The Aftermath

I had an amazing trip and as much as I loved being on the road, I am looking forward to settling down for 9 months at home with my family and getting my MBA. I got burned out in Colorado being by myself but strangely enough, I was never lonely on the road. My biggest thank you's go out to Jess, Meris, Melissa, McKenzie, and Amy for making the time to see me and host me along the way. It was great to see familiar faces.
I just want to tell everyone to watch Ken Burns' documentary "National Parks: America's Best Idea" on PBS starting September 27. http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/
Most of my trip was devoted to the National Parks/Monuments/Battlefields/Historical sites, etc. They all have something to teach us about our past and I am so inspired by the people who saw the potential all across America for sites devoted to preserving our past in order to teach our future. A lot of people said my trip was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. I know for a fact I will be doing this again because I still have half the U.S. to see!

I had a week between moving home and moving into RIT and I thought I'd use it to relax and bop around New York but I spent the whole time cleaning and reorganizing my parents house. Maybe it's because I've been gone so long or maybe it's because my only home was a 9x9 tent the last 2 months but I loved throwing out old clutter and even getting a new entertainment center and chair. I somehow managed to sell our 25 year old wicker furniture in one day on craigslist for the price of $60. My Mom bought it brand new for $100! I did go to Conesus Lake one morning with Mom for a nice beachside break.
I also went to my cousin's house to help with hay and that was my favorite day. This is what I missed by being in Colorado: helping out family and knowing everyone around town. While Don raked the hay, Ted and I cleaned out in front of the barn and got the hay wagons out and ready. Then my Uncle Bill and I went up and mowed the hedgerow around the hay field. We needed gas by that point so we drove the tractor into town and after filling up he asked if I wanted to drive back. It was our town festival that day so I said no because it was too crowded. However, right after crossing the bridge out of town he jumped out of the seat and pointed for me to drive! I swerved quite severely at first to get used to the steering. We were going along quite fast and I didn't slow down enough for the turn so we coasted right on by and I had to stop and do a U-turn. Don and Ted had followed behind and were laughing at me. I had never driven that tractor before though in my defense. After replacing a pump, eating pizza and beer, hauling out two more wagons, and finding a flat tire, we got started. The kicker wasn't working so we had to walk along the wagon and pick the bales up off the ground. We made it two rounds like that before Jeff, Don and I were exhausted. Ted and Bill rigged up the kicker and switched out the wagons to a flatbed so we finally got a system down. We all alternated sitting in the borrowed tractor because it had air conditioning in it. Now the hard part began. We had to unload all the hay into the barn. I manned loading the elevator because I was always at the receiving end of the elevator and I did not want a guy throwing bales on one after the other. A few of Don and Ted's friends came over and we got it done pretty quick. It was amazing to work all day in the sun, sweating like a pig, using my muscles and exhausting myself. It reminded me of working on the ranch and how much I missed it.