Snow in May?

Happy Memorial Day! I'm here again in the dorm killing time before I have to be at work at 4. Tonight will be the first night I do the night audit by myself, so hopefully it will go smoothly and I can be out by 11 or 12. It has rained here for the past week I believe, and turned into snow for a few days up here on the mountain. I worked Wednesday and Thursday and was lucky to get Friday, Saturday, Sunday off for a nice weekend. Friday I went hiking up the Kautz Creek Trail, a very pretty, and sometimes steep climb up through the forest. Once you get up to a certain elevation, the snow pretty much covers any trail so at about 2 miles up we stopped, ate lunch, and headed back down, drenched, but satisfied. That night we gathered everybody and some firewood from the Inn and built a fire just outside the park. It was alot of fun and nice to get everyone together around a fire to roast marshmallows and hang out. On Saturday, the new roommate Darcy and I slept in, hung out, and put up some posters she brought on our barren walls. We then decided to have a "spa day" and did face masks and painted our nails. She's a very sweet girl from Chicago with alot of "products" and says she will miss the city but thinks the new rustic life will be good for her. I agree but think my nails look lovely. After dinner time, my neighbor Chad (5'4" Italian from Idaho) got the grand idea to go outside and build a snowman. We gathered about 6 of us in our snow gear and proceeded outside. The snow was perfect for snowballs and diving down the steep hills on our butts. Things got crazy and kids got whitewashed, but the snowman turned out to be a fine snow sculpture that we were quite proud of. After we came inside and got warm we chilled out in front of my laptop and watched Spaceballs in our pjs. Sunday- Darcy, Chad, Sergi (18 year old from Ukraine) and I drove to the nearest city (ha) of Puyullap, about an hour and a half away. There we went to Target and the mall to gets rugs to decorate mine and Darcy's room. Chad bought new shoes, we ate at Applebee's and headed back to the mountain. After dinner we played about a billion games of Ping pong, where I started out a little slow but managed to beat most of the boys by the time I was fully warmed up to claim bragging rights for the next couple days. The rain continues to slightly drip here but I don't mind. It hasn't seemed to stop us yet. Every morning I peak my head out the window from my top bunk waiting for the morning that the sun is shining out on blue skies. But, no matter what the weather, the view is never a disappointment.


Next week could hold a trip to Seattle, where I will hopefully find an internet connection and be able to upload photos.... this computer is just too slow.(i'm spoiled) Sorry!

Week 1

So its been awhile and I appoligize to the avid readers for the delay in postings. I finally got internet access in the dorms I am living in and sorted through the bulks of emails to get a few minutes to update. Hi! I'm here! Actually I've been at Mt. Rainier for over a week now and am getting comfortable in my little dorm room up on the mountain. The first few days here were beautiful and I wandered and hiked and got a feel for the area inside the park. At first, I was living in Ashford, outside of the park but moved up to the dorms to live amongst the other employees my age after a few days. This move has been a good one and I have met a bunch of new kids that I can hang out with. Theres a tv and computer on the second floor and pool and foosball tables on the first. Last night we broke out a 1000 piece puzzle to entertain for the next few days or so. Everyone seems to gather together after work and dinner, to hang out, watch tv, or play games. Its very comfortable and everyone is very nice and open.

Work is going well too. I am working the front desk at National park inn about a 20 minute drive down the mountain from the dorm. I will be working the 3-close shift mostly and doing the night audit twice a week. It's been a little slow but is expected to get busy during the summer. So far, its a pretty straight forward job and extremely pleasant. I enjoy talking to the visitors who stay in the hotel. They are usually very relaxed and chatty. The job keeps me busy but makes the time go by fast, which is always good. I had my first 2 days off the last couple days and tried to make the best of it even with the rain and cold we have been having. On Monday, a friend and I hiked up the Wonderland trail a couple miles to Carter and Madcap falls. There we ate lunch and ended up walking the river bed back. This included crossing the river a couple times by walking on boulders and shimmying across a fallen tree on our butts in order to catch the trail back up on the other side. It was quite an adventure and alot of fun.

Anyways, that sums things up. I am looking forward to the snow melting (yes snow) and the blooming of the wildflowers soon. We are also planning group trips to Seattle, Portland, and Tacoma in the future, in which I hope to partake. Hope all is going well with my friends and family and keep in touch! Much love, Annie

Happy Mother's Day! Its fitting that my last day with the family is spent in celebration of moms, considering my mom just drove me 2500 miles across the country. That just goes to show what an awesome mother my mom really is, not to mention my best friend. I will be sad to drop her off at the airport tomorrow.

The past few days have flown by. Its been really great getting to hang out with all my wonderful supporting family. Claudi took us shopping for work clothes and shoes, and into downtown Seattle on the bus. We enjoyed large Margaritas at home and beers and burgers on The Slip's Patio. I enjoyed harassing her with my new camera. (!!!!) Yesterday we hopped on the ferry to visit Uncle Jim and Kathyrn on Widbey Island . They have a beautiful view of the water and a lovely beach just down the hill from their house. We walked, played with Smokey the dog, and took more pictures. Later we had fish&chips and rootbeer at Toby's in a cute port town on the island, and Claudi treated us to icecream. I believe I've eaten more icecream in the past 3 days than an entire year in Michigan.

