time since June 28. What a great vacation.

Backcountry Poetry

Morning Hike

Watching the sun paint the peaks in sunlight on an early morning hike. Trying not to be in teh direct beams yourself. It acts as almost a spotlight, illuminating the beauty of the moment. Finally it pours upon you, but it is okay, the amazing show is over and now that the house lights are up, you see you are among flowers , surrounded by trees and amid beautiful rocks.

Backpacking thoughts

There is a time while backpacking that the listlessness and the excited nervous enegy is over. you pack feels like an infinite weight, sweat is everywhere letting you know of any cut, scratch , welt, and abrasion, stinging its hello.
At that moment you wonder if you packed two Christmas hams or any other food you could magically eat and make the pack light again. no dice. Would you trade that moment? Not I.

Mosquitoes

The meadows in a glaciated valley are so quiet and so pure. The green is what suburbanites dream their lawn will look like, but they will never achieve it. The squeaking of ground squirrels lets you know you are not alone, even though you have not seen a human for a few hours. All at once you realize you have sat down and removed your pack to rest. you sit and drink in the surroundings. you sit on a rock and lean your pack against it. Maybe if you eat, the load will lessen. flies and mosquitoes buzz around you not biting, but checking you out. Two or three finally bite to keep you awake and you are up and on your way.

Eagle Cap Day 2

8-3-10

I woke up at 7:00 to an alarm but stayed in the tent until 8pm. I at a breakfast of granola and powdered goats milk. I consolidated my bag, filled water, and was on the trail by 8:37. As I approached the ridge, there was a group of high school kids with one advisor sliding in a snow field. I hike past them and watched them hike up and slide down a few times as I took breaks on the steep slope. Once I hit the ridge at 9:15, I figured it would be easy sailing. It was gorgeous. I had a great view of the valley I hiked the day before and I was able to see all glacial features that I cover in my classroom. I really wished at that moment that some of my students were there to see. I hit the summit at 10:00. I stayed on top, and read my book, ate some snacks and watched some birds until 11. I then took a long break on the ridge looking south. As I continued down, I then found another group coming up the trail. They asked me a few questions and it turned out they were a high school group and they had me do a quick geologic interp for the group. It was nice.

I made it home by noon nad then I tried to get some sun and do a crossword puzzle. I finished my book as well. After I had overheated I crawled into my tent and slept until 3 then I decided to explore the meadow at upper lake. I walked to a waterfall and then layed in a bit of grass in the meadow. I looked around and found that there were shooting stars everywhere. The flowers are one of my favorites. I then put my feet in the lake and looked at the clouds. I hadn't played "what does that cloud look like" in a long time, but I really enjoyed it.

At 4:00 I went back to camp and took another nap. I slept until 7. I woke up and ate dinner. I had aquired two neighbors and one chose my same grove of trees. I watched the sky turn colors and just enjoyed being in the backcountry. I then stowed my pack and almost lit a fire to pass the time, but instead decided to write some poetic thoughts. I then went into my tent and slowly fell asleep.

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 1

On August 1st, I drove from Boise to Joseph and arrived around 4pm. I found the hurricane trailhead, suggested to me by my friend who was the ranger and also found a campground nearby. I debated hiking in, but I had no map. I decided to wait until 8 am and visit the ranger station and then hike into the mountains. I went back to Joseph and tried to find Wi-fi. I found it outside the bowling alley. Why the lanes have it, I wasn't sure. Just as I was ready to leave, I decided to call my friend one more time. She answered and told me that she had just returned from the wilderness. We met up in Joseph for a drink and dinner. After catching up, she told me that she would recommend a different trail. She said that if I hiked up the hurricane creek trail early for about 3 miles, there are great sites, and then I can drive to the Two pan trailhead and hike into the lakes Basin.
She told me to follow her back to her place and grab a map and book. We went to a local grocery and I bought two disposable film cameras. She led me to the Forest Service bunkhouse and told me that when I get out of the wilderness, I can come back and drop off the book.
I drove to the hurricane campground and then set up my tent and pack by headlamp.

I woke up at 6 and got to the trailhead by 6:50. For whatever reason I felt like running. I ran the first mile of the trail and then any uphill section after that. I made it to Slick Rock by 7:42 and then back by 8:35.

I drove through Enterprise on my way to Two pan trailhead, and got duct tape and jolly ranchers. The road construction slowed me down, but I started walking by 11:20 and stopped at 12:00 for lunch. I made it to Lakes Basin by 2:50 and realized I had forgot ropes. I finally set my pack down at 3:00. I set up at upper lakes and watched a group swim in a waterfall as I snacked on trailmix and jerky.

I took a nap from 4-6 then walked around Upper and Mirror Lake. I chose well. Mirror Lake was like a city. There were tents every 10 feet, and i had a grove of trees at upper lake to myself.

I finally cooked dinner at 7:15, but made too much. I had been laughing about fires in the backcountry, but actually made a fire to burn my leftovers. It helped with the mosquitos as well. I read my book and then went to bed at 9:00.

Last day and trip to Boise.

There was a group of people going to a seperate dig site and camping out for the weekend, so there were some early morning goodbyes and then decided it was too muddy to hit the hill. Three of us walked around the gift shop adn picked out some posters, and found out that they were sold out except for the display. I bought them to put in my classroom. We did get up the hill for afew hour in the morning. I had the three of us work on trying to pedestal a few bones so that could get field certified intermediate, but a staff memeber came up and told us to work on something else. It is not the end of the world. We spent the last hour doing paperwork and mapping on the hill and I showed my co-workers how to take some readings.

At lunch I said goodbye to a couple others that were leaving for Denver, and then went back to the hill. In the afternoon, we finished our paperwork, and tried to take out some of the bones that had been photographed and mapped. I destroyed two of them that had been exposed to the weather. We were able to glue most of them back together, and I am happy that my co-workers were patient with me.
We wrapped up on the hill and then I went and broke the bank in the gift shop. My classroom will be fun next year.

