!!!! ROAD TRIP !!!!

Big weekend! 

So this weekend the girls (Shannon, Janelle, and myself) decided to take a road trip to do some sight seeing. Since we are "living on the cheap" as my father would say we planned to camp everywhere we travelled and brought most of our food with us. 

We left after work on Thursday and drove to Mt. Saint Helens, but got there really late so we pretty much just set up our tent 

(I built a small fire with the aid of my headlamp though) at a vacant spot in a camp ground and went to bed, hoping to wake up early enough to leave without having to pay the 18$ fee. 

It was a success :) 

We left early the next morning and drove to the Mount Saint Helens observatory and got to see some fantastic views of Mt. Saint Helens and watched a video on the whole story behind the mountain.

This old guy with a binocular/telescope thing who I assumed was one of those people that are pretty much unofficial volunteers who just love talking to people about whatever there passion is and answering every question imaginable, well, he had a telescope set up to see herds of elk that lived around the base of the volcano. There were like eight herds or something like that, and we could also see a group of climbers that had just reached the apex which was so crazy!

So after leaving Mt. Saint Helens, we drove 2 hours to a little island called Bainbridge Island which is right across from Seattle and set up our campsite near the beach. But, on the way we found this town called Toledo and stopped to eat some pizza before heading to Seattle. 

After buying $8 worth of expired food from a mini mart, we found this really old c

ity jail built in the 1890's that was now a landmark in the city. So, obviously, we had to climb on it and do goofy poses. 

So after unpacking at Bainbridge Island we took the ferry ride over to Seattle which only took about a half hour or so. It was so pretty! 

The water was filled with giant yellow jellyfish and apparently the world's biggest species of octopus lives in Puget Sound. 

After getting into Seattle our first stop was t

he Space Needle. 

We took the looonnggg 10mph elevator ride up the middle of the building and got to see an amazing view of Seattle at night which was just beautiful. We then headed back to our campsite and hit the hay to rest up for another big day in Seattle the following day. 

In the morning I made chocolate chip pancakes for everyone, and we decided to check out the beach of Puget Sound before taking the ferry over to the city. The water was COLD, like, really cold, but Shannon and I decided to jump in anyways even though it was only for like 10 seconds because we really needed 

to bathe in something.

 So after an ice cold bath, we took her car on the ferry over to the city and parked it so we could walk around for a while.

 We first checked out the Saturday market at Pike's Place which is famous for throwing fish around and yelling a lot. There were lots of cool vendors selling clothing, jewelry, art, trinkets, etc. I got to eat lots of samples in the food section which was really nice too. 

So after leaving Seattle we drove to Forks, Washington, which is the town Twilight the movie and  books are based out of. Not only was this a Twilight town, it was a Twilight WORLD. And Shannon was dazzled. Last but not least, we went to the beach! (the Twilight beach in La Push) It was SO awesome! 

 water was freezing but I had to dip my toes in. I also found a pier next to the water with some old fishing boats I got a couple of pictures of as well. 

And this was the lovely end to our weekend road trip extravaganza! Going to California in 2 weeks for Shannon's 21st birthday hooray!!

CHEERS!!! 

Peace, Love, and The Forest Service. And Rockslides.

Day three completed on stream number 2! 

Hamilton Creek is our 2nd assigned creek to survey, and is roughly 7 miles long and is located in the Gorge National Scenic area in Washington. It takes us about 2 hours to drive there (including stopping for food and gas), and we actually got a different truck today our supervisor has nicknamed "Bertha". She only has a single cab so all three of us sit in the front on the bench seat which makes us feel eerily like a landscaping crew. 

This stream is really different from Dinger, and I feel very much like a mountain goat trying to rock hop my way up the stream. Instead of pebbles and sand, this stream is dominated by GIANT boulders and sheer rock walls. I have fallen into the stream like 3 times already, filling up my waders and drowning my clipboard. My balance will be improving rapidly. 

Something very scary happened today while surveying! Our group of 3 had stopped to do a snorkeling survey at a pool adjacent to one of the rock walls that was about 80 feet high. So after staying there for 30 minutes or so, we cleared the area and 5 seconds after I walked out, a huge rock slide happened which showered boulders and rocks right on to the place we were standing. I actually got kind of shaken up because it was SO close, but thankfully everyone was okay! The first thing I thought was "wow, God is really watching out for us"; this thought has shown to be a theme on many adventures and I have realized I have a lot to be thankful for. 

