Nothing New

Whatever I write today I really can't exaggerate. The past 4 days have been pretty uneventful. I'm going damn near broke but the season is definitely picking up so hopefully that will change within a week or two. Nevada's been burning up, Utah is picking up, and Idaho's slowly starting to get bigger fires. I've been looking for more temporary jobs but every place I've been to that I've wanted to work at was "not hiring at the time." Coming from D.C. part of me thinks that's a load of shit but whatever. The one other place I've managed to luck out somewhat was a "Gentleman's Club" called the Torch where I'd be working as a bouncer. I'm on an "on-call" basis as of now but hopefully I'll be able to get some work next week. I applied to Oregon State University to try to get into their online Natural Resources program. I'm going to try for their B.S. in Natural Resources but I still really don't know what I should study. I don't know. It will all come to me I guess.

Table Rock

Today I woke up rather early for no reason what so ever...which I really enjoy by the way. I drove around, came back, drove around again and then I made the decision to head up to Table Rock to do some bouldering. For those of you not familiar with the area, Table rock is a small plateau about 3 or 4 miles northeast of Downtown Boise. Compared to the rest of the foot hills behind it, when you're a good distance away from it, it looks pretty small. Also northeast of downtown Boise is the old Idaho State Penetentiary which also serves as a trail head for one of the trails leading to Table Rock. Now, I timed it the last time I hiked it and from the parking lot to Table Rock is roughly a 40 to 45 minute walk and a good 12-1300 ft elevation gain. A moderate slope that will give you a good workout...especially when you're carrying a load as I found out the first time when I hit the trail with my fireline pack. The top offers amazing views of Boise as well as the rest of the Great Basin. It still amazes me to see mountains that still have snow on them at this time of year. Anyways, while I was up there I spotted two active fires: one in the city of Boise it self, the other way off in the horizon. I also saw the remnants of a fire that started last week pretty close to where I was at. Needless to say the season has definitely started....now all we need is to get called to a fire.

Another Boise Day

I hate waking up later than I plan the night before. I wanted to get up at like 6 or so but instead, I woke up at like 1130. Booo. As usual, I checked my email the second I woke up only to find an email from Raytheon. I don't know if I've said it or not but I have to go to Salt Lake City in July for 10 days for some ARFF (Airport Rescue and Firefighting) training before I head down to the ICE. The email pretty much stated that my plane ticket and lodging had already been arranged and I just had to confirm it which was a relief because even after yesterday's exciting news the fact that I got a job in Antarctica was still pretty unbelievable to me, haha. After a few phone calls and breakfast, I went out to lunch with a few guys from my fire crew for about an hour or so. Came back, wasted about a few hours, then decided to head off to the Boise River to do some fishing with hopes of returning on time to go play mini-golf with my roommates: a leisurely evening. After about an hour of casting into a fish-less abyss, I decided to return to my car to get my kayak out so I could paddle over to an island so I could fish in the eddy it created. Well, when I put my fishing vest in my boat, I forgot I left my phone in the vest which was floating in a few inches of water for over half an hour (I wasn't wearing my spray-skirt). So by the time I got back to my car, my phone had water in every crack and crevice possible. Trust me people when I say that if you use your cell phone as much as I do, you definitely come to terms with how much you take having a cell phone for granted when you don't have it for an evening. So to sum up the evening, no cell, no mini-golf, no going to the local "PG-13 strip club" to try to get a job as a bouncer. Damn if I don't feel naked without it. On a more somber note, a girl I met here in Boise whom I befriended sorta cut ties with me because of how she felt about me and knowing that I'd never be able to pursue a healthy relationship (or at least for several years). I feel sorta bad because I normally communicate well with other girls and I should've talked to her about this earlier. I'm not going to go too in depth about it because I really don't like putting other people's personal business or feelings out in the street but it still put a downer on the night...

Antarctica and the past few days...

Wow, I really don't even know where to begin. I'll probably start off with the best news: yesterday I got a phone call from one of the guys from the Human Resources side of Raytheon Polar Services and was given a job offer with them as a structural firefighter for their "Summer-Over" season which (for me at least) runs from October 6th till February 28th. Damn if I couldn't explain to you how excited I was. I honestly almost drove off the road when I got the news. So with that being said, the next steps I have to take are a drug test, medical examination, dental examination, and some Airport Rescue and Firefighting training in SLC, Utah. After all that and after I get home, I leave Dulles in October for Christchurch, NZ...and then from there to the ice. All in all between fighting fire here and just traveling to Antarctica...let alone working down there, this year is going to be very exciting.

