Nevada- Salt Lake City

Flashback Friday!

(Again, I am aware that Salt Lake City is in Utah, not Nevada, "Nevada" is just the term I use to label all my adventures while I was living out of my car out west, and I was primarily in Nevada)

      I want to say that this was some time around the beginning of August, I want to say it was my first six-day break I got after our first week of the Johnson Lake Cabins Job. I went out there and met up with Dylan and one of her crewmates that she was taking to the airport there. (side note: There were two others from my crew at Salt Lake City at the time too, we met up with them twice, but they were kinda jerks so we didn't bother the rest of the time.)We found some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land to stay on, a peninsula in the Great Salt Lake, one over from Antelope Island, where we did not stay as we were poor. (Pro tip: If you need a free campsite out west get on freecampsites.net and look for anything that's owned by BLM. Those are government-owned public lands and are completely free and legal to stay on. just don't start a fire or some other stupid shit.) We slept on a very comfy sand dune, and the sky was so clear and full of stars that we could easily see several shooting stars and watch satellites make their way across the sky each night we spent there.

      After Dylan dropped off her crewmate at the airport, we spent the weekend exploring the city and eating at Dell Taco and Dunkin Doughnuts. Because we for once were in civilization. If you fellow easterners are wondering what a Dell Taco is, it is the glory that would be if Taco Bell actually tried. They are a fast food taco place that's actually good, had fresh guacamole and salsa, with actual beans and meat that isn't the mystery ground up grease that Taco Bell has.

      Dylan and I quickly became friends over the weekend that started with a $5 concert by I don't remember, at the something-or-other-park. The music was OK, not really my type, but it was nice to just relax in the soft grass. By another very nice park that looked like it was between the state legislative and judiciary buildings there was this huge fancy fountain. The picture to the right refers too this when it says "No bathing in fountain allowed." How was this such a problem outside two massive state government buildings that they had to put it on the sign? People are weird.

Look how happy this guy is!

       We also had great fun exploring the Universities massive natural history museum, all with real fossils dug up right there in Utah. I really just mostly remember the fossils from it cause that's always one of the really cool parts of a history museum that everybody loves. Another exhibit that I really enjoyed was on the top floor was a circular room with pictures, artifacts and at least a hundred stories of Native Americans that had been local to the southwest. There was also a video with stories of current Native American culture. The view from the roof of the museum was also amazing. The university was on a high hill on the outside edge of Salt Lake City, from there you could see the whole city. OH, and there was a temporary exhibit set up that was all about shared DNA and genetics, that was also really cool, and the lobby ad banner for it was all like, "Did you know you're 40% banana?"

"Eeeeyyy"

       We also visited the Universities botanical Gardens that day, they were absolutely lovely and we almost walked in on a wedding going on in the rose garden. There was a nice kid's garden too that Dylan and I had fun playing in, and trails that went up into the mountains from the gardens. We didn't follow those very far as I did not trust myself to be able to go on a successful hike there with no shade, limited water, and in 95ish degree heat. We ate our Dell Taco lunch in a pretty patio area there and I don't know how I only have one picture from the whole garden. It's not even that great a photo, so I'm just gonna throw in a dinosaur here from the Natural History Museum.

      In the evenings we retreated to the BLM land peninsula and reassured each other that no, neither of us are in fact crazy, she missed trees too, and she also had to deal with some frustrating crew mates. Dylan was from Chicago originally, and we bonded over how different everything was out west compared to the ideas and lifestyles we were used too. (i.e. the only two radio stations available on the road between Great Basin and Ely was a conservative talk radio with and insane host and religious country music. I can't stand country music.) We also had similar views on watching the world, and that how animals interact with you has meaning.

      One morning I woke up on the dune and saw some odd dark clouds low over the salt lake from the direction of Antelope Island. Bridget and I thought, "huh, that's some weird fog." It wasn't until we saw the news story at the Dunkin doughnuts that we stopped at for breakfast that we were informed Antelope Island had a forest fire that had been going on for ten hours. The previous night we had debated going there to camp, as it might be nicer and more interesting, but had decided against it as we were cheap college students and it would have cost money. It was a little freaky knowing that the fire would have started only an hour after we would have fallen asleep. 

       That day we visited the Leonardo Museum, so called after Leonardo Da Vinci. They had various sections of the museum dedicated to art, illusion, science, and humanitarianism. They had a conservation of water section,and a kids area that had a programming video game that Dylan tried out. I believe her reaction was along the lines of "Why is this so hard, I can't figure it out, this is meant for kids?" They were also working on building an aeronautics portion of the museum at the time. there were also these floaty feathery things hanging all up the staircases, and we finally found the display, explaining it we found that they were artificially created single cell organism robots that were able to process and lightly respond to changes in their environment. I have no clue how it worked.

