when i say "condor", you say "ca-caawww!".

that happened a lot this week as i tried to keep the attention of my cabin of 5th graders. the school i worked with this week sent 115 students...which means a lot of kiddos running around the woods.

all in all, the week went smoothly. i had a few diva queens in my cabin, but overall, the girls were really fun!

there was one point when they started talking about goof balls, then goof sticks, then a sticky ball and then added a monkey into it. needless to say, the other instructors around and i were cracking up but had to let the conversation continue. interrupting it to tell them it was borderline inappropriate would have opened up a can of worms none of us wanted to deal with.

i've decided to have monthly focuses from now on for my entries during the rest of the spring season at high trails. i feel like i'm finally getting used to my job so that there aren't as many exciting day-to-day things to reflect on, so having an aspect of life here to ponder about might spice up the entries.

here's what i came up with:

february - the people
march - the land
april - the food
may - the road ahead

in other life news, i'm about 95% sure i'm going to return to high trails in the falls, so i've started applying to summer positions. i want to do something fun, exciting and outside.

ALSO! i went english country dancing last weekend in LA and stopped by hollywood! pretty exciting : ) there's a jane austen themed dance in vegas coming up in may. i'm pretty set on going. i even found out that wild asparagus (my favorite contra dance band) hosts a dance week in hawaii in march. there's no way i can afford to go this year, but i'm going to start saving my pennies for 2012!

is it really 90 degrees in january?

the view from my cabin.

yes. last weekend when i went to visit my best bud from middle school who lives north of LA, it was 90 degrees. in the middle of january. slightly unbelievable.

up in the mountains, the temperatures have been in the 60s during the day and cooling off to the 30s and 40s at night, but this is still a type of winter i am not used to at all.

when i returned from break, i found out i had a sinus infection. i was working in the kitchen, so it was refreshing to be away from the kiddos and do really methodical work (lots of chopping vegetables and doing dishes). i had a nice break in the middle of the day to rest and felt much healthier by the end of the week.

this week, i worked in the field. the foot of snow that graced camp over break only remains in patches, but the students were still quite excited to play in it. i had a good week in the field. some of the students were awesome, but i could tell some others didn't like me for not letting them throw snowballs at each other. oh well! as a whole, my field group had a lot of energy. they loved singing songs and playing games, which was good for keeping them warm!

so many dishes!

in other work news, i've switched project areas, meaning the area of camp i'm in charge of keeping organized. i was with teacher housing...which is basically like being a housekeeper. but now i'm working with the project boxes (our experiment materials, books, library, beads, etc). i really like the switch.

in general, i'm enjoying life up in the mountains. i adore my cabin in the woods and love my work. the adjustment to working in the snow had been challenging, but i can't wait for more snow so i can finally bust out my snowshoes!

san fernando valley (n. los angeles).

made a list of goals for the year including trying a new recipe once a week, working out 3 times a week and saving at least half of my paychecks through june. so far, so good!

usa rail pass: anatomy of a cross country train trip.

3 weeks.
7 destinations.
1 backpack.


that was my mission on this trip. i packed for the trip strategically and used everything in my backpack except for my little black dress (which i intended to wear on NYE but wore sweatpants for the occasion instead). the only items i am still missing are mini umbrella and a pair of gloves, but those are easily replaced. i packed extra totebags for carrying the food and other souveniers along the way (including a octopus stuffed animal i plan to send to a friend). i had enough extra items to keep myself entertained, and i didn't have to strain myself over having too much stuff.


the trip certainly presented its challenges with train and car accidents, major delays, losing loved ones and sketchy bus rides. despite everything, i had a good time. i didn't sleep as much as i wanted and could probably have used a break from my break, but considering all of the friends and family i visited, it was a good use of my time and money.


over my 3 week break, i spent nearly 170 hours on a plane, train or automobile. almost one fifth of the total time of my break. golly gee.


here are some photos i didn't get a chance to post:

bear outside the state capitol in sacramento.

final sunset on the train. somewhere in central CA.

usa rail pass. 10th segment: sacramento to simi valley.

i woke up the morning i left with a sore throat. not what i wanted. i slowly got my belongings together (for the last time, checked out of my hostel and walked to the train station. i made a pit stop at starbucks for breakfast and coffee and found out my train was an hour and a half late. not ideal.

the train ride ended up being rather uneventful. i sat next to this really nice girl going to college in santa barbara, and we talked quite a bit on the ride. i started to feel feverish and knew there was something not pleasant going on in my body...so, i watched the sunset from the lounge car and then slept until i got off at simi valley.

chelsea (my best friend from middle school) picked me up at the station and was such a good hostess feeding me and making sure i had an ample supply of cough drops. the next morning, i eventually found myself back up on the mountain after a car ride to one airport, catching a shuttle to another airport, hitching a ride from a coworker where we picked up someone from another airport (this is 3 airports in 1 day) and headed back to camp.

i spent the rest of the day sleeping to try to get myself healthy...an interesting end to my train trip.

