Monument Hopping

We set aside a day to see several sites that luckily are close together. First thing in the morning, we drove back to take a spectacular hike up to Devil's Tower, which is truly impressive in size and structure. We chose not to hike all the way around the base since we had plans to see several more sites that day. I enjoyed seeing all the prairie dogs that live at the base of the tower as well. The geology of the place is unreal, with red rocks at the base and then these huge grey boulders at the base of the actual tower.


Next on our "must see" list was Mount Rushmore, but on our way there, we would take detours to see the land of Mel's childhood: Spearfish, Deadwood, and Sturgis, South Dakota. This was a fun drive through yet more changing scenery. It was amazing to me to watch the landscape change and unfold as we drove across the miles. No one scene was "typical" of a particular state, but all were beautiful and intriguing. Little did I know the sorts of geological wonderlands I would see later in the trip.





Mount Rushmore is nothing shy of impressive. The size of the monument is awe-inspiring, but the detail and artistic talent that went into it are even more inspiring. I marveled at the carving, but also was intrigued by the displays inside showing how the models were planned and then reworked to fit the actual structure of the granite being carved. I loved watching the movie showing the monument through the seasons in different angles of light. I was so glad I had a decent camera so I could take close-ups of the faces to really see the detail for myself. It was a hot day with thunderheads forming as we left to drive to Crazy Horse.



By the time we got to Crazy Horse, a phenomenal cloud had formed that created a backdrop for the monument. It is good that we had seen Rushmore first, since it helped me understand the scale of Crazy Horse. Rushmore can fit in the area under the arm of the pointing figure of Crazy Horse -- wow! We picked up rocks that had been blasted off the mountain to take home and saw the progress that has been made on the mountain. I'm sure that it will be finished one day, but it will be a long, hard process. It truly feels like a labor of love started by one man but then carried on by his family. Mel has spent much of his life visiting periodically since he was a boy and watching the memorial take shape.




Since we planned to arrive in Colorado the next day (June 22), we had to tear ourselves away and head south -- back into Wyoming. As we travelled south from Newcastle, Wyo., we ran across weather that could definitely spawn tornadoes. It was an angry sky with lightning and a dark curtain of rain to the west of us, so we sped down the highway trying to get out from under the boiling black clouds. Just after we felt we were in the clear, we came to an area of road construction and had to stop for a flagger. The crew was keeping a close eye on the clouds to the north as well. They said there was a tornado watch on for the area and they were ready to pack up at a moment's notice. We were just glad to get further south and stopped for dinner in Lusk. This town had no cell phone reception and only one little motel, so CJ persuaded us to head on into the night so we could get to somewhere that at least had cell service where we would stay. He drove about an hour and a half to Wheatland, Wyo., where we found a nice Best Western and spent the night there.


Next: Family Time!!

Gillette: Energy Capital of the World?

We arrived for supper on Saturday at Rocky and Judy's house. They live in Gillette, which reminds me of an old-time "company town" because there doesn't seem to be a lot going on there that isn't related to the gas/oil/coal industry. We spent Sunday (which was Father's Day, so we had a nice brunch at a local eatery) driving around looking at open pit coal mines (they used to call them strip mines but that doesn't sound as PC and they do put everything back like they found it -- or better). I marveled at the amount of energy spent taking coal and other fuels out of the ground. We saw LOTS of pronghorn sheep, deer and other wildlife. The wind seems to always blow here, too -- which made me wonder why not put up wind generators too?

Here's a photo of Mel and me standing by a tire from one of the HUGE coal hauling trucks at the Black Thunder mine. Not many photos got taken on this leg of the trip, for some reason. I have to admit, Gillette is not what I'd call picturesque. CJ did manage to spot a good-size herd of deer and snap a few pictures.

We also saw Rocky's two horses, which are pretty nice pasture ornaments at this stage of the game. Since Rocky and Judy have to go to work in the pre-dawn hours, we chose to leave them on Sunday evening and drive to Devil's Tower. As we were leaving, a huge thunderstorm was brewing. It followed us all the way to Devil's Tower, so when we saw it that evening, there was lightening and thunder to go along with the surreal landscape. We found a gorgeous hotel to stay at not far from the tower and rested up for a busy day on Monday.

Continuing adventures

My intention is to post every day until I cover the entire trip, but I had more pressing matters (a job interview!!! yay!!) yesterday and I know I'll be away to a dog trial this weekend, so I'll have to cover more ground somehow...