Monday, I received my fly fishing stuff finally. Now, I've fly fished before and I truly enjoy it. But when I got my gear on Monday...for the first time out here, out of nowhere was this new found infinity for fly-fishing. I went out to the Boise River on Monday (which is pretty awesome considering it runs straight through the city and its relatively clean) and decided to fish in a pretty small spot by a bridge over the river and a bike trail. Now, there's a brewery and pub right next to the bike trail and river (about 20 feet or so) so I just parked my car there and got ready to fish in the parking lot. I fished the spot for about 45 minutes....nothing. I finally gave up 5 inches of tippett and 3 flies later and decided to move further downstream on the river. As I was packing up, a random guy walked up and asked me about my fishing gear. Well, I come to find out that this "guy" I'm talking to use to work as a fly-fishing guide in Seven Springs, PA and managed to know every fishing spot in the entire city. He pointed me out to the best spot the city had to offer which is on the outskirts of the city on the other side of a hill from ID-21. On top of that, he gave me two flies (one of which I lost in said river), and wished me luck as well as hoped that I would come back to that spot so he could buy me a beer. So 10 minutes later I arrived at the spot he pointed me to, and managed to catch at least 2 decent sized trout in an hour's worth of fishing. Not bad at all. What's interesting about this week is in the course of two days, I've managed to meet 3 people out of chance that happen to be hardcore fly fishers...2 of them being pretty attractive girls. It's things like that that make me want to live in this area even more. Today, finally, after a 2 year epic battle, I received my CDL. Haha, its stupid I know but dammit, my week is going so well!

Season's getting closer....

Now this is what I'd like to see more often...

A Good End to the Night

I know I'm weird. I've excepted that. But something about filling up at a gas station at a near-deserted 4-way intersection with nothing but farmland and stars beyond you in the middle of the night is relaxing to me. This is what I look for. This is what I live for: moments like this as I travel about, as I go about my life. Moments where I can enjoy and live in them. Where I don't have to worry about what needs to be done or how much much money I have or what friends do I or do I not have? No, its moments like tonight where I can listen to the hum of flourescent lights. Where I can listen to the soft sound of a light breeze slipping through hay and trees. Where I can look up into an infinite abyss glittered with more stars than I could ever imagine to count. Its moments like tonight where I feel truly alive.

Tonights little moment helped some but I'm still feeling that bought of depression I had started to feel yesterday or the day before. I don't know what it is. Hopefully, its temporary. Hopefully it will go away whenever we get our first fire. I've scored Jason and Myself jobs as bouncers at a few clubs in Downtown Boise. To be honest, I'm not looking forward to it but its a paycheck so I can't complain...

Worries

Normally I don't feel this way but today I had (having) a bought of depression. I really don't know why. Maybe its because of the way I been eating. I have been eating like shit for the past week, mind you. I don't know. Maybe its something else. I received an email today from Raytheon Polar Services that had a link which took me to a more detailed employment application they wanted me to fill out. I always hate filling out applications like that. For one, I'm only 22 and I worked pretty much meaningless jobs up until the last year or so while I went to school. I've always been worried that employers are going to be turned off from that. A couple jobs that I've been fired from , I got fired for bullshit reasons (one employer never even let me know why I got fired, the other fired me because I had to leave town for a family emergency at the last minute). Luckily both of those were before I turned 19 but I still have been pretty paranoid about them. I've told a lot of you that I don't think I'm going to get the job in Antarctica (tentative offer or not) just because that's the way I think and it keeps me from getting my hopes up. After all, when its all said and done, what's going to make them choose me over a bunch of people who are probably far more qualified than I ever will be?

Anyways, my friend Jason dragged me out to play a version of beer pong called Battleship Pong: think of the game battleship...played on a specially designed beer pong table. I had a blast. The best part of it all was the first team we played consisted of some random guy we didn't know, and the manager and owner of the bar and 3 others on the street. We started talking and I asked him if he was hiring any bouncers or security guys for his bars (considering we haven't been on any fires yet and we're starting to need money to live off). To make a long story short, he told us how much he liked us and he scheduled us to have an interview tomorrow night with of his other managers. Thank god I have a decent job lined up now. At least this job, I truly do not have to put up with anyone's shit. Tomorrow I also take my CDL road test for my Class B license. I don't know why, but that will be an accomplishment for me as well. I've been trying to get it for over a year now but I've been slacking ass trying to get a road test scheduled. Hopefully when I come back to VA it will transfer right over without any fuss.

Hopefully, the night will go better once I go out with Jason and the rest of my crew again. Till then, I don't know.

3 nights of fun.