I spent this last weekend hanging with Janelle and her family in Washington doing some crazy things! On Friday she took me to Molten Falls which I had to jump off of (it was probably 30 feet?) into freezing cold water. It was so fun! Then on Saturday we went zip lining in the Gorge. 

This zip line is actually the longest zip line in the US and is going to be used in the 3rd Twilight movie (I have never seen any of them or read the books, but I think some people will find that interesting) I got to flip upside down in my harness while cruising over a 350 foot canyon with a waterfall... it was incredible. Incredible. 

This coming weekend we are planning to go to Seattle and the Coast to camp for a few days. We are definitely going to go to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, the Space Needle, and much more! Weeee. I can't wait! Shannon only has a few more weekends here so we have our next month of weekend activities planned out including going to California and seeing the Red Wood forests, climbing Mt. St. Helens (or at least camping there if they require permits), going skiing on Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, and ?????who knows????

I miss you all very much and I am looking forward to seeing all my family and friends soon! 

Cheers! 

Elyse

work, work, WATERFALL, work

July 3-7, 2009

This week is has been our first week of work on our own! Things have been really interesting as we try to figure out how do our job without the help of our supervisors. The first day went very smoothly as we surveyed about a half mile of Dinger Creek. This creek started out to be very easy, but then quickly turned into dense thickets of vine maple (a tree from hell) that has been the blame for many instances of me falling face first in the creek and acquire several healthy looking bruises. 

The second day couldn't have been more ill-planned. Leaving the house at 7:00 AM, I realized our gas tank barely was above empty, and the nearest gas station was 26 miles away. So, I decided to chance it and see if we could make it the 20 minute drive to our stream and back again. We made it there, but, on the w

ay back, things went down hill. I was driving and coasted in neutral for about half the drive until (dun dun DUN!) we ran out of gas and pulled to the side. After flagging down a passing vehicle of friendly Portlanders, we hitchhiked back to our cabin where no one was home to give us a ride to the gas station. So we waited, and walked around, and waited until the other team got back to take us to the gas station (still 26 miles away). By the time I made it to our stranded car and team member (2 hours later) I find my boss standing there with our truck and stranded team member (Nooo!) After filling up the tank with 2 gallons of gas, we realize that we left the

hazard lights on and the battery is dead. (double nooo!) So I, being the girl, was chosen to flag down yet another passing car with jumper c

ables (it took me 3 tries) and so we eventually got our truck jumped, and we headed home from our long day of learning experiences. 

There is a bright side... 

While we were camping last week we were tipped off by a couple Oregonians of a waterfall way back in the woods. 

So, Shannon, Miles, and I decided to investigate. We followed a two mile trail into the mountains and low and behold we found a giant (180 ft?) waterfall! It was beautiful! And I had to climb it! I got about half way up where the water initially hit the rocks and the wind from the falls just about blew me away. I was soaking wet by the time I made it back down! Anyways, that was the highlight of my week. 

 

Shannon and I also went to Portland this weekend! It was so fun... 

we went to the Zoo and the world's biggest bookstore. I was instantly emotionally attached to the cutest giraffe ever and had some trouble leaving. 

Today, we finally finished our first assigned stream. It was about 3 miles long and took us 5 days to finish. It was cool because we ended up at a lake on top of a mountain (about 4000 feet) and the area was so pristine and filled with wildlife. We saw a ton of rough skinned newts and a few different varieties of frogs. BUT the best part of today was while driving to the site, we saw a black bear in the road! Awesome! I think it was a juvenile because it wasn't very big, but this is one of those things I can cross off my list - "Never have seen a bear in the wild"  :-)! 

Also, for the 4th of July I got to go into Portland and hang out with Josh and his family for the weekend. I think I forgot what anything but PB&J and tuna tasted like, so all the food we ate was soooo tasty! We went to the Blues festival for 4th of July and got to see the Harmonica Blow Off at which I totally got my dance on. The fireworks over the river were really cool too. I really did miss the annual Grandview Heights party with my family though--nothing will ever compare! 

We will be starting a new creek tomorrow, which is supposed to be really difficult, so wish me luck. I miss everyone so much! I really like reading everyone's emails so keep them coming. Love you all! f31i2n@gmail.com

Cheers!