Chap. 3: Big Sky and Battlefields

Our second day on the road took us through more beautiful vistas in Montana. We could see lots of snow-covered mountains around us -- the Absaroka, Bozeman and Crazy mountains, to name a few. We mused about Lewis and Clark and where they passed through this part of the country.

I had borrowed an audiobook from the library called "The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History" by a Lakota historian, told from the Native American's view. We listened to the book as we crossed much of Montana, preparing for the visit we would make to Little Bighorn Battlefield. Mel has read and studied much about the battle, Custer, and topics surrounding the historic event, but this book gave a much better appreciation for what really took place on June 25 & 26, 1876.

Actually walking and driving around the site gave us even more appreciation for how the whole thing unfolded, where soldiers and natives were, etc. I was especially glad to see that a memorial to the Native Americans involved had been built in recent years.

We spent several hours just taking in the spot, walking around, driving down to Reno-Benteen hill, taking lots of pictures. Then we headed south, past Sheridan to Gillette, Wyoming, where Mel's brother, Rocky, lives. We'd stay a day or two with them before heading on with our journey.

Vacation continues

Chap. 2: On the Road

Our journey began on Friday morning (June 18) as we drove to I-90 and pointed the van east. We drove through Ellensburg and Spokane, then left our Evergreen State behind. Idaho has beautiful scenery, as we saw Lake Couer d'Alene, plus a little bit of potato farmland in our brief drive through and then it was on to Montana. The Big Sky State is magnificent: lots of rolling ranchland. We drove past Missoula and made it to Butte that night.


Mel's not fond of Butte because it's a huge copper mining town and the stripped hillside isn't too picturesque, but we really didn't want to push on to Bozeman. We had a quick dinner and hit the bunks. (OK, they were really hotel beds.)

In the morning, during our search for coffee (we ARE from the coffee capital of the world and the free stuff at the hotel's continental breakfast just wasn't cutting it -- this would be a continuing theme during our trip) CJ saw this interesting place, where you can do just about everything but get "real" espresso (as they advertised).

Ah well, Butte does have a few espresso stands and we managed to track one down. Properly fueled, we headed for Billings and beyond.

As we left Butte, I took this picture, saying "Our favorite view of Butte: in our rear-view mirror."



Next: Walking through history

Our Vacation

Chapter 1: The Journey

Odyssey (noun): A long series of travels and adventures.

That's the perfect term for our journey from Washington to Colorado and back. There were several reasons for the trip: visit family, see parts of the country I hadn't ever seen, take a break between college and being employed again, spend time with my husband and son doing something adventurous, and probably more that I couldn't really put my finger on.

It was the perfect time. I'd just finished a fairly intense 18-month school term to earn an Associate's degree in Library & Information Services, I was looking for a new job but hadn't gotten to even the interview stage yet, and my son was on summer break. My daughter, I should point out, was also out of school, but chose to stay home and be house/pet sitter for us. THAT was a huge relief to have the dogs and home taken care of by someone I could trust.

We plotted a course that would take us through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Colorado. We have family in Gillette, Wyoming as well as all over the Northeastern quadrant of Colorado, so rough plans were made for stops to see as many of them as possible. I also wanted to see sites like Little Bighorn, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, etc. The guys had already seen most of that on a separate trip years ago.

So we packed up the trusty van (which had been transformed from dog-hauler to people-hauler) with luggage, some food, maps, and all the technogear we'd need to survive two weeks on the road (cameras, iPods, laptop, Nook books, cell phones -- you name it). We even decided to take some prezzies to the peeps we'd be staying/partying with and chose yummy stuff from Johnson Berry Farm.

Next: We hit the road.

Back at the keyboard

After two weeks of road trip vacation, I took a day yesterday to just rest up. One of the things I was inspired to do was to change the look of the blog. I like this look because one of my favorite mantras is to "be the river." Rivers flow around and through challenges, making their own channels when necessary. I do like to "go with the flow" sometimes, but rivers have power and grace, too.
Anyway, the vacation was amazing and we saw so much of the 6 states we traveled through, as well as seeing LOTS of family members along the way. I'll be writing posts and posting pictures here soon, I just have to get it all organized.

Agility brag

I have to be honest and say that my life hasn't been completely consumed with school in the past month or so, because Rosie and I did go play agility on May 15&16. We had a blast and she earned her third championship title!