I'm not going to lie. The past 3 nights have been a drunken blur. Wednesday night, piss drunk. Thursday night, not too drunk but drunk enough. Friday...wow. I can't even begin to tell you how incomprehensibly fucked up I was last night. One of the guys on my crew whom I befriended, Jason, ended up playing pool with this incredibly sketchy (and incredibly crazy) drunk. At one point in time, I was at the bar drinking a Beam and Coke when I looked over...and Jason is in a choke hold administered by Tucker...crazy, sketchy, incredibly drunk Tucker. Needless to say, the glass from which I was drinking was about 10 seconds away from being broken into a device to persuade our good friend Tucker to release innocent Jason from his grip of death. I quickly realized that Tucker was just showing Jason different choke holds and "18 ways to kill a man". Without questioning the insanity of it all (random white dude choking people in a bar) I returned to my drink at hand. Well, the rest of the guys on our crew that were out (Dennis and Jed) and I went to a bar a block down the street leaving Jason to play pool with his newly found friend, Tucker. Another Jim Beam and Coke and 45 minutes later, we started pondering whether or not Jason was still alive, let alone playing pool back where we left him. What did I do? I volunteered to go check on him. So here I am, stumbling down the street in downtown Nampa, ID wondering which bar we left him. After a brief process of elimination (there was only one other bar on the side of the block we left) I made my way up the 30 some steps to the entrance of the bar. These assholes are still on the same game of pool that they were when we left! Haha, when Jason saw me when I came in, he gave me a look that just screamed "Help!" Now, this entire time, I've yet to talk to or even hear anything that Tucker has talked about so I know nothing about this cat. When I walked up to Jason, and incredibly inebriated Tucker introduces himself to me and as I to him. Well, we started talking and it turned out that he was a Navy S.E.A.L. that was stationed in Norfolk for 8 years. A fellow Virginian! Needless to say, I've made a new friend. Now do keep in mind that I'm plenty drunk myself. Well after about 15 or 20 minutes of talking Tucker buys me a shot called the Dirty Sanchez. I know what you're thinking and I probably should have never agreed to drink something with a name like "The Dirty Sanchez" but hey, that'd be rude of me. I did forget to mention however that for about 5 minutes or so before he bought me the shot I was talking to a rather beautiful woman at the bar. I really don't remember her name or what we were talking about but I just remember talking to her. Anyways, the shot comes and damn if it didn't go down smooth (I'm assuming its smooth. At this point, I can't see straight nor think logically).

Comment: As I tell you this tale, I can't help but wish I had started writing in this blog before the time that John Wall procured a bottle of Absynth from which I drank 4 shots. I'm not going to tell the entire story behind that night but it was confirmed by 3 different people that I had a full-on 2-way conversation with one of the resident cats in my friend Julie's apartment. Anyways, the moral of that story which I learned the hard way the next morning was be weary of anything that goes down "smooth" after you're already drunk.

Now, thinking back to the Absynth incident, flags start going up after I drank this smooth and somewhat delicious shot so naturally, curiosity ensues and I ask my newly found friend Tucker what makes up a Dirty Sanchez. I don't remember the exact words but I did hear:

1)Everclear
2)Wild Turkey 101
3)Jose Cuervo

Haha, when I thought about that particular moment in time this morning, I could only imagine the scene in the movie Friday when Craig is given a "blunt" thinking its marijuana when in fact it was PCP. However, I don't do drugs and that was probably a bad and somewhat inappropriate analogy so I'll get back to the story. Another 20 or 30 minutes go by and I'm off and on talking to the ravishing girl I had been on my right and a still heavily intoxicated Tucker on my left. At this point in time (and my own intoxication) time has no relevance or meaning to me as I lost track of it like an hour before. With that being said, Dennis and Jed walk in and drag us out. Whoops, I forgot I had left them well over an hour before to "check on Jason". I woke up this morning in one of our other crew mate's, Sherri, bed. No Sherri was not in it beside me. Luckily, she was out of town. Needless to say, a few lessons were learned last night primarily, be weary of any drink with the words "Dirty" and "Sanchez" in them as well as any drink that goes down rather smooth when you're drunk.

Today is a beautiful day. I don't know what we're going to do but we had wanted to do something today...possibly rafting or tubing. Who knows. All I know its another beautiful day where I'm alive to experience everything the good Lord has provided us. I'm going to take a shower and head on out. Be safe all of you....even you Tucker.

What a day. Woke up around 9, took a shower, ate breakfast, etc after which I decided to head out and do some errands. While I was out getting my passport photos taken, I received a call from the guy I talked about from Raytheon for my interview. Now, I'm not going to lie I was a little nervous doing an interview over the phone I like to being able to see the reactions of the person asking the questions. All in all, I think it went pretty well considering he was talking to me on a more personal level since we had spoken before...on myspace of all places. Even with the tentative offer of employment he gave me a lot of things he asked me made me feel good about the interview:

1) He asked me if I had a passport...when I told him I didn't have one yet he asked me:

2) How soon would I be applying for one

3) If I'd be available to leave in early October to be gone until February

4) If I'd be able to attend an ARFF (Airport Rescue & Firefighting) course from either the 8th to 18th or 18th to 28th of July

Hopefully, all goes well and I get the position. As usual I have mixed doubts as to whether or not I'll get it.

I may have found another job to work at in downtown Boise so I should get cracking on a resume for it. Other than that, not much else has happened to day.

What a day

An ok beginning to a week if I must say so. I woke up (technically was woken up by a crew mate's text message) around 0730 to head to the DMV so I could obtain my Idaho driver's license and CDL. After my experience with a Virginia DMV in May I was really dreading spending a couple hours and $60+ at the DMV today but surprisingly it wasn't too bad. Even though I failed my passenger bus, school bus, and motorcycle endorsement exams and I have to go back Thursday to take them again, It really wasn't too bad. The one thing I'm really surprised at is the fact that my employer scheduled me to get my CDL road test out of the way today and he managed to land a test time next week (For those of you that don't understand the significance of that to me, I know I vented to a few people of how I tried to schedule a road test in Virginia in April and the earliest test date I could get was July 15th). Anyways, 2 hours later I said good bye to my Virginia License and CDL Learner's and said hello to my ugly Idaho License and CDL Learner's. I came home and, typically, took a nap. I woke up to take care of some online errands only to get a call from this guy I met through Myspace that works for Raytheon Polar Services as, you guessed it, a firefighter. Apparently he just started out working with the hiring process and he wanted to schedule me for a phone interview tomorrow. Needless to say, I felt like a little school girl I was so excited when I got off the phone. At least I know that that ball is somewhat rolling.

