Let me explain. No, it is too much... let me sum up:

Okay, well don't be alarmed. I am still engaging in ill-advised activities while uninsured.

As you may know, I have recently uprooted myself from the intermountain/northwest/California area of the country and returned to beautiful (and overwhelmingly crowded) Fairfax County, Virginia. I quit my exciting archaeological career and have found myself back in the loving arms of the Park Authority.... thereby eliminating all career-esque progress that I have made in the last ten years. Just in time for my high school reunion. Yes, it's true: I have the same job I had when I was 15, except this time with more keys.

Okay, to sum up the last several months with a picture dump:

1. This picture shows a time I went to San Francisco to try and get a job. I have hotel superpowers, and get free room upgrades. This hotel was so excited to have me in one of their best rooms that the manager also sent me some cognac to enjoy while watching the sun set over the city. Freaking sweet.

2. Then, Jim and I traveled up the California coast and I was finally able to see the Redwood forests. It is an interesting thing that many small parcels of land were bought and donated to make up the state forests and were named by the folks that did so. I loved it there so much.. I almost lacked the will to move on to the next project.

3. This is Dawson in Jim's parents yard, getting ready to ambush me.

4. I went back to San Fran while waiting for a project to start in California. The project never materialized, so luckily I had time to attend the BYOBW event (Bring Your Own Big Wheel) with my friend Ryan. It was ridiculously rainy and super fun. I almost lost my nerve before it was my turn to ride a child's toy down a steep, curvy hill with thousands of people watching in pouring rain... but Ryan was having none of it.

I told him I was too nervous (what with having no insurance and my entire job was to hike... if I cracked my heel on someone, say, dressed like a banana, I would be out of a job) and he told me to just get in the crowd, sit on the BW, and we would talk about it. The genius part was that suddenly the crowd started moving and he had to get out of the way.. and I was drawn down the hill with the rest of the crazies.

This picture depicts me in my wacky costume with the crowd and the "curves ahead" sign in the background.

5. So, my California project didn't materialize, as I mentioned, and so I freaked out and decided to move home. I returned to Utah, packed up my stuff, went to bed at a reasonable hour, and got an early start on Saturday morning.

Then, I hit a deer 40 minutes south of my starting point. It has since been determined to be a total loss..that situation is still pending and I am currently without a car until the settlement comes through. Jim said I hit the thing like a pro.

Luckily, and mysteriously, I happened to have a friend from high school (Maggie) who had been working in Lake Tahoe all winter. She was planning on having her car shipped back to the East, and fly back. However, the shipping company never showed and she ended up having to drive. I secured spots for Dawson and myself, shipped a bunch more things ($$$), and we drove from Utah to Virginia in two days.

Before I left California, I had started email an old friend from Lake Accotink. She said I could come to her park and interview for a job. On the drive, she called to say that they were suddenly short of staff and could I start the following Monday. Oh yeah, I'm a farmer now.. at the last working farm in Fairfax County.

So, got back to VA on Friday afternoon. Hung out at Jessica and Kevin's that night. Saturday, went with my sisters and Dad to see my Grammy. Then, we went out in Old Town for a few drinks and they had BLTs (www.bltclub.blogspot.com). Brunch with Dad the next day, and I've been working all week.

6. Here is Shelly and I gearing up for bluegrass, and we didn't even know it.

Who wants to go camping??

California Here We Come

Well, we are actually already here.

I am in a hotel in Barstow, California. You may have been through Barstow if you live in LA or somewhere in Arizona and you went and blew a bunch of money in Vegas. It was even mentioned in the first line of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It's a popular overnight stopover for that drive, as well as a place for hobos (literally the people who ride around in boxcars) to jump off the tracks and loiter.

Jim and I saw a guy do exactly that yesterday evening while we were walking Dawson. He had a big backpack and was wearing lots of ratty camo. I think I have finally been cured of my old dream to ride the rails. I remember in college, Jordan told me I would surely be killed if I tried, but I was convinced it would be more like The Grapes of Wrath... everyone working together to get to the next town. That dream was reinforced by the one Simpsons episode with the "singing, dancing kind of hobo", but later shaken by watching a documentary about illegal immigrants riding trains all through Mexico towards the US. They had a pretty hard time.

And really, The Grapes of Wrath isn't a happy story. I'm not sure why I wanted to experience it.

..

This part of California is interesting with its desert landscapes, but I am ready to get out of here. Jim has been working on a survey for a solar power project all this week, and I get to start working with them tomorrow. We will be here for a few more days, and then will go to a project in Tehachapi, California for about a week. That is supposed to be a really cool place, and we will be doing some testing of mostly historic sites.

After that, we need to get up to northern Washington for another project. We were originally planning on two weeks for travel, but this new project is cutting that timeline in half. I am upset about not getting over to San Diego or San Francisco, but hopefully there will still be a bit of time to see the Redwoods!