You will fill your life with disappointments if you don't embrace the unexpected.

The week has been going well... i have been quite busy finishing things up and writing my paper and preparing my exit presentation. It always seems like the days go by so slowly until you have a deadline to meet; then the days are not long enough. Thursday we (the ward) went out to White Sands Monument to play on the dunes in the full-moonlight, but right when we got there, a huge thunderstorm hit, and it rained and i saw more lightning than I have seen in a long time. We waited it out and just as we got a game of capture the flag going, the warden informed us that the park was closing. :(

On Friday, I embarked on a journey with George Jennings Jr. and George Jennings the 3rd, George's (the 3rd) brother, and Ryan Houpt. We took the Jennings' big chevy van filled with our gear and drove through Deming and Silver City to the Gila. We stopped in Silver City where Goerge and Ryan got food for the trip. (A 12 pack of 1/4 pound beef hot dogs, a can of refried beans and a block of pepper jack cheese.) The road up to the Cliff Dwellings National Monument was long and windy. I found out that it was the 'scenic route' which George translated as 'narrow with sharp corners'. We finally arrived to our destination. None of the campgrounds seeemed very inviting, so we found a place off of a hiking trail that was pretty amazing. It was right off the river, sheltered by a 50 foot cliff and cottonwood trees. George and I hung our hammocks from two cottonwood trees (basicially one hammock above the other) and we started checking out our surroundings. We found a lot of stinging nettle by the base of the cliff and huge tadpoles in the river. That night we went frog hunting. George showed us how to make spears by splitting the end of an 8 foot willow branch and lashing and whittling it so that it makes two points (these proved to be much more effective than the single point spears) that are seperated at the end by about an inch and a half. We walked at night, using our flashlights to spot their eyes, and jabbing at them with our weapons. Two big ones got away before I made my first kill. It was a huge Bullfrog (about a foot long with the legs extended) George showed us how to tie their legs together and lash them to our belts so that they wouldn't get away. (We had killed them before hand by stabbing a knife through their brain but they keep kicking after they are dead. Last time he went frogging, George found out the hard way that they can jump out of a pocket or a bag when you least expect it.) We hunted until about midnight, nabbing 12 bullfrogs--half were big like the ones that I got, and the rest were a bit smaller. Back at camp wechopped their legs and arms off and cooked them in the fire in tin foil. We added Cattail roots to the tin foil along with butter, seasoning salt, and lemon pepper. After 15 minutes, we enjoyed our french wilderness meal of frog meat. It tasted like fishy chicken and the meat fell off of the bones. It was enough meat for all four of us (George Jr. was sleeping). I was actually kind of surprised that I didn't die instantly from some frog-borne illness, and that it sat well in my stomach. I slept okay, but in the hammock my back kept getting cold since I didn't bring my sleeping mattress. the next morning we ate breakfast (boiled stinging nettle leaves and other stuff that we brought) and we just relaxed. We checked out the monument (we actually didn't go up to see the cave dwellings) and then drove back (the other way, NOT on the scenic route), stopping in Deming for ice cream.

Saturday night we watched 'Flight of the Conchords' at Ray Foote's house and it was way funny.

I had a pretty amazing weekend.

The Subaru had a leaky tire so I took it in to get it repaired and the tire apparently had an irrepariable leak. I had them put the spare on and i called around and found a place that sold me a used tire.

Work was basicially the same as always. On Friday i didn't have to go to work, so I went on a bike ride around A mountain, washed clothes, and then that night, George and I decided to go camping in Cloudcroft.

Cloudcroft is a town about an hour and a half east of las cruces in the Sacramento mountains at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. It looks a bit like Chama or Durango, only about a thousand times smaller. Trees grow all around, and you can't see any mountain peaks in the distance. The vegetation reminded me of the Uintah mountains; lots of pine trees (Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, with some really tall aspens) and thistles and beautiful wildflowers. It is amazing how much the temperature can drop in an elevation gain! I was so excited to be able to use the sweatshirt that I brought with me for the first time this summer! We got in late and found a campsite and promptly went to work at gathereing firewood. We didn't want to use matches, so George used his firestarter and shaved some magnesium on to a sheeet of paper, and with one strike of his knife on the sparker, the fire was promptly started. He is my hero. I have never seen a fire made with just one try. We cooked tin foil dinners with meat and taters and onions and we cooked corn on the cob right on the coals. The food was grand, and we set up hammocks in the trees and slept well.

