Last one.

Well the summer is quickly coming to an end so this may be my last post.

After a week and a half of much-needed couch and TV time at my parents' I was excited to get back out West. My parents and I flew out to Denver on the morning of the 3rd.

We took the bus shuttle (free to students!) to Boulder and while my parents waited with all of our luggage I walked over to pick up my car. I was glad to see my car and I turned the corner, still parked where I left it a week and a half ago. I was even happier when it started. So far so good.

We stopped by my new apartment first and walked downtown (location, location!) to finally get some lunch. After a hardy lunch from Old Chicago my dad and I picked up my life from the storage unit and supplies to fix the AC in my car. A week long road-trip with barely working AC would not do.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the campus and downtown Boulder. My parents were impressed, I think. We crashed early at the hotel, both of them feeling the change in altitude.

Early next morning we were off to Rocky Mountain National Park. The ooooooh and aaaaaah did not stop the rest of the trip. Beautiful canyons and gorgeous mountainous landscapes. We drove the famous Trail Ridge Road (highest continuous, paved highway in the United States), had lunch by a beautiful lake, went for a hike and made it all the way to Laramie, WY by the end of the day. "What a cowboy town!"

Next morning's drive was not as exciting, as we made our way through Southwest Wyoming, but once we went a few hours North and could see the Gros Ventre Range things started to look up. We made it into Jackson, WY and drove into Grand Teton National Park.

One of my favorite parts of the park is that you don't see the mountains until you are driving through the park and take a turn around a butte. My parents were distracted, just having a conversation and just casually looking around the landscape as we were going around the butte. "Are you guys ready?", Confused silence. "Ready for wha..... WHOAH! LOOK AT THAT!" Made my day. The skies were clear so you could see the range in all of its glory.

We drove around, stopped by the visitor's center and went for a short hike. We stopped back in Jackson to celebrate my mom's birthday and then headed over the Teton Pass to our campsite. CAMPSITE. The first time my parents camped in over 30 years. They had a great attitude about it.

Over the night my parents had a visitor, a tiny mouse that must have gotten into the tent through a zipper that wasn't closed all the way. Otherwise, everything went smoothly.

We spent the next two days exploring Yellowstone by car and foot. We pretty much hit all the major attraction points along the roads, saw pronghorn, a coyote, tons of bison (to my parents' delight), moose and of course elk. No bears or wolves, sadly. By the end of the second day we made it to Bozeman. My favorite!

Unfortunately, this is where things went wrong. My dad's back started acting up really bad. We decided that to keep going as planned would be impossible and that they should get back to CT as soon as possible. So we changed our tickets and hotel reservations and the next day made the 10+ hour drive back to Denver.

So sad, we were just getting to the best part - we were going to go into Glacier the next day. And see more of Montana, which was my biggest point for this whole trip. But there is always next time I guess.

The day my parents left I got the best news of them all - my original advisor managed to find funding for me afterall! Diatoms and potentially Antarctica are a go! I will be a student this fall. I can't even describe how big of a relief that is. And I got this e-mail after I spent most of the day applying for jobs in Boulder.

And now I am unpacked and all set up. I found cheap/free furniture for my room and got organized.

This coming week I have a friend coming to visit, so there will be hiking and climbing on the menu. And the week after that orientation and such things start. Life is about to get busy.

A week and a half at home.

My time in New England is almost up. I've pretty much spent a week and a half on the couch at my parents'. So lazy.

I've had a few memorable moments here though. It happened. I had the ultimate hometown experience - running into the first boy I ever kissed at the grocery store. First we made eye contact in the parking lot when I was walking towards the store and he was driving. The recognizing look. Then in the store I almost dove into the nearest aisle just to avoid an actual face-to-face encounter. Phew.

Crisis avoided.

I went hiking at the nearby Sleeping Giant State Park. My friend Ktina and I have hiked there so many times, taking the hardest trail East across the park and the second hardest trail back. I took the hard, blue trail again, remembering all the times I've been there. The first 0.5 miles of that trail is still the steepest trail I've ever hiked. It was so humid and hot I was soaked within 15 minutes. My plan was to hike across the whole park and come back on the white trail, but a thunderstorm had different ideas. Upon reaching the tower in the middle of the park I was forced to turn back and run down the easy trail to the parking lot.

I spent a day running errands around nearby towns. So many memories in so many places. I broke into laughter just thinking of some adventures, people I used to hang out with and various troubles we'd get into. It was all so long ago. Or so it seems.

The situation with school is still very much in limbo. I wait patiently for an e-mail or a phone call, while casually browsing jobs on craigslist.

C'est la vie.

Tomorrow I get back to the mountains! Road trip with parents begins.