Changing of the Guard

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On thursday morning last week we went out looking for one of the lost tortoises, that had been missing since march. We weren't expecting anything because, well, they have been looking for all lost tortoises for a while with no luck. So yeah. Emily and Erin and I are walking along, heading to where the tortoise was last seen, when Erin cries out, "I FOUND A TORTOISE!" we thought she was kidding. Until we realized she wasn't. There he was, 3238, sitting on the ground, a few feet outside of a burrow. And not just any burrow. The burrow that he was last seen in, back in March! It was very exciting indeed! But, we were thoroughly unprepared, cause we weren't expecting to actually find him. Had to stand on a hill (to get cell reception) and call Brian. Luckily we have extra new transmitters at the house so he turned around and got one and drove out to us. While we waited we sat and chilled with a tortoise. It was actually quite great. Especially since it was not hot out... there were many clouds (quite gray actually) and it was early morning. We had a little mini photo-shoot while waiting, got some really cute pictures! yay! 😊 Once Brian arrived, while he put on the new transmitter, the 3 of us went to see/take pictures of a rattle snake Emily had found. Very cool. It was kind of a pale orange color and had really really white eyes. Still cannot figure out what kind of rattlesnake it was. But definitely neat to see.

After that we made our way back to Henderson. Emily and Erin had their exit interviews, and I just chilled in the apartment. Shortly thereafter Erin left (so weird and so sad, saying goodbye). Around 8 that night Sarah (from night tracking) came over and we all hung out and watched Ocean's 11.... it was even more entertaining watching it now that I have actually been to parts of Vegas (like the Bellagio)! hehe. I had a few drinks in the apartment, because I did not feel like spending the excessive amounts for drinks in the club. We then met up with Claire, who drove us to Eye Candy. Had a lot of fun (probably the most of any night I've gone out so far)... the music was actually quite good and there weren't too many creepers lurking around emily so we were just able to have fun. But sadly, this was also the night that I killed my camera. 😞 I like to blame my Sigg bottle, but really it was my fault. I had brought my Sigg with me, put it in my purse, and on the drive to Claire's it leaked because apparently the lid wasn't screwed on right. My camera (in its bag, mind you) got wet and has not recovered. Very distressing. 😞 But other than that it was a good night.

Friday I didn't sleep in as much as I wanted to. Think I was up around 9:30. Lazed around. I am seriously blanking out and cannot think of anything substantial I did during the day, so maybe nothing happened. lol. At any rate that night Emily and I went out with Claire once again, for Emily's last night in Vegas. Had fun, not as good as thursday night, but still fun. Also a tad sad though just cause I knew Emily would be leaving soon.

Saturday I lazed around some more. Emily and I went to the pool for a bit, hoping the sun would come out but sadly it was quite gray. Still felt nice though (which is sad since it was about 98 degrees). Of course, shortly after we went back inside, the sun came out. But by then Emily was preparing to leave. Claire Martin and I took her to the airport. Goodbyes suck. But we got a group pic which was nice.

Back at the apartment it was weird. Julia on vacation with her family and Emily and Erin gone. No new interns yet. Spooky and weird. But that only lasted for a few hours. Gloria arrived around 7pm and she seems very nice. She is from North Carolina. On Sunday we walked to walmart because she needed groceries and neither of us have a car and we couldnt get ahold of anyone who did. It was completely terrible. Although it had been a while since I was outside in the heat of the day. We went at about 2:30 and it was about 110 degrees. Ick. But we survived. Spent the rest of the day waiting for the others to arrive. As it turns out, one had issues with family of some sort and I'm not sure if she is just going to start later or if she is not coming at all. Another actually doesnt start until the 10th. But Alex finally showed up around 9pm. He drove all the way from NYC. Craziness. Brief meeting but he seems nice enough. So it seems we will have a good group of interns. Yay!

Monday morning I had to be at the office at 5 (not yay). The 2 newbies didnt have to be there til 9 and they were just having orientation stuff. I walked to the office and then drove a car down to the barstow house. I'm in barstow this week with Angela and Felicia (and Angela's dog! she is such a cutie. It is amazing having a dog around). We got to the house around 8:30, unloaded the bed frames and mattresses (we brought them down so that we could have more beds and need less cots during bleed weeks). It should be noted, that I drove down here in the ford F150, which is a beast. And the bed (of the truck hehe) was filled with mattresses and box springs (7 total). So that was interesting. Actually not as bad as I feared it was going to be. Thank goodness. 😊 So yea, we unloaded then headed out into the field. Since it was late we only planned to do one plot and a few random tortoises. Sadly, Angela got stuck in the sand and so we spent some time trying to get her out without luck so then we just left the truck and went around in one. The rest of the day we set up all the beds, went grocery shopping and then just relaxed.

Today we left a little after 5 in the hopes of attempting to pull the truck out once again. No luck and so we called a tow truck. In the meantime they dropped me off at a plot so I could work on a cluster of tortoises. It was early enough that it wasn't bad at all, even though I did a fair bit of walking (maybe 3.5km). The truck was successfully towed so we were able to get more accomplished today. Since I did walking in the morning I dropped Felicia off at Plot 1 (which requires a fair bit of walking) and while she did that I finished up plot 1.5, which was a lot of driving, with minimal walking. 😊 Were finished and back before 12:30!

Tomorrow Brian is coming down with Gloria and Alex so we are gonna finish super quickly I am sure. I'll probably be back up at the apartment on Thursday. Woohoo! 😊

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Photos

3238
looking at me! (probably thinking, 'damn it! why did you people have to find me!')

Photo 7
check out those eyes!

Me, Emily and Claire
emily's last night :(