We didn't bring much to eat for breakfast, so we went into town and ate at the only place that was open: a diner adjacent to the town bar. We were the only people in the place that were less than 60 years old (aside from the waitresses). We had planned on asking the local bike shop about what trail we were going to ride, but they were closed. Fortunately I had done enough research (via the internet) and knew where we were going.

We then embarked on what would become an epic journey to ride the 'Sacramento Rim Trail' on bicycle. It is one of the top rated trails in the nation, and we decided that we had to do it. It starts right outside of Cloudcroft and follows the Sunspot highway mostly south towards the Sunspot Solar Observatory for 14 miles. We loved riding through the trees on the loamy earth and pine needles--it is a big improvement to the sand and loose gravel that we have been riding here in the Mesilla Valley--and for the first 5 miles, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. There were sections of narrow, fast, smooth singletrack and lots of technical climbs. It was at about the seven mile mark we realized that we had mostly only been traveling uphill, and that we still had a ways to go. I considered taking one of the connecting trails to the highway more than once, but George kept us motivated to ride the whole thing. By the time we got to the end, we were out of water and tired, but we couldn't find the highway. I had understood that the trail ended right at the road, but it didn't. There were no signs to tell us the way, but we asked some people on atv's and they said to go down to the dirt road and turn right. After a few miles of riding the wrong direction, we found the only other person that we had seen on the trail, and he was having a hard time getting back to the highway, too. We rode back to where we had seen some campers and asked for directions and water. They told us the right way (we should have turned left at the dirt road) back to the highway and found that the road back to Cloudcroft was UPHILL even though we had ridden uphill nearly the whole time on the singletrack. It remained an uphill battle for the next 2 or 3 miles--we were hungry, thirsty and exhausted, and it seemed like my bike weighed about a million pounds. We reached the summit and kissed the 'downhill grade' sign. Even the last 5 miles downhill were hard work. I think the 9,000 foot elevation and the headwind had something to do with it. The only thing keeping me going was the thought of devouring the ice cold grapes that I in the cooler that was in the car (I learned the cooler in the car trick from young mens and scouts). When we finally got there, nothing tasted better.

One of the main reasons we went to cloudcroft was the party. Narcisa invited us to her son's 7th birthday party, which was held in Alamogordo on Saturday afternoon. We showed up 2 hours late, dirty, sore, exhausted and smelly, but she was still excited to see us and glad that we came. her family greeted us with full plates of food and 3 varieties of tres leches cake. There was a live band and a lot of people. It was much like the parties in Mexico that I had attended (minus the piñata) which is perfectly understandable since Narcisa's whole family is mexican.

As soon as we got home and unpacked, George suggested that we watch a movie or something but just NOT at our apartment, so we created our own party at Kylie's house! She lives with her parents house and is the ultimate party house. Swimming pool, ping-pong table, trampoline and rock band. She thought it was a good idea, so we invited everyone we knew and had a good time. George learned to do a backflip on the trampoline, dive off the diving board (he hadn't set foot on one since his swimming instructor told him that his previous student got decapitated when he slipped on it) and he beat his only two ping-pong opponents, Kylie and Jaren. I shaved my beard into a mustache and, as has been proven by previous experience, at least one girl thought it made me look perverted.

Today, we sang "How Great Thou Art" for sacrament meeting as a ward choir, and we actually sounded really good! I was impressed. The congregation sang 'a poor Wayfaring Man of Grief'-- all 7 verses. How, you ask? We sang the first three for the opening hymn and sang the last four for the closing hymn.

I am currently at WSTF (White Sands Test Facility) working as an intern for NASA.  I am not gonna lie... It is pretty cool.  I just got done with my first day and I am pretty impressed.  I am working in hardware processing, and it is neat.  We have clean rooms where we test and build valves for the space shuttle and we are building a valve shop that will be way more awesome, and certified. I am living with three guys that are students here at NMSU and they are great.  So far, i have loved it.  I saw the other intern ( I think his name is Shaun) who is working in propulsion.  The people working here are great.  The engineers who i am working with just want me to have the best experience possible, and are going to let me work on a variety of projects, so I am excited.  

I spent the last week in bed. I had some sort of flu. It always seems to intrigue me how i am sick during my vacation time, and when responsibility comes back around, I am magically healed. That is what happened this week. My plans to go skiing everyday were (painfully) dashed and instead I became more familiar with the insides of my eyelids and the interior of my room. It wasn't all a loss, however. I was able to assemble the SpokePOV kit that was so graciously given to me for Christmas. I was able to reassure myself of my soldering skills, while being rewarded with blinking lights and iconic images.