Memorial Day Weekend

Friday after work my friend Trish and I went to the gym to start working out. I think it went really well and we plan on going at least every other day. While I may be out of shape I think I know how to work out really well and my whole body was definitely hurting over the weekend.


Saturday Shane and I slept in a bit, and then headed out to the beaver ponds to go fishing. We hadn't been there yet, but it was beautiful and no other people were out there. I honestly had been getting tired of fishing because I hadn't caught anything since the beginning of the year when we were going ice fishing. But this weekend was apparently my lucky weekend, and I got probably ten in total. Who would have thought that fishing is actually fun when you are actually catching some ha. The weather eventually started turning for the worst so we headed home. Turns out, Laramie was actually under a tornado watch and we were fishing maybe twenty miles away from where a funnel cloud was spotted. Whoops. We didn't see anything except a funky looking cloud. We went home and just hung out the rest of the day.


Sunday we got up early again and went up to Lake Owen to fish as well. The weather was ok, but not as nice as Saturday. Poor Shane gave me all of his fishing luck once again. We ran into some people that Shane knew and ended up following them to their camp and hung out for a while. We then decided it would be a good idea (insert sarcasm here) to drive back to Laramie and pick up camping stuff and head back up to Lake Owen to stay the night with the group of people. It was so freaking cold and snowed a good portion of the evening with temperatures below freezing. We got tired early and went to set up our 2 man tent in the bed of his truck and we managed to forget the poles to set up the tent... so we had 2 big sleeping bags and slept in the bed of the truck under the stars with our 2 dogs as well. It was extremely uncomfortable and at one point even the dogs were shivering so we put them in the middle of us under the sleeping bags and they fell asleep. I surprisingly fell asleep as well, but woke up cold again around 4. We moved into the wall tent that had a fire in it which Shane started up, but for some reason we couldn't get the smoke to draft correctly and I kept thinking we were going to fall asleep and not wake up.. not fun. Finally fell asleep again, and woke up around 8 that morning. Shane wanted to hang around longer but I was over it and wanted to go home. Spent the rest of memorial day watching TV and cleaning. Not even the dogs got up more than a couple times.


Peru is starting to feel real. The only thing I can think of that I don't have yet to bring down is work pants. Hopefully going to Sierra Trading Post this weekend to take care of that. Nothing much else planned for the rest of the week. I keep forgetting that it isn't a Monday and it feels strange. Shane goes on call on Friday, and I may head down to Littleton for the weekend to celebrate three of my old neighbors graduating from high school/college, and to see Lynn and Nick one more time before I leave for Peru. My mom and her parents will be here in a couple weeks to see me, which I am excited for. Hopefully Shane will get the boat registered this week so we can actually take it out with the motor.

SNOW

Yep folks, it's May 19th and we officially have snow outside, yet again. Possibly the biggest snow flakes I have seen in a long time in fact. Days like these I am glad I work inside, and at a computer where I can constantly find things to do. I think going to Peru will be a bit of a shock to my system since I am so used to being inside and away from the elements.






Last week Shane and I bought a boat. Well, it's actually a four person rubber raft... but it is 10 feet long and we bought a trolling motor for it. It wasn't the best weather this past weekend, but we took it out for the first time. We took it to lake Hattie without the motor because we quickly found out that any watercraft with a motor has to be registered, and Game and Fish doesn't like to be open on the weekends. It was actually relatively easy to put together, as we bought an adapter to attach to Shane's truck so we don't have to pump it up by hand. I took the dogs on it as well... Bounty tried to jump out as soon as we pushed off from shore, and Hunter stood in my lap not knowing what was going on. It was easy to steer, and I really liked it. We are looking forward to taking it out with the motor however. Shane went to Game and Fish today to register our (raft) and found out just how annoying this process is. Apparently, a game warden has to physically access the raft and motor, and then gives us a number to take over to the county clerks office where we fill out paperwork to get a title (for a rubber raft I say again) which we then take back to the Game Wardens office where we get a little sticker that says all is well. It's pretty much like registering a stupid truck, for a RUBBER RAFT. Oh well, Shane and I agree that it is the best way to go until we can afford buying an actual boat.






It still feels unreal that I will be traveling to Peru next month. The only thing Claire and I haven't figured out is our hotel situation in Lima. I know the professors were just going to have us stay in a hostel those first few days, but we decided we prefer a hotel, especially with all of the luggage we will have with us. I also woke up to an email at 1am this morning from United saying our flight plans have changed a bit. Luckily not enough to mess anything up from us, but it definitely made my heart skip a beat, especially that early in the morning.






My brother Andrew officially moved to Fargo this weekend. I'm actually jealous of his apartment. I ended up getting him a bunch of stuff so that his place wouldn't be empty when he got there. My mom drove him up and helped him move in. I think he is going to have a blast up there. I know my mom was sad for him to go, but also stoked for him. She has her amazingly nice apartment back to herself which I know she will love. Andrew went to his new work for the first time today, so I am waiting to hear how that went. Lynn is home sick with a cold it sounds like. Probably gets it from all of the babysitting she does.






Nothing else new. My mom and her parents are coming out to visit me before I go to Peru. I am hoping they pick up some Wisconsin maple syrup before they come here, that stuff is delicious. Will be nice to see them, and to have my Grandparents finally meet Shane.

Monday

Another Monday is upon us. Well, physically it's Tuesday but for some reason my post didn't go through. Had a pretty boring weekend, couldn't do a whole lot because of the snow. It didn't snow much but it was just really cold. Shane and I were supposed to go turkey hunting but those plans changed. This weekend is our last chance to try and get one, so we will see how it goes. Saturday Shane spent most of the day over at his friends house learning how to smoke fish. The jerky turned out pretty well. I hung out at home and watched TV and cleaned house, which I actually enjoy. I met up with him and the dogs later that evening, where Hunter accidentally got too close to the outdoor heater and burned off the whiskers on the left side of his face. Poor little guy. His tail is also still recovering.

Everything for Peru is coming together. Finally purchased the Machu Picchu tickets through a travel agent, and have found most hotels and hostels that we will be staying in. I must say I am stoked to be flying first class, it's like I will be in my own little cubicle, will be able to lie flat to sleep and have constant complementary drink service.. haha. I went to Maurice's over the weekend to find some clothing to bring down there. I had to resist most of the comfy dresses since technically it will be winter while we are down there. Probably 50's to 60's, which I am already used to thanks to living in Wyoming for the past six years.

The next month and a half before I leave is full of plans and adventures. This weekend Shane and I are determined to get our turkeys. I'm sure we will go fishing as usual too. In a few weeks my Grandparents from Florida and mom are coming to visit before I take off. Will be interesting trying to find fun things to do, but I am looking forward to seeing them. Shane and I have tickets the weekend that I leave to see the Rockies play, and we are still trying to figure out where we will stay as we will have the dogs with us. I know for a fact leaving them in a hotel room would result in absolute disaster. Bounty would probably try and break through the window. He managed to tear a hole in every screen window in our house a few weeks ago. He had an upset tummy and the poor guy just wanted to get outside so bad.

Nothing much else planned for the rest of this week. Just have some more pictures to show off.

Hard to see, but his whiskers are all curly on the left side since he decided to step too close to a heater.