Weekend Report

Where to start...

The interview. I showed up a little early just to be on the safe side. I sat outside of the conference room getting a more and more nervous. Ten minutes after 3 this guy came up to me and showed me in. There were supposed to be 3 guys interviewing me, but only one showed up at first. He sat me down and talked to me for 45 minutes about the work they do. I was somewhat interested. Then, a second guy came in. The first guy left and the second guy repeated what the first guy had said almost word for word. After that experience I don't think I want the job because it sounds like a life sentence. Once I get in there and got trained I would never be able to leave or try something else. I'm just too new to engineering to limit my options and experiences like that. Plus, this morning I was talking to my friend Lenny and he made it seem like taking that job would be a really big mistake. He knew two other people who were being interviewed for the position and they are all experienced and know what they are doing. I was kind of flattered to be lumped into a group with those other people. Lenny said that there might be a job for me working with him on his program, so I'm going to feel that option out.

Friday morning we packed up and took off for Durango. The drive down was pretty exciting. We almost got Sarah to pee behind a building. That is one thing that kind of drives me nuts. People who have to pee every hour on road trips. Luckily, this time we didn't really have a deadline to get to where we were going, so it didn't really bother me. Durango is the most beautiful place yet I've seen in Colorado. Well, maybe a tie with Granby. The mountains are all around and it was so green from all the rain we've been having. Friday evening we walked around by Amy's cabin and then made hot dogs over the fire. All 5 of us tried to sleep in one bed, but in the middle of the night I gave up and moved over to the couch. I need to be able to feel like I can move in the night.

Saturday we got up, ate WAY to much breakfast, and took off on a hike. It started to hail while we were hiking and the hail was really sticky, so instead of bouncing off like normal hail, it stuck to everything and got us really wet. We almost missed the coolest waterfall because it wasn't next to the trail. On our way out we were walking at the same level as the water and about 5 minutes later we saw it about 100 ft below us. Sarah realized that there must have been a fall somewhere, so we left the trail, slid down a hill and walked up the river. We finally saw the fall in the distance and called back for everyone to follow us. Finding the waterfall made the trip worth the drive for me. It was SO cool (photos to come). Also on the way back, Sarah had to pee, so she let the group go ahead. There was a little tree bent over the path, and she decided to hurtle over it while running so she could catch up. Well, because she was focused on the obstacle in front of her, she tripped on a root and completely face planted on the path. She wasn't hurt, except for a couple of banged up knees. We made interesting life analogies about looking too far ahead and missing the important things in the present. We are nerds.

After we got back from the hike we went to Purgatory (a ski resort, not a Dante location) to see if we could ride the alpine slide. Because of bad weather, they had closed the lift, but to our surprise there was a really creepy Celtic festival going on. I love going to these weird things where normal people loose their minds, dress up in renaissance garb, and pretend they aren't the boring people that they are. There was a booth were a guy was selling real swords, and another one where you could look up your last name and see your coat of arms. I looked up my mom's maiden name and found that our family motto is: To hope for better things. I thought those were good words to live by. We went back to the cabin, and made chicken fajitas over the fire (SO GOOD). Sarah was the main chef for the meal, and while cooking one of the rocks of the fire circle flipped over and nailed her in the shin.

After dinner we went to the hot springs and relaxed in the water. The warm pool was my favorite, but I had to not think about the warm nasty water that didn't have any chlorine in it to kill all the grossness coming off the 20 other bodies in the pool. Although, since I was the one who hadn't showered that day and had hiked for the majority of it, my body was probably emanating the most grossness.

Sunday morning breakfast was my meal. I got up before everyone, started the fire and breakfast. Right when they all woke up I had it done. I would have been such a good pioneer mom. After breakfast of pancakes, sausage, hash browns, strawberries and peaches, we cleaned up the cabin. By this time I was feeling so gross and dirty it was unreal. We went to purgatory and since the weather was nice we got to ride down the alpine slide. Colin and I raced down and I schooled him. True, he was at a disadvantage because the grass we growing over his track. It whipped him in the face, causing him to loose his balance, and his shoes. We had to wait at the bottom for the next people to bring his shoes back down to him.

Then, we went out to X-rock and went climbing. It was really fun. I've done some indoor climbing, and I didn't really care much for it. This was my first time outdoors and it was GREAT! I got to do 3 climbs and from the top I could look out over the whole valley. It was just amazing. I wish I had a digital camera to take pictures of everything (hint hint). I had to use Abbey's harness and Sarah's shoes, which was a bummer. Maybe those will be my next purchases (or a good birthday present).

From X-rock we just packed it all up and drove home. I played the best prank of my life on the way home. Just after getting down from the major pass, we stopped at a little gas station. Amy went to the bathroom before me, and left the keys in the bathroom. I was just about to tell her that and give them back when the diabolical side of my brain kicked into gear. I slipped them into my pocket and said nothing. We went back to the car and Amy realized she didn’t have the keys. She started freaking out, and she and Sarah went back into the gas station to look for them. Then, Colin and I moved the car out of sight ran back to the station and told them that someone had stolen the car. The look on their faces was priceless. They really started freaking out and then Colin tossed them the keys. One of them said, "How did someone steal the car without the keys?" Then we told them that it was just behind the other building. It was great. I was completely satisfied.

Now I am back at work and my poor little body is SO tired. It's not used to this kind of physical strain.