well, here I am home again, and it is v. strange. as always, i am going from place to place with no time in between for good old NJ, which results in large pile-ups of junk with random labels like "goes to college", "goes to europe", "goes in the basement", and "not a clue what to do with THAT". Greeeeaaat. I leave for london in 6 days, and still have not begun to pack. instead, here i sit catching up with about 7 people's livejournals, and feeling guilty and deprived that I have not written many entries this summer, while holed up in the Yellowstone wilderness. Let's see if i can summarize:
After 2 mos in the world's oldest and largest national park, here is what i have:
• I hiked over 50 miles while I was there, including the Disasterous Animal-Spotting-and-Getting-Lost-In-The-Dark Hike and the 15 Miles of Hell hike with Caleb wherein we went 7.5 miles out, 3 of which was in knee deep snow, and camped over in the extreme cold before trailblazing back mostly through mud and stream, all while I was wearing my sneakers (ick my feet suffered for it). But they were both actually a lot of fun even though in retrospect I wonder if Grant Village might have killed some key brain cells. Oh, and we mustn't forget my Uncle Tom's Trail insanity, wherein I ran up 534 or so stairs in 6.25 minutes just to see if i could do it and still live to see tomorrow (I must note for you who say, 'oh that's nothing', that the stairs happened to have a 600ft elevation gain straight UP.)
• I worked in the GV restaurant serving tourists (or as fred says, tourons) until i felt that if one more person asked me "oh, is that New Jersey on your name tag where you're from, or is it your last name?" I would have to dump a brownie sundae over their heads. (for anyone who worked with me, it is known that i would almost NEVER waste one of those, but in this case I'd feel justified.)
• I saw Old Faithful go off 5 times.
• I managed to piss off at least 10 people I lived with, which didn't bother me at all, since about 25 or so pissed me off, so i figure I came out ahead.
• I managed not to kill any of the dumbasses who pissed me off (even though I came really close to breaking a pool cue over Moron Zach from Montana's head.
• I took at least 4 trips to Jackson Hole and never did see Harrison Ford, but i did get to see fireworks over the mountains there on the 4th of july.
• I also ended up (with Fred and his trusty truck) in Bozeman and Cody while feeding my civilization-cravings.
• I recieved over 12 letters and postcards, proving that yes, people outside of Grant really did love me (although my ex-bf who swore he would send me a postcard never did, for which I made him feel very guilty on my return home :)
• I managed to buy out most of the evil Xanterra stores while enjoying Employee Appreciation Week's 40% discount.
• I rode my BIKE!!
• I drank like a fish who hasn't seen water for 5 years.
• I got a Force-10 sunburn
• I ate EDR food for 2 mos and only got sick ONCE!!
• I finished my Gandalf sketch and started on Sam.
• I took a practice LSAT and cried while grading it ;) (j/k)
• I wrote lots of mediocre poetry (oh, although I was pretty happy with the one I wrote while I was tres pissed off at Someone)
• I saw a grizzly, a black bear, billions of elk, a deer, 2 moose, 2 coyotes, herds of bison, and many many birds.
• And didn't get killed by any of them!
• Although my friend Phil got chased by an elk.
• Hahahahaha.
• I made it home in one piece.

So now I am home, and day before yesterday had a nice reunion with my sisters, Matt, Justin, and the rents while we celebrated Mom's birthday. Mmm, picnics and ice cream cake. the best! and Stacy called me yesterday from Phoenix, yay! And Michelle emailed me! And i can talk to my friends from IU and home again! Whee. I guess even though I miss Grant Village I know that it was time for me to come home (esp. since i can't wait for europe).
On that note, here I go to stand in my doorway and stare at my messy room in unproductive awe. Adios!

Tags: adventures, friends, moving, nj, summer, yellowstone
Trixie feels: awake
playing in the clubhouse: Nice - This Way