Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. ~Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

My A/C just broke and I leave on Thursday.   

God's way of making me really appreciate the colder climate of the Bay.

Holler

So-  I've been home for a little while, but was super busy! I left the ranch on the 17th, drove to Pocatello to see my dear friend Ellen and her beautiful family. She convinced me to stay 2 nights, to torture me with a kettle bell class (I think I'm STILL sore!) and then go out boating with her niece and her family. 

Here's me, Ellen, and Brig.

 Here is Brig being 3.

 I am seriously tempted to make this larger and put it on my door. 

 

 Sunset on the reservoir. Thank goodness Mercedes' baby needed to be fed or else I would have had to get in that freezing water! Also made me realize I've missed my little peanuts in the hospital : (

Ellen I missed you! I'm so glad you forced me to stay longer!

I then went through Colorado and stayed a night with my Uncle Marc and Aunt Pam in Albuquerque. They brought me to the place they always get the Thanksgiving pecan pies - soooooo delish!  http://www.yelp.com/biz/flying-star-albuquerque

Driving through Las Cruces, I saw my Aunt Brenda in her classroom at the high school she teaches at. Then through Tucson where I met up with Breena-Moo. I don't know why nicknames stick (in my mind) like they do. Pegah Custards, Virna-magoo, Minky Boodle (that's my dog Lucky's nickname). All I can say is WEIRD.

Speaking of Virna, I got to see her, Lolo and Duena for dinner while I was home at Aunt Chilada's. I just love the name. So clever.

Awwww. I felt a little left out of the blond hair-brigade, but that changed the next day. :)

Took me a while to get used to, but I like it now. 

This weekend was the last one I was going to be in town - Saturday my mom and I went to stock up on stuff at Costco (and ate yummy hot dogs), then went to see The Help. If you see only one movie this summer, it should be that one. It was amazing. Then Sunday my Mama and I went to church, had brunch, and did a little shopping at Ulta :)

I'm so excited for San Fran! My place will be in the Marina Cove area - very close to the Bay Bridge and the Fisherman's Warf. If you're bored this fall and need a vacay, come visit!

Now I need to stop procrastinating and get my packing done. I'll be renting out my place so I have to pack up all of my clothes and shoes and stuff. I'm not really surprised by the amount of stuff I have, just a little overwhelmed with this process. Have you seen my closet?

                                                                             Wish me luck!

Out in the Wild

I was lucky enough to be put on a trip the third week of girls season and it was SO fun! We left bright and early on a Sunday morning to the trail head where we watched our cowboys (legit ones) pack the mules with our stuff. My friends Jackie and Julie (below) were the other staff members on the trip, and we were able to help get the horses ready for the girls.

This handsome steed is Curly, my half (or quarter?) Draft horse. He is ginormous.

He was kind of a bully. Got in a fight with another horse right before we left. Literally kicked it in the butt. The ride in to our campsite took about 3 hours. 

I took the back to keep an eye on the girls and take lots of photos. Unfortunately I also got most of the dust from the trail up my nose as well, but whatever.

The view of the Tetons five minutes into our ride. 

[Fake Tour Guide]: On your right you'll see the Buffalo Fork River. Watch your horse so you both don't plummet down the steep incline to your demise.

Down by the river is where we (finally) had lunch at around 1:30 and I learned how to use the iodine pills for the first time. They don't taste too bad, in case you're wondering. The water at camp is well-water with lots of, shall we say, minerals, that love to turn your white clothes orange and the water taste like blood.

 We spent the night in our lovely camp...

This is the food tent, where our lovely trail cook Ellie prepared deliciousness for all of us.

This is the tent we slept in. See that white jacket there at the end? That's where I slept. It got to around 35 degrees one night - and let me take full advantage of using my new wool long johns! Yay!

The view of the meadow from our campfire pit. It really was gorgeous there.

The next morning we got up early, had breakfast and then went on a day hike. Now when I say day, I mean the WHOLE day. 7 hours. 

Counselor Julie and I after we crossed the river. Our trip leader Razz (real name Alex Razzolini but it confuses us when people call him Alex) was waiting with camera in hand to catch one of the girls falling in but Ha! We didn't. Surprisingly...