I went back to my campsite and packed up my gear, but left my sleeping bag in my tent. I then drove into town and played cards, showered and ate at the intern house. I stayed up fairly late, and then woke up early Saturday.
I drove 4 hours to Jackson and had lunch with a friend from college. I chatted for a few hours and then headed to Boise. I was angered again at the lack of camera. There were moose and deer on the road as well as gorgeous views of the Tetons. The amazing sunset near the end of my drive made me happy as well.
Currently I am in my buddy John's house and doing a load of laundry before leaving tomorrow for Joseph, OR for a 3 day backpacking trip in the Wollawa and Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Thursday

On Wednesday, the water cooler we put in the back of the SUV leaked. I had my camera on teh floor of the back of the vehicle. For the morning, my camera was not doing well. In the dry, hot environment, by the afternoon it was working a little better, and was working perfectly in the evening. I took some photos of the moon over my tent, and then ran out of battery power. I tried to charge my re-chargable batteries, and put them back in, but the camera did not work. I also took a co-workers batteries and put them in the camera, and it still didn't work. I am pissed.

Thursday morning it rained so the roads were impassable. Our boss told us he had a project that needed done for a while. We were to dust all of the exhibits that are behind glass. The first 1/2 of the museum tour is a walk through time. It starts at the Pre-cambrian and goes to the Triassic. There were a couple dozen cabinets that had fossils in them and glass shelves that needed dusted. We got to hold all of the fossils that most can't and took some fun photos. I didn't because my camera broke! Luckily I have friends that will share. The afternoon we went up to WBS and tried to continue to pedestal.

After work, my friends decided that we should go to dinner. Some of them were leaving Friday and it would be our last night together. We all went to Butch's place in kirby and all six of us ate a buffaloe burger with cheese. It was delicious. We stayed chatting at the table until they closed. I then went back to the intern house and watched a video.

I asked my boss about getting an intermediate field certificate, but he said it would only happen if he watched me plaster something. Right now, there is nothing ready. We shall see. I did get basic certification today. At least I won't walk away empty handed.

Day 14

Today, five of us went to WBS to try and pedestal and remove some bones that were in the quarry. Each of us took a seperate place and dug. I broke a bone into 7 different peices that were smaller than my hand, so I had a puzzle to put together early in the day. As I dug, I continued to find small fragment after small fragment and stopped my digging in case they were related. I literally could pick up two rocks and one of them had a frag. As I fought the bones, my coworkers found teeth of Sauropods and Therapods. After lunch we came back up and asked our boss to come and take a look. He told me that half of my pieces weren't that big of a deal and I could keep them, but a few looked like bones to keep. I labeled many and was not able to remove any, but I cleaned up my side of the quarry very well. Tonight I am going to a fellow volunteers house for dinner and conversation. I am excited about it. Tomorrow is my second to last day, and I may get certified in the field. Tomorrow evening we are going to barbeque together and then paint some signs late at night. Friday may be a shortened day and a few people are taking it off. I can't believe that I only have 2 days left. I love this work.

You can see how far you are moving each day. It sometimes is hard to see how far you have made a dent in the big picture, but it is satisfying to know that you are making progress toward your goal everyday. I enjoy the work and could see me getting into this work in the future. I have loved the workers here and appreciate every opportunity given me here at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Day 13

Today started with a group of us going to site BS and trying to remove bone. There was a DFD (dig for a day) of a father and son from Detroit. They were great workers and found a couple of bones, even one we couldn't identify that was good sized. The morning was taken up by completing the rest of the paper work on the bones: photographing, mapping, and total stationing. We finished all the paperwork at noon and went down for lunch.
After my peanut butter and honey sandwich, we went back to BS and took out 6 bones. We then brought them back to the musuem and put them into collections. I perused the gift shop after work today and I am pretty sure I am going to spend too much money my last day.
After work I had 4 co-workers come over and enjoy the pool at the campground with me. We then went out to ice cream, and came back to a full moon. As I am typing this, the wind has picked up and there is threatening lightening on the horizon. I hope that I will be able to get to sleep tonight though there is a chance of hail.
I was invited to supper by a fellow volunteer tomorrow, and am excited to to chat with them over a meal. I am pretty sure I will be at WBS tomorrow, and I hope to be certified in the field by the end of the week.

Hike plus day 12

On Suday I woke up late and checked my email. As I did, a friend messaged me and asked why I wasn't hiking. I decided to go on a hike. I drove back to the paintrock canyon. I filled up 4 liters of water to take with me, and made a couple of peanut butter and honey sandwhiches. These have been my staple diet the last two weeks. I started the hike through a burned hillside made of silty soil and dry dusty tracks. I walked about a mile and then came to a ranch. The ranch looked like a paradice get away for rich people. There was a large building with walls of glass and little cabins that looked like tree houses attached to it. I really wanted to check it out. I walked by a rancher and kids loading hay bales onto a trailer and gave a big wave. They waved back and on I went on my hike. Trail started on BLM land and then it did 2 miles on private land to get back to BLM. I am going to write the ranch owners a postcard for letting me hike there. The trail just follows the paint rock creek as it cuts its course toward the bigger rivers.

The rocks were great. The formations with reds, blacks, oranges, yellows, and greens in the rock made me want to hike with my head looking up the whole time. Only toward the end did that become a problem when the trail became rocky and was full of tripping hazards. I was shocked that I did not see wildlife. There were fairly open hillsides in sun and shade with cliffs and trees to hide near. I saw nothing bigger then a meadow lark. The birds were great companions. Their songs kept me walking along at a fairly good clip broken up with slight interuptions when I would catch glimpses of the creek running swiftly.

I ran out of water in my camelpak about a mile before the trail ended. The only other water I was two Nalgene bottles full. I rationed on the way back. I was fine until I turned a corner and saw a black body that belonged to an angus cow. For some reason my body and mind were fine with the shady character until I saw the eyeball. It was like a slow motion video as my eyes scanned across teh body and saw the eye, I jumped and yelled. He was close enough to touch. As I jumped and yelled, the bull did nothing. I walked away briskly but really should not have worried about it. He was just eating his cud.

