Sin City

LAS VEGAS, NV

Ah.

:D

Tied for my favorite stop of the trip (with Cooke City - yes, totally different ends of the spectrum).

OHMYGOODNESSITWASSOCOOLANDFUNDANDAWESOMEAND -

Exciting.

It was so lively. I've never EVER been to a big city like that. Ever. And being able to walk around, to experience the feelings, was unforgettable. We went walking down the strip at night.

So. Out-of-this-world.

Street preformers of all sorts (including one Alfred from America's Got Talent - contortionist) dotted the sidewalks, Mexicans handed out cards with their "merchandise" on them. They had a varitey - you want black or white? Ginger hair? Brown eyes? Short or tall?

...

Like I said - out of the this world.

What I also noticed, was the outrageuous amount of homeless people sitting on the fringes of the sidewalks, off to the dark side. Some held signs to try to earn money. Others didn't even seem capable of standing. It was... eye opening.

And while the flashing neon lights of every color blinded me, I couldn't help but see past it all. Past the glitz and glammor, the shiny and bright, to the gritty, dirty underbelly that is Las Vegas.

Sin City.

It's a dark ciy, really. Full of interesting characters. You'll never have a dull moment, I promise. (unless you stay in the hotel room all day, like SOMEONE I know)

And well, I fell in love with it.

Oh, and we went to Hoover Dam.

Blah.

Too hot.

Like, wayyyy too hot. 120 degrees hot. -_-

Dead Birds and Red Rocks

SALT LAKE, UT & BRYCE CANYON, UT - intertesting.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah was... well, it looked amazing. It smelled... like a lake. However, its shores were riddled with dead bird carcasses. I'm not talking a few. I'm talking - fifteen within a 10' square. There were sooooooo many, all in various stages of decomposition. Why? I HAVE NO IDEA!

I was all excited, because we traveled along this specific road just so I could see the famous lake, and then... I can't even hardly walk in the sand, let alone stick my feet in water like I had originally planned. -_-

What caused all those birds to die? WHAT'S IN THAT WATER?!

-

Anyway, we left there in a hurry. 'Twas exceptionally unsettling.

We made it to Bryce Canyon (which was better than the Grand Canyon, in my expert opinion). It was gorgeous - red rocks, crazy formations, Asian tourists looking at me like I'm the marvel - not the canyon.

What, have they never seen a firetruck-red haired girl with fuzzy green pants before?!

There was a surprising absence of handrails along the vast majority of the edge. Erm. And the ground was crumbly.

You best consider yourself lucky! It was so difficult to photograph when you're standing on one leg, dangling the other towards the edge, when you can feel the gravel sliding beneagth your other Converse clad foot... O_O

You're so lucky to have me. ;D

Yellowstone National Park, WY

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WY - Can I just say, B-E-A-UTIFUL?! It was utterly amazing. So much wildlife...

On the drive into the park, the winding road cuts through a dense forest, packed tightly with trees, some alive and vibrant, others dead with burn marks. Because the sad reality is, our national parks are dying. Forest fires have ravaged the ecosystem, destroying nearly everything. It's part of the life of the forest, I suppose. It's since picked up and grown more and more. :)

The trees just... stop. At once. Sweeping into a grassland full of all sorts o' critters! We saw our first buffalo of the trip, a lone male milling by the edge of the woods. (and took about a million pictures...) Reluctantly, we moved on, and then realized... buffalo are everywhere! We saw herds of thousands roaming, and even caught a glimpse of the deer and the antelope playing! ;)

There were several calves in the herds we encountered, and they were ADORABLE! *squeals* Just like little orange cattle~

The antelope mixed and mingled with the buffalos like the good friends they are. They were so common throughout the entire trip, I didn't even snap one photo of 'em...

We also ran into quite a few waterfalls (like ze photo below). Sadly, those were the only times I actually remembered to take pics. xD I was too engrossed with Yellowstone, I tell ya!

In addition to the waterfalls,it was HOT SPRINGS GALORE! Seriously. So. Many. Hot. Springs. Such a pleasant oder, though. Ah, sulfur~

On day two of our Yellowstone adventure, we saw a moose couple! To be young and in love...

And then, and then, and then... we saw the PETRIFIED WOOD! Which is about as exciting as it sounds... The really cool part about it, though, was the "tour guide". The little fox would walk up the trail a ways, wait for us to catch up, then walk a little farther, untill we reached the rock. It waited beside it until we were done, then lead us back down to our car. It was super cool!

