Trip to Moab, UT - Thanksgiving, 2008 - Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

It was unusually foggy when we first visited Arches and Canyonlands! Looking over the cliffs (and especially through arches at the edge of the cliffs) was very creepy, like looking into oblivion... But the weather cleared up nicely on our third day there, and we got some good hiking in. We hiked to the famous delicate arch, arriving just before sunset-- it was gorgeous, the arch was lit beautifully by the sunet. Another day, we hiked to Corona Arch (outside the National Park boundary), where the rock-climbers in the group climbed then rapelled down the arch (over 100 feet high). It took a while to get everything set up, and by the time they had all rapelled, the sun had set and we hiked back with flashlights. We rented a nice house right near Arches, and you can see the view we had from the back deck was awesome. When we weren't out and about, we played games at the house. It was a great trip!

Visiting Melissa in Calgary!

For the 4th of July weekend I visited my friend Melissa (from UCLA) in her new home city of Calgary, Canada! We went to the Calgary Stampede parade and rodeo fairgrounds, where we saw many cowboys and learned some valuable skills and facts about farm animals. We traversed the "Badlands" to the east of Calgary where many dinosaur fossils have been found, and visited the world-class Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology. Then we went to Banff National Park to the west of Calgary in the Canadian Rockies. Wow... and yes, those glacier lakes really are bright blue-green (check out the movie)! Who knew there was so much to do in Calgary, what a great trip!

We visited my friend Melanie who is a Ranger at Great Sand Dunes National Park outside of Alamosa, CO. Check out the Great Sand Dunes in the middle of the Rockies and the creek running through. There were tons of people, who enjoyed the scene like they were at the beach! We hiked up the dunes (which takes longer than you think!) and hung out with the "Wildcat".

Matthew's Graduation from Williams

Trip to Fort Lauderdale, Miami and the Keys

A trip to florida! Me, Lauren, Hazel and Abi enjoyed Memorial Day weekend in the Keys. We stayed in Key Largo then ventured to down to Key West and eventually back to Fort Lauderdale for a conference.

White Sands, NM - April 11-12, 2008

(left to right) Liz, Athina, Hazel and I took a couple days to visit Truth or Consequences and White Sands, NM.

Have to see the dunes before Athina leaves!

Way to go Liz and Hazel for driving the whole route since Athina was deathly ill and Misa can't drive a manual transmission... doh

Winter Wonderland

I woke up this morning to find everything blanketed in snow! This is the first big snow there's been since I arrived about a month ago. I wanted to take a picture of the trees all draped in snow but I couldn't find my camera before leaving for work this morning... so I found this picture on the internet which gives you an idea. When it snows like this you get to sleep in cause they don't open the Lab until 10a.