As I exited, there was a Dad with two girls going in with backpacks. I'll bet they had a nice and peaceful journey. I did the 14 miles in 4 hours. There was little elevation gain, and my body felt good the whole time.



I only stopped to eat one sandwich. I ran out of water before I got to my car too, so as soon as I reached my vehicle I went to find water. There was an archeological site near by and I decided tto check it out. It turns out there is a campground there with a beautiful snow fed creek and good drinking water. I drank two Nalgene's full of cool water and then dipped my tired feet in the creek. It was heavenly.



When I returned to Thermopolis, I went to the city park , made some phone calls and enjoyed the shade. I then went to the intern house and watched a video with co-workers.



Today I assisted on a dig for a day. I did like the family of four and enjoyed working with Kelsey. We gave the fastest complete tour of the museum I have seen. Go teamwork. I am now sitting in my campground soaking up the sun after I bathed in the warm waters to revitalize my weary legs and feet. I am going back to the intern house tonight to do my laundry and watch yet another movie. I have to decide what to eat. I am out of soups in a can and have just a cup of plain pasta left. Maybe I will go find a salad.

I only have 4 days left. I am going to try and get certified in the field and lab, but I may run out of time. We shall see. I am thouroughly enjoying the experience and may have to try and go back to school in the next 5 years for Paleo. It is a dream job.

kids dig.

Today we had 11 kids and 6 adults at the museum. We started at the the dig sites and after we made sure everyone had a flake of bone to take home, we went to the Sundance and found belemnites and crinoids. We then went to a park for lunch. We had two kids get wet at puddles around the swing set, and one fell off the swing and cut his back pretty badly. We then took them to the casting and molding lab. I had not yet seen it. There are body parts of random dinos hanging out as well as a mold of a Triceretops skull. I want one. Supposedly we may be able to make some molds of smaller bones aor teeth. We shall see.
We finished the day in the lab. It was not too bad. I can definitely tell that I have educator training. Not that any of the staff on the hill didn't handle situations well, it is just funny how there are little things you can do to redirect a late elementary or middle school aged student without making them feel bad or alerting the entire group.
After the dig, we went to a health food store for fruit smoothies. It was heavenly. Tomorrow I am not sure of my agenda, but I think it will involve hiking.

Day 10

Today we had 4 dig for a days but one was late. I rode up with 2 coworkers and watched them give the tour of SI. Each of the 4 times I have seen the tour, it has been with a different staff member. It is fairly different each time. We then got up to the site and dug for a few hours. I also helped get teh total station and surveying done for the site BS.
The late arrival was a woman from Boulder Colorado in her late 20s who was looking for a dig but slept in. She and her host stayed on the hill alone and worked through lunch. I went down with the rest of the crew. After lunch, Hallie (a coworker) and I were dropped off at BS to finish collecting data and mapping. The late dig and host were still there. After finishing up our map and data, we decided to explore the opposite hill side looking for petrified wood and a blue bone oxydized by the sun. We found both, walked back and realized nobody had remembered to pick us up. Luckily Nick called the office from the hill as he found reception and they sent a truck.

As I left the center there was an impromptu meeting in the parking lot as our bossman Greg pulled up. He told me to go to the Kids dig tomorrow. I had planned a hike, but decided to get all the dino bones I could while being here. It should be a blast. There are 5 staff members to 11 kids. I think I will survive.

Day 9

Yesterday in the morning I spent most of my time labelling bones on the hill and putting them in the book. Today my entire morning consisted of mapping the bones that we labelled yesterday. We set up the total station (surveying equipment) which gives the bones a 3-D place in the quarry and can be mapped as such. We then took measurments from 2 stakes and found drew them into a map of the quarry. I really enjoy doing this part.


In the afternoon I finally got to learn how to jacket. We took burlap sacks, papertowels, and plaster and went up to BS to plaster a bone. We wrapped it in wet papertowel, then drenched the burlap in Hydrocal (plaster) and basically paper mached it in.

We spent the rest of our time mapping WBS and trying to not break anything. You almost can put a brush in the ground and not find bone. I broke at least three today just by trying to move out of someones way. The bones are everywhere and fragile. I basically feel that the quarry will be half glue by the time we are done with it.

Tomorrow there are 4 dig for a day families, so all of us will be with one. I am happy to have had two days without the families. Tomorrow afternoon, I may skip the tour and move right into the lab.

I am leaving to go watch Toy Story 3 in the local theatre with co-workers. I can not believe that I only have a week left of this. I am almost sure I will come back.

Day 8

I began the day with a field crew knowing we would not have to deal with a kids digs today. I started to dig, and then we all realized together that no body had kept records of the bones found in CB. I grabbed the notebook and went to town. It took 3 hours to label every bone and fragment with whiteout and sharpie and put them in the book. I also took a few photos with a ruler and a whiteboard identifying the sample as well as giving a direction on it. I finally ran out of white board marker. There is still about 3 hours of work to go into photos and mapping the site. That may take place next week.

A group of people went up and jacketed the bone I had been working on. Since I seemed to be very good with the bones records, I stayed behind and cleaned up the site.

I then rained right at noon. That meant that we would spend an afternoon in the lab. I finally got time to work on my airtool skills. I did carve into the bone (a camarasaur fallange) a few times, but did make lots of progress. It felt good to put 4 hours in on a bone. I love it all here. I wish I could work here everysummer.

Maybe someday, I will.

Day 7 - Dig for a day

I tagged along for another dig for a day. I have now watched 3 co-workers host families and lead them through the different steps. The only problem is that it has been 3 days in a row. I would love a day with just workers again in the field so we could actually jacket the bones and/or give me a full day in the lab. As soon as the families show up, I turn into a teacher. Not that I mind that, and I have gotten many compliments on my work from families and from co-workers, I just want to spend my summer with dinos.
Today we didn't find anything new except fragments for the kids to take home. I did find tons of Belemnites at the Sundance and will bring them to my classroom for viewing. I also worked for about an hour on a bone with the dremmel. It was nice and relaxing to get off my feet and to tune out the world for the last hour.