Now, before I go into the rant I've been pondering for the past hour or so, I'm going to break down my thought process to better facilitate your understanding my rambling about the issue I started reading about a little while ago. At this point in my life, more than in the years before post-graduation (high school), I really want to experience new things. I love this country. Don't get me wrong. I'd like to say I'm pretty patriotic. But there's more on this planet than good ole U.S. of A. I've always thought of wildland firefighting in the summer and working in Antarctica in the winter as a gateway of meeting new people and traveling away from the states while working jobs that a) I like and b) will allow me to experience new things. In this time in our lives where our Government appears to be plagued with corruption I've been toying with the idea of living in another country for a few years (Iceland after research of a failed trip to Reykjavik with John Wall). It's sad when its hard for a country's citizens to trust the politicians it elects.

Now with that being said, let the ranting begin: For those of you that don't follow up on your current events, Congressional Representative William Jefferson (Note: when describing politicians, you will never see me use the system of identifying a politician's party and representative state [in William's case D-La]. I'm against political parties as they can sometimes stray from the true needs of the people and the land whom they govern)has been indicted with over 16 counts of different charges from bribery to money laundering to racketeering. I'm really not going to go in depth into this issue because you can read the article yourself but I will say this that asides from the overall atrociousness of what he did, 2 things really bothered me about this issue:

1) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is quoted as saying, "If these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power [...] Democrats are committed to upholding a high ethical standard and eliminating corruption and unethical behavior from the Congress." This is one of the main reasons I hate the concept of political parties. The fact that Pelosi identifies that Democrats are the sole providers of moral fiber in our Government is sickening. A government exists for the good of its people. Everyone in it should hold the people's interest in their highest regard...regardless of an affiliation to a "party" who thinks they're better than anyone that doesn't carry their name.

2) The man (a recumbent) was voted into office...again! While being investigated for the charges he's now being indicted for! I don't know why nor can I possibly speculate why he got voted back in but that bothered me as well. What the hell were the people of Louisiana thinking?

It almost seems that every other week, another politician is either resinging over something or is being indicted over something. I don't know. The one last thing I'm going to bitch about is the fact that our society treats politicians, high-level execs, and stars in society better than average citizens. The fact that an ugly hotel heiress who's coveted more by the media than most movie stars guilty of probation violation gets to "check in" to jail only after conveniently attending the MTV Movie Awards is appalling too. Are we really saying that if you have status in society you can go to jail when its convenient for you after committing a crime rather than being taken to jail when you're suppose to go? Haha, whatever. The day is to great to get upset over all the bullshit floating around these days...

Early Fire Season

As I leisurely ate dinner this evening I received a text message from a friend asking me if I was on the fire that was burning at the time. Not having been informed of this fire, I was pretty worried that my crew had been called but I either missed the call or no one got a hold of me. Naturally I called my employer to see what the deal was. Thankfully, he had never called me and our crew wasn't dispatched for the fire. I checked the news and it turned out to be a substantial fire instead of the "small grass fire" one of the guys on my crew said it to be. Obviously, the season has begun and it's time for everyone to get their asses in gear...

KTVB News Coverage of the Fire

Adventures in Walmart

Shortly after my Amateur Radio license test, I decided to go to Walmart to do some much needed shopping. If there's one thing I've learned after living in Winchester for 6 months and working in Fauquier County for a year its knowing that Walmart will always be a source of entertainment no matter what time of the day or year it is. No more than 20 minutes after walking through the door, I got to witness a fight (a domestic dispute if you will) between a man and his wife. When I say fight, I mean just that: profanity and fists flying left and right. Sad, I know....albeit funny. After watching that for about 30 seconds I continued shopping. I made it to the check-out line only to watch yet another verbal altercation take place....this time it was between an irate mother and this poor unsuspecting soul behind the customer service desk. She was complaining that she bought a movie thinking that it was a kids movie when in fact it was a "farce" of that movie....an incredibly raucous farce directed by Bob Saget and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson...needless to say you can already tell this wasn't a movie made for kids. And let me tell you this folks that this woman was highly offended by the content of the movie. Naturally, I had to find this movie and investigate. After reading the cover, I had to buy the movie. If one thing's for sure, I've never laughed my ass off soo hard at a movie before. I should worn you, however, that this movie can elicit one of three opinions: one of sheer stupidity, one of sheer hilarity, or one of sheer offense. Needless to say, I highly recommend you at least rent this movie.

