Well we went camping (Nathan and I) at Crow Wing State Park. Got a late start but made it there with some daylight left. When we arrived and checked in we learned that, due to recent flooding and excess stagnant water, the mosquitoes had multiplied to threat level cloud. That's right, clouds of mosquitoes were everywhere, a thick fog of bloodsucking menaces. Got to the site, and (after applying as much DEET as we could get out of the cans) started attempting to assemble the giant 2 room tent. Unfortunately, the stakes were nowhere to be found, and the tent refused to go up without being staked down. So we got in the car and drove to the Walmart in Baxter and bought some fresh bug spray and some stakes. Back to the campsite and of course it's dark so we used the headlights from the car and got it set up. We may have made a fire, but I don't really remember.
On Saturday we slept in, then built up a fire. Breakfast/lunch (not brunch, we opted to rename it brench, for a more even distribution of the letters in each meal) was delicious cheesy hot dogs over the fire. We read for awhile (while digesting) and then attempted to go on a hike. We first headed down the steps to the Mississippi River, only to find the usual landing completely underwater. It was also extremely cloudy. As in, clouds of mosquitoes attacking our flesh. So we tried to hike down another trail but eventually gave up and headed back to camp. Unfortunately, with the lack of campfire smoke, the mosquitoes were intolerable at the campsite as well, so we jumped in the car and drove to the movie theater in Brainerd. I know, we were there for camping, but the bugs were just awful. The movie we decided to see wasn't playing for a few hours so we ended up taking an hour and a half hike on the Paul Bunyan State Trail (see - hiking!). We saw 7 garter snakes during our hike and I made us stop and take pictures of some of the pretty wildflowers growing alongside the trail. Got back and saw Prometheus - it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible either. Mostly it was just confusing, the plot went every which way and that made it hard to follow what was actually happening. Went back to the campsite and started up a fresh fire for pie iron pizzas (dinner!). Then just hung out, reading, stoking the fire, and eventually making smores until bedtime.
On Sunday we again slept in (I didn't think it was possible to do that while camping, but apparently my sleeping skills have grown tremendously) and had leftover hot dogs and pie iron pizzas for brench (that's right, I'm making it a thing). Read some more (good books!) and then made dessert pie irons (peanut butter, chocolate, and marshmallow for me, the same minus peanut butter plus graham cracker chunks for Nathan). Delicious. Eventually of course we had to pack up the camp and drive back to the cities.
The rest of this week has most just been long and painful. Mostly because last week was only a 3 day week for me with two vacations, and then a full week with not much to do at work. Enough of my whining. Monday was meeting at the Animal Humane Society and then dinner with Nathan (Bosco sticks!), Tuesday was strength training, Wednesday was WW (25lb total!) and dinner with Vicki and Sybylla at Fat Lorenzo's (so good). So I started this blog on Wednesday and am finishing it on Thursday (today). Nothing much happened today either, other than strength training again.
So in life news I've been working on my vet school applications. It's mostly through one common site (VMCAS) and it's pretty intense. It wants you to recall every activity you ever did from high school on, which is a bit difficult when it's been so long since high school (over 10 years since freshman year - I am so old...) So far I've managed to get two evaluators, but still need to get a couple more, plus at least one if not two vets. I'm planning to spend an afternoon with the vet from the VA and I'm hoping he'll be willing to write one for me. I'm also hoping that volunteering with Kindest Cut at the AHS (they spay/neuter animals at shelters) will put me in touch with another vet who may be willing to write one for me.
I think that's pretty much it for now, other than my statistics class is going well (working ahead a lot) and today I got an email from my physiology professor (taking it in the fall) who changed the textbook, meaning I had to resell the one I bought last month. On the plus side the new textbook is optional and I already managed to sell my old one for the same price I bought it for. Win?
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