Tonight a camper asked me to look up lyrics online for him to sing with the camp host. I think I will get some beer from the deal, and maybe get up on stage once or twice this week. Last night a family asked me if I liked spaghetti and dropped off an entire plate of garlic bread, spaghetti and green beans, plus a full glass of lemonade. I must look lonely here. I AM NOT ! I HAVE FOSSILS TO KEEP ME COMPANY!!!! (and my co-workers are cool too).

Day 6- Dig for a day 2

Today there were only three people at the center. Most of the full time staff went down the road to a site called "jimbo" where they are digging up a superasaurus. Nick, Amanda, and I stayed behind hoping to jacket a dino bone and get it out of the ground. We started the day and found out that there was a "dig for a day" scheduled, meaning there was a family of 5 that wanted to dig on the hill, tour the museum and get to see the lab.
We all started together and Nick decided to lead the DFD. Amanda and I worked on jacketting the fossil.

We started to work on the fossil but it was truly fragile. We were able to clear some of the rock from out below it, but kept having the fossil material crumble with the rock. We continued to glue and glue the fossil, but we never got the jacket on. The weather was beautiful.
After lunch, we went to the Sundance formation to look for marine fossils. Amanda worked in the lab. I found some clam remnents. Then it was time for lab work and the tour. We worked in the lab for an hour and then began to tour. The family was incredibly interested in everything we did. Thay asked all sorts of questions and the adults as well as the kids were eating up all the info we could give them. It was fun. At the end of the tour, it was 5:30. We are usually suppose to finish DFDs by 4:00 and clock out by 5. The family stayed in the gift shop until the musuem closed at 6 and the gift shop lady tried to get us to push them out the door. They were a great group(and tipped!) and it was fun to have a captive audience. They told us what wonderful educators Nick and I were. It has been extrememly warm the last couple of days and tonight I am planning on crashing hard. This week we should jacket to fossils in the field, and I should get some lab time to work with cleaning up fossils. Next week I will have to try and get certifide. This is still a dream. I can't believe I am able to handle bones each day and that the musuem is letting me use my knowledge of the Earth to pass along to others. It truly is a special experience.

Sunday- Thermopolis in all its glory

Sunday I woke up at about 7 and decided to do a day in Thermopolis. I reorganized my car, read some of my book and fiddled around until 9 am. I drove into town to find a good breakfast. I found a little cafe that had ranch equipment and native art and clothing as decor. I had some very good pancakes and eggs. After breakfast, I went to Hot Springs State Park. It is local and free. I walked around the park, with the terraces of chemical deposition, the suspension bridge and the hot spring. The hot spring was reminiscent of Yellowstone, except that there was jus tone pool. As I was getting ready to leave, I found a sign post with a trail map. There was a 1 mile trail that wen through the buffalo pasture and climbed the hill. I took off on it and did about two laps. I was the only one I saw doing the trail. I hiked to the top of the hill and had a great view of the town below me. I hiked down, and just as I exited the trail, two other hikers started on it. I walked back to my car and decided to drive through the buffalo pasture to see the herd (they were a ways from the trail).
I then drove back to the campsite and decided to sunbathe while watching a movie on my computer. The internet connection was slow, so I would watch it 12 minutes at a time. Then the movie would stop for about 12 minutes, then back on. It took most of the afternoon. I then played a little guitar,read my book, etc. It was a relaxing day. I also showered and did some laundry. All of this I did shirtless and I sunburned the crap out of my back. Whoops.
I went to bed early applying aloe and meant to update but the internet went down. It was a nice day to recharge the batteries (my computers and mine)!

