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Gold Butte
sunset from our "campsite"Hello again! So travels/lack of internet in the apartment (it’s a long complicated story… but eventually it got worked out) is my reasoning for why it took so long for me to post this blog. Anyway, I shall try to catch you up on what I have been up to. :-)
Last week I was out in Gold Butte once again, looking for those elusive Gila Monsters. This time, they change the plan of attack a bit. We were still supposed to hike around the washes they are likely to be in, but we also had to drive around the roads in our area, just looking out the window for either tracks or the animal itself. I went out with Bryant, one of the staff members. We basically just drove around on Monday, spending soooo many hours in the car. Saw nothing. Set up camp around 6:30ish and I was asleep before 9. However, it was very hot and so I didn’t have the most restful nights sleep. One cool thing was that we heard coyotes in the very very early morning hours. Didn’t see any though. Still cool. Tuesday we hiked around for a bit in a few different
places. One of my points was on the other side of this very tall mountain. Not very fun. I had to climb up nearly 600meters and then down another 400 or so. And I did not see anything. Sad. After that though we just drove around for a few hours and then went to the lake. On the way to the lake we saw a Burrowing Owl. Very cute (seriously AC, it was. I promise). The lake was nice. Once again, I forgot my bathing suit so I just went in in clothes. We ran into Rob and Claire there as well so we all went swimming and then hung out for a bit just reading and relaxing. Left in the evening and drove for a bit before stopping for the night. It seemed like there might be a storm so we stayed in the car, reading. It ended up passing without much rain and we didn’t get anything lighting. Went to sleep and in the morning we hiked around for a bit in areas by the car. Then we headed for town, as we were in desperate need of gas. As we got closer we realized we might not
make it so we turned off the ac and then whenever he could Bryant drove in neutral. Somehow we made it to a gas station on the edge of town… just barely. Pretty sure we had less than half a gallon left. Phew. With a full tank, we stopped in Walmart and then Bryant went to the library to check his mail and I sat out in the grass under a tree and read/relaxed. Very nice. Then grabbed some lunch (a pizza) and then had ice cream! It was sooo good. Soft ice cream at Baskin Robbins… it was actually quite delicious. And so welcome, considering the heat. Not Rita’s, but a close second. :-) Drove back to Gold Butte, drove around for a while and then stopped for the night. Thursday we got up and hiked for a bit and then drove for a bit. We then got a flat tire and we took that as a sign to stop for the day. Fixed the tire and then started home. Once again, we started getting low on gas, but not as bad as before. We made it to Henderson with I think nearly 2 gallons left. Although we did
not see any Gila Monsters, I will say this about the week… it was at least enlightening/entertaining. During our long hours in the car we listened to a lot of NPR, Radio Lab, and This American Life. :-)
Julia was already at the office so after returning my equipment, we went to the apartment, showered, ate, and loaded up the car. We were able to leave around 3:30pm. The drive to San Fran was long, but it went quickly, because we alternated about every 2 hours, and we were talking and listening to music. So it was a good trip. Although near the end it was a bit rough because we were getting tired. But, we arrived safe and sound at Kate’s house at about 1:30am. We drove over the top of the Bay Bridge on the way in which was nice. Although I wish it had been daylight. But still cool. Anyway, it was very great seeing Kate. We were all super tired so Julia went on home and after a quick tour of the house I went to sleep. It was SO nice sleeping with a blanket!
