I arrive!

5/23/2007

The flight from Chicago was interesting. I was stuck in the back of the plane in the center seat between a man who was probably in his thirties that must have consumed an entire bag of lifesavers during the flight (he just kept on popping them into his mouth, finishing them off with a crunch), and an older man who was trying to finish reading Rob Roy but fell asleep every two paragraphs and would wake up when he began snoring violently. So I passed the four hours listening to my iPod, while watching the video from the movie being shown, Bridge to Terebithia, doing a crossword (I hate sudoku.) and attempting to sleep. I arrived in Portland, than ran around like a crazy person, claming my bags, then rechecking them for my small turbo prop flight to Klamath Falls.
I arrived in Klamath falls at about 10:00, local time… 1 am in Boston. So I was tired. But my ride was there, Kent, so we took off. Stopped in some national forest, I don’t remember the name of, and slept on cots under the stars. It was a cold night. We woke up early, then took off for Lakeview so I could get groceries.
I just have to say that the people here are definitely different. Everyone is warm and welcoming, always asking you questions about how you’re doing, if you need help, etc. I found that in the airport in Portland, on the flight (from 2 random people who offered to give me rides/ take me out to lunch when I was in town), Klamath Falls, and then in the grocery store. It was kind of confusing. I guess I know why people think that East coasters are a bit cold now. Everyone is always super friendly, and frankly, it kind of freaks me out at times.
After the Lakeview trip we kept on, stopping in the town of Adel Oregon, which consisted of a gas station, a post office, a few trailers and small homes, and a general store/ restaurant that serves only one entrée per day. All located on about 1 acre of land. The center of town. Insane. We waited around for the postmaster Robyn to arrive. When she did she invited us into her office while we waited for the packages to arrive and proceeded to show us her calendar of naked middle aged men. Mr. May stood under an oak and held a strategically placed box of nuts. The caption read “Nuts for you…”

So here’s my mailing address: PO box 93
Adel OR, 97620

I arrived a few hours later at Little Sheldon, the stone house located behind Bald Mountain in Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. After unpacking a bit I set out to exploring and found an awesome rock outcrop located about 1500 feet from the house. I pulled out my climbing shoes and did some bouldering. I knew I brought them for a reason. I met my other coworkers, Matt, Justin, Monica, and Jason. Then took some time to sit out on the front steps in the sun and watch the Beldings Ground squirrels run around. My boss Aaron arrived later in the evening. Tomorrow the work starts.

~me