So we're driving along, gawking at all the buffalo, thinking, "oh my gosh, many buffalo are there?!", and listening to my mum talk about how "all she wants to see is a bear". And by golly - we do! A mama black bear, to be precise. She got within 300 yards of us, then the park ranger said, "yo dogs, get in yo car. Dat bear gonna eat chu." (or something like that) So we did. A few hundred yards down from Mother Bear, was what all these slickers were a callin' "a wolf!!" They cried wolf. We believed them. 'Til we saw it. It was a COYOTE, PEOPLE! -_-" (we can pretend it was a wolf, I suppose, because one does not simply go to Yellowstone and exclaim about the coyote one saw, after all)

You see, my mother became "bear drunk", as I shall lovingly refer to it. Now she wanted to see a GRIZZLY bear. (we saw another black bear later on) She was ready for the big guns. Lo and behold, we saw one! Well, according to Mr. Park Ranger (who looked fairly educated on the matter), it was a Cinnamon Black Bear. So. It. Looked. Like. A. Grizzly. But it teases... :p Still coolio, though!

I was able to see the glorious blue springs Yellowstone is famous for, and heavens... photos can't do it justice. It was the most amazing shade of blue I'd ever seen.

And oh yeah, OLD FAITHFUL.
...
Not so grand, if I do say so myself. I was expecting so much more... But alas, I shall have to bear with it!

All in all, a great two days! I recommend visting Yellowstone if you're ever in the area. And DEFINETLY split it into two days. There's so much to cover!

Coolest Small Town in America

COOKE CITY, MONTANA - population 80, elevation 7,500 ft. Current temperature - 43°. And yes - it really is the coolest small town in America for 2012, as so named by Town and Country Magazine! It rightfully earns its title.

To get to this picturesque town, you must travel over the mountains, with terribly curvy roads, mind you. I was sick the entire day of traveling. -_- So I haven't much to say about the mountain commandeering.

As you approach, all you see is a small cluster of buildings rise from the forest. Cooke City consists of one road that goes straight through the town. All the buildings are made of log. A few ATVs zip around. There is one motel and several cabins. The snow covered mountains jut up on both sides, protecting the town - or maybe suffocating it? All you know is - very few people get to experience this.

The local grocery store is registered on the National Historic Buildings List. It was built in 1876.

There are a few restaurants. We ate at the local hotspot - Miner's Saloon. It had that feeling - the atmosphere - of a small town joint you only see in movies. They hold town meetings there and distribute the weekly Cooke City Newsletter. I picked up issue number 658.

The town itself is just... amazing. It's so unique. It makes me want to open up a B&B somewhere remote like this. I love it.

Mt.Rushmore & Devil's Tower

BLACK HILLS, SD & DEVIL'S TOWER, WY - First stop this morning was Mt.Rushmore, and it was extraordinary. Driving up the road that wound through the Black Hills was a great suspense builder, and that first glance at the presidents' sculptures had me hooked. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of pride - of patriotism - at the site. This was something that we, as Americans, regardless of color, gender, etc., could all relate to, could all be amazed with, and it was just... spectacular.

The history behind it consumed me completely. Just to hear about all it took to complete the massive work of art left me speechless.

Inside the gift shop, were handmade dreamcatchers Lakota people crafted. I bought a medicine wheel that will grant good luck wherever it is placed. :)

Also in the gift shop, I was approached by a fellow Weird Al Yankovic fan. I was wearing my Weird Al shirt, and this guy hobbles over to me and says "I just had to tell you that I love your shirt." Then, he promptly lifted up his hoodie, where he too wore a Weird Al shirt (Amish Paradise). Aside from the (exceptional) oddness of it, it was kinda cool. XD

Next stop was Crazy Horse National Monument. -_- Long story short - don't waste your money. Look at it from the road and you'll save $30.

Our final stop today was to Devil's Tower. Sadly, we did not see aliens. We did, however, see a magnificent natural formation. We spent hours hiking around and enjoying the sites. Very cool, and definitely worth the parking fee!!

The weird looks I get from people as I sit on the ground and hoist my feet in the air is priceless. Love it~

The Badlands

BADLANDS, SD - beautiful, breathtaking, amazing. It's really awe inspiring, and that's the honest-to-goodness truth. It's like - you can feel the magic as you walk along the cracked, bleached ground, as you touch the million-year-old rock formations...

The Native Americans say the Badlands are the bones of ancient storm spirits. They come alive at special times only, and battle like they did in ancient times.

The weather was actually pretty chilly this morning - enough for me to wear my jacket. Further into the day, it warmed up nicely. :)

About the "one foot in the picture" thing - have you any idea how difficult it is sit on the ground and raise both feet high enough to take a picture? Taking the picture is another thing entirely...

