So much blogging…so little time!



So I haven’t updated since I spent that memorable night in the Denver airport. For the record I did not develop a flesh eating disease…so I think all will be well. It was however quite possibly the longest 48 hours of my life. I guess it builds character or something. Or as my grandma would say, “You’ll be a better person for this.” So I arrived in Utah relatively unscathed. I was there for about 24 hours and I flew out to Oakland for a nuclear conference. It was definitely interesting to be back with all the policy wonks. I also got to see a ginormous laser facility...but only my nerdy friends will appreciate that. I was traveling with a new set of coworkers...and oh man...I'm glad I brought a GPS.



So then it was back to Utah on Friday. Saturday we went hiking in Adams Canyon which is not too far from where I live…maybe 5 minutes. I was look forward to a beautiful view with a waterfall at the end. We started on the trail and a little ways in my buddy Jeremy asks if anyone heard that bug. It was at that time that Nick yelled and jumped the other way. So Jeremy and Nick were separated from Jill and I by….a rattlesnake. A Great Basin Rattlesnake to be exact. And this thing was PISSED!!! He was all coiled up but his head was raised like he was going to strike at any minute. I just stood there frozen and informed the boys that if they needed me, I’d be in the car. Jill was engaged in taking pictures of the ugly thing (Which when I get them, I will post here). After what felt like a decade, but was probably about 5 minutes the snake uncoiled itself and went slithering up the hill and we went on our merry way. I thought seeing rattlesnakes in Utah was pretty rare, so we thought we would be ok for the rest of the hike. It was overall a decent hike, some rock climbing, some tromping through water, all in all a good time. The hike finished at a very pretty waterfall where we all took pictures (I’ll post those too). When we were thoroughly frozen from the waterfall water, we started our descent. We passed the point where we saw the first rattlesnake and laughed at how silly that was. Then a little ways down the trail head I saw Jeremy jump about 10 feet in the air and Jill jump on his back. I was walking behind Jill so I got the full view. A little rattlesnake cutting across the path right in front of me. I screamed like a little girl and had one of those full body shivers. But the snake continued on unfazed. About another half mile down Nick almost stepped on a huge one! It was about 4 feet long and it wasn't happy either...but it just took off into the weeds. So we saw 3 rattlesnakes in about an hour and a half. Totally not cool!

If I had a "bucket list" I just crossed off 2 things this week. I successfully spent the night in an airport and I saw a rattlesnake in the wild. Not sure those would have been on my list to begin with...but I'd be glad to never experience those again.

This week has been rather busy, although that tends to happen when one isn't in the office for a full week in over a month. I can't complain that much I suppose, my job could be worse.

Looking forward to spending some time in Utah (bet you didn't think I would ever type that) if only so I can maintain a healthy diet and a decent workout schedule. Oh yeah and there's some boys that want to do some serious hiking. And they are looking for some amusement...so they invited me along...they're taking bets on whether my scream can crack glass. Next on the list...Ben Lomond trail! Yes, that's the one that inspired the Paramount Pictures logo. Whoo!

That is all!