The Dork In Me

Well, the dork in me has been glued to weather.gov checking the fire weather forecasts the past 3 days for the next 10 and let me tell you my friends that its getting better and better every day (for me/us at least). R.H. is going down, temperature is going up, Haines Index is going up, LAL is getting worse, oh its looking like its going to be fun this summer. Anyways, I woke up this morning from my friends house to come back to mine only to take a shower, and head out again to take my amateur radio license test. My test taking approach is simple. Study till I get it (unless I took a class then I'll just pay attention and do the assignd homework) and simply...take the test. Now granted, I'm not going to lie: I only studied one chapter out of 12 in my book so I knew that it was probably going to be ugly walking in to the place to take the test. Another thing I do when I take tests is that if I don't know the answer, I don't dick around trying to figure it out. I either know it or I don't. If I don't, I pick the most reasonable answer. If that doesn't work, then I guess. Needless to say I was the first person to be done. About 10 minutes into grading the tests one of the other people that was taking test got word that he failed. Haha, something about watching grown men whine and complain is funny. My friends, this man caused the biggest scene over a $14 test. I mean, he was utterly flabbergasted at the idea that he didn't pass his test. Haha, while this was going on, I chuckled at the idea that he probably studied his ass off and he overheard me talking to the guy sitting next to me about how the only thing I studied was the frequency bands and allowances for our tests. Just as the test session couldn't get any better (with the hilarity and my mood going up and the other guys mood going down) the exam coordinator walked straight up to me (while everyone else was still taking the test mind you) extended his hand and said, "Congratulations Todd, you passed your exam." My friends, I could here that other man's blood boil. With that being said, I signed my application and took that as my cue to get out before that poor man killed me or whoever else was in his reach.

So to recap, nothing really important is going on now. Hung out with a friend yesterday, ham radio license test and irate man this morning, and who knows what else will go down to day.

Its getting close to that time. Talks of fuel moisture and contracts are frequent. Rigs are being inventoried and cleaned. Gear is getting issued and people are becoming giddy and impatient. Fire season is right around the corner ladies and gentleman. My company bought a piece of property that had an old shed on it which is perfect to store our 3 engines, an office, and the rest of our equipment. Today and yesterday we spent demolishing the inside to make room for the new construction that will take place. I couldn't ask for a better group of guys and girls to work with considering I don't have a whole lot of experience and they have more than I can imagine. As I figured, a whole bunch of things got dumped on me at the last minute. My to do list so far:

Amatuer Radio License Test
Idaho Driver's License and CDL
CDL Road Test
DOT Physical
Get a new SS Card
Get a new Passport (eventually...sometime before the fire season starts)

Eventually I have to find a second job somehow. I'm not gettting too many good vibes about the place I'm trying to get a job at now, but who knows...God will point me towards the right one....

Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

I don't think I've ever had a more lazy day than today. Lets see:

0915: Woke up
1000: Got out of bed
1001: Scratched myself
1005: Took a shower
1020: Got out of shower
1025: Brushed Teeth
1040: Had a date with Corn Flakes
1200: Played a couple rounds of Disc Golf
1630: Came back home and took a nap
1800: Woke up from Nap
2100: Decision was made to post blog entry

Needless to say, unless I get a job between now and the beginning of the fire season, I think the rest of the days are going to end up like today :-)



Oh yeah, for those of you that aren't musically inclined, Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer is a hit song by one of the most influential singers of our time and past, Mr. Nat King Cole.

Day 2

Day two in Boise. Something about this place. I don't know if its just being out west, or being away from home, but I find myself doing things that I tell myself I'll do on a regular basis a lot more out here. Friday, I went to Walmart and bought a bunch of fruit, pasta, milk, cereal, and tea, and I've actually been eating somewhat healthy. Hopefully that trend will stay. Today, I finished cleaning my room and building the dresser I bought which sorta finalizes me moving I guess. I set out to find another job to hold me over until the fire season begins. I found this outdoor retailer much like Hudson Trail Outfitters that I had looked up. The place is absolutely awesome. Its not a national store, its just the one local store that has remained close to its roots since it has opened. The thing that excited me the most was their library. Oh, their library. More Lonely Planet guides than I knew what to do with. They had all kinds of old maps and books from different countries and in different languages. I really didn't want to spend the money but I ended up buying a map of the Tetons, a book entitled Antarctica by Reinhold Messner (if you're a hardcore climber, you'd known that name and how cool the book must be since Messner's writing it), and a 4 foot French wall map of Antarctica. Needless to say, the second I got home, that map went up and a push-pin and sticky note marked the spot of my future job I'm praying for. The people that work there are absolutely great. As a matter of fact I got the talking with one of the guys and I now have at least one climbing and backpacking partner here in Boise. I finished up there and at home and I headed 20 miles west to Nampa, ID for our fire crew's barbecue. Same faces as the day before. When we all started sharing different stories involving firefighting, EMS, alcohol, women, etc, it got me really excited for the fire season to start. After some steak, beans, and corn, I headed back home where I went out with my roommates Josh and Stacy and we hit downtown Boise which I must say is just as packed as Georgetown or Adams Morgan on a Saturday night. I was pretty damned suprised. And the women! Ohh, the women. Living in a college town has its perks let me tell you. Tomorrow, I'm going to hit the "foothills" to try to finish breaking in my fire boots and do a little much needed PT.

