July 23rd

 Views of a huge spider web outside my uncle's house.

July 22nd

 The terrifying Medusa-duck on my grandma's porch, and a picture of a Foodle, my uncle's fun poodle.

July 20th

View out the window of the plane, heading down to Florida.

July 19th

Saw this sign in a bagel shop David and I visited. How true.

July 11th

I don't usually pay attention to the ads that pop up on the side of my screen...but sometimes one will catch my eye, and it's just too good not to share. I wonder if my last post about critters was what drew this ad to me...

July 10th

We visited our family friends the Novis today. They have lots of critters in their backyard. Here are bluejays, a squirrel, and a chipmunk.

July 9th

Today I climbed Mt. Monadnock for what must be the tenth (if not 11th or 12th) time. It was fun, and beautiful as always, and I was with some people who hadn't climbed it before...but I think I'm now ready to take on a new mountain. Thank you, Monadnock; it's been real.

The first photo is a picture of the summit taken from Bald Rock. The second photo is of John and the Molony brothers eating lunch on Bald Rock. Molony brought his rebel Confederate flag to use as a picnic blanket.

July 4th

Fun times at the fourth of July party! We went to Enders Falls for some swimming and ledge jumping, and hung around my house playing badminton, bocce, and croquet, as well as just sitting around and talking and eating and what-not.

July 3rd

Batman and Robin...Hood.

June 30th

I forget what I was trying to get a picture of, but I'm pretty sure it was a sign before this one...but this is all I got... It's still kinda pretty, the bright orange against the grey rain.

June 28th

 Biking! The trails become dirt in Westfield, MA. Later, David and I went to get a movie. This looked like a spin-off of Kung Fu Panda movie. I couldn't get the pic to upload straight in this blog, however....

June 21st

I had to go pick up John and David from Avon because they biked there are were too tired to bike back. John pointed out that many cars have silver moustaches, I saw a clothing store for unique women (such as ones with both arms on one side; you know how it is), and when we went to the Gran-Val Scoop, I saw a very blunt sign about the uses for rabbits, and John tried to feed his cell phone to numerous animals.

June 20th

Mogley hates vegetables. We gave him dinner, and he usually cleans his bowl, but tonight, this is what was left. He ate around every green bean, and even licked them clean, but would not eat them.

June 18th

I went biking wit John, and we came across this turtle in the middle of the trail. John said it was probably dead, but I thought it was alive, so I moved it to the side of the trail with a couple sticks. Sure enough, when we passed by on our way back, the turtle was gone, so it must've gotten up and walked away!

June 17th

For the internship, I had to read a book called Asking. The end of the books said the author lived in Northwestern CT, so I decided to send him a copy of my support letter, and included this note. Unfortunately, the letter was returned, with no forwarding address. I guess they moved; the book was written in 2002 or 2003, so it's very possible

June 16th

Went biking into Massachusetts today, through Southwick and Westfield. The trail goes through a short tunnel, and the walls have been painted with an underwater scene. It's really beautiful and neat. We rode to the Congamond boat dock, and saw a little terrifying snapping turtle, which my mom and aunt coaxed back to the shore--it had been heading for the highway. Lastly, in Westfield we came to the old railroad bridge. It was really cool and scary to cross. It's a shame it will probably be renovated someday like the one in East Granby. A convenient, safe, and helpful change, but a shame nonetheless.

June 15th

Many moths gathered at the Phelps entrance to the trails. Maybe they were eating or mating or something. Or maybe they were plotting to take over the world.

June 13th

View from high up Mountain Road in East Hartland.

June 10th

There were big storms the past couple days. This weeping willow fell in one of the yards on our street. The roots are very shallow, so the wind just ripped the whole tree right up. Realizing that a picture didn't capture just how huge this tree was without a reference, I got a picture of me standing at the roots. This tree was massive, and it even took another tree, a little pine, down with it!

June 9th

Hung out with Bryce and Marcia today. Bryce had wheat thins at his house, which were stoned. You can tell by the big red eye on the front, I guess.

June 8th

Rails for Trails is so beautiful! Above is a stretch of the trail in Massachusetts. Below is a picture of the new bridge in East Granby.

June 6th

I spent today with my David. You know how there are those round red balls outside of Target? Well, one of them had been covered with cloth to look like a beach ball. I was so amused.

June 4th

Traveling home from orientation. I'm counting this as a picture, even though it's a link. It's a link to a video, though, of the trip, so that counts. It certainly took enough effort. I had Marcia and Rachel as traveling companions for the majority of the trip, which was nice. We went to a Waffle House for breakfast, and a Sonic for lunch. Sonics are AMAZING!!!

CLICK FOR VIDEO! (I mean, if you want, you don't have to)

This video has been blocked in Germany. I think that's kinda cool. My video was BANNED in GERMANY! 

June 3rd

Burger King needs to work some things out with its burgers...

June 2nd

Last night of orientation. A bunch of us went out, and I saw this cell phone booth. Unfortunately, it was just for show, and I couldn't get inside of it. But it's still cool.

The second picture is of our hotel. I was wondering why there was an eerie green glow outside our window each night. I mean, I guess I still don't actually know why, but at least I see it wasn't just me.

June 1st

I am officially an RUF intern! Today begins my job, and I am now on the payroll. Woot! This is a picture of a perfect strawberry, as discovered by one of the girls I met here. I must say, it is rather beautiful.

May 31st

I'm staying in a hotel for RUF orientation, and I noticed the elevator has an extra button that says "Emergency Elevator Power". I'm really curious what this button is for, and what it will do. In case of fire, you're told never to use the elevator. I don't know what other types of emergency this may mean. Perhaps it makes the elevator zoom super fast right to you, so if you are being chased by someone, you can jump in and be safe. It becomes a SUPER ELEVATOR!

May 29th

I stayed the night at Marcia's to break up my trip into manageable parts. She showed me this amazing mural by a man who actually changed his name to Blue Sky. It is completely two dimensional, but it sure looks like you could walk right into it. Marcia said the sun lights up at night. He also created this giant fire hydrant, which is actually surrounded by a fountain. So awesome. He created a lot of artwork scattered around Columbia, SC.

May 28th

I went to my cousin's house, where the whole family on my dad's side was gathered. My dad is the one on the right in the first picture, with his two brothers. The second picture is of my four cousins, the children of my uncle at the left side of the first picture. I had such an awesome time.

May 26th

Today we hung out around the resort. Our afternoon was spent by the pool, where there was a lady doing airbrush tattoos. Steph and I decided we should get tattoos that would be out of character for us. I got a dragon on my shoulder blade, and she got barbed wire around her arm. We looked fierce. Unfortunately, the very next day we accidentally put sunscreen on them and they rubbed off. But the pictures remain!

We also went geocaching! You can find a video of our adventure here.