Saturday- day off

I woke up at 6:30 with the train going by my tent. It wasn't too bad, because I had plans for Saturday. My bossman/friend Greg, told me of a hike to do about 1.5 hour drive away. I woke up and slowly got dressed then just jumped in the car and headed out. The road took me north through Worland then onto less travelled roads and finally to a town of Hyatville, pop.105. This town had 3 roads going out of it and I spent 20 minutes on the two wrong ones, before I found my road.
The road I wanted, was not what I wanted at all. It was 20 miles of switchbacks, and washboard gravel, with the occasional horse or giant rock in the way. I was going 35 but couldn't go faster if I wanted to, because my car didn't like the grade. I finally made it to the Big Horn Wilderness/National Forest and contined on the forest service road. I passed a camp site with a large pick-up a trailer and 3 four-wheelers nearby. The shirtless man gawked at the Honda Accord coming down the road and passing his temporary home. I continued on until the road was a clay trap with ruts in the middle and mud built up on the sides. I went a little further, and finally scraped bottom. With a little tricky wheel play, I was able to turn around on the two-tracks and make my way to a different forest service road going North (my ultimate destination was a campground up there). Again, I went about 4 miles and then found a wash out that my car did not like. I turned around (100miles into my day) and decided to search for a plan B. On my way back down, I met 3 other pickups on the road with campers and ATVs. All three drivers took long hard looks at me cruising down the gravel in my four door import.
I saw a trail head on the way in for Paint Rock Canyon, I decided, hey, Plan B. Except, I did not fill any water bottles and there was no water at the trail head. I decided to go find a park to fill water bottles. I went to Hyatville, no park. So on to plan -c, drive to Ten Sleep. It was on my way back and I could see some new country. Possibly at the library I could find a map of the Wilderness. I get to Ten Sleep (the drive is gorgeous by the way, geology abounds here) and found a city park with a free pioneer museum. I view the museum, but forget to fill my water bottles. I then drive through town and find the library: no maps. No problem, I guess I will go back to Thermopolis and view the local faire, and see if I had been missing something. Just as I turn on my left blinker, I view a sign that says "fresh bagels made daily", so I switch the blinker to right and turned in to park.
I found a coffee shop that was straight out of Portland. Even the patrons looked more like me than anyone else I had found in Wyoming. It turns out that Ten sleep is a big rock climbers mecca and they were in full force with laptops in hand and columbia, REi and other sports clothing on (I was also donning columbia and REI). I walk up and ask if they have soy, the lady replies yes. I tell her that I am shocked to find this type of shop in central Wyoming and she told me her daughter started it a month ago. She had been raised the daughter of sheep ranchers, but happened to Seattle and brought some Pac Northwest to the middle. I was pleased, and ordered a vegetarian breakfast sandwich (hummus, egg, cabbage, carrot on rosemary garlic toast) and a soy chai. Then the daughter says she is out of soy. BUT NO WORRIES! She asked if I would mind if she crushed up some hemp seed and put that milk in. She had never steamed it before, but I was fair game. Dee-lish. I then took my laptop in and was at peace surrounded by my type of people. There was even a teenage playing folk/accoustic tunes on the guitar.
On to plan D, I looked up trails online and found one south of Thermopolis that sounded interesting. The river goes through the limestone under layer in a cave and then pops out of the ground later. Plus, Sacajawea's grave was about an hour away. After I tipped my server, I got into the car and drove. I drove for 3 hours south. When I got to the Sinks (the river sinks into the ground), I found that my trail was just a boardwalk along the highway. No-dice. I ran to the visitor's center and asked for advice on a 2-3 hour trailwalk. She told me that the 1.5 mile trail to the Poco Agie waterfalls was great. Plan E. I ran up the trail stopping only to try and take 10 second delayed photos of me hiking. I placed the camera on rocks, hung it from trees, etc. ALSO, I still hadn't filled up my WATER yet, and was getting thirsty. I took two mouthfulls of water out of a stream near the trail (I know, I know...bad me) and went to the falls. FANTASTIC WATER! I ran back down the trail and it took about 1.2 hours. Now I was thirsty. I drove to the nearest campground and finally found a potable water pump. I sucked down a Nalgene and a half, before I filled two bottles for the drive.
I then drove and saw the two Sinks and Rises along the road, very cool. Now, on to Sacajawea. I found the sign for her grave on the highway and turned off the main road. I drove through the town and found myself on gravel again driving into a canyon. Luckily just as I thought it was hopeless I turned and saw a statue in a cemetary on a hill about a mile off the road. There was no sign to it out here, but luckily I had looked up images of the grave in Ten sleep. The graveyard was neat with a very nice statue and plaques talking about her life .
I then found a short cut on my map to cut a half an hour (yea right). Unluckily, the tribal roads were not labeled, so as I started out of town to the East (the correct way) about 13 miles onto the road, it turned south and eventually dumped me off in Lander near the sinks. This would not be too bad, except the road was under construction and it took me over an hour to get around this "shortcut" (backtracking would have been 30 minutes). I did see a huge gathering with lots of teepees and vehicles and it turns out there was a sun dance going on. I would have paid the admission except that I wanted to get home, so I could hike Paint canyon tomorrow.

So back on the road, as I approached Thermopolis (witnessing a great sun set framed by mountains and thunderstorms) I figured I could pay for a dinner out. I have been eating pasta, and soups out of my car for the last week. I stop into two restaurants at around 9pm and both said they were done serving. Plan - Y (or whatever hell letter I was on) I went back to camp to eat cheese and crackers and drink my beer. Of course it has all been in my car all day, so the beer was warm, the cheese (unopened) was mimicking Slimer from the ghostbusters, so I optrd for peanut butter and honey sandwich (my lunch the past 5 days). I do drink a warm beer, which had great taste, truly, and then ate some dried apples for dessert.

Overall, I drove over 400 miles and was on the road about 10-11 hours. I left at 7 am and got into camp at 9:15.
The campground I stay at has an owner that built a bandstand and sings everynight. Lately a mandolin player and tonight a harmonica player, who is staying in the camp, decided to play with him. It was nice to have more instrumentation, although Ron has a pretty full voice and plays well.
I wet down a hankerchef and wiped some dust off my limbs and am now typing this, debating whether to hike tomorrow, or tour Thermopolis after a big breakfast at a restaurant. When the train wakes me up tomorrow, I guess I will decide then. Good night.

Day 5 - first week done

Today I tagged along on a "Dig for a Day" where families can pay to do what I am volunteering to do. My group included a Mom, Dad and two kids (fifth and second grade) from Pennsylvinania. We started at BS a site that I have not dug at, and soon found a nodule. This looks like a round rock. I pulled it out of the waste bucket from the 2nd grader thinking there would be a geode of something neat inside. Nick, a summer staffer, broke it open and found a Camarasaur Toe. These are tough to come by. We gave the kid credit and wrote it in the book, and he took a photo with it. Then, as we were cleaning our site, I swept by something and asked Nick why it had not been cataloged. There was bone sticking out. I had the fifth grader with me, and was so excited when he got credit for that bone. Mom and Dad struck out. Sorry. We then continued to dig and another family found a strange mix of bones ain one rock. Nick and the big boss man Greg (who happened to come up to see how everyone was doing) immediately began looking for crumb sized bone. We had four people on hands and knees looking for tiny bones. We found a "membrane bound" bone, instead of a cartilage one. The only two membrane bound are knees and skulls. We have found more skull material. Usually a bone fragment the size we found I would have not worried about especially if it was loose. But Greg spotted how it formed. Good thing he was there, but the kid didn't get to keep it. At lunch we travelled back to the museum, rehydrated and then went to Sundance. This is dusty hills that look exactly like the breaks from home (only from a different formation and about 200 million years older). In these hills we were looking for bullet type rocks that are hard pieces of old squid called Bellenites, as well as ammonites and crinoids. The ultimate goal is an ammonite. We found lot of bellenites, and some crinoids (tiny), and the temperature was 100 degrees. The dirt was almost too hot to touch. We then took the family on the tour of the museum and the last little bit of their tour, they get to see the prep lab. We even let the boys toothbrush a bone. After they left, I was able to stay in the lab and use a small dremmel tool to work on getting matrix off the bone. I like the airtools.
Tomorrow I have off, but Greg gave me directions to a great hike (14 miles roundtrip). I am going to leave early and try and get up there by 8 to start. My little computer has a hard time uploading pictures, so you will have to wait on that.

