The Great Outdoors

In the picture is most of the people in my program (minus the texans and the family guy). We had a lot of fun in Yellowstone. When you first drive into the park, there are some eagles in a tree. The park people dont want you to stop near them, so they hold signs and there are cones and stuff. This one old lady was holding a 'slow' sign. here is the following convo:

me: that job must suck

M: wait, was that a real person?

someone else: what did you think it was?

M (totally serious): a robot

We saw lots of hot water pools, hot water spewing out of the earth, buffalo, deer, etc. When we were at Old Faithful, we had a saltine eating contest which was super funny. I discovered eating two at a time makes things more difficult. None of us were able to eat six in a minute (no water). M was on bear watch the whole trip, but didnt see any. On the way out of town, after two days of Yellowstone, the guys in my car wanted to stop for buffalo burgers. Apparently, seeing all the bison made them hungry.

Recently, I went climbing with a couple guys from the site and some friends of one of them. It was really cool to get out there again. I didnt climb much, but I did take a nasty fall on the steep trail up there. On the way down it was totally dark, this guy almost slid down the entire hill, enraging a rattler next to the trail. It was pretty scary but awesome all the same. When I returned around 11pm from the climbing excursion, I find lots of gummy bears stratigically placed outside of my door (on the knob, the light, etc). It was very random and funny.

On a slightly serious note: I sometimes need physical changes to symbolize intangible changes in my life. In the past this involved the first time I cut my hair short or dyed it dark. I had an MRI this week, and I had to take out my piercing for it. I have had the piercing for almost five years. I decided not to put it back in, and threw it away in a random trashcan. It was kind of a big deal for me but I dont regret it at all. I think I have grown a lot from coming to Idaho and it feels really great. I havent been this content with life in awhile.

work has picked up and the next few weeks will be very productive. I am hoping for some more fun experiences that dont necessarily involve tons of alcohol.