I did not mind being in back - these girls have been on 4-6 day backpacks and could hike all day long. 

More to come later - it took forever to get the pictures to upload and there's so much more to show you!

TB Takeover/Supervillains Beware

Top Hand; Teton Valley - very artistic!

The summer is almost over! I can't believe it! 

Gracie-Poo, one of our little overnight guests, dressed up as  a "random old man" for her campfire that night. 

 The trailblazer  (our oldest group in camp) girls have a tradition where they "take over" camp for a day. They run activities, do games, and plan dinner with a theme. This year the TBs did "superhero/supervillain night" and the place was decked out. The infirmary gals (minus Catie as she was on an overnighter with some artist campers) decided to do Powerpuff girls.

There were like four groups of Powerpuff girls. Surprising because the show hasn't been on since like 2004.

 One of the Trailblazer counselors Emmy told us we were the best threesome because we were committed. Hey if we're dressing up it's going to be a big deal. 

Oh yeah. Watch out. 

"My name's Buttercup, what's your story, sister?"

 Jess looking like quite the superhero in the intense Wyoming sky. 

Another Grace, who won the costume contest with her rendition of "Vector" the other villain in Despicable Me. Note the Piranha Gun made from her water bottles. You should've seen her fake gut. 

A Justin Bieber. Although I'm not sure whether she was going for superhero or villain.....

Check out this great sky! Oh and speaking of great pictures, I will be taking some very very soon.I was chosen to go on a pack trip, which means I will be out in the wilderness (more so than now) for 5 days, 4 nights. Going out to the campsite on horseback with legit cowboys and our trail cook Ellie. We do day rides, day hikes, chill out at the campsite and eat. I'm so excited! So wait for it, I'll post some wicked pics later!

Marvin

We had a visit from a local... Moose that is.  During breakfast, girls flew to the window to see it out on our playing field. I felt like I was on our Alaskan cruise and someone saw a whale.  Blow-horns, dogs, and our ranger vehicles were all necessary in moving him along. He was just a little guy (in moose-size, he still could've trampled all of us), and he really enjoyed camp. Then we all started talking like him in a Canadian accent. "For sure, eh. You bet these are the greatest willows around. Can I have some bacon?" 

Tuuuuesday

Tuesday was me and the other nurse Catie's day off - we dropped two girls off at the airport then went for a hike at Blacktail Butte (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacktail_Butte). It was a nice warm day, with great views and a nice workout. 

This is Catie and the start of our hike.

Not a horrible starting view, huh?

Purty.

WOW!

After our lovely hike and lunch at the top, we went to town for some errands. I actually got my passport pictures taken. In my hiking clothes. Covered in dirt and sweat. And that's the most I've ever felt like I belonged to the town of Jackson Hole. I kid you not. I don't really get the whole "don't smile" business in these new passport pictures though. I look like a terrorist. Maybe that's the point. I guess it's not very effective to be showing around dangerous people's pictures at airports with them looking like this:

After errands and a quick drive out to Teton Village (where everyone and their mom goes to ski in the winter - except for me. And my mom.) I shopped at a little place in town for jewelry. It's an illness, people. I can't help it. Then Catie was starving for dinner so we ate at Mountain High Pizza Pie. So good. Then THEN! I finally saw Harry Potter 7 Part 2!!!!! Best day of my life. Ok, I exaggerate but really, it was A.Maz.Ing.

It was funny we ran into some people we worked with at camp and ended up sitting with them. Which was great because I was able to share my Swedish Fish instead of eating them all by myself.
Unfortunately coming back to camp the Togwotee Pass closed (we were late by like 7 minutes), so we "slept" in the car until midnight when they let us through. Finally got to bed around 1:30. That was quite the day off!

Hey Girl, Hey

Girl's season is off to a great start - the girls can't even believe they've already been here a week. Sunday was their first rodeo, and they did so well!

Go Rob Bob!

Spotted: Gold cowboy boots. Notice the purple socks - this girl is fashion-forward!

So cute :) 

We also celebrated Christmas in July. Of course we did, we're Summer Camp. We take every opportunity to dress up in silly costumes. 

The infirmary's Christmas card photo:

Hope your 25th of July was as fun as ours! Use lots of sunscreen!!!