Exploring

Since there isn't much to do up here until I get a job, I spent some time today exploring again. This time I scoured the other side of the park, walking along the lake beach and just checking everything out. There was a lot to see!

I did another composite image of the lake, but it is a little decieving. When I took the pictures I was standing on a penninsula, and had to turn in about 3/4ths of a circle to get all of the water. However, when I placed the images in a line the penninsula ended up looking more like a solid bank, when in fact it stretched back behind me and not out to my sides. Anyway, this is the best I could do; there are parts where you can't even see the other side of the lake so at least you get some idea of what it is like. Here is a bigger image: http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/4080/lakecomposite.jpg

Apparently Lake Sakakawea (which is the lake I'm living on) is the third largest man-made lake in the U.S., and it has a small population of a prehistoric fish called Paddlefish living in it. I doubt I'll ever catch one, but other people have, and this is what it looks like:

Even though I didn't see any fish like those today, I did see a lot of other animals. I first saw a deer, and then a bunch of ducks, some grouse and even a couple geese. Basically, everything I wish I would see while I was hunting. ;D There were also a huge amount of bugs, so many that they made a loud buzzing sound when I was walking near them. Mosquito season is not something I'm looking forward to this year, I'll tell you that much.

The funniest animal I saw was this strange little beach bird. It had sharp wings and spindily little legs, and it obviously knew I was there because it kept peeping like crazy and running away from me. Though, if it was trying to escape it wasn't doing a very good job. Every time I moved toward it is ran away, and every time I stopped moving it stopped too. I followed it down the beach for at least 15 minutes, until it finally took off and flew behind me. Unfortunately, the only image I was able to get of it was the one below; it's not that good but at least I got something!

After walking for a while I realized that there was a lot of driftwood that was on the beach! For a state that is severely lacking in trees, there were huge amounts of dried wood littered all over the place. There were even a few trees that had fallen and drifted over, and some petrified wood I picked up too. I can't think of a Minnesota beach I've seen with this much wood on it... it seems kind of wrong that this lake had so much of it. :o

And I'm not really sure what this is. It was sitting up on a pile of rocks, and there appears to be some wires running to a light on the top. Maybe a ghetto light house? I don't know.

Finally, after a good hour and a half or so, I decided it was time for me to head back to the trailer. I worked my way around some rocks and then was moving through a grassy area, when suddenly, about a foot in front of me, a grouse jumps up out of the weeds and scares the crap out of me! I almost passed right by, but then I leaned down to look where it had jumped out of, and what do I see? A nest full of eggs! There had to be at least 12 of them in there, all sort of small and greenish-blue colored. It was definitely a cool way to end my little adventure; I'm going to be checking back on the nest as the weeks go on I think.

So now I think I've sufficiently explored everything nearby! This should be my last big picture post for a while, unless I see something else really cool of course. Now you are all as familiar with where I am living as I am! There should be some more normal posts coming up, like further installments in Adventures in D&D and such. So far I've submitted applications for Walmart and a convenience store, and I'll probably submit more tomorrow, so I'll let you all know how that goes. Thanks for reading, it makes me feel like people care! :D

Where I'm Living

So, the place I am staying at is named after Lewis and Clark, apparently because they passed this way while exploring North America.  It's a pretty nice place for a little trailer park resort, with some nice trees and badlands hills.  Below I put together a few pictures I took; basically I walked up on top of a hill behind our little trailer and this is what I saw.  It's a lot more impressive in person, but, you know how it goes.  For a larger picture of this, click here: http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6690/landscapecomposite.jpg

Besides those neat little hilly areas, on the other side of the park there is a huge lake.  I walked down to the beach and took a few pictures; the first isn't all that impressive but the second shows a line of trees in the water.  Apparently the water has been really low for quite a few years and as such a bunch of trees started growing on the beach.  Well, the water has started to rise again and so the trees are getting covered.  :o

Here is one of the more surprising things I found was while I was walking around on some hills.  The grass and brush was pretty scrubby in this particular place, but I looked down at one point and what do I see?  A cactus!  It was wierd seeing a cactus in the middle of a bunch of grass so I had to take a picture.

Me and my dad went and explored today as well; I didn't get pictures of some of the cooler stuff (there was one road we went down that wound right between two huge badlands hills) but here are some images I did get to take:

This oil pump was particularily impressive, mostly because I've never seen one before in real life before.  My dad said that sometimes the pump went down miles and miles; pretty cool for such a simple-looking machine.

Another small thing that really impressed me was this huge chunk of petrified wood.  I thought it was just a normal piece of wood at first, but when I got close I realized it had crystals and was pretty rock-hard.  I guess this kind of stuff is common in this area.  Who knew?

Here is some sandstone.  It is a lot more brittle then it looks; more hills are behind it.