usa rail pass. segment 9: salt lake city to sacramento.

right now i'm enjoying a delicious greek yogurt parfait, an equally delicious veggie breakfast sandwich and a warm cafe mocha at the train station. i woke up early at my hostel. even though i was exhausted, i had a hard time sleeping. part of it was the really annoying noises from the cross walk right outside the building. part of it was that i don't even know what time it is anymore from changing time zones so much. another part is that i think i might be getting sick yet again. ugh!

my travels from salt lake city were quite pleasant. the train arrived early to the station, so i boarded, got myself comfortable and fell asleep. i slept most of the night and woke up to the frosty paradise of northern nevada. i found myself pleasantly surprised with the rolling hills. once we passed reno, a few folks from one of the historic railroad societies boarded the train and gave some fascinating interpretation of our journey through the sierra nevada mountains.


one of the highlights was passing by donner lake, the site where the donner party got their fame. i managed to go to the dining car for lunch and chatted with some fun folks. then my train arrived into sacramento around 2pm bringing an end to my adventures on the california zephyr on my rail pass.


the hostel was only 5 blocks away. after checking in, i had a full afternoon to explore. i took a tour of the capitol building, went to the post office to send out a few post cards and wandered around for a bit. after catching up on the internet world while lounging in the hostel's really comfortable chairs, i walked around town trying to find something for dinner. i eventually went to brew it up! and had a delicious beer and salad.


i think there were only 3 people in the entire hostel last night. but that wasn't too bad.

now i'm back to sitting at the train station. my train is delayed leaving sacramento by about an hour and a half. not too bad, but certainly not ideal. i hope we can make up that time along the way...i have quite a long journey to go.

usa rail pass. 8th segment: twin falls, id to salt lake city.

i enjoyed my time on this bus much more than my previous experience. first of all, it was an afternoon bus, so i could actually see what was going on. i was also able to snag a seat to myself, so i could spread out a bit. i still had folks in front of me who i gleaned some more interesting vocabulary from, but this time i wasn't trying to sleep. i crocheted for a long time. after a while, i started chatting with the guy behind me, a ski bum who now lives in utah. he was good to talk to. light hearted and interesting.


i made it back to salt lake around 6pm. my train didn't leave until 11:30pm, so i chucked my stuff in a locker at the greyhound station and walked over to this outdoor mall. i bought a subway sandwich and then impusively decided to see the tourist at the big multiplex there. they had assigned seats to the show even though there were maybe a dozen people in the theater. i didn't actually sit in my seat (rebel). the film was good. a great way to kill 2 hours. i wandered around the shops afterward but eventually made it back to the transit station. 

usa rail pass. 7th segment: salt lake city to twin falls, id.

oh man. what a trip. i mistakenly took some nyquil on my previous train because i was feeling really congested, but it started to kick in full force right when i was waiting at the greyhound station to take the bus to twin falls, id. i sat there pretty zoned out for a little over an hour (i could barely crochet i was so tired). i ended up being one of the last ones to board the bus, so i got an aisle seat in perhaps the only seat that didn't recline. the bus was packed except for a seat next to a sketchy guy sitting behind me. there was no way i was going to sit next to him...


needless to say, i didn't sleep much, however, i learned a lot of new vocabulary from the conversations of the folks behind me. they talked the entire time. on a midnight bus. and the sketchy guy kept offering me gum and chocolate although i learned that he had a kid, a girlfriend and probably cheated on his girlfriend quite a bit. the bus arrived in twin falls around 4:30am. ew.

rainbow over shoshone falls.

i was SO happy to see amy at the "bus station" (actually a gas station with a tiny room that sells bus tickets). she drove us back to her house where we slept until 11, then had a slow morning getting ready for the day. we ate lunch at this really great coffee place (with delicious coffee) and then visited shoshone falls. afterward we visited a big bridge over a beautiful canyon of the snake river.

i felt like an ice princess.

a cool bridge.

view from the bridge of the snake river.

later on we met thia, a girl who also works at high trails, and amy's dad for a ride in a helicopter. that was unexpected and spectacular! i pretty much laughed the entire time because i was having so much fun. maybe i'll make it a life goal to own a helicopter.

helicopter!

so excited!! we even got to wear headsets.

crop circle?

we continued our adventures having dinner with amy's mom at this great local restaurant. they even had some live music! amy's mom is wonderful. she was so curious about my train adventures. hopefully i didn't scare her away with some of my stories.


after dinner, we met thia at a wine bar before heading to some karaoke places. amy writes for the times-news and was assigned a story on the karaoke scene of twin falls. she doesn't frequent bars much, so it was perfect that i was visiting so we could do something neither of us do much together! we first ventured to the pioneer club. it apparently has a stigma for being a bit on the creepy side, but it was a lot of fun. amy, thia and i sang (think of it), and it was fun to chat with the locals. one of the ladies, sheena, was quite amazing at karaoke. we tried to channel sheena's attitude and charisma in our next karaoke performance at the montana steakhouse. that venue held a younger crowd with updated decorations and a lively atmosphere. after some liquid courage, amy, eric (her editor) and i sang you're so vain. i don't actually know any of the words to the song besides "you're so vain" so that made for a pretty horrible rendidtion, but i think people had fun. 