Todd

Day 4 of....4 and Boise

Where to begin....after some rethinking over my travel plans, I decided to take my trip through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. I left the hotel around 7 or 8 and I headed down US Rt 212 to Yellowstone. While I was continuously looking at the map as I was driving (Not safe, yes, I know), I happened to notice that as 212 crosses the Absaroka Mountain Range in northern Wyoming, it goes through this saddle called Beartooth Pass. I was really excited about this because the highest elevation you achieve as you drive across the range was 10,947 feet. Well about 13 miles away, I came to a town called Red Lodge in Montana, which by the way was one of the coolest towns I've ever driven to and quite possibly a place I may want to live in for a few years, where I found out that Beartooth Pass was closed. Disappointed, I took a detour through Belfry, MT and got onto WY296 which happened to be the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. Having the spirit of adventure still in me, I decided to brave the two lane road despite not knowing whether or not it was open. No wonder they called it a scenic byway; it was about 15 miles into when I realized that this was what I have been dreaming of visiting for the past 5 or 10 years: the Rocky Mountains. This is another one of those experiences that words really can't describe. Towering white capped mountains, crisp air (with a hint of cow dung), and complete and utter silence. At one point (okay several points) I stopped my car to take pictures. One time I stopped my car, I accidentally turned my car off only to then realize how beautiful the land was when you don't have the background sound of cars or anything. As a matter of fact, the entire 10 minutes I was out there, I never saw a single car, truck, or even airplane. It was just me, my car, and the land before me. 296 went by way too fast as I found myself back on 212 on the other side of Beartooth Pass. Now the entire world surrounds me. For 360 degrees I could see nothing but rangeland in the vicinity, and snow-covered rocky mountains in the distance. Now, 212 strays back into Montana only to come back into Wyoming at the Northeast entrance into Yellowstone. When I was on 296, the temperature wasn't too bad: low 60s/high 50s. I decided to get gas in Cooke City, Montana a couple miles away from Yellowstone. About 2 miles before I got to Cooke City, it started to snow; not a whole lot, just flurries. By the time I got to Cooke City, the town was damn near white-out. I mean it snowed its ass off. My wipers were getting a workout clearing the snow off my windshield. One of the first things I noticed about Cooke City was when I walked into the gas station, there was a lot of snowmobile gear in side: Helmets, gloves, you name it. I walked back out, and I realized that a) there were a lot of Yamaha and Honda snowmobile dealerships around and b) the roads looked like shit which told me that this town receives a lot of snow throughout the year and the best means of travel around was tracked vehicles. As I was driving, I saw a tracked fire department vehicle which I had been kicking myself in the ass for not taking a picture of. Anyways, I finally made it to the entrance of Yellowstone with the snow still kicking. No sooner did I go through the booth did the snow stop and the clouds parted. God bless mountain weather. Now, my primary goal throughout my jaunt through Yellowstone was to snag a picture of a bear. Black, Grizzly, it didn't matter. I wanted a bear dammit. One of the first animals I noticed was a bison. Just one. As I drove further into the park, I started seeing whole heards of them. More than you can shake a stick at (I love that saying, by the way). Then we started seeing them walking on the sides of the road which was a little nerve racking because the last thing you want is a buffalo putting his horns in your fender. Another animal I saw that I thought was pretty cool were the pikas or marmots or whatever you want to call them. If the New York Rat had that distant country relative that everyone's embarassed of, the Pika would be it. These things were just as abundant as your average subway rat. What amazed me was how smart they were. I think I only saw one dead Pika throughout the entire drive through the park. At one point, a Pika ran out into the road, realized I was coming for it but instead of running and getting run over by a wheel, it hunkered down and let me pass right over it. That, my friends, was impressive. If you ever get the chance, do not pass up a drive through Yellowstone. It is one of the most beautiful parks to drive through. I thought the Chief Joseph Scenic Parkway was beautiful, Yellowstone definitely had me in awe. I had hoped to drive through Grand Tetons National Park but for some reason the traffic was at a stand still on the one road leading to the park. It got to the point where I had been in the park for about two hours and all I wanted to do was get to Boise. So I found the west exit, hit the highway and drove straight through Twin Falls, my original planned stop for the night, straight to Boise and moved in a night early. Right off the bat, my two roommates were as friendly as can be. After a few hours of moving in, I decided I need a few things from the local Walmart. So here it is, 1:30 in the morning, and this one guy approached me outside when I was loading my car and asked me where I got one of my fire department bags. After talking for a bit, he found out that I had just moved there to work as a firefighter. Man, he unloaded with everything there was to know and do in Boise. He told me about bars, BSU, football, restaurants, everything. Today, I hit the gas station and bought a map. No sooner did I walk out with the map in hand, this incredibly rough looking dude came up to me and asked me where I was trying to get to. I told him that I was just getting a map to get a lay of the land considering I had just moved there 18 hours before. That man was one of the friendliest persons I had ever met. I mean, I learned more about the main streets from him in 5 minutes than I would have in 30 reading the map. People, I'm not use to this. If you live in D.C. you know how unfriendly some people are. But here it is, strangers walking up to other strangers, being as friendly and as helpful as possible. And the best thing about it all is that no one cares what the color of your skin is. I am definitely not use to all of this. It's funny though because I'm still driving like I'm in D.C. and I feel like an asshole about it but I'll get use to it eventually. I stopped by my employers house and him and the rest of the crew were as friendly as can be. I spent a few hours there just getting advice, getting issued gear, and just talking in general. Before I knew it, I was invited to a barbecue tomorrow and future nights out at the bar. Between the people, the scenery, and the copious opportunities for outdoor activities, I think I'm going to like it here...