In fact, we were one of 5 teams earning a C-ATCH (that stands for CPE Agility Trial CHampion, and CPE is Canine Performance Events, the national group that promotes this style of agility)

Here's a picture of all of us. To my left (on the right side of the group to you) is my agility buddy Stacie and her dog Jessie. The two people without dogs are the two judges for the weekend. One woman earned titles on her two cockers.

And because I just love my little dog and the photographer got some excellent pics of her, I have to share another one. Rosie's still going good for a dog that is nearly 9 years old. She does love agility!!

Thanks to Nina's Photography for giving me web versions of the photos to post.

Really?!?

Imagine my horror when I discovered it's been a month since I posted!
Sorry, but school, internship, and life got very hectic for a while. Now I'm down to the last few weeks of school and most of the major stuff is either done or nearly done.
My internship has been fabulous and I've learned SO much. I can't believe I only have one week left there. I've also applied for a job at TRL in Lacey, so cross your fingers.
I also was honored at Highline CC for scholastic achievement. I'm the "queen geek of the geek squad" as CJ puts it. Actually, I am the top student in the Library and Information Services Program. I've worked hard at school, so I'm proud of the honor and my 3.98 GPA.
So now I'm wondering what life will be like in two weeks when I'm done with school and ready for the next phase.
The possibilities are endless...

Something a little different

I have never posted about food (unless it was about baking bread) on my blog, but I promised my sister that I would share a fabulous recipe I made this past week. Sorry there are no photos, it looked pretty good, but I could jazz up the presentation better next time I make it. Plus it was eaten so quickly there was not really time to grab the camera.
First, giving credit where credit is due: This recipe came with a box of Reynolds Oven Roasting Bags. I use them because it not only keeps the meat so moist and juicy, but makes clean-up much easier. So props to Reynolds!
Second, I have to say that the ingredients sound a bit odd, but the result was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

Asian-Style Pork Tenderloins

1 Reynolds Oven Bag, large size
2 pork tenderloins, about 1.5 lb each
3/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup honey-roasted flavor peanut butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. each soy sauce and sesame oil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
Hot cooked rice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp. chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 350. Place bag in 13x9x2-inch or larger baking pan (at least 2 inches deep).
Place pork in oven bag. Mix salsa, peanut butter, flour, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cayenne pepper and garlic in a medium bowl. Stir until smoth; spoon over pork.
Close oven bag with the nylon tie. Cut six 1/2-inch slits in top of bag. Tuck ends of bag in pan.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.
Spoon rice onto serving platter. Place pork on top of rice. Stir sauce, spoon over pork. Sprinkle with peanuts and green onions.
Enjoy!!

Quick update

OK, it's Week 3 of my internship (and Spring quarter) and things at the library are humming right along. The hours fly by when I'm working and everyone there is so supportive and happy to teach me the tricks of the trade.
Countdown: 56 days left of school!! I am finding it harder to keep abreast of my school work while working and maintaining family life, but I just keep plugging away at it. Sort of like eating an elephant: one bite at a time.
The coolest news to relay is that I got myself a Nook from Barnes & Noble. It's an e-book reader similar to (but way better than) Amazon's Kindle. Several things stand out about the Nook: You can share books with other Nook owners, there are way more titles available for the Nook (since you can download just about any e-Pub book, not just ones from B&N) and you can download books from the LIBRARY onto your Nook. I recently borrowed and read "The Art of Racing in the Rain," by Garth Stein. Great book and a fun read.
The other news around the farm is that the chickens (who are 8 weeks old now!) are in their refurbished chicken house, complete with a fenced in run with lush grass. They are very happy. I have pictures, but no time to post them right now. Tiki also went in for spay surgery yesterday, so now we're having to "manage" her and keep her quiet for two weeks. So far, so good, but she's tired from the surgery. When she's got her strength back, it should be a lot of fun. I foresee lots of walks in our future (no running and no jumping, though - BOO).
I'm off to an agility trial with Miss Rosie this weekend and Tiki will get to tag along so I can keep my eye on her...that should be fun!
That's about it for the latest news from here.