Day -4

Today we started by remapping the bones we mapped yesterday. We took pictures and then tried to continue to extract them. We worked most of the morning at the same site (WBS-West Beside Sauropod), Then moved to CB. At CB they have found skull material of an Allosaur. This is the ultimate in fossil hunting. Skulls are made of lots of little bones put together, so to find some that are whole are amazing. We certainly don't have a whole skull (yet) but we will continue to look.
In the afternoon, I had more or less pedestalled the bone I had been working on for 3 days, and the only thing left to do was to glue all the top together. As I worked under the bone, it would crumble. The only solution to allowing us to give the bone a cast is to glue it all together. Tomorrow it should come out. We were able to stop work early to explore the opposite hillside in search of petrified wood. I found a few peices and then went back to CB to pick up our commorades. There in the scree, I found a bone to take home.

Day 3

Today we went back to the dig site WBS (west beside the sauropod) and continued to expose the bones and try to pedestal them. The morning was very nice, no WIND! The sun was not too bad and we found a few more bones on site.
In the afternoon we needed to map the new bones, and I was able to use techniques I learned in college on surveying equipment and with a Brunton. We were able to take the position, as well as the 3-D position in the quarry of the bones. We then hand mapped the bones and were they sat. As the afternoon wore on, I was sweeping my site and broke off a peice of unidentified bone. I was very lucky that I didn't shatter the bone and the matrix around it. I was able to break it cleanly from the pile. This is an easy fix; I wrapped the bone up and took it to the lab.
My time here is well spent and I feel like I am in a great spot to learn about Paleo. My legs are sufficiently sunburned after two straight days on the hill. Right above my knees are the worst. Last night I played soccer with the employees and interns and was able to get to know them better. They are a great bunch of people and bigger nerds than I am! Also, last night at the campsite there was a Peruvian bluegrass band that played. Muy bueno!

Day -2 Digging

Last night as I was cooking my dinner, the wind was howling and I heard cracking from the limb above my head. I moved my operation to the other side of the picnic table and 15 minutes later the limb came crashing down and landed a foot from my food. All my neighbors were worried, but my food and I were safe. Many people came to check on me in the next few hours.

Today I arrived at the museum and Greg sent us (3 interns, 2 summer staff, and 2 permanent staffers) to the dig site we were at yesterday. We began in the same places and were working on "pedestally" the bones. You dig around and beneath leaving them on a pedestal that you can then pour plaster around and "jacket" the entire bone.
It was windy and hot for the morning. At around 10 am, Greg and another boss type person came up and told us to move so there wouldn't be dust storms stopping our work every 3 minutes. Just at that moment I tried to clear some rock away and broke a bone!!! Greg showed me how to apply glue and label the bone so the lab can put it back together.
We all packed up and moved to a different location on the mountain ( I learned that there are over 100 places that bones have come from on the mountain, and each are named). We moved to a site called, Cheryl's blind or CB for short. Any bone that comes out is labeled CB, with a number and a date. We dug at the bone for a while. One of the staff members found some bone that was a high up vertebrate. Skulls are the most sought after fossil. So much so in fact, that they don't say the word, in case that saying it would cause it to crumble or dissapear. We may have "that which shall not be mentioned" of an Allosaur. We went down the hill for lunch and went back up after. My legs and arms are sun and wind burned. Later that afternoon I uncovered the first bone of my time here at the hill. It was at a site where we know bones are and they specifically told me to dig there, but still. I am the first human ever to see the bone, as well as the first living thing to observe it in 150 million years. Chew on that! however, ....I broke it. I needed to glue it again and the next rock I turned I had broken another bone. The experts weren't with us, so I went digging at another part of the hill. Today there was much more chatter. I learned about everyones school, and the geology programs they have gone through. There were also geology jokes, ....such as.....you want to find a mouse in this formation....HA! or....Your tetrapod and cterapod are no match for my saurapod,...idiot (and riotous laughter ensued).
I As I type this, the wind is so strong I need to hold my hat on everyonce in while. Let me just say ...that I was born to do this and I love it. I love it...I love it. Now to go bath in a sulfur rich pool to get the dirt out of my nose and ears.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center - DAY 1

I arrived in Thermopolis at 6pm to claim one campsite in an RV park north of town. My tent rests less than 50 feet from the railroad tracks and less than a stones throw from a hot pool that smells of sulfur.
I set up my tent and ran to town to grab some neccesities and find the dinosaur center that I will be working with for the next few weeks. Immediately upon my return, I was invited to celebrate a neighbors birthday with cake, drinks, and cards.
I went to bed early and was awaken at 4 am by birds near sunrise. ...then a "light rain and thunder" weather pattern moved in. I was up out of my tent at 6 and showered and ate breakfast.
I went to the center and immediately was met by Greg, a man I had spoken with on the phone. He led me through the museum and gift shop and then into the lab. I was handed a bone promptly and told to "start cleaning." CAN LIFE GET ANY SWEETER!?!?!? I had a toothbrush and a dental pick as well as a bowl of warm water. I went to town clearing away glue and dirt from the vertebrate of a sauropod. WHOOT!
I picked on the same bone from 8:30 am until lunch at noon. I did graduate to using acetone and an exacto knife. After lunch in my car, I joined my fellow workers eating their lunch (nobody told me) on picknick tables IN THE MUSEUM. Parents and children can walk by and chat with us ...during lunch.

Beginning at 1, I was able to graduate to dremmel status. I was handed a piece of rock with a bone in it and told "don't hit the bone, but get it out." Man dream come true #2. I was working with goggles and a dremmel taking a bone out of matrix...AND it was in the window where patrons can watch you work. I scared a few little girls by waving. I don't think they knew I could see them.
At about 3:00 two gentlemen asked if I wanted to see the dig site. DID I?!?!?!?! OF COURSE! so I hopped in an SUV with 4 summer workers and drove up to an excavation site. The bones were under tarps and we were told to dig completely under the bone, so if we pour plaster, we encase it.
The two permanent workers left me and two seasonal staff members (both age 20) to the bones as they destroyed a hill side with bobcats and a backhoe. We didn't get very far on the bone, but the conversation was better than in the dremmel and dental drill cacophony. Most people in the lab had ipods....I will remember mine tomorrow.


