Summer fun

Hello friends,

Boy, have we been busy since my last post. We have been to Colorado and/or Cheyenne at least once a week, attended 3 concerts, 2 rodeos, and a baseball game, been out with new friends several times, had the Jordans come to visit, and just this weekend we drove to Iowa and back. Oh, also I started my job on July 5, and Jason's been working in a lab on campus. See? I told you we've been busy. Plus, I never did blog about my trip to New Mexico. So I guess I have a lot of catching up to do here. Man, this blogging thing is harder than I thought. Where to begin...

Way back in June I went to Las Cruces, NM for the ABLE meeting- Association for Biology Laboratory Educators. It was awesome! ABLE was absolutely the best conference ever, and I vow to return every year. The amazing Kris Miller from UGA and my new colleague Liz went too, which was awesome. The sessions were great, we met lots of cool people doing even cooler things in their labs, and were totally inspired to shake things up back home in our own labs. We also took a field trip to watch the sun set at the White Sands National Monument, which was just amazingly beautiful.

Sunset over the dunes

At the top of a sand dune, just before sledding down to the bottom

The best part of the trip for me was getting to know Liz, who I will potentially be working with for like the next 30 years. Liz studied flying squirrels in grad school, spends part of each summer in Alaska yelling at bears (Hey, Bear!), and, though she has very little climbing experience, will not rule out the possibility that she may someday climb Mt. Everest. Oh, and she likes to challenge people to leg wrestling contests when intoxicated. In short, she is awesome.

Me, Kris, and Liz at ABLE

Ok, on to July. Every summer during the first week of July, Laramie holds a festival called Jubilee Days. There's a carnival, outdoor concerts, a parade, various extreme eating contests, a week long rodeo, and a big party for the 4th of July. Being new Laramigos (eh? pretty cool, huh), we really tried to get into the spirit of Jubilee days.

America has a Birthday (4th of July festival)

There were several stages of entertainment, including this one leading the
audience in a dance to La Vida Loca. Pretty funny.

There were dogs everywhere. This one was rolling around in front of
the dance stage. I think he likes Ricky Martin.

Pistol Pete was there! Not as cute as Uga, but I do like his mustache

.

We saw a surprisingly great fireworks show, made better by the fact that we sat maybe 300 yds away from the launch site. But it was so cold after the sun went down that I made Jason go home and get our jackets. Kinda weird to wear fleece on the 4th of July.

At the end of the week we went to see amateur bull riders. Growing up in Texas, I went to the rodeo almost every year, but Jason had never been. It was in a tiny arena, so the bulls came within maybe 20-30 feet of where we were sitting. It was really quite exciting.

Cowboys (real ones!) being introduced before the show. I think they're staring
at the ground in prayer- not a bad idea before hopping on a bull.

Bull riders are completely crazy.

And some time that week we saw a double rainbow!

Okay, Jason said he wanted to write a blog about the concerts, so I'll leave that part for him. Later in July, Jason's parents came to visit, and we set off for some sight seeing in the mountains.

View from the Snowy Range, toward Colorado

Wyoming state flower, the Indian Paintbrush

We tried to give them the full Wyoming experience, so we trekked around a couple of little old west towns.

Centennial, WY restaurant

Saratoga, WY- old general store building that is now a really nice art gallery

But the coolest thing we saw that day was on the way back into Laramie. A field had flooded and created a small pond at the base of the mountain. In the field was a herd of horses and a herd of elk all mixed together drinking from the pond. By the time we pulled the car over, the herds were separating, but we got some fantastic pictures anyway (click on the photos to blow them up and see the cute baby animals).

Tom & Sher in front of the horses

Finally, just this past weekend we made a sort of impromtu trip all the way to Cedar Falls, IA to visit Jason's family. After 7 years of marriage, I had still only met 3 members of Jason's extended family, and let me just say, those people are SO nice. His grandma broke her hip and is in a nursing home, but she is still about the most optimistic person I have ever met. I just loved her. Jason's parents, sister and our nephews were there too, and we had a great time catching up with them all.

Visiting Grandma: Jason, Tom, Jen, Grandma Oltman, Sher

Jason with his sister, Jen. There's so much love in this photo.

Two of Jen's three boys, Jack and James, tell Uncle Jason stories
about fishing. This picture just warms my heart.

And, that, my friends, is all I have the energy for tonight. Classes start in one week, so our lives are about to get super busy, but I promise to post another blog this week before the craziness starts.

Love, Carly