The past few nights Mom and I have been sleeping in bunk beds in my cousin Elyse's room. We had a delicious Salmon dinner last night and Elyse, Lauren, and I enjoyed a nice little pow-wow on their trampoline as well as a quick trip to the mall in Lauren's new Subaru!

Today will be nice and relaxing, and I couldn't ask for a better few days before I head to the mountain. As usual, my family is incredible.

PS. As soon as I get time, I'll start a new "Pictures Page" and put a link to it here. That way you can view the bulk of photos I've been taking a bit easier. Until then, I send my love and thoughts to everyone who has supported me throughout anything and everything. It has made me the person I am today and has given me the strength to always follow my heart. I don't think I can express how thankful I am for all of you...

whoo!

Seattle!

Travel Journal

Greetings from Spokane, Washington! Mom and I are currently residing here for the evening after our 3rd day of travel. It has been a fairly easy, yet exciting trip so far but will be coming to a close after a short 4 hour drive to my birthplace, Kirkland, tomorrow morning.

Day 1: Troy->Souix Falls, South Dakota
Mom and I packed until late Sunday night, but still managed to leave the house by 5 am Monday. By 8 we were right outside of Chicago conveniently stuck in traffic. I chose this point to take a little nap and we were out of it in no time! The next big spot was crossing the Mississippi River....in the pouring rain. Yet, we still managed to drag ourselves out and take a couple pictures. Onward for more driving through farms, and cows, and horses, and more farms and more cows....until we reached Sioux Falls. There we had a lovely Italian dinner with wine, a lovely dip in the swimming pool and hot tub, and settled in to fall asleep 45 minutes into Close Encounters of the Third Kind. How fitting.


Day 2: Sioux Falls -> Gillette Wyoming
Up by 7, breakfast, and out by 8. More exciting driving....until we reached BadLands National Park. Again, the weather was not in our favor, and we were not dressed for the occasion, but we managed to scramble out into the cold wind and rain.
(Don't mind our non-changing of outfits or hygiene, by now this should not surprise many) Although it was a bit grey out, the crevices and hills were pretty amazing and beautiful and we managed to find ourselves some deer and prairie dogs to keep us company. From the Badlands, we headed Northwest towards Devil's Tower. The visitor center closed at 4:30 and we entered the gates about 4:15. This made mom feel the need to pull a Richard Dreyfuss-like race to the top, I felt the need to put on my seatbelt. But we made it! Just in time to get some postcards and step out into the wonderful...... HAIL! But again this mother/daughter duo in shorts and sandals could NOT be stopped as we trekked around the tower trail encircling the magnificent structure. Lucky for us, the hail stopped about half way around,cleared up, and we were able to capture a couple nice photos with the better lighting. We made friends with a turkey that squawked (perhaps louder than I??) and headed to Gillette. There we fell asleep after the next 45 minutes of Close Encounters...



Day 3: Gillette-> Spokane
Another glorious day of driving! We finally got out of the farmlands and rain, and into Montana and blue skies which was perfect for driving through the winding mountainous roads. We still had cows to look at and the intriguing pronghorns as well as a bald eagle perched on the top of a tree. We had lunch at delicious McDonald's, perhaps the only restaurant we found in Montana, and headed through Idaho and into the wonderful Evergreen State!

Tomorrow, we will be meeting Claudi and running errands. Perhaps buying a new camera with graduation money!? Until next time I leave you with my friend, the cow.

I was upset with the snow so I "booed" and he "mooed"

This past weekend Mom and I took a pre-road trip road trip in the opposing direction towards Maryland. It was a quick visit, less than 24 hours, but we got to see Grandma, Matt, Debbie, and Nick. It was really great to see everyone and catch up. It's funny to sit around and talk about how we all have grown up so fast. To think that just the other day we were being served mac&cheese around the kitchen table at the beach. Matt and I even talked about how someday it will be our kids we we will be catering to and Margaret that we will be carting around in a wheelchair! Ha!

Anyways,

With 6 days until departure Mom and I have our road trip planned out. We will be leaving my parents house bright and early, 5am Monday morning (the 8th).

Monday: Troy -> Sioux Falls, South Dakota 867 miles

Tuesday: Sioux Falls -> Gillette, Wyoming 535 miles
Through Badlands National Park and visit to Devil's Tower

Wednesday: Gillette -> Spokane, Washington 775 miles

Thurday: Spokane -> Seattle! 275 miles

Thursday through Sunday I'll be hanging out with the family. Monday morning (the 15th) I'll drop Mom off at the airport before my 2 hour drive to the new home/workplace. Exciting! I can't believe how fast the time has gone and will continue to go. Soon enough it will be October and I'll be discussing new plans, whatever they may be. Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo and a glorious Mother's day next week. And I hope my friends are getting through finals alright and are at least studying more than I am .... haha.