Days 2 and 3 out of 5

Holy shit, I don't even know where to begin. First, I woke up at 0530 to try to hit the road as early as possible. I've probably said it to a few of you before hand but I really was not looking forward to yesterday's drive. 13 hours in one day really isn't all that fun...at least I thought then. I left Peter's around 0550-0600 and managed to land myself right in the middle of Chicago rush-hour traffic. Once I got out of the city and the suburbs, that's when I first started drive through rural America. Now, the last time I was in Illonois before monday was in the early 90s (1990 I belive) for my cousin's wedding. So to me, Illinois was a foreign land. For some reason, I get excited when I know I'm going to be driving through a state I've never been to or remember. Illinois went by pretty quick as my journey brought me into Wisconsin probably a little over an hour after I left Chicago. Now I was excited because I had truly never been to Wisconsin. Well, that excitement died off as the scenery really didn't change much until I crossed the Mississippi which was a really big deal to me because 1) I like really big bodies of water and 2) I've never driven that far away from home, let alone that far in the U.S. Minnesota was actually pretty cool for the first 50 to 75 miles but as I started to drift into the Great Plains, that excitment once again, died pretty quickly. Now for those of you that have an ifinity for the midwest, don't get me wrong, it's beautiful out there. That's the heart of America we're talking about people! When you drive for 700 miles through it by yourself, however, it can really wear down on you. I can't even begin to tell you how miserable it was. Well, I take that back. It wasn't too bad. When it really started getting bad in Minnesota, I started counting down the hours and miles to Souix City, SD which I knew was 347 miles to Rapid City where I was stopping for the night. South Dakota wasn't all that great either until I crossed the Missouri River. One things for sure is that the Mississippi ain't got shit on the Missouri River. If you think the Mississippi River valley's breathtaking, drive over the Missouri on I-90. That was one of the highlights of my trip. Once I crossed the Missouri, South Dakota was starting to lose its gold blankets of fields and was starting to get a little rugged.

That was the first thing I noticed about the hills of South Dakota as you got close to the Black Hills: they look like God put a green blanket over a bunch of dirt mounds and put a few trees and bushes here and there. It's not like you can distinguish clumps of grass or grass blades. It literally looks like a green blanket smoothly rolled over the hills. I don't know. It's hard to describe. If you've seen them you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, check my pictures out. I had never seen them before so I thought it was pretty interesting. I didn't get to Rapid City until about 2000-2100 (Note: about 100 miles east of Rapid City lies the border between Central and Mountain time so I gained an hour once I hit that line). I'm glad I kept wasting time stopping to eat and stretch and I'm also glad that the trip took as long as it did because man, I have never seen a more beautiful sunset than that in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I truly can't describe it. The pictures may help but its something that you have to see for yourself. There were one or two people I was wishing I could have experienced that sunset with :-)

Rapid City....what can you say about it? I think an episode of Cops was filmed there. I'm not one to judge a city or its people but there were a few places where I was definitely on my guard. When I got my lavish room at the Time Out Inn, I decided I had some time to kill so I walked out of my motel room about 30 feet into a bar and had a beer. The bar was pretty empty except for two locals and the bartender. This pretty laid-back native-american dude sat next to me and we started talking. He bought a round of shots, we talked for another hour and I was off to a pool hall he recommended. Another beer and a round of pool later, I was walking out of the pool hall only to come across this one guy taking care of 3 incredibly intoxicated older guys who kept asking me for a ride to "the" bar. Considering I walked and I had been drinking myself, I just told them that I didn't have a car (Despite clothing with logos that obviously scream I'm not a local. One of the drunk-ass guys falls flat on his ass and starts holding his ankle saying that he broke his "leg" and that it was swollen. EMT mode kicks in and decided to check his "leg" out. Well, he pulls his boot off and asides from a $50 dollar bill stuck to the bottom of his foot, his "leg" was fine despite his assurances that his ankle was so swollen he couldn't get his boot off. I tell him to put his boot back on and walk to the hospital (which was like 10 blocks away but at this point he's so drunk he'll probably forget that he was even lying about his "leg" hurting. He says he can't put it back on because it was "too swollen". I reiterate: go to the hospital. He says, "Ok, I'll go if you give us a ride to [the] bar." I walk back to my room and go to sleep.

