I'm no longer homeless!

I’m coming home in one week! I’m so excited. I’ve been here for over two months and I feel like I’m just starting to fathom how long that really is.
I’m also stoked that Steve found us an awesome place to live. It’s a duplex in Springfield by Auzten Stadium, and it has a back yard and a bonus room, which may or may not be big enough for a pool table. I think we’re going to have to have a bbq before the summer is up. Yay!
I’m also excited that when I get home I’ll have three whole weeks of summer before school starts.

Anyway, we just got back from the High Uintahs, again. Since most of the other interns have left now, our crew was just Matt, James, and I. Jeff Rust, the forest archaeologist is the only one left that can lead us on survey, so he was our crew leader for the trip. This is an interesting mix of people, but that is another story for another forum. I was the only one who had to do the trip twice this summer. We were suppose to leave on Tuesday and be out there until Saturday, however, there was some deal with helicopters, or something, and we had to leave on Thursday. I don’t really know. Therefore, we had to cram four days of survey into two days. We discovered this on Wednesday at dinnertime, after having worked our eight hours that day. In order to save ourselves from an excruciating day on Thursday, we decided to go back out on Wednesday evening for another three hours until dark. So here’s how it went: Tuesday we casually hiked up the seven mile trail on the mountain, thinking we’d be there until Saturday, Wednesday we did eleven hours of survey, and Thursday was no less than a fourteen hour day.
The highlight of the trip for me was my argument with Jeff about archaeological ethics. It started with which sites should be eligible for the National Register and ended with the worth of our project on the Carter Road (which I defended tooth and nail).
All in all, however, the trip was much easier than the first time. I think over the course of the summer, I have become more fit, and I’ve acclimated to working at high elevations all summer. The hike up wasn’t anything like I remembered it. But I’m certainly glad to be done with it.

I’m living in Vernal now, because everyone who was living in the Manila house left. It is…interesting, though this is another story for another forum. There is though, cable television and Internet, which is awesome.

I can’t wait to come home and see Steve and Wilson (my cat) and everyone and my new apartment! You’re invited to come visit (bbq, perhaps); you’re also invited to help move. See you soon!