      I left Salt Lake City having made an invaluable friend. I have no idea how I would have gotten through the summer without having her to tell me that I'm not crazy. For that trip on, I visited her in Ely as often as I could, both of us needing the newfound friendship to help us rant and regain sanity over tacos.

"Floaty feathery things hanging form the ceiling"

Sing It All Away

      Last Thursday I attended the most fun and amazing concert I have ever been to, the main feature being Walk Off The Earth. They are one of my all-time favorite bands, they do covers as well as amazing original songs. The first one that I heard was 'Gang of Rhythm,' from their YouTube music video that I've posted to the right. All of their music just makes me want to get up, sing and dance to the good vibes- and that's exactly what everyone at the concert was done.

     I went with my friend Dylan (whom I met in Nevada at that redneck bathtub boat racing festival at cave lake state park), who was less familiar with the band and was blown away by their use of forks in a coffee mug as an instrument. It sounds crazy, but it works. And it's brilliant. She also greatly enjoyed the massive amount of ukuleles on stage, there must have been at least seven- those things were flying everywhere. There was also a stone bunny with an eyepatch and at least 10 kazoos distributed around the stage. They didn't use the stone bunny as an instrument, it was just decor on stage. I feel the need to point this out mostly because with this band you never know.
      All of the members were obviously having a great time. Sarah, the female singer of the group looked at least seven months pregnant and was giving full energy, jumping on and off of platforms, and having a blast with the rest of them. It was pretty badass, and I bet that baby is gonna be born ready to rock out.
       Beard Guy, the always expressionless, stoic guy in the band was still as entertaining as in the music videos, staring you down while playing some fun instrument. In another of my favorite videos, he breaks plates on the beat and that works too. I thought the best instrument he had on tap at the concert was this giant, absolutely brilliant didgeridoo. At one point, beard guy came on stage, face inscrutable as ever, and raised his arms and lowered them with the volume of the crowd. When he got us silent a few girls from the back of the concert hall screamed, "we love you beard guy!" at this, his neutral facade faded for a brief quirk of a laugh at the corner of his mouth. If you saw more music videos you'd understand more why this was amusing. or maybe I'm just to easily amused. That could be it too.
        Overall it was an amazing concert, with wonderful feel-good energy. I am so glad about how busy my life has been that I was able to go and enjoy myself, singing and dancing to music that has been such a big part of relaxing me and improving my mood everywhere I go. These are the songs that you roll down your windows to in the summer, singing along at the top of your voice and forgetting all your worries.

Germany - Kletterwald

Flashback Friday!

      Kletterwald translates to 'Climbing Forest', and it is exactly, or maybe more than it sounds like. Essentially you are 20-30ft up in the air, (sometimes more) and there are platforms on each tree. Between the platforms are a variety of obstacles that you traverse while on a zip line. The obstacles can be anything from zip lines, Tarzan swings, tight ropes, rolling logs, vaulting a gap to riding in a bucket, bridging a gap with a  trapeze swing, climbing over suspended picnic tables and walls.

       It is a hell of a lot of fun if you find a place with easy to use equipment, and that isn't expensive. The courses in Germany had us on a zip line above our heads the whole time so we didn't have far to fall, others that I've been on have the two clip system that you have to clip into and out of each course on the line and it's just a pain in the butt. Yet another instance of Germany being better at something than America: first of all, in Germany, it's about 11 Euros for three hours of tomfoolery at these places, in America, it's about $80 for three hours because of insurance and some stuff like that. Also, American treetop courses I've been on seem to be a lot more focused on strength level whereas in Germany, while the obstacles do require strength, also have a focus on coordination and problem-solving. I liked this much better for the same reason I enjoy Assassin's Creed, you don't always have to be strong if you're smart about what you're given. Sometimes the right leverage or strategy
is all you need.

    I went to this climbing forest on both trips, though I only have pictures from when I was 16, as that's when Emma's mom had to drive us there so we had her to take pictures.
     I did briefly get stuck on the pole vaulting obstacle as I underestimated how much force I needed to get across. I wound up stuck hovering in the middle for a bit.
    It was one of those thrilling activities that you never knew how much it took out of you until you felt the exhaustion wash over you afterward, and the feel-good, I-accomplished-something-soreness the next day.

