On my way, but stopping in SF first

This was also written from the LA airport waiting on my flight.

After a 2+ hour delay at DFW, I finally made it to SF. Originally the plan was to hang out with Tim and Alvina for a bit right after I got to town, but due to my delay I wasn’t sure if that was going to happen. But it all worked out! After having pho for dinner, Steve and I met up for dessert with T&A and A’s cousin to have these gianormous crepes that were super yummy. Then we played games at Alvina’s house.

The next day after having bfast at google (I got connections), I made my way to the city and wandered around, eventually finding my way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Since I had been to SF several times before I had done a lot of the touristy stuff but going on the GG was one of the few things that I hadn’t done yet. It was the perfect day for it, very clear and sunny. I walked about a 1/3 of the way across and then turned back cuz I had started to get hungry and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get back to the train station to get back to my place of sleeping.

Saturday, I got to go to the Big Basin Redwood State Park for some hiking and to see redwoods!! Yay for big, old trees! Steve, Neela and I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner that night. Yay for sushi!! Neela and I ate 5 rolls between the 2 of us. You should be impressed :P

Sunday was the wedding!! It was absolutely beautiful and I had a great time.

Today, I hung out with Neela and her family and then headed to the airport a few hours ago to catch a flight to LAX and then on to Brisbane.

getting ready to go

This was written mostly from the airport waiting to board my flight to Brisbane, but I didn’t have internet then so it took awhile before it got uploaded to online.

These last few weeks in the states have been pretty hectic. I was sent by my new job up to Ithaca to retrieve a couple things. When I found out that I was going to be going, it made me super happy :D. It was great to see everyone up there again and hang out. I was lucky enough to be there for my birthday. The night before we went to Doug’s Fish Fry (I may have gained a reputation for liking fried food while I was there :P) and night of we played BANG! Neela and I were a team the last game we played and we won as the renegade!!

After leaving Ithaca, I drove up to Ottawa to meet the people we’re getting our seismic instruments from and get a little training. On the way up, I took a little detour to meet up with Jen for some rock climbing!! We had a blast!! Then it was onward to Canada. The folks up there were really nice and super helpful. I learned a lot about the instruments and the software we’ll be using. After 2 ½ days, they decided there wasn’t much more that they could teach me right then so I got a car and was left to explore Ottawa and the surrounding area on my own. I spent a day visiting a couple of the museums and the rest of downtown Ottawa and I also went to a safari-like park. The rest of my time was pretty much spent hiking in mosquito-infested forests.

After getting back to Auburn, I only had 4 days before I left to go to SF for Tim and Alvina’s wedding and right after that I was heading to Australia. That time was spent packing, hanging out with friends and family, and eating Jim Bobs (along with other food I thought would be difficult to find in Australia).

it's may already?!?!

Yes, I'm aware it's been May for awhile, but it actually sank in last night. Arrangements for me going up north for work related stuff has finally gotten mostly worked out and I'll be gone 1 1/2 weeks then and a plane ticket to Australia via SF has been booked. Counting today I only have 9, maybe 10, more days left at home... eeek!!! I should get packing now!!