Two more nights of work. It's hard to believe it's over already. Four weeks until I leave for Turkmenistan (that is, if they send me my plane tickets). Where has the time gone? I can hardly believe it's 2008, and even that is half over.
I just spent the last few weeks wandering around the southwest with my boyfriend for a much needed vacation. Of course it has only made the last week of work that much more difficult.
Mostly it was just nice to be in the desert again. To see thunderstorms from 100 miles away. To see thunderstorms at all for that matter. The cloud formations, sunsets, red rocks, Joshua trees, mountains and plains... Sure, northern California is beautiful, nothing can be so green, but after 8 years everything is starting to look the same. Then again, maybe it is because I haven't lived in the desert for 8 years that I feel everything there is so different.
Surprisingly everything was very green in Arizona and New Mexico as well. It must have been a wet summer. It did rain on us more than once. The class reunion was a bust. It's amazing how many people live in highschool. We've graduated, it's time to move on. Then again, many of them still live in Albuquerque. Of course, I thought I'd be there too. I'm still amazed at how much has changed in 10 years.
The next night we spent in Chimayo at the local B and B. I would have loved to have spent more time there, it was wonderful. I've never stayed anywhere so nice. Too bad the restaraunt was closed for the summer, because Rancho de Chimayo has the best New Mexican food ever. But from the balcony in our room we watched the orange-red sunset and a huge double rainbow, listened to the coyotes, smelled the fresh air after the rain. I told Karl I felt like an actual adult.
The rest of the week was spent at his parents house in Colorado. We took the long way from Chimayo, and I finally got to go to South Park. I would love to live there, in the middle of no where. It was especially weird meeting his parents, because they've known about me for almost a year now, but we had never met. So they knew, to an extent, what I was up to. But the whole family is very much alike, and must be taken in small doses. Nothing I couldn't handle, and am looking forward to the next time.
We were hoping to take the train up to Pike's Peak, but unfortunately on the day we chose, the mountain had disappeared behind the clouds. We went to some caves instead. What better way to spend a rainy afternoon than underground. Also, I have hauled my climbing gear all over the country and have yet had the chance to use it.
The drive back was relatively uneventful, but what should I have expected from Wyoming and Utah? Except that I had never been to Wyoming before. Salt Lake City has become surprisingly liberal, with advertisements for liqour and tattoo removal services, and a billboard for skin tight blue jeans. I can see why the "conservative" mormons have issues. Driving around Salt Lake smelled like Eureka. It reminded me of a book by Steinbeck, "Travels with Charlie" where he mentions being able to smell the Pacific Ocean all the way from Idaho. Maybe he was actually smelling the Great Salt Lake.
Now I am home, and overwhelmed by the tasks that lay before me. Or is it the huge pile of crap hiding the floor of my bedroom? Either way, it's hard to even remember everything that needs to be done. I need to sell my truck, pack everything, not just the stuff for the PC, get a hitch put on my car so I can rent a Uhaul, change my address, insurance, cell phones, student loans, let alone tell everyone good bye.
I've never done anything so big before. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't think I would feel so alone.
(Not you Karl. You have been very supportive. Thank you.)
