Last Day in Tennessee

     Today is my last day in Tennessee and home. It has been a fun and busy week at home. I have to say completely packing and unpacking twice in a two week period. I had to unpack all my college stuff and decide what percentage of that stuff I wanted to take with me. I am leaving about one-half to two-thirds of my college stuff at home.

     As a good college student, I procrastinated on buying a sleeping bag. I waited until this afternoon to make a decision on which bag to buy. I decided on a Eureka! Cimarron Mummy Bag. Since I am expecting to see temperatures in a very wide range from single digits to upper 50’s. I decided on a bag that would cover most that range at a reasonable cost. The Cimarron bag is rated for +15°F, weighs 4 lbs 1 oz, and is a hideous color. However the color does not affect the usefulness so it is irrelevant.

Trip Woes

     I never realized how much work went into planning any trip. I am having some slight issues with figuring out how I am going to drive across country and visit my best friend, Mammoth Cave National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park along the way.
     I finally figured out how to drive across country. I decided that I would rather have the extra day at home so I decide to skip visiting Mammoth Cave on this trip. Here is the plan:

• 06-May-10 – Visit Best Friend 
• 07-May-10 – Drive
• 08-May-10 –  Drive
• 09-May-10 – Drive
• 10-May-10 – Grand Tetons National Park
• 11-May-10 – Grand Tetons National Park
• 12-May-10 – Yellowstone National Park
• 13-May-10 – Yellowstone National Park
• 14-May-10 – Drive
• 15-May-10 – North Cascades National Park
• 16-May-10 - Arrive at Work

     Now the only problem, I face is packing my bags so I can drive across country. I am having serious trouble in deciding what I want to take and what I need to take. I have literally taken over a third of my parent’s house.
     Besides trouble packing, I have been having issues deciding on what sleeping bag, do I want. I am having issues balancing weight with the temperature rating. I think I have decided to go with a 15 or 20 degree bag depending on price.
     In other news, I finally got Verizon to send me a replacement phone. It only took four trips to the Verizon store and one phone call.

Getting the Job

     The first thing most people ask me when they find out about my job at Mount Rainier is how I got the job. Well the process is quite simple, I filled out an application. Ok, so what most people really meant when they ask how is how did I think of applying to work at a National Park. I am not sure when I got the idea, but I remember my mother suggesting that when looking for summer employment I should think about a National Park. So in January, I started to search for national park jobs. I found this website called Cool Works that compiled a list of various national park employment opportunity.
      It seemed like about half the parks in the country had employment opportunities, so I had to narrow my list of places to apply down to the bare minimum I had time to apply for.
     My list ended up including many parks I have been to and loved, a two I REALLY want to go to (Zion and Denali) and one that sounded interesting (Bryce Canyon).

• Denali
• Zion
• Glacier
• Yellowstone
• Yosemite
• Grand Teton
• Rainier  
• Olympia
• Bryce Canyon 

     I applied to all 9 of the parks. The applications were all similar so it didn’t take me too much time. Once I had submitted the applications all I could do was wait. It was a long wait. Early March, I got a call from my mother and she told me I got an interesting envelope. It was a job offer from Yellowstone National Park. I was super excited because at that point I had been turned down my both Denali and Glacier due to my availability. Both parks need people who can stay though September and I can’t due to UF starting school on August 23, 2010.
     At this point you are probably saying to yourself, I thought she said she was working in Mount Rainier. So about a week after I get the Yellowstone Job, I get a call from Mount Rainier guest services for a phone interview. The interview goes well and a few days later I get an official job offer. So now I have two possible summer jobs and a deciding to make. Needless to say it was not a easy decision that was based on numerous factors. In the end the pros of Mount Rainier outweighed the negatives, and I chose Mount Rainier.

Hiking Boots Adventure

     For this summer, I need new hiking boot. My old ones are really only suitable for day or overnight easy hiking, and this summer I plan to hike the Wonderland Trail (94 miles) and many of the other trails in Mount Rainier. On to the adventure, Gainesville lacks a good place to buy hiking boots, and the nearest REI store is located in Atlanta, GA (4 hours drive), and the nearest Gander Mountain is in Ocala, FL (1 hour drive). So on the way to my friends house in Orlando, I was going to stop and pick up some boots. This simple plan went wrong very quickly. The first issue was a wreck on I-75, so we took the back roads to Ocala. The next issue was finding Gander Mountain. According to their website, the store was located right off the interstate. It was, but it was hidden behind a couple of building and missing a sign by the road.
     Once in the store, my boot choices were quickly narrowed down to two boots:

• Timberland® Chocorua Trail-Hiking Boots
• Vasque® Boreas GTX Women's Hiking Boots  

     Both boots were light weight and water proof. They were the same style boot that provided ankle support. I decided on the Timberland boots, because they were slightly lighter and had a better fit. Also, while at Gander Mountain, I got hiking socks and liners.