Through the Looking Glass

Since I've been in Utah, I've been helping a former professor of mine with some research. We're doing a survey on a small shorebird called the Snowy Plover. We're basically trying to figure out how many live and breed in the area around the Great Salt Lake. So we walk these huge gridlines mapped out on the ground and count how many Snowy's we see while we walk. I've been working an insane amount of hours. For the past 2 weeks I've had consistent 12 hour days with barely a 2 days off. Haha. But I really don't mind it. It helps pass the time until Kevin comes home.

It seriously is so much fun. Because the areas we survey are randomly chosen by GPS coordinates, we end up in some of the most crazy, wild places around Utah. It's really quite an adventure. Every day we just tromp around in the mud, exploring, walking about 8 miles per day and looking for birds. Yesterday, for example, we got our ATV stuck in some pretty bad mud. SUPER sticky mud. Well during the process of getting the ATV out, I laughed harder then I've laughed in awhile. There were four of us, 2 students from Mexico who barely speak English, and then another student from Weber State. But laughter is universal, so the language barrier meant nothing in this moment. We were all laughing so hard we could barely stand up.

My research also lead me to another adventure. An airplane flight all around the Great Salt Lake. We were in the air for about 3 hours just flying along the shoreline so I could mark off any of our plots that were underwater. I was really nervous to fly in a small aircraft, and almost chickened out. But I'm glad I decided to go. It was a neat opportunity. Though I must say I wouldn't do it again! :) I get nervous when I fly.




Here's a picture of the pilot and I.





This is me while in the air. The headphones keep out some of the noise and allow us to talk with each other through a mic.







A couple shots from the plane. The white dots on the island are nesting Pelicans! The island was packed with them!


Anyway, just a little update on what I've been up to.

Hey guys! Well..we're on our way to Hawaii now from Australia. That was
a nice couple of ports. Yes..I drank..a lot. Seriously. But I had a good
time. I think I just drank to pass the time away until we come home. But
it was fun. The people were nice and very talkative. And every time I
call Trina, Mark is making preparations to come on the ship with me.
Hehehe. And I can't wait to see him. I think it's cute. Ever since I've
met mark, he's always been a busy little bee. Sometimes when I hang out
at their house with Trina, I feel lazy because mark and Lori are both
running around the house or going out to either work or take care of
personal business. But I enjoy visits with them. It'll be 3 weeks and
I'll be home. I'll be walking off whatever takes us to the shore with
Mark and I'll be running into Trina's arms while lugging all my personal
stuff behind me. I'll probably have to go to work all that day, but
it'll be okay. I asked Trina to take the Corolla out of storage for us
so I can drive home that night. It's seriously going to be the best
drive ever..at least I think so. I seriously think Mark is going to
enjoy the ship as grey and depressing as it is. It looks as if there's
going to be a bingo night and maybe an ice cream social or 2. We'll see
what happens when he comes on. I've heard rumors of a karaoke night as
well. Hehehe. Whatever happens, it's going to be awesome. He's going to
get classes during the day and he's going to have fun at night like we
do. He'll see what a life in the day of me was like when I was underway.
And I do believe he'll enjoy it a lot. Ummmm. That's all I can think of
for now. Trina knows this..but I love her! HI TRINA <3!!!!!1