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).