I am now back at my campsite and debating whether or not to jump in the 100 degree pool to clean all the silt and sand out of my ears. I may wait for it to cool down slightly.

SUMMER AGAIN!

School has ended and I have officially started my summer journey for 2010.  I left Oregon the morning of the 28th and drove 11 hours to my brother and sister-in-laws house in Somers, MT.  I travelled on interstate until I hit St. Regis.  The drive north from St. Regis through the Montana wilderness was beautiful.  I drove along a river looking at rock formations, railroad bridges, great tree filled valleys, and then to come upon snowy white peaks was just fabulous.  My brother lives just beyond a stones throw from Flathead Lake.  His house is surrounded by mountains on the horizon and is a beautiful mix of town and country.  I enjoyed my time there, although short.  I am now back on the farm where I grew up.  Today we are going to move cows and then make it to a farm sale.  I have not been to one in YEARS, and supposedly everyone that is anyone in town will be there.  I will probably meet up with a few old friends.  We'll see.  Last night as I drove, there were beautiful thunderstorms and rainbows.  I was never hit by the storms but drove along side them for much of my drive.  The sky truly is as big as they say.  

Memorial day hike

Last weekend I decided to do the American thing and go camping on Memorial day weekend. I debated going Friday night or Saturday night, but my want to buy a new bike and to play frisbee won. On Saturday morning I went downtown McMinnville and test rode bikes. I decided to buy one and asked them to include a rack. They told me it would be a bit until it was ready. I then went to the farmers market to see some friends and eat lunch. Food of choice: Chili dog.
At 2pm I went and played pick-up Ultimate. We played for about 2 hours and change before I decided I should try and pick up the bike before their 5 o'clock closing time. I drove downtown, and rode my bike home. I then ran back downtown (it was a slow run) and grabbed my car. I drove home and packed the car for my camping.
I drove up to Forest Grove and decided to eat some food, so I stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for a delicious dinner. I had a camp site in mind half way between Forest Grove and Tillamook. I showed up to the campground at about 7pm and found that the 14 walk in sites were packed. Silly me to think that I could get a site Saturday night. I then kept driving praying for another campground. I drove by two that had closed signs up, but finally saw a sign for a campground so I turned off, relieved and ready to set up camp. I drove into the area, and there was nobody else there. I felt that it was strange because the other one was packed. I set up my tent, grabbed a beer and walked around the campground. I read some signs, looked at maps and paid my fee for the night. I was still weird-ed out being the ONLY person in the campground, but I grabbed my guitar and headlamp and began to play to the darkness. I slept through the rain that night and woke up to birds chirping in camp. I packed up my tent, grabbed some granola and decided to get to my trail head early. As I left the campground, I realized the sign told me it was closed as well. If the forest service wanted to, they have my name and the date that I stayed in the campground, but I am fairly confident I will be ok.

I drove to the trail head and filled water bottles and geared up my pack for Elk Mountian and King Mountain loop. I left the parking lot behind a group of 3 hikers as well as with a man and his two dogs.


The trail was pretty much a vertical gain of 2,000 feet in a mile and a half. I was sweating within five minutes and was feeling my legs burn soon there after. I eventually caught the man with the dogs, and discussed the trail and the hikes as we rested. I then headed for the top. The guide books said that you could see the coast and the Cascades on a good day from the top. I saw fog.


Not that the hike wasn't beautiful, it was, and the fog added a surreal silence to the adventure. After the top, the trail goes down 1000 feet and slowly moves toward the other summit.

I was by myself hiking through a gentle mist for the whole day. The backside of the mountains had nice rock outcrops, meadows full of wildflowers, and nice ridgelines that were surrounded on both sides by fog.

I met a group of backpackers who stayed the night on King Mountain the night before and were making their way along the path. It would have been tough to do all of the elevation gain with a bigger pack.

As I arrived at King Mountain, I met the group of hikers from the parking lot. They had missed a fork in the trail, so they went to the other way around the loop. We discussed the trails, and i ate my lunch.


I signed both registers on the peaks and put the names of people in my family who had died. It was a nice way to memorialize them for the year. I then headed down.
The hike from Kings mountain the Wilson river trail took me 45 minutes. Then I hiked the Wilson River Trail (3.5 miles) back to the campground. My feet were tired. I think that after the day of Frisbee, my body was tired. I hiked along the river and saw a few more hikers, but finished at 3:30pm. I was expecting to be done around 4:30, so it was nice to have a little more time.

I drove down to the Tilamook forest center and then headed back toward home because I didn't want to sleep in another closed campground.

Baseball

This spring, I decided to try my hand at being a high school coach. I was asked to be JV assistant coach by my friend/co-worker/head coach. We had 13 students on our team, who may not have been the most naturally talented players, but enjoyed the sport. The team went 4-16 ish, but the postitives that came out of the season were the gains in attitude. The players began laughing and poking fun at each other whenever they would falter, even in a game. Our biggest job was teaching them to be a team, and to keep their heads up when they miss a ball or over throw. I feel that the gain in attitude was good, but the time commitment was intense. Will I do it again? I am not sure yet. It was a fun season and it is always fun to be around baseball.

Now it is time to concentrate on the end of school, and getting my students passing before summer. The sun is shining, and the weather is beautiful. I hope your spring is going well.

Final Day at the Olympics

We woke up early and checked out of the house we were staying at. We drove all the cars down to the Tech college to board buses to get up to Whistler. We only had 2 prepaid parking passes, so I rode with my brother Scott and parked in the residential area near the college. When we all met up, I had left my bus ticket in the car. Scott and I ran(literally) back to the car, and decided to try and park without a parking pass. It was no problem. We all got on the bus and rode to Whistler. We had tickets for the men's 30 km race. Half of the race was to be classic style the other half is free style.

As we walked through the gates, there was a group from Sweden in front of us that all went through but one man. His ticket did not check out. The ticket taker told him that the ticket purchased was for an event held in the next couple of days. The supervisor came over, and let the man join his party for the event. Man, I love Canadians.



We walked into the venue, welcomed by sunshine and a crowd. We found a spot on a slope overlooking the stadium.

