Sea Lions

I'm not supposed to talk too much about exactly where I am and exactly what I'm doing, so I'll just say that there are more sea lions here than people.

It's rookery season and the pups were playing so far up the beach that I doubt they were much more than 35 yards from the road.

Well, here I am.

For anyone keeping track, I made it to Seattle.  I'll be here for three weeks of paid study and training.  It's free accomodations from here on out, and I live cheaply enough that I shouldn't run out of food-money before the checks start coming in.

If all goes well, it's off to Alaska after that.

Seattle Bound

After a physical, some CPR training, and some particularly absurd Passport shenanigans, I am finally northward bound.

Funny thing about the passport.  I was told I would need a federal ID in order to get inside a Federal building during training so as to get my new other federal ID.  In other words, I needed ID to get ID and a passport was about all that would cover it.

I was told this 3 weeks before I needed the passport.

Now, expidited passport services through the mail are 2 to 4 weeks, so this seemed risky.  Fortunately, there is passport agency building right in San Francisco. 

Unfortunately, they will only print you a passport if you have proof that you plan to leave the country within two weeks.  I called and asked if needing it for a federal job counted as needing it within 2 weeks, but the man on the phone informed me that only works if the job is taking me out of the country.

Two weeks later, and a week before I was supposed to depart, I was seized by the sudden urge to plan a trip to Canada.  So I booked a hotel in Vancouver, printed out the booking as proof of intent to travel, and called to make an appointment with the agency.

Turns out, I nearly missed the window.  I was within the two weeks time for intended travel, but they had no appointments until a week later.  Cutting it close like I always seem to do, I booked the appointment on the first day I could, which was also the last day it would do me any good.

There was some trouble with my booking, some trouble with my payment, and a whole host of other beaurocratic goings on.  After several quick talks with some supervisors and a few instances where they had me take my shoes off to make sure I wasn't dangerous, though, I finally got my passport.

A few hours later, I had to cancel my trip to Canada.  Turns out I can't be in two places at once, and I had booked the trip for the same day my training starts.

At least I can start my new job, though.  Speaking of which, I need to get back on the road.

City Park Plums

Still here, still studying for fisheries, still filling out the ridiculous amount of paperwork it takes to start this job.

But more importantly, I have discovered a plum tree that is big enough to climb:

Still a little bit tart, but I enjoy tart.  In a few days I'll be enjoying sweet.  :)

Alaska Bound.

At this exact moment I'm sitting on a park bench in North Berkeley.  I've just had a late morning coffee, so I'm in particular good spirits.  It's tilting towards noon, and, like always, I'm trying to get a bead on how I got here.

To sum up, I basically left Frederick because the thought of starting over again was a depressing one.

I aimed for San Francisco because of a wayward friend who told me that the work was good and plentiful, even if it meant sleeping rough.

I had a little bit of savings from my time at the brewery even after buying the van and fixing my teeth.

I had a fallback plan. A cousin out in Idaho would have come to find me if the money had run out, and he was fairly sure he could get me a job working the fracking rigs if I wanted it.

Now, I didn't really want to spend my days fracking.  It's a temporary solution to a permanent problem, but it was nice to know I wouldn't end up a beggar.  Still, it would have been an odd place for an environmental student to end up.

All that is no longer a worry, though.  I've officially been offered a spot as a fisheries biologist sailing the Bearing Straight and the Gulf of Alaska. 

It's not going to be easy by any stretch.  I had just enough biology credits to qualify, and I'm going to have to study pretty rigorously to pass the training.

The training is paid, but between renewing my passport, getting a physical, and picking up CPR certification, it's going to get a little bit expensive before I can even report for duty.

I've got a dozen people, though, who will float me a small loan if I need it.  I hate borrowing any money for any reason from anybody, but I should be able to squash my internal anxieties for a few weeks if I know I've the means to pay it off with my first paycheck.

I feel like I can handle the necessary studying.  After my 18-credits-of-Calc-and-physics semester I'm not too frightened by such things.

So begging of August I report to Seattle for training.  And if all goes well, somewhere around early November, I'll be shipping off for the North Pacific.

Mostly Just Pictures

Just a few shots of Wyoming taken from Mike W.'s pickup.  A few are from up above Powder Creek and in the Canyon there.  Also featured is Castle Rocks.

Here's one that Joy and Mike S. Showed me.  It's a pipe that has been encased in 40 years of minerals from a sulphur hot Spring:

And a few more shots of places where the sulfur water has  run nearby:

That's all for the recap for now.  Next post I'll probably be back to talking about where I'm at and where I'm headed next.

Stopping in Wyoming.

After Pittsburgh, my next stop (was actually to swing back to the farm to tie up loose ends and build a garden wall) was to visit the cousins in Wyoming.

Three days travel past the Minnesota hills
by the Mississippi and the great multitude of roadside stands that told me I was in South Dakota, and I made the cousins' place in Worlin.  There was a dusting of snow in the high pass in June up above Powder Creek and the locals told me it was nothing out of the ordinary.

I'm not sure how to express the level of support and encouragement that cousin Mike has always given me, this trip being no exception.  Of the 23 of us cousins, Mike is the oldest.  He and his wife Joy have been battered about a bit these last few years, going from hospital to hospital, and too often funeral to funeral.  They're both in fine health, but there's been a lot of mortal partings in the family the last few years and in Joy's family as well.

They hosted me for a week out that way in some beautiful country.  Joy gave me a tour of the Buffalo shop she's been doing leathwork for:

There were some Buffalo still on their feet as well:

And a raptor on his feet:

This happened too:

But I think it's more fun if I don't explain what was happening that led to so many riderless horses cutting through downtown.

I also got a few grand tours of the locality complete with in depth local histories about the early ranchers, the range wars, family doings from several generations back (involving ne'er-do-wells, train trips and severed heads) and the truth behind BrokeBack Mountain.  (For the record, it's actually BrokeBack Creek).

All this was orchestrated in large part by Joy's father (also named Mike) who is quite an entertaining man, to say the least.

Now if this crowd sounds familiar, it's probably because these are the same fine people I once met traveling by bike in the opposite direction.

Anyway, if you're still reading, you can expect the next post to also be about Wyoming, largely regarding hot springs and grand vistas.