After leaving Mount Rushmore, I headed to Bozeman, MT to visit my friend Ryan. The scenery through the Black Hills was breathtaking so when I passed a sign for Devil’s Tower, I impulsively took the exit and followed the small road through the forest to our first national monument. I had the road almost completely to myself and the hour and half detour was completely worth it.

I stayed two nights in Bozeman because the cats and I needed a break from driving and I haven’t seen Ryan in almost seven years. Ryan had to work on Thursday so I spent the day wandering through downtown Bozeman. I found a coffee shop and worked a little, then hiked up Peet’s Hill for views of the city and the surrounding landscape. Bozeman is really a nice little town, a little bit like Champaign but better because its nestled in the mountains. I wonder if UIUC is such a good school because the professors there don’t have any distractions (ie. hiking, biking, fishing, skiing) and therefore work too much. We went on a hike to Grotto Falls just outside of town in the early evening, which was nice. There was a layer of clouds hanging over the mountains threatening rain which, coupled with the early evening lighting and the dense pine trees gave the trail a Twin Peaks kinds of feel.

Its another 11-12 hours to Portland from here. I’ll probably stop in Washington tomorrow night and finish the last 3 hours of the drive along the Columbia River Saturday morning. Jeff is in Texas so there’s no rush to get to Portland and I’m enjoying my laid back cross country drive.

Devil's Tower, Ryan and some deer, me at Grotto Falls

...and then there were two. First Cathy, now me. The grad school married ladies are slowly moving away :(

Its been a crazy week, from packing up the house and officially handing the keys over to the new owner to my many Champaign lasts and goodbyes. Honestly, its all rather sad and hard to write about because I'm leaving a wealth of good people to start fresh in Portland....but they did a good job making me feel loved on my last weekend and I am infinitely greatful for that. Now I'm on the road, driving to Portland with Rex and Dina. I'm sure I'll post random photos along the way.

Going away Party at Rachel's


Last day in the lab

Badlands and Mount Rushmore

I have a million things to do which means I really shouldn’t spend time blogging but things are happening so fast, I want to make sure I write them down so I remember it all. Amid all the chaos around moving to Portland a month earlier than expected, I’ve also been training for the No Gi Worlds. I decided to enter this tournament because after the Italy trip, all I had to do this summer was write my dissertation (there's some sarcasm in that statement). Jeff was in Portland already and I was pretty bored and lonely a lot of the time. I figured I could remember the summer as the summer of writing, boredom and loneliness, or I could remember it as the summer I trained for the No Gi Worlds….I guess its clear what I chose. Not only did it keep me distracted, but it reminded me what a great group of people I’ve been lucky enough to train with for the last several years and it got me in great shape. BTW, I came in second.

I also visited Portland last weekend (the one before the tournament) so Jeff and I could find an apartment. We rented a great place downtown in the Pearl District, there are pictures on Jeff’s flickr page if you’re curious….or just come visit us once we’re settled in and see it in person. Portland is a great city to live in and to visit. The only down side – we’re going from a 1,000 square foot house with a garage and full basement (ie. really 2,000 square feet) to an 800 square foot downtown apartment. We have WAY too much stuff. My junk fetish is genetic on both sides, from my dad and my mom’s father. I’m in awe of Craig’s list which has helped with the purge and earned us $300 in the process.

Stupid weather. Stupid ORD airport. Sleeping in the airport sucks...they ran out of cots and blankets, I'm freezing, my checked bag is being held hostage, the guy sleeping down the way is snoring. After an amazaing trip to Portland where Jeff and I found a great apartment with an awesome view located downtown in the Pearl District, bad weather in Chicago shut the airport down and I got stuck. Stupid weather. Stupid ORD airport.