the next morning, amy had to work, so thia picked me up. we ate breakfast at the buffalo cafe where i enjoyed the buffalo chip (sans bacon) and a blueberry muffin. mmm. after chatting for a while, we ventured to some of the thrift stores and antique stores in town. i picked up some jewelry, knitting needles and a book.


we met amy for lunch at this local mexican place. it was bittersweet because it was the last time i'll see amy for who knows how long. thia drove me across the street to the station, and i'm glad we got there early because the bus left almost 10 minutes before it was supposed to. i think i might have cried if i missed the bus...

usa rail pass. 6th segment: green river, ut to salt lake city.

not much to say about this trip. heidi dropped me off at the station. i found a nice seat with no one in front of me, made some phone calls, finished knitting a hat, got a little nap. pretty great.

my typical set up on the lounge car.

usa rail pass. 5th segment: chicago to green river, ut.

underneath the windows.

my train left chicago at 2pm on new year's day. the ride through illinois, iowa and nebraska was pleasant. i spent some time knitting in the lounge car and was hit on by an old drunk guy. tim, the drunk guy, offered to buy me dinner if i knitted him a hat (i declined). then, he offered to buy me a drink (jack and coke, i declined). finally, he offered me some cheese and crackers (also declined). as he was going through the goodies in the cheese tray, he pointed out "a cheese tray is like a box of chocolates". he also commented that flirting was the only way to get things done (in response to getting 3 free sodas from the snack car lady). he was rather entertaining to sit next to for a while. eventually, his nephew dragged him back to their sleeper car (hopefully to sleep off some of the booze). hilarious.

somewhere in the rockies.

for a while i was sitting by a university of illinois engineering professor. she was really awesome! her and her husband used to live in southern california, travelled around for a while and recently bought a cabin out in the mountains of wyoming. they still backpack around yellowstone every summer. i could grow up to be like her and that would be okay.

loved this little yellow house.

i didn't sleep very well, but "woke" up when we stopped in denver. after we passed through denver, i watched inception (good movie). i might need to watch it again, partly because it's the only movie on my hard drive and also because we started the trek into the rockies, so i was distracted much of the time looking out the window.

outside the lounge car.

it's moments when i see huge towering cliffs and wide sweeping vistas that i'm glad i took the train. getting through the nation's heartland was a little difficult to deal with . we've had daylight all through the mountain passes, so it's made it worth getting through the heartland. and they let me have the kid's mac 'n cheese at lunch. bwahahaha!

my train arrived on time into green river. heidi met me and in order to avoid hitting some traffic from a recent accident on the interstate, we stopped at a little pizza place. heidi got some chili and i ordered an oreo milkshake. it was awesome!

we then drove back to the trailer heidi lives in at canyonlands national park. she's the "trail expert" at island in the sky. she said she spends most of her time hiking around trails and setting up cairns to define where the trails go. it's awesome.

me and the new hat heidi gave me!

the next morning, we woke up early to catch the sunrise at mesa arch, apparently the quintessential sunrise view at the park. my camera decided to lose it's battery power right when the good part started to happen, and i forgot to grab the extra one from the car, but i managed to take some nice pictures.

we then went on a series of short hikes all around the park: the white rim overlook, the grand view, aztec butte and the upheaval dome. here are some highlights.

at the white rim overlook.

along the great view trail.

heidi scaling aztec butte.

hi there!

it's a baby condor! (not really).

oh canyonlands national park.

as we were finishing off our adventures at the upheaval dome, it started to snow, which was really great. the snow here in the high desert is different from any other snow i've experienced in the midwest and new england. instead of the heavy, dense, wet flakes, the snow is light, fluffy and full of sparkly crystals.

we spent the evening making a delicious meal of costa rican rice and beans and drinking mimosas. this was probably the best day i've had my entire trip.

we had a slow morning and spent the afternoon in moab. thanks to heidi for being an amazing host. making me coffee, letting me sleep in and in general being an incredible friend. hopefully life will bring us together soon!

usa rail pass. 4th segment: grand rapids to chicago.

this was probably the most uneventful leg of my trip. my parents took me to the train station early on new year's day. i was sleepy from staying up to watch dick clark ring in the new year. i love that mr. clark is looking so old but still has a great new year's spirit.

a cool sign i found on my walk.

i snagged a seat to myself on the train and saw a beautiful sunrise. we arrived to union station in chicago early! i stuffed my bag in a locker with the help of a slightly sketchy (but very helpful) amtrak employee and set to walk around town. i had tentative plans to get lunch with a few friends, but all of them bailed on me, so after wandering around millenium park, i ducked into cosi for a bowl of soup and a sandwich. it was delicious.

awesome bike rack.

me and the bean! not a busy day.