Halloo!

Forgive me. It doesn't take long for me to become very lax in blog updating. Probably because I can only use the Internet once a week, and often I'd rather be spending that free time doing something else. You know, since I'm in a whole new world and there are things to see and trails to hike and explorations to be had. Especially since Shawn is finally here! That's right, the long saga is finally at an end. His cross-country expedition went off without a hitch, and now he's in one awesome apartment in Phoenix (which is actually where I am writing this from). So now my days off will be filled up with wonderful adventures instead of sleeping til noon and then wandering aimlessly about Globe. So much to do and see and smell and eat! We've already hit up In-N-Out Burger and Alice Cooper's Cooper'stown, seen The Watchmen, and made plans to see a "Cactus League" spring training baseball game. Not to mention that someday we will have to get furniture for this apartment...

On the workfront, last weekend was the park's annual open house. This is the only weekend all year that they open the trail to the Upper Cliffs and let the public walk up on their own, without a reservation. Of course, they still have to have employees posted about the park to keep an eye on everyone, so on Saturday I got to spend the entire day sitting at the Upper Cliffs. It started off crazy, but the crowd tapered off as the day went on. I did have to reacquaint myself to working with Jan. She'd been on sick leave for several days (due to allergies they say). Sunday was thankfully much slower; I got to spend a few quick hours up at the Lower Cliffs and then mosey on down to the entrance kiosk to take people's money. I have to say, that the kiosk was pretty sweet. All I had to do was wait for a car to pull up, answer a couple of basic questions, take their fee, and then wave them onward to someone else. The rest of the time I put my feet up and solved some Sudoku puzzles. You get a cd player in there and it could be a pretty sweet gig. Too bad they don't actually use the kiosk the rest of the year. Also, next Monday I will finally be giving my first official tour to the Upper Cliffs. I guess I had better get back to studying so I can say something besides "uhh" or "I don't really know."

The snake count is up to five - four western diamondback rattlers and one gopher snake. One time I also saw a raven grabbing a snake off the road. I think it was some kind of omen. For what, I haven't yet discovered.

And now, my patience for blogging has reached its limit. I'll get back to you again someday. Happy Spring!