I wake up the next morning at 0700. Take a shower, pack up, and hit the road. Today's trip was suppose to be easy: drive the 78 miles from Rapid City, SD to Devils Tower, WY. Since I figured I had all day to screw around, I figured I'd stop at Mt Rushmore. I mean, I'm less than 20 miles away from it. It'd be an act of treason not to. Mt Rushmore is located about 2 miless outside of a town called Keystone and damn if that wasn't one cool town. I highly doubt that anyone truly lived in the town as it was more of a tourist attraction once you were done with Rushmore, but it was still a pretty cool town to drive through none the less. I get to Mt Rushmore. Having never been there, it was pretty awe-inspiring when you're drive up to it and you pass the left (the Presidents' lefts mind you) side of the monument and you start to see faces. Someone once said when you see it in person, it's not as big as you'd think it would be. I really don't care what anyone says. I stood at the observation deck underneath it and it was definitely pretty fucking big. These two MX racers where there as well taking pictures of each other. I offered them a trade: a picture of me taken by them for a picture for the two of them taken by me. They agree: an easy and fair trade. As I left Mt Rushmore, I couldn't help but notice that the park had recently had a fire along the entrance road. Haha, firefighter mode kicked in and this got me really excited. Seeing fallen and felled snags, firelines, and a sea of charred trees really got me excited for the reason I had been driving all these hours which I had probably forgotten about somewhere in Ohio. I drove back through Keystone, spent $8.95 for the best breakfast buffet I've ever had, and I hit the road for Devils Tower only to stop twice to get some pictures of two fire stations near Rapid City.

Slowly as you make your way into Wyoming, the hills turn into ranchlands and you find yourself staring at more cattle than you can shake a stick at. The one thing that sucked about the drive to Devils Tower (as well as the majority of the day) was that it had been raining on and off and the clouds were really ruining the view. At least I thought so. I never realized the scale of the size of Devils Tower. Through crappy low-hanging cumulus clouds, I was able to see Devils Tower from about 6 to 7 miles away! When I actually reached the park, I was amazed as how it towers above the entire country around it! I mean, imagine a green blanket with a bunch of rocks underneath it scattered here and there. Then put a 10 inch brown cup on that blanket, gouge tracks all over the cup, and thats what Devils Tower looks like. Now, my original plan was to go there, do some hiking, and camp there for the night. Well, a few things sorta brought that plan to a halt: 1) I didn't plan on hiking too well when I buried my backpack and other hiking stuff in the back of my car 2) The trail was asphalt which sorta ruined the idea of hiking around the tower 3) It was raining, it was cold, and I was wearing jeans. The last time I checked, hypothermia and I weren't that great of friends. So the decision to stay or go was made between me and a quarter. Well, the tails side of the quarter told me I had to leave so I decided the only place to go was Billings, MT just because it was the only place I could get to that late in the day (1230 I left Devils Tower). I think that figuring out how I was going to Billings was the best part of the day if not the trip just because it was the first time I was straying away from what Google Maps suggested. So I took a route where I wouldn't see an interstate for a couple hundred miles. I took a Wyoming County rode for about 30 miles until I crossed over Montanna and picked up US Route 212 on which I spent about 130 miles. Some would call me wierd but I have no shame in saying that Wyoming and Montana ranch country was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Another thing I thought was sorta cool was being able to see 10 miles down the same road you're traveling on. I stopped twice along the way: Alzada and Broadus, MT. Again, call me weird but I like small towns such as these two I stopped in. Anyways, the day ends here in Billings, MT. I have 600-700 some miles to go. Since I have a full day left to waste, I'm going to try to drive through both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks tomorrow before I stop in Twin Falls for the night. Anyways, I'll keep you all posted as usual. I have photos as well: http://picasaweb.google.com/todd.bevans. Take care of yourselves and be safe.

Day 1 of 5

Thank god today is over. D.C. to Chicago my friends, is definitely not a short trip. As I figured, righ before I went to sleep, I found more items I needed to take with me. This, of course, after I locked the house and put the security system on as I was going to bed. Well, morning came around and I tried to find places for the few things I found I needed to take. Haha, as you can see in the photo, there wasn't a whole lot of room left. Anyways, I left here around 6. Got gas, and hit 495 for the last time in a few months. From here to OH was uneventful. Ohio is boring. Extremely boring. So boring that I had to pull over several times in order to keep from falling asleep. Indiana was a little better just because of the fact of it was a different state and I was one state closer to Chicago let alone Boise. All in all, I left the house at 6 and got to my friend's house around 7. A couple things I learned:

Boxes are essential for packing

Keep track of your vehicle's weight limits

If you're on anything that is called or resembles a "turnpike", get to a gas station the second your tank reaches a quarter of its capacity

Do not pack dumbbells in such a fashion that they will fall out the second you open the door

Watch for little children before you yell profanities when said dumbbell falls on your foot

Gary, ID is the nastiest smelling city east of Philladelphia. No joke people, its the Newark of the mid-west....if you can call Indiana the mid-west


Well, Peter and I have spent most of the evening engaged in some pretty good conversation if you ask me. I'm about to go to bed soon only to wake up to another day on my journey across the country. Take care of yourselved.

Last Night In Town

T-Minus 6 hours and counting and I can't sleep. Damn, I hate being excited :-). I'm packed and ready to go. The open house actually went pretty well. I don't think I've ever said good-bye to that many people before. I've moved before but this is the first time I've moved incredibly far away from the area. I have a lot of email addresses I'm going to have to remember or store. I saw Lindsay today for the last time as well as my relatives. It my relatives being here for me to realize how hard this is going to be for my mom. I love her to death but I can't just stay here. My imagination is too vivid and my appetite for experiencing new places is insatiable. Well, I better get some sleep. I have 11 hours of driving before me tomorrow. Take care all of you and be safe....