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4.04.2005

Rollin' Along Like A Tumblin' Tumbleweed

(Psuedo ed. note: This is being posted a few days after I actually wrote it. I attempted to post the words below by emailing them to the blog site. . . obviously, it didn't work. At this point I'm in Buelton, CA. Camping tonight, camping tomorrow night near Monterey and then into SF on Wednesday.)

I am writing this on a laptop in Zion National Park, UT, using a
cellphone to connect to the internet. Forgive the typos and possible
lack of detailed info. I am in the middle of my training trip for
Trek and we've been hiking everyday for quite a while now. The days
are long but obviously enjoyable.

A brief recap of my life the last week+.
-LA to Lake Havasu (beautiful campground).
-Hav. to a cowboy camp outside Phoenix (good horseride).
-Thru Flagstaff to Grand Canyon (froze certain unmentionable body parts off).
-GC to Lake Powell, or the Glen Canyon Dam (stayed at a multi-function
campground-slash-activity center. . . good action).
-Powell to Monument Valley (another cowboy camp, even better
horseride, learned to rope, slept in a Hogan, etc.)
-MV to Moab, Utah (sweeeeeeeet. Humvee tour on the redrocks one night
then driving Tomcars through the rocks ourselves the next day with the
same guide,. . . still colder than a witch's tit in a winter
Minnesotan lake).
-Moab to Bryce N.P. (awesome rock formations, still cold, shoulda
packed the long johns).
-Currently. . . hiked Bryce this morning and Zion this afternoon. Not
a bad days work. Will be staying in Zion for tonight and tomorrow
night, then:
Vegas, LA, CA coast, SF, Yosemite and back to LA for the conclusion.

The training is almost like a paid vacation. Not that I'm getting
paid that much but almost everything is paid for. (We did put in $50
a week for food.) All the horserides and other motorized activities
have been fully funded and we've gotten free meals almost everywhere
we go. All the adventure companies take care of us with the hopes
that we will bring big business their way (part of my job is to sort
of sell the activities. . . I get a commission as well).

I'm travelling with 8 other people. Two guys are the trainers and
there are seven of us trainees. Four dudes and three chicas.
Everyone is predictably capable and fun to be around. . . all type-A
personalities who are looking to work hard.

I had a million other things to share but it's 10:30 and we're
starting off tomorrow with a 5-hour hike followed by training on
paperwork for the accounting we have to do during our treks. I hope
everyone who reads this is doing well. It's starting to hit me that
I'm not going back to work for the shipyard anytime soon. For the
first week I think that I was fully expecting this working 'vacation'
to end the next weekend and then I'd be right back to the grind.

Well, I don't mind writing that I definitely made the right decision
on this one and this summer will be incredibly interesting. Don't be
afraid to give a phone call, especially in the evenings and on the
weekends. Obviously I won't always answer but I check my messages
every couple of days and have found some time to call people.

Don't know what else to say. Cheers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Beavis,tumbleweeds originated from Russia...fyi.
matt