Internship, Week One

Wow, what a fascinating week! But first, let's check the countdown to graduation . . . 68 days left! (Wishing my countdown clock gadget had worked, it would be WAY cooler - sigh)

So I worked at the library as an intern for three days this week and it was a real eye-opener. The place is busy from open to close, which is a good thing, but man it keeps the staff on their toes. It made a big difference that the local schools had half-days for teacher conferences much of the week, so a lot of the kids came to the library to hang out. I think that's a double-edged sword: good that the kids like to be at the library, but hard on the staff because some of them get rowdy and aren't really there for library-type activities. The free wi-fi is a big draw from what I saw of the laptop users.

I've been shadowing different aides and learning from them, which proved to show me three different views of what goes on in the library. Next week will be more shadowing, but as I go along I do more and more on my own. The biggest learning curve is their computer system and all the functions as far as how the books are coded in the catalog (as in their status, location, even collection codes).

I've had some patron interaction, which I was amazingly comfortable with. I wasn't nervous about answering the questions I knew the answers to or directing them to the right person to help them. And all the shelving of books I have done really has taught me where everything belongs and where to direct patrons to find it.

In all, the internship is going to be a great way for me to synthesize all I have learned about libraries in theory (putting it together into the complete picture) and gain hands-on experience. The only downside is that the dogs must miss me because they go nuts when I get home. :)

Spring quarter begins

OK, I've had a nice week off and now it's time to get back to work. First off: 73 days left in school - woot!

The most exciting part of Spring quarter will be my internship. I'm so looking forward to being able to put into practice all the "theory" and book learning (sorry, bad pun - unintentional really!) from the past year at school. I'll be able to work the circulation desk, process materials along side other staff, and work with the librarians as they develop programs, work with patrons, etc. Not only will I learn a lot, I'll be gaining real-world experience. I love the staff at this library (it's where I volunteer every week) and I'm super excited to get to work there for three months.

As much as I'm excited about school drawing to a close, I think I'll really miss it, too. I have met some really wonderful people and learned really great things. I have great memories and friendships from the experience.

Countdown continues, excitement builds

Days left in school: 81!
With Winter quarter in the past, and a week off to do what I want to (yeah, right!), I'm feeling pretty good. I don't know my exact grades, but they will all be in the A range. That puts me in a high enough GPA to graduate "with honors" in June. Call me an overachiever, but I like to excel, especially in classes like Web Devel. that are a real struggle for me. I think I managed an A in that class, but he hasn't posted all of our grades yet, and some of them were subjective so I have no idea how he'll grade me on things like "participation."
In other news, my internship for Spring quarter is all set up at Yelm Library, we sign the papers on the Oly house Monday, the chicks are growing fast (they look like gawky teenagers now with lots more feathers but still some down), and the weather is getting so nice we've begun yard renovations.
It doesn't get much more exciting than that. Today we're going to take it easy and go see "Green Zone" with Matt Damon.

Library of the Future

This was finals week for Winter quarter, whew. I've decided to share here the text of my final paper for "Computers in Libraries" class. We were to describe what we thought libraries would be like in 20 years. It wasn't a tough paper, just one we were supposed to be reflective and think about how technological change has affected libraries in the past 20 years and how it will affect them in the next 20. So this is my vision...
When I imagine what public libraries will be like in 20 years, I see them as portals for information of myriad types: research, entertainment, enlightenment, education, daily life, you name it. Service to patrons encompasses more than books, music and movies -- access to information and technology for everyone is the guiding principle for librarians.
Libraries will be purveyors of information, teaching people how to search for it, helping them navigate in a world cluttered with information at every turn. They will have become, in the words of a wise librarian, "information dieticians." But there still will be a portion of the population that was not raised with computers. No matter how ubiquitous computers have become, some people will still be adapting -- or resisting change. Librarians will need to be able to serve them.
Because many of their patrons will still be aging Boomers, there will be books and other printed materials available. Books will not die, but will co-exist with non-print versions of the same works. In a world that has become more and more transitory, people will still value the feeling of permanence printed books give. Printed material will survive, but more options will be available. E-books for download, audio books, and preloaded e-readers will be available for check-out much like play-aways are available today. The library will exist as much online as it does in a physical building. Library Web sites will increasingly give patrons access from anywhere. Libraries will have embraced the idea that online interaction will increase their power to provide information to the masses, no matter whether those patrons are around the corner or on the other side of the world. New ways of cataloging collections and encoding metadata will create interconnecting links to and from library OPACs and the World Wide Web in general. Resources will be more interactive and users will be able to add things like reviews to an item's record.
Even with this global presence, since these libraries depend on public funding, they will need to promote how they can make all this new technology and information available to their own community. Partnering with other librarians in schools and organizations, public librarians will become teachers of a sort. As technologies emerge, libraries will position themselves as leaders in teaching their communities not only how to use new tools, but ways to make advantageous use of the tools to make their lives better. They also will be champions of the cause for making access available to everyone. Gifted librarians will make emerging technology their ally in educting their communities.
By 2030, libraries will be vibrant places full of computers and other technology available for use by anyone. Gone will be the "shushers," replaced by information technology experts eager to help people learn about the latest advances. I have no idea what new technologies will come in the next 20 years, but I know that forward-thinking librarians won't resist change, but seize every technology opportunity as a way to become more useful to patrons , as a way to encourage new uses for the resources the library has access to.
But don't worry; in their continued mission of literacy education, libraries will still hold story times for babies, read-alongs and other youth-oriented activities with books. Yes, books, ones that contain brightly colored pictures and simple text, but also might incorporate sound and movement. I am sure that low-tech books will still have a place in the world. Just as vinyl records are still around long after the advent of CDs and MP3s, so books will endure and people will still read them.