Got up around 9 on Friday. Ended up that
Julia came and picked us up a little after 10 and drove us to her house, since it was going to take too long using public transportation. The sun was out in Kate’s neighborhood and it was actually pretty warm, but at Julia’s house it was cloudy and cooler. Crazy micro-climates. Anyway, the drive was my first glimpse of SF in daylight. Very pretty. I love all of the houses… they are so cool and colorful. And the streets of course are great… the hilliness helps build the character of the place. We drove through the castro area, with many rainbow flags, and drove past the haight (hippie-ish area). Julia’s boyfriend had made us blueberry pancakes, and we all had brunch together. It was very nice. Around noon Kate and I left. Julia lives right across from Golden Gate park and so we walked around there for a while. It is so beautiful! And so huge! It is r-diculous! We walked past the California Academy of Sciences, which I had kinda wanted to go to, but Kate had forgotten her museum pass, with which we probably could’ve gotten in for free, and we didn’t want to pay the $25 to
go in so we just looked at the outside. :-) Then spent most of our time in the arboretum walking around. Very lovely. We also walked around the lake a bit and even saw a waterfall! It was crazy! Then there was the bubbling creek, caused by the waterfall, that ran along the road. I loved it. It was all so pretty. We then took a bus down to the ocean!!! Epp! Words cannot describe my happiness. I had been missing the beach like crazy. A lake is simply not the same. So yeah, we stopped in a grocery store to get lunch and then walked to the beach! Gorgeous. It was so incredibly nice seeing waves and sand (beach sand, not desert sand) once again. The sun wasn’t out which was a bummer, but I didn’t even care. It was still amazing. I was a very happy person. And I was loving being cold! I was wearing short sleeves and held off for as long as I could putting on layers. I had goose-bumps for a while before I finally caved and put on my sweatshirt (wildwood nj! Representing the other coast). I put my feet in the water
but that was about it. Just to say I did. :-) Hard to believe that the last time I saw the pacific I was seeing it from the other side of the world, in Sydney! Eventually we left, walked around a bit and then took a bus up a ways and stumbled on this cool lookout area that was very beautiful and gave great views of the ocean and the city. It was great. Oh, and Kate made a wreath out of daises, which was probably one of the greatest things ever. She looked the part of a hippie in the 60s. Fantastic. And she wore it the rest of the day, making it even more fantastic. So yeah, we walked around, enjoying views of the shore and got hot chocolate in this cute restaurant on the cliff (actually right near the Cliff House). Then took a bus down to the haight. Somehow, I managed to not really buy anything. Which is impressive, considering I was surrounding by store-fronts with tie-dye and peace signs everywhere. :-) Only thing I bought was food… Kate and I walked past a Crepe restaurant and both stopped and were drooling. So we went inside
Dolores Park
has an awesome view of the city and split one… with nutella, bananas, and whipped cream. Omg. Perfection. Got back to Kate’s around 7:30, rested briefly and then walked to a Thai place nearby for dinner. Delicious! We were pretty exhausted after that, so just went back and watched the first two episodes of Freaks and Geeks (amazing, especially now that I watch Bones. Mom, the guy who plays Dr. Sweets is in this show. Which was 9 years ago. So he is little! It is marvelous). Then sleep.
Saturday we got up and left around 8:30ish. Walked to the bus, took that down to the piers. Where they have this AMAZING farmers market, with tons of local and organic fruits, among other things. I was in heaven. They had samples so I had lots of those. Didn’t end up getting anything cause we were a bit pressed for time which is a bummer. But yeah. Then we went inside and Kate brought me to this bread store. Ohmygoodness it was heaven. There was so much that looked amazing (as in, everything) that it was hard to choose but I ended up getting two rosemary rolls. Delicious. We ate out on the pier, looking at the
bay. Then caught a train down to pier 33 where we took a ferry over to Alcatraz! Ferry ride was great. And Alcatraz was really really cool. We did the audio tour, which was great. It is told by actual people who were guards and people who were incarcerated in Alcatraz. Really awesome. Weird actually seeing a jail and knowing of all these famous criminals who were there. And oh man, the day was gorgeous, so we got amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge and of the city itself. Awesome. We spent basically 3 hours on that tour, although it technically only takes 45 minutes. But we enjoyed the views and lingered in places longer. It was really great. Took a ferry back around 2:30ish. Back in the city, we walked around, went to In-N-Out Burger for lunch and then went to Musee Mechanique, which is this cool place with all these old coin-operated machines. Like those fortune telling ones, etc. Stuff from probably the 1920s or 30s until close to present day. There was some really neat stuff. Including a career pilot that told Kate she should be a psychiatrist. We nearly died. From there we walked down
to Giradelli Square, where there was live music. Lay on the grass and listened to that for a while. Then walked some more, took a bus to SF MoMA, where Kate is interning. They were closed but I got to see the building and the area. We were then gonna take a cable car but the line was INSANE and it was getting late so we decided it wasn’t worth it. Just took a train back to her place. Had dinner and then Emily and her boyfriend came over! It was really great getting to see her as well. (She graduated from Berg 2 years before me - I had many classes with her and she gave me Allen). We all walked down to Dolores Park, which was great because I got to walk some of those hills SF is famous for. :-) And saw a house with a roof covered with solar panels! Awesome. Yeah, so we walked the 10 blocks or so to the park and went to an ice cream place by there that is Emily’s favorite. It was pretty awesome. They had unique flavors… I got honey lavender and basalmic strawberry. It was very very yummy.