Release

      All of the animals in the clinic are under a great deal of stress. When wild animals are locked up, they often panic from a predator/prey relationship and being in pain from their injury never helps. It's why you can't rehab adult deer, they will panic so much that they will slam themselves against the sides of their enclosure until they die. Cottontails can die just from the stress of being enclosed, even the babies. Baby cottontails will be doing just fine and could be just a couple days from release until you come in the next morning to find them dead. We do have ways of trying to lower the stress, we don't handle the animals more than necessary, we keep the cages covered, and we aren't supposed to baby talk the animals. A couple of the interns still do, and it's annoying as hell. (side note: Why would hell be annoying? There's no WiFi. No really, my dad freaked out over it)
      In training, this is how our supervisor put it: If you are locked in the attic of a serial killer, listening to every sound and wondering if it's the last thing you hear, then the door opens and the killer starts baby talking you while stroking your hair, would that be comforting? Hell. No. That's what it feels like for an adult wild animal to be handled and talked to.
      I'd like to think that the stress is all worth it when the animal finally gets released with a healed wing, spinal injury, or another ailment. Every other week or so, a sheet goes up with the case numbers of the animals, and the places for them to be released. Often everyone just takes an animal when the location of release is on their way home. We do our best to release them as close to where a person found them as possible because they may already have established territories. Or with turtles, they have a GPS in their head that no matter how far they are from their home pond, no matter how many busy roads they have to cross to get back to it, will make them try to get back.
      The first animal I released was an opossum with an amputated tail from frostbite. It had a large cauliflower stub in place of its tail. I walked off the road into the woods ways before shaking it out of the carrier. It immediately started waddling back towards the road we just came from and I stomped around, making loud growly noises to make it go the other way. As I drove off I noticed three hawks circling the field next to the forest I had just released it in. Whether it lived or gets eaten, an animal was still helped.
      Yesterday I set out to release a goose that had had a spinal injury, and who was understandably pissed at being forcibly put in a carrier. He had been with us a very long time, and I was sure he would be happy to finally be on his way. He had been found in a graveyard next to a lake, and there were a lot of people as the graveyard was next to a playground and the whole area was like a community park to hang out and go swimming. I had to shake the goose out of its cage and it fell into the water. Once it got its bearings, it honked what I can only imagine was a death sentence at me and started paddling my way with a fierce determination. That's when I got out of there, sure it would be fine just as soon as it found a new flock.
       Driving away with my windows down for the hot summer breeze, my music blasting with the clear blue sky ahead I thought, today is a good day to be set free.

Nevada - Training and the Colorado River

Flashback Friday!

(This happened way before the Zion story did. this was my first week in Nevada)

    Training week in the Spring Mountains outside Vegas had a lot of 'what did I sign up for' thoughts too it. We were told to meet for training at the Mojave Office outside Vegas. It was small and seemed to be primarily used for desert tortoise internship..things. I don't know exactly other than they tracked the tortoises, that wasn't my project. Anyway, we were told to pack for camping with rain gear and layers, and we all also packed expecting to be in the desert the whole time. After the first day of powerpoints telling us we can't try to get other crewmates to worship the sun or drink alcohol with our logo showing, we were immediately shipped off to a campsite at 6,000 ft altitude in the Spring Mountains for the rest of our training.

Beautiful views and my bloody useless tent

     It seemed fine at first, no cooler than a fine autumn day in Michigan, but I quickly learned that nothing could stop the unrelenting icy wind blowing through my tent and useless sleeping bag. Over the week my tent collapsed on me several times and often I would just leave it. I got no sleep all week and broke down several times. Trying to hide it from my crewmates, I often found myself wandering on paths further up into the mountains to be alone and to try and figure out why I was having such a hard time. At 19, I was the youngest there, but I refused to let age be a factor as it's never stopped me before.

