Let’s rewind. I would call this week my summer sampler tray;
I took a few small adventures that look to be indicative of my longer
adventures over the next three months.
Last weekend contained a road trip, followed by sixteen
hours a day of class and a chance for a still developing introvert to try her 'I am a normal and friendly person' skills. I headed out on the five hour drive to Spokane
early Friday for a two and a half day Wilderness First Aid course through the
NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute. Such training is useful anyway for anyone,
especially if you spend a lot of time in the back country, and most definitely
if your summer internship requires it. Outside of the classroom, I’m usually
someone who favors independence, but learning about where my fellow classmates were
from and what they did and why they were taking the course managed to coax me out
of hermitage, leading to some enjoyable evenings, including a lovely one at the
Spokane Arts Fest. The highlight still remains the drive for me, from trying
not to get distracted by the rocks in the road cuts to marveling at just how
many miles of flat I tolerated to watching the sun dip below the Cascades at
sunset as I headed home.
(Seriously, flat and plain. Almost like they’re plains.)
Part two of a taste of summer was on Wednesday, as I had the
first day of filming for season two of a web series I was in last summer.
Although I can’t say much about it (spoilers!), I can shamelessly self-promote
(I mean, this is a free online blog, I’m pretty sure the entire point is
shameless self-promotion). Here is the link to the YouTube page, for any
interested parties. The geeky/nerdy/dorkiness shall never end, so be warned that End Times is a post-apocalyptic tale
crafted lovingly by some huge nerds with a strong affinity for science fiction,
geek culture, and good storytelling.
The final installment in here’s what I’ve gotten myself into
for the summer came today, as I did a day of trail work for Washington Trails
Association as at least an intro to my internship with them this summer. I’ll
be heading out to trails and campsites around the state to do help lead work
parties and learn about outdoor leadership and trail maintenance. My way of saying so long to the brutal east coast winter is to
spend as much of it as I can outdoors, in rain or shine—and let’s be honest
most of it will be rain. Still, the morning was beautiful as we did some
general brushing and drainage maintenance on McClellan Butte Trail out near Snoqualmie
Pass.
And I still grin like an idiot whenever I get to drive into/through/around/near/away
from but glimpse in my rear view mirror the mountains and forests of the Pacific
Northwest.
But seeing how this is going to be my office for the summer,
can you really blame me?