And finally, when I saw this gas station I just couldn't pass up taking a picture.  :)

Whelp, that's all for now!  I'm going to be doing more stuff with my dad tomorrow; I don't know if I'll have more pictures to share but maybe I will!  So far this place is really neat; the only downside is the fact that I don't get cellphone coverage, so texting and phone calls are pretty much impossible.  If any of you guys want to contact me, please come on skype or else e-mail me!  I'm going to try to be on MSN more often as well.  The only contact I'll have with you all is online, so please say hello and keep me company every once in a while!  I appreciate it.  :)

North Dakota

So after 4.5 hours of sleep and 10 hours of driving, I have officially made it to Williston, North Dakota!  I've never driven for so long, and doing it (basically) straight on so little sleep was a very interesting experience.  Luckily I didn't have many "sleepy" periods, and I had my parents and teh Chad to talk to me when things got boring.  I will say, I got pretty sore after 6 hours or so.  And driving with no one to keep you company kind of stinks.  I circled the town I'm in on the above map; as you can see it's nearly in Montana.  I rode on Intersate 94 for over 500 miles, and then turned on a road called 85 and rode that for another 100+ miles.  I will say, I'm happy to finally be done with it!

Anyway, now I'm going to go on a search for work!  There are a lot of places hiring so hopefully I'll get a good job somewhere and make some cash over the summer for school.  It'll be nice to spend time with my dad too; truth be told I care more about that then work anyway.

I took lots of pictures as I came up here, starting once I crossed into North Dakota.  Here is the sign that shows you are entering the state, followed by the bridge arch that comes right after the sign:

North Dakota, on a whole, was extremely boring.  It was nice and green, and there was cities and stuff, but it was so incrediblly flat!  The wind came whipping around like you wouldn't believe; huge Semi-trucks would be swishing all over the road and my little car was being pushed every which way.  After a while I got used to the resistance and didn't notice so much anymore, but at 80mph when a big gust slaps your car on the side it can be a little freaky.  Furthermore, I realized about 100 miles into the drive that I only had one squirt of windshield fluid left in my car, and so as I went the piles of dead bugs on the windshield got more and more distracting.  (That is what those little smudges in the pictures are; bug guts.)

So, as you can see, the drive was pretty much just a pile of flatness.  But then, suddenly, maybe about 7 hours in, I look to my side and what do I see?  A hill!  A glorious, non-flat, half-grassy half-dirt hill!  After miles and miles of endless nothing, I pretty much pooped myself in happiness.  (If you look closely, you can see the hill in the picture below):

After this things got a little more hilly; I finally turned off 94 and was making my way down 85.  Things were about the same as always, flat with a little hill here and there.  I came around a sharp corner, completely zoned out, and what I saw pretty much made me crap my pants.

Hills, everywhere!  Where did they come from?  More importantly, where were they for the earlier part of the trip!?  For about a half hour I was surrounded by the huge striped badland hills of North Dakota; you can't see it very well in my pictures but they stretched high up into the sky and low down below the road.  I've never seen anything quite like it and it made the rest of the trip worth it, to be honest.

Finally, after 10 hours on the road I pulled in to the trailer park where I will be staying.  My dad fixed up an old trailer for us to stay in and split it into two sections, one for me to sleep in and one for him to sleep in (because we most likely will have different schedules.)  My computer is set up on a wood table he built, my bed is a nice futon and all in all it's a pretty nice place.  We did find some old pot and meth stuff though... kind of wierd really.

So, that is about it!  I will be updating this blog as more things happen out here, and of course will keep updating with art and such.  For now, I'm off to relax.  Just sitting in one spot for 10 hours is more tiring then you'd think.

End of the Year, HUZZAH!

Packing up at the end of the year never is a very organized event for me.  I tyically gather everything that I don't need for my last few days, throw it into a pile, and gradually move that pile into my car.  This year is no different, though I do have to say I'm glad I won't be coming back to the dorms next year.  They're convenient and all, but the lack of personal space... no, scratch that, lack of ANY space is just a pain.  Plus, having roommates you're not familiar with is uncomfortable at best.  Though rooming with friends may bring it's own surprises, I will say having an apartment with my own room and more space will be much better then my experiences over the last couple years.  It should be more comfortable, more enjoyable... it'll be more like home.  :D  (Plus, I must say I am very excited for a kitchen that I don't have to walk five minutes to access, and not having to babysit the oven while my food cooks.)  >.<

On another note, I just finished with a huge art final and I'm glad to be done with it.  I had fourteen individual pieces drawn up for it, and so if you're a watcher of my deviantart account, be ready.  Though I'm not going to post all of the pictures here (because this blog is more for works in progress and such), I suppose I could give you all a sneak peak anyway.  :)

Thanks for reading guys!  I appreciate it.  :D