On the road again ...

Monday, May 16 I took off for my drive to Nevada, where I will be spending 13 weeks working for Barrick Gold as an intern in the Underground Geology Department. I am working at the Cortez mine, which is (unfortunately) an hour and a half drive from the town of Elko, Nevada.

The drive through the Black Hills was fun, I went down to Custer and then west through Newcastle, Wyoming. Wyoming was not the most exciting state to drive through but it went smoothly! I left Rapid City at around 11:30 AM after a semi-emotional farewell to Josh. I arrived in Rock Springs, Wyoming and stayed for the night at about 8:30 PM. I took some stops along the way though and I definitely took my time!

Not to mention that the Geo Tracker is a little slow on the travel, I had it floored heading west and generally could only get up to 65 mph because of a stiff headwind. Oh well.

The neatest part of the first leg of the trip was Independence Rock, which still retains inscriptions of some of the original travelers of the Oregon Trail! I hiked up to the top and wandered around a bit as the wind attempted to blow me off the rock. I took this picture of one of the inscriptions, I thought it was neat because it was a young woman who had traveled through 165 years ago! History can be amazing when you think about it.

Day 2 of the trip was the leg from Rock Springs, WY to Elko, NV. It was only scheduled for about 6 1/2 hours, but of course I took much longer. I took my time especially in the intermittent snow, hail, and rain. It is actually quite a beautiful drive through southwestern Wyoming and northern

Utah, with colorful hills and mountains. I didn't get many pictures because it was rather fogged in, but here's one to give you a general idea.

I arrived in Elko around 3:30 PM (with the time zone switch) and checked into my hotel, chilled for the evening and got some "wonderful" microwave meals since we aren't actually allowed to cook in the rooms :(. It will be an interesting challenge to eat healthy this summer and get the right kind of nutrition for this little baby I'm carrying! I might head outdoors for a lot of cooking then, since there is a supplied grill and I can legally cook outdoors. I'll let you all know how that pans out!

Wind Cave and Crazy Horse (or not)

On Tuesday my parents and I headed down to Wind Cave, a pretty long drive southwest of Rapid City, to take a tour of the underground. Josh stayed in Rapid City to work on his studying and school work. We made it to the cave for the 11:30 AM tour and had a grand time wandering around the cave. I discovered that I really like being underground, which is a good sign for my internship this summer!

My parents also wanted to stop by Crazy Horse so we swung by on the way back ... only to discover that the fee was $10 per person or $27 per vehicle - a little too steep for any of us to pay! So my mom got this photo anyway. Just as good as driving in, right?

On Sunday we did the Spearfish Canyon tour and stopped at the waterfalls, throwing in a little fishing on the side. Nothing to be caught, the water was high from recent snowmelt and rain. It's definitely spring in Rapid City. Wednesday we went mini golfing in the morning before the weather turned bad in the afternoon (which is kind of a Zylstra family tradition on vacation). We had to bundle up pretty good, there was a stiff and cool wind!

My parents left Thursday morning for their drive to Denver and eventual flight. It was a good visit for everyone involved.

Having a blast in the Badlands!

Today we decided to ask a few of our meteorologist friends to join us on a trip to the Badlands to show my parents around. It was a beautiful sunny day with the green grass still brightly growing in the Badlands. We spent plenty of time bounding up and down the shaley formations and convincing Dan to climb higher (not bad for a North Carolinian). I have to say the Badlands is one of my favorite things about South Dakota. Dan was also oddly entranced by the presence of prairie dogs.

Kathy, Josh, Dan and I also braved the Notch trail (which I have always wanted to climb) and made our way up the sketchy ladder to beautiful views on the other side.

It was well worth it!

After all our fun, as the sun was beginning to set, we stopped in Wall for ice cream at Wall Drug. Always a fun place to stop and look around, although we didn't have a lot of time and had to return to Rapid City quickly so Mom and I could get ready for the first annual "Mom Prom". Basically, the "Mom Prom" was a chance for a bunch of ladies to dress up, get together, dance and eat chocolate fondue. The best part was probably the fondue! It was fun, just a little crowded, and I wore out pretty quick so Mom and I headed out and talked for a little while before heading home. All in all, a pretty good day!