When I shot the first picture, I was perched on a tiny ledge with my foot over the edge. O_O

The Corn Palace

Mitchell, SD - The world's only CORN PALACE! First constructed in 1892, it is now rebuilt every year. The outside is covered entirely in corn (hence the name...). It's really not as grand as it seems. (it was basically just a giant gift shop inside) But still, I can cross it off my corn husk bucket list ~

Ready to GO!

As you can see, I'm all packed and ready to go. My sister - not so much. She forgot to leave clothes out, so she had to dig through (and pile out) her suitcase on top of mine!

Shummer Shchool

Oh summer school - the bane of my existence. ;) Okay, so not really. It's been pretty fun, see. During breaks from class, we all hunkered down in Garrett Daaahling's car.

Saturday is the official kickoff for my big trip! So expect real blog postings soon. ^-^

Until then... :D

School's Out for Summer~

Well boys and girls - school is officially out for the summer. And I've had Alice Cooper's song stuck in my head all day. I'd say this year was a success. I'm just glad for the break. Maybe my stress headaches will go on vacation, too?

Speaking of vacations - in approximately three weeks, I'll be going on vacation pretty much all over the northwesternish United States. Look out for photos of famous landmarks and my shoes soon!

A special goodbye to an equally special teacher, Mr. Gibson. He's moving to Alaska to teach. I wish him the best! He will be missed!

(Feet pictured belong to Kayli, Mr. Gibson, and me)

Pummill Math Relays 2012

'Twas a lovely day today - a day perfect for a math contest! Yes, yes - we here at dear old Conway high (a select few, at least) were chosen to attend the Pummill Math Relays. This year marks their 40th anniversary. Whoo, congrats! ;) We did... Uh, marvelous. Yes... Not really. We did terrible, actually. Buuut we looked good doing it! (see shoes in photos) The contest took place in the MSU campus. Being our curious selves, we embarked on a journey of epic proportions! (see giant bear and sewer cover in photos, also) Though we didn't place, we did enjoy ourselves. AND THE ANSWER WAS 44! NOT 80!! -_-"

 

 

 

 

Now that I'm back home, away from the smelly bus, prying eyes, and tiny phone keyboards, I can write a decent post!

 

So yeah, I did go to a math contest at a university. Which. Was. Awesomesauce.

 

/nerd

 

The test itself was outrageous. Gah! I don't want to talk about it!

 

But.

 

The downtime, in which the grading of said tests took place, was... another story.

 

Yeah.

 

We had to ENTIRE campus to explore, and by golly, did we ever! (I'm pretty sure we went into a bunch of places were weren't supposed to, but whatevs)

 

We sampled foods from the different restaurants in the food court, found a little coffee shop/wifi spot, and chatted for a while. Sat outside the dorms under a big shady tree and videotaped people as they passed by. Because. We. Could. (s'okay, I deleted the videos afterwards, I'm not that creepy!) We found a darkended room with a glow-in-the-dark mini golf course. Also, a room with ping pong tables.

 

They have everything.

 

Everything.





Science Contest

Waiting here at the science contest to hear the results. Wish me luck!

Update: Won first place! :D

 

 

 

I suppose I could write more, now that I have more time. So I think I will. ^_^

 

Well, I was competing in biology. Which was. Totes. Easy. I missed one question on the entire thing. Blew my competion out of the water. Like dynomite. BANG.

 

After the test, which took all of fifteen minutes, we had to wait for over two hours to hear the results. During which time I: a.) watched a movie b.) played with a bouncy ball c.) tied my shoe laces together d.) tied Josh's shoe laces together e.) started intently at the guy staring intently at me

 

Turns out, the guy staring intently at me, I knew. Kind of. Well, I knew of him. Never actually met/talked to him before. We were facebook friends at one point. My friend dated him briefly (before he realized he didn't actually like girls...). Anyway. He wanted to know who this one "really super cute and well defined guy in the salmon shirt" was, because "he's obvs. a homosexual". (imagine "homosexual" in this Southern accent with a lisp)

 

Yep.

 

Just your average science competition. ;D

Snowing!

It's snowing here at my humble adobe. :)

And oh how sweet it is.

No school, for starters. No tests I was supposed to take. No annoying "school friends".

Just me, my bed, and my computer. ^_^

I love the sound of snow. Or rather, the absence of sound as it snows. It's like you're being suffocated in silence, blanketed with no noise, consumed with -

You get the idea.

It's peaceful.

And I'm all for peace, man~