A break from the maddness

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Aaaaaaah, relaxation! It is so sweet! So the summer of living in a tent, showering once a week and constantly covering my body in bumps and bruises is over, oh so sad! I had a great summer at Castle Lake. Working at the field station was awesome. I got to meet and work with many great people from near and far, which is always fun. And when I wasn't working I got to hike to some amazing waterfalls in the area, go berry picking until my fingers were purple and got to swim until I shrivled up like a rasin! While I did miss working at my usual summer camp job I found working at Castle Lake to be a very positive experience both for the educational as well as life lessons I learned there. But now that chapter of my life is closed, at least for the time being, and the next chapter is about to begin! Before I know it, I will be on a 12 hr flight to Beijing, China! Until then, however, it is time to chill out and surround myself with my family and friends.

Currently, I'm in Fresno, California spending some much need time with my boyfriend Brian. It is working out rather nicely because when he is in class it gives me plently of time to work on my travelblog and get stuff organzied for my trip. Then this weekend it is the traditional Labor day camping trip with my Mom and brother and then back to Reno . . . . . where the maddness begins. I'll have a lot to do once I'm in Reno but I think I'll be able to handle it well. I hope. On september 11 I'll catch an evening flight to sounthern california to hang out with family and friends and then during the wee hours of the morning on September 14, 2007 I'll depart LAX for Beijing, China. So to give you guys an idea of what I'll be up to on the first leg of my trip, here is my intinerary until mid-October


September 11 - fly out of Reno to Orange county

September 14 - leave LAX @ 1:40am

September 15 - 5:20am arrive Beijing, China
Explore Beijing/catch up on some sleep
sample some of the local food
drink lots of tea
try to learn some Mandarin (and get laughed at repeatedly doing so)
and again, eat some yummy local food until . . .
September 17 - leave on an early morning train for my 30hr ride to the captail of Mongolia,
Ulaanbaatar (UB)

September 18 - arrive in UB and meet up with other members of the team

September 21/22 - travel to the field site where we will be working

September 23-Oct. 12 - working to save gaint fish that could eat me for a snack!

Oct. 13/14 - travel back to UB

It's going to be an intense month or so, but it might be one of the exciting months of my life! I'm so excited, scared, anxious, happy and sad rolled into one! I'll be posting some links to websites soon with more information on the project in Mongolia I'm working on as well as some pictures of the fish I'm going to be working with because no one seems to take me seriously when I say that I'm going to be saving 200 lb trout. I don't know why that seems so far fetched to everyone . . .

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Photos

Heart Lake
This lake was directly behind me when I took the picture over looking Castle. It's a nice little lake only a 20-30 minute hike up from Castle.

Mossbrae Falls
It feels like you're on a tropical island, only you're in the forests of northern California. These falls were a short drive and a little hike from Castle. And the best part, blackberry bushes line the whole walk to the falls. We made some awesome berry crisp after our hike, yum, yum!

Faery Falls
A little known gem near Castle Lake.

Comments

[Alison]

sounds fun!!!
that sounds fun!!! Beijing will be fun. I just got back and i enjoyed a lot. The pollution is really bad over there. Be careful crossing the street. Try waiting for locals to cross because it is like playing frogger in real life. They don't stop for people like over here. well have fun and keep us up to date on your journey. Hope to see you when you get back.