     We, the Great Basin Crew, had our training with the Las Vegas crew. In total, we started with eleven people on the crews and at the end of training, three people had quit. By the end of the summer, two more would join and quit the Vegas crew, but they had a tough gig and had to deal with the butterfly people so I don't really blame them.
      After training week, our employer set up our crew with a nice hotel for one night so that we could shower and have a provided breakfast before finding our own way on the weekend. I woke up there at six am and snuck out of my room into the deserted hallway so I wouldn't disturb the others with my crying. All I could wonder was what was wrong with me? why was I having a hard time? Part of me knew I wasn't at home with the forests so dry and full of dead trees that it seemed as if I was walking through groves of driftwood. Someone from the Vegas crew found me in the hallway and gave me small comfort in that hey, I was still there wasn't I?
      Many of my answers came later that day when the crew decided to hop over to Arizona to cool off in the Colorado river on our first day off. Seeing the water made me inexplicably happy and I raced in, ignoring the painful cobbles on my feet and with out thinking I dived in. The water shocked me, it felt colder than Superior. I broke the surface with a gasp to see that everyone on shore was quiet and staring at me, if I had cared to notice before I would have seen that everyone there only dared to go ankle deep into the icy water. A boom box played somewhere- the only thing filling the silence until I laughed and said, "Oh yeah! I'm from Michigan baby!"
      That's when I realized that I really am from Michigan, I love my lush forests and ever present water. One of my crew mates had scoffed at the people who had quit, saying that it was hard labor in the desert, what did they expect?! That had always stung me as I hadn't known what to expect myself. I knew deserts were hot and dry, but had really only seen pictures, I never imagined I would have such difficulty adjusting to such a harsh environment. I could do all the required 5 miles a day with a 35 lb pack no problem in Michigan, it was just too bad that I had no mountains to practice on.
      What was that saying? I think it was, "How can a fish who's only ever know the current of his own stream ever imagine the vastness of the ocean?"
      Update: I found the full quote, "If a fish lives his whole life in this river, does he know the river's destiny? No! Only that it runs on and on, out of his control. He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He can not imagine the ocean," (Jeong Jeong). A little more dramatic than what I was going for but I guess I followed my stream and couldn't imagine the desert until I got there.

Mouse House

     In the mouse house, we keep and breed live mice for some of the animals in rehab. Sometimes the animal just eats them better than say soak cat food, other times we are raising something that was orphaned and they need to know how to hunt. We currently have four fox kits that need to learn this, and a great blue heron that also needs live mice. I was sent to the mouse house to get 12 live mice for them.

     Catching them from their fish tanks was not easy, and I slid them down a cardboard tube to contain them. I had fed live mice to things before and had joked with the cardboard tube of mice, "If I cast the killing curse with this, would the mice inside die or would they be the murderers?" This time I had more guilt as the chooser of the slain. I do not envy the Morrigan or the Valkyries. One did manage to wiggle his way onto the floor and feeling that he had earned his triumph I let him go, then I dropped two more and said, "sorry guys only one free pass." But then four escaped the heron's enclosure so I had to go back for more and this time put them in the bucket.

     All of my guilt however dissipated when we let loose the eight mice into the fox kit's enclosure and stayed to make sure they hunted. one of them wiggled out of his burrow and joyously pounced on the mice, throwing them into the air and killing them. It was absolutely adorable and I was so proud. I silently tried to compare it to humans, in that maybe supervillain moms feel a slight twinge of guilt at choosing the things for their child to practice slaying but probably have this same happy moment, knowing their kids will be able to make it someday in the wild. I then decided for the 8th time, that day, that I probably shouldn't have kids.

Germany - Castle Ruins

Flashback Friday!

      I have been to Germany twice now, once for a month as an exchange student when I was 16, and again for six weeks when I was 18. Both times I visited with my exchange sister, Emma, the castle in Muizenberg. (probably completely butchered the spelling of the name but Google isn't being helpful right now.) This Castle is in complete ruins and is a hell of a lot of fun to climb on.

      The Images on the right were when we were 16, and I really miss that purple sweater. I think someone in my Gym class the next year stole it. On a separate part of the castle, I learned how flexible I was when I was running down the side of the wall and sidestepped my foot, putting full force onto my bent ankle instead of my foot. Not wanting my Emma's mother to worry, I played it cool, sat for a minute until the pain dulled a bit and then walked it off.
      Climbing actual rock walls was a lot more fun than going rock climbing on an artificial
rock wall. The hand and foot holds were much larger and it was easier to climb. It was by no means safer though. That's the cool thing about Germany: people don't have to worry about getting sued for obvious 'at your own risk' activities. In America, I'm sure the whole place would be off limits, or I don't know, destroyed for more condos like everything else here.
      The second time we went when we were 18 (me with short purple hair this time). There were a bunch of kids with foam swords and hats pretending to be dragons, knights, and princesses. It was one of the few times I didn't mind kids as it made me happy to see them able to unplug and have fun with their imaginations just like I did in the woods behind our house with my older sister.

     This time Emma and I also tried to practice more par-core tumbles, with moderate success. We started first just doing it on the grass then Emma tried doing it off a short wall. I, however, lamed out as even in both of our inexperienced states, she had more practice than me. Their gym classes actually have a portion of the class where you do par-core on practice mats and I am still insanely jealous. Needless to say, we were both very sore the next day. Actually, a lot of things that we got up to we were sore the next day. Maybe it should be a saying, "If you're not sore the next day, you weren't really up to any shenanigans." ...or something. I don't know, I think I'm just rambling now so I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. Happy Friday!