Back to the Library

It has dawned on me that when I transformed this blog from a project for my Library class into my personal blog, I wrote that it would chronicle my journey as I moved from one career to another. Looking back at most of the posts, I haven't said much about school lately. There has been so much going on in life that I wanted to share!

Anyway, as I am ending the 5th quarter of my college career in the Library and Information Services program and heading into my last quarter before completing my Associate's degree, I realize I have much to share about my newfound path.

Through both the research I had to do before I got into the Worker Retraining program and the work I have done in school, I have found a passion for libraries and serving people. That's one of the big things: I didn't think I would like to work in a public service job, but I am enthusiastic about it now. I am also thrilled to be working in the public sector. I realize that it will have its challenges too, but working for a big corporation where the "bottom line" ruled most decisions and making a profit was the main goal really wore me down in the end. The newspaper business has been ruined by profit-seeking corporations. 'Nuff said there.

My biggest thrill about library school coming up is my internship. I'll be working as unpaid staff -- in the trenches, not just doing volunteer stuff -- at my local library. I could pinch myself I'm so excited! I'll still have other classes to work on in addition to working at the library 15 hours a week, but I will finally be able to put into practice so much that I have learned in the past year or so. Hopefully, it will lead to great experience that will help me get a job with the library.
I have met soooooo many wonderful people in library school and in libraries themselves, that I just know I'm going to enjoy my new career.

As a side note, I had installed a countdown clock on my blog, but it jacked my page and I had to get rid of it. So I'll just have to give the countdown myself: 94 days to graduation! Woot!
See you all soon!

Chicks growing up

Our "baby" chicks are getting bigger and growing lots of feathers. I never took pictures when they were housed in the garage in a very large cardboard box, but we recently moved them to much bigger quarters and now have some nice photos of the girls. I also shot a short video so you can see them already acting like chickens. They are fascinating to watch and get to know. Look at all those feathers!

We initially started with 15, but the first day or two whittled the flock to "lucky" 13 and that's held for two weeks. Fresh, home-grown eggs and happy farm life are our goals with this project.

So far, so good.

Enjoy!

Morning glory

I posted this for all my friends on Facebook, but I wanted to share it here too. This was such a stunning sunrise, and I was up alone, so I had to capture it to show the rest of the family what they missed :)

The shadows in the clouds created by Rainier's three peaks were fascinating!

Mel's friend

This is one of three pals who benefit from Mel's love of animals. We not only feed the birds, but make sure the squirrels have something to satisfy them, too. This particular day was just so funny to watch I couldn't help but capture it. The big feeder is full of squirrel food, which the jays love too, and the squirrel was literally hanging by his (or is it her?) toes and would reach up, get some food, then hang down to eat it.

Missing blogger...

I know, I know. I haven't posted in months. It's not that I don't want to share what's going on ... it's that I can't find the time to post. With classes, life, and now volunteering at the library here in Yelm, my plate is full. And after doing so much of my schoolwork online, spending more time on the computer to blog doesn't excite me either. Besides, the blog is for fun, it isn't a job.
I post because I want to...as I expect you read because you want to. Neither of us is required to do so and that's how it should be.
It's a free world.