San Fran from Alcatraz
aren't the hills cool? Ate the ice cream and walked up to the top of the park where we were able to see quite a few fireworks that were being shot off from various locations… I think mostly we were watching the ones from the pier. Sometimes the fireworks would be half covered by clouds but that was kinda neat because then you’d see the bottom half and top half would seem to disappear. All-in-all it was a great night. When they were done we walked back towards Kate’s. Stopped in a bar for drinks and some garlic fries (apparently that is a popular west coast thing… they were quite good!) and then Emily and Marc headed home as did Kate and I. Watched one more episode of Freaks and Geeks before sleeping.
Sunday I didn’t do much. Got up and lazed around. Left Kate around 11 which was sad. But it was good to see her, even if it was very brief. The rest of the day was spent driving back to Henderson. Except this time, we were driving a prius! Julia switched cars because the other one needed to be checked out. So yay! I got to drive my dream car.
SF
again from Alcatraz Which is definitely my dream car after driving it. It was so cool!! The drive back wasn’t bad… we made it back in 9.5hours. There are some pretty cool wind farms we passed along the way and I took some pics so I will put one of them up here. It made me happy (obviously). I think they are so cool! Some people complain about their asthetics but I think they are kinda cool looking. Anyway, got back around 8:30. So tired. Showered, ate dinner, unpacked and packed for the week in Barstow. Managed to get to sleep around 10:30 I think.
Summary of my feelings for San Fran:
LOVE - the fact that there is recycling EVERYWHERE (and composting!), general progressiveness of the area, no plastic bags, half-flush toilets (like they had in Australia!), neat houses, cool hills, the ocean, beautiful parks, lots of public transportation, tons of vegetarian-friendly restaurants, lots of local and organic food
Dislike - uhhhhhh… I guess it is still a city. So there is that. I’m not a huge fan of the main city part with the huge buildings and all. But I wouldn’t have to spend much time there probably,
Golden Gate Bridge
as seen from Alcatraz if I were to ever live there.
Overall, I could totally see myself living outside the city in one of the pretty nature-filled areas nearby, where I would be able to easily access the cool parts of the city, and the bay and the ocean. At least for a little while. Probably not a permanent living place for me but it could definitely work for a bit. :-)
So far this week has been a hodge-podge once again. We got to the office at about 4:45 Monday morning (ew, that was not fun) and left by 5:30. Headed down to the Barstow area once again for bleed week. Did not have much success on Monday morning… our tortoises either wouldn’t give us blood or wouldn’t come out of their burrows. We stopped for the afternoon because it was too hot then went back out at night and did one tortoise. On Tuesday we had a bit more success and everyone managed to finish by around noon and so we were all done and cleaned the house and headed back to Henderson. Got back around 4 and just relaxed. We had no internet in the apartment and we tried to
fix that but failed. So we went to the library and spent a while there using their wireless. Hurray for libraries!
We had Wednesday off which was fantastic. I slept for nearly 11 hours. It was marvelous. I then spent a few hours by the pool and then we went to see Public Enemies (Johnny Depp film)! :-) I was a very happy person. I liked the movie although it wasn’t one of my favorites. But I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to some.
Managed to get to bed by 10:30 because I had to get up at… 3:45. Ew. That was not fun. But yeah we got the office at 4:30 and left a little after 5. Went to Halfway, which is somewhere I have not been yet. It is just another part of the desert, kinda out near Gold Butte. We were tracking the tortoises out there and changing their data loggers (cool GPS things that tell us where the tortoises go every day… used for their burn research). But we could only work til it was 95 degrees out which happened around 10ish. So yeah we were back at the office by 12:30 and left before 1! That is one plus of starting work early… getting to end early! So now I’ve just been hanging out at the apartment. I showered and such and about 30 minutes ago we got the internet back! Hurray! Hence I was able to post this update. We are about to head out to see the Proposal and then go grocery shopping! Woo! I’ll write again soon. Hope everyone is doing well! Sorry for the novel of a post :-)
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