Parental (and Prenatal) Visit

So my parents really wanted to come visit us in South Dakota this summer ... and the only time that would work would either be before my internship in Nevada or after, in the heat of August. They decided that May would be better, and arrived on May 5, the same day of our 18 week ultrasound (scheduled early because of my internship).

The parents arrived around 9:30 PM, which was a blessing because I was still madly finishing a final paper for my Digital Modeling of Groundwater class! I ended up waking up early and finally turning it in around 9:30 the next morning. Not the best paper, but I still ended up with a 4.0 for the semester (and year)!

So our Friday fun was decided to be touring the SDSM&T campus and then off to Mt. Rushmore for the afternoon!

Weather was good, at least it wasn't raining, and it was super nice to be so early in the season and beat the tourist rush!

Oh yeah ... and the ultrasound that we had showed everything looking good, baby is active and happy, and is a BOY!!! So that's the latest for our family, stay tuned for more!

Procrastination and dissatisfaction...

Here I am on a lovely Saturday afternoon, staring blankly at a computer screen where I am "supposed to" be doing ArcGIS work for a project that I may or may not be funded for. On top of that my professor informed me yesterday that he expected me to contribute 20 hrs a week to his arsenic research project, which I had no idea about and no plans for contributing to. Oy vey.

Although I am sure there are few (if any) that actually read this blog I feel like sharing a bit of life every now and then to the outside world. First, perhaps, should be a status update.

Josh and I are living in Rapid City, SD, both attending South Dakota School of Mines & Technology as graduate students. Josh is in his second year (final semester!!!) of the atmospheric sciences program. I am in my first year of the Geological Engineering program. We moved here from Fairbanks, AK in 2009, so that Josh could attend graduate school here. For a year I worked at a variety of places, including a jewelry store, JCPenney, and a locally owned tax and accounting firm. I made a return to school largely because I was tired of working retail and IT, and longed to get back into the scientific realm. I have discovered this is poor motivation for earning a graduate degree; however, I do enjoy it more than the extreme dissatisfaction I was experiencing as an IT person at the accounting & tax firm. This last semester, I multitasked as I worked part-time at the tax firm, served as an assistant volleyball coach for Rapid City Christian, helped head up the children's ministry at church, attended school, and TA'd chemistry. This coming semester I originally planned to work part-time at the tax firm and attend school the rest of the time. It isn't looking like it will be quite that easy. The best thing that has come from attending school here is the internship that I landed with Barrick, a large international mining company. I will be in Nevada from May-August, working in a gold mine. Josh will remain in Rapid City to finish research & writing his thesis.

There is so much more to be said about struggles with academia, church, and life ... but perhaps now is not the time or the place. The best, and perhaps only, thing for me to be doing these days is spending time on my knees in prayer, bowing down and surrendering my life to a merciful God.

Softball Season is Back!

Game 1: 10-11, Loss
Game 2: 12-6, Win!

We had a brisk and breezy evening tonight to kick off the 2010 softball season. I am playing on a team with my current workplace, Casey Peterson & Associates. 37 degrees plus a wind chill brought out the gloves and the hats for the whole team! We played a good pair of games and I think there is great potential for this to be a fabulous season. Go Team!

Driving the Alcan: pre-trip

After three long months copying and binding tax returns at a locally owned tax firm, I was ready for change of scenery and a little adventure! So when my good friend Julie sent out an invitation to drive the Alcan Highway, I jumped on the opportunity. I left Rapid City, SD at 6:00am MST on April 17th and landed in Fairbanks, AK at about 4:40pm AST, with only a short delay in Anchorage to slow me down.

I spent the weekend visiting with friends I had left when Josh and I moved south in August '09. Thanks to all of you for the meals and conversations! Your welcomes made me feel as if I had never left Alaska.

Julie also hosted a bon voyage BBQ at her cabin, with quality time at the bonfire as darkness crept in. Good food, conversation, and beer in the relative warmth of early spring before the mosquitoes have overrun the woods ....

I also have to include a picture of the moose in Rachel & Ben's backyard in North Pole ... wandering through without a care in the world!

After a quick but wonderful Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I headed over to Julie's cabin to prepare for the road journey.