My new home, my new blog

(I had to start a new blog since our government computers won't let me on onlinejournal or facebook.)

Hello, everyone. For many of you, I've dropped off the radar for the last few months. But don't worry too much, because I am still alive. I have been busy with life and lacking in reliable internet connections.

Anyway, here's the shortest version I could think up in order to fill everyone in on the craziness of my life:

I worked in Denali National Park all last summer from May through September.

I met a girl named Emily Mendell while I was working up there, and I was able to annoy her enough until she eventually became my girlfriend.

After the season, she moved back to Bellingham, WA, and took an internship at Padilla Bay National Estaurine Research Reserve. (Bellingham is located about 1 hour north of Seattle.) I went back home for a month, had lots of visits, and then moved out to Bellingham to live with Emily.

From October until April, Emily and I lived together in Bellingham. She worked at Padilla Bay, and I worked for a dog kennel in order to pay the bills.

June arrived, and I took a job as a Park Ranger in Olympic National Park. I am stationed in Mora, WA, and I do pretty much the same thing as I did in Denali - leading guided hikes, campground programs, etc. Emily is still working at Padilla Bay, but she has also started a graduate program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. She'll be done in a year and a half, and she'll have her masters in Environmental Ed. and Nonprofit Management. I work here in Olympic until September 31st. After that, I'll probably work a couple months, and then I'm most likely going to start a Masters in Teaching program at Western Washington University in January. I figure it's time to get a real job. So, my compromise is to be a teacher during the school year, and a Park Ranger during the summer time.

Anyhoo, that's pretty much my story as of this point.

I figured I'd share some pictures from Olympic since that's what most people want to see.

June 8th. While hiking along the coast we found a dead humpback whale. It's kinda sad since there aren't too many humpbacks in this area.

You can see the baleen pretty well here.

A nice panoramic view of Rialto Beach. This beach is where I lead beach walks and tidepool talks. It's about 2 miles from my house.

This is from the "Hall of Mosses Trail" in the Hoh Rainforest. See, it has moss on it.

Big, big, big Western Red Cedars in the Hoh Rainforest.

This funny little guy is called a Mountain Beaver. The name is misleading since they are not beavers and they don't necessarily prefer the mountains. They are actually more like gophers in that they burrow underground. For all you science types, they're really interesting because they're in a family all by themselves - pretty unique.

Here's a nice video of the Mountain Beaver running around and collecting foliage.

Here's a nice panoramic view of Second Beach. I lead coastal forest walks on the trail that goes down to Second Beach.

Here's a nice video of Second Beach. It does the beach a little more justice than the panoramic picture.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the update. I wish everyone the best. If you're ever headed to the Pacific Northwest/greater Seattle area, give me a shout. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this thing about once a month.