We put our coats on the snow to sit on, and got comfortable. Scott and Daimon found that there were trails to get to other parts of the course. It took a while to get to the other side, and you had to cross a few bridges, but you had a different view of the race, right near the racers.

As the race began, Carrie, Scott and myself ran to the other end to watch the skiers. I returned after watching the skiers go by once. We all exchanged turns moving from the stadium to the other part of the course.



The race was incredible, but so was the weather. We watched the Swedish team finish first.The crowd was incredibly pleasant, and people were sliding down the slope with giant smiles on their faces. On our exit, a group of Swiss fans had brought the large alpine horns you see in Ricola commercials. We stuck around for a bit, had our photo taken and had an impromptu dance party on the snow.

The bus ride home was quiet except for a few hockey fans listening to a radio and cheering every once in a while. When we returned to the cars, we decided to meet up in Washington for dinner and part ways there. The border crossing was uneventful and we met up for a decent dining experience. That night Scott and Carrie took off for Montana while the rest of us stayed near Sea-Tac airport. I drove home by myself the next day after saying my goodbyes.

Day 5 (Feb 19)

We woke up with some time to chat with family, and then Dad, Scott, Carrie, Gabe and I took off to catch a curling match. We followed a giant crowd and made it into the Curling Center. We sat in the smallest seats I have ever sat in. All of us were touching shoulders and hips, but it was still very polite with the people in the same row. None of my group was well versed on every rule, but the people around us were very polite ot answer our questions. The Canadians love their curling. We were able to watch China vs. Denmark, US vs. Russia, and Great Britain vs. Germany. The three games went on at the same time and the crowd would cheer for all three sheets at once. It was fun.


Scott and Carrie left part way through to catch a bus up to Whistler to watch the Skeleton. As the games progressed, China defeated Denmark 11-1 in a shortened match. They ruled the ice. Great Britain defeated Germany with 3 points in the 9th end, and the US -Russia match came down to the last throw. The crowd erupted when it left the skip's hand.

Dad, Gabe and I returned home to pick up Mom and travel downtown. Daimon and Kirsten were traveling to the curling center to watch the Men's afternoon match. We traveled downtown and immediately noticed that the crowd was larger. We hadn't been downtown since Wednesday, and the crowd was twice as big. Each line was 10-15 people longer at least, but it still was polite.

We walked to the Native pavilion and listened to music and looked at art. We also watched some preliminary skeleton races. As we continued to walk downtown, we decided to go back toward the flame. We walked through the edge of Gastown and toward Robsen Square. On our way we found a "Green Living" type booth. It had games to help teach about energy conservation as well as a dance floor that was powered from the dancers, and a tent with comfortable reclining lawn chairs with a big screen.

We watched some skeleton and then decided to walk to the library and wait for Daimon and Kirsten to come downtown.
We found our way back to the library and found our way back to the pub we were at the on Monday. We had some drinks and appetizers to help us watch speed skating, and hockey on the screens. We met up with Daimon and Kirsten and we thought about moving toward a LiveCity place for another concert and night cap with fireworks.
We decided that it wasn't worth standing in line for hours and one had already started turning people away. We then walked to Gastown to find food. We wandered the streets and found some more olympic shops and shopped for a bit. We eventually found a great deli and watched some ice dancing as we ate.

We walked back toward the flame. From there we made our way back to the Green living place with the comfy chairs. As the TV switched from ice dancing to skeleton, we also played some of the games and won blinking lanyards.

Mom and Dad finally decided to go home. We stuck around downtown to find fireworks. We made our way to the water and found a brewery tent. We watched the end of the days curling matches on TV and tipped our glasses with the locals.
We all walked toward downtown to finish the night. We saw a few fireworks, but also were shoulder to shoulder in a giant sea of people. We decided to try and catch a bus, but waited for 40 minutes. We then decided to walk toward our house, and each stop was full of people. After an hour or so we finally found a taxi to hail. All others were packed. It was an incredible amount of people trying to get downtown to party with the crowd. We got home and packed for an early departure. We had to get back to Whistler for a cross country ski race.

Day 4 (Feb 18)

We woke up extremely early to drive to BCIT campus to catch a bus to the Biathlon Venue on Whistler. We drove across town in the dark of morning, with little traffic. It was nice to be crowd free for a bit. We got to the buses, and they gave out free coffee and hot chocolate in the parking lot. The bus ride was nice, and we got to watch the sun rise over the islands of the west coast. The riders mostly slept, read, and were in awe of the scenery.
We got off the bus and had to walk about a half mile up to the actual ski venue. The walk was nice, and they had a snow sculpture and bathrooms about halfway up. As we approached, it was obvious that Scandinavia enjoys their x-country skiing. There were tons of Norwegian flags. We found a place on the hill overlooking the stadium and stood behind a french crowd for the first race, the women's 15km individual.
We watched the race from our spot on the hill, as well as from a trail along the last corner.
Each skier started 30 seconds after the next. They would ski 5 km and then come in and take 5 shots. If they missed their targets, they lost one minute on their time.
We watched a skier from Norway run away with the race. The crowd was fun. There were German's with old army helmets, robes, mustaches, and eagles. There was a French man with a trumpet who had a suit made out of feathers. It was great.
Between the races, there was a musician on the hill singing, and our group went into a warming tent to eat our lunch. About an hour later, the Men's race started. Again, the Norwegians were the team to beat. Bjoerndalen, the godfather of biathlon, skied the race 2 minutes faster than any other but missed two shots. A man from Belarus did not miss a shot and was tied for first at the halfway point of his last lap and crossed the line tied for silver with Bjoerndalen. Norwegians went for gold and silver. It was pretty incredible to see the crowd shirtless and cheering for their country.

The bus ride home, I am pretty sure everyone slept. We got back to the cars and drove home. We met my brother and his wife who had arrived at 3am the night before. They went downtown during the day and described the crowds and lines. We then had our Christmas. Not all of us were together for the holiday, so we exchanged gifts and ate a great lasagna dinner. We watched the results from the day and enjoyed some family time.