My Mailing Address in Portland

For anyone who is wondering/wanting to return correspondence:

Nevan Richard
1919 NE 73 Ave. Apt. 3
Portland, OR 97213

:-) ta ta for now

Following my Personal Legend

I have just a day left here in Boulder, WY, before I again take to the road to the West.

This time, I will have a traveller with me, the Mama Llama. She will accompany North and West through Yellowstone, Bozeman, MT, Glacier Natl. Park, through to Washington. However, to continue my personal journey, I will drive the whole way. I'm going to make the entire drive from East Coast to West. Don't tell her though, ssh.

My time here in Wyoming has been life changing. I've learned a lot about myself, about others, about the world, and of course about llamas. I arrived here expecting a small, small, small Western town with a main street and some horse hitches and little else. Instead, I found a pleasant, civilized ;-) community of hospitable, polite, and reasonable folk who did everything to welcome me into the West. I cannot thank them enough, and they will be terribly missed. I have physical souvenirs to always remind me of my time here in Boulder, but of course the memories are the ones that will last the longest.

As I prepare for my final day of work, I'm packing my clothes and belongings into bags and boxes. I am also in the process of finishing 2 books- On the Road by Kerouac and the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. OTR is a first time read, and contains language that is quite familiar to me, even if separated by time and culture. I love the way Jack capitalizes the W in West, as I do :-) It's not simply a direction to travel, it's a frontier to be explored, a world of unknown potential and adventure. The Alchemist was inspired by a dedication inside the cover written by a friend which makes mention of the boys travels and pursuit of his dreams. It is similarly akin to my train of mind currently, as I make ready to pick up and move again to an entirely new place and occupation.

The future is never certain, but I am certain that the adventures of the Llama Boy will continue in Portland, Oregon and be unexpected and thrilling. So shall they be recorded here, for your perusal as I see fit. So closes my final post from Boulder, Wyoming. Next time we talk, the tires'll be spinning and the setting sun at by back.

So long.

14 Days

14 days.
2 weeks.
The engine starts August 5th.

The third week leading up to these final 2 weeks has been largely spent alone at the llama ranch, as everyone else is out hiking/out and about. It's been an interesting week, including a Weeks Worth of new movies watched (see post below), the beginning of packing and cleaning of Llama Ranch Cabin D, and also the passing of my poor, dear Ima Bear :-(

It appears she had lymphoma, which for whatever reason decided to manifest in an ugly, pus-filled infection of her right third eyelid. Options were limited, and I decided to say goodbye. I've worked at a vet hospital, and seen many others pets off, but never one of my own. I didn't cry, but I certainly miss her. I suppose in teh grand scheme it was better for it to happen here at home, rather than on the road to Portland or in Portland. Perhaps some Portland pet-shelter could bear to part with a young, cute kitty, but until then...

Until then, the apartment and job searches continue. All I seem to have to go by is Craigslist :-\ which while a useful resource, doesn't seem as... legitimate? IDK. I've found some good leads on places to stay, but haven't really made any solid calls (they've all been answering machines up to this point.) Same with the job. Persistence is the key... It might appear, to the untrained eye, as if young Nevan may be growing up... Don't be fooled for a minute ;-)

Before then, there will be enjoyment and celebrating. The Boulder Olympics are fast approaching (what is it with me and organizing Olympic-events?) and should prove to allow me a solid chance to see most of my Why Oh friends together in slurred, joyous celebration... Maybe one more trip in the mountains? Not banking on it, but it'd be nice... Need to climb Freemont Butte... Need a rope (lasso for you East-coasters)... There's a Demolition Derby Saturday night I'd love to go see :-)... and other than that... just to enjoy my last couple weeks in the wide opens of Wyoming... for now.

Goodnight.

New Movie Week

Friday: Napoleon Dynamite: 7.5/10
Saturday: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2  7.8/10
Sunday: The Ghost and the Darkness, 7/10
Monday: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 8.5/10
Tuesday: The Philadelphia Story, 8.5/10
Wednesday: Jarhead, 7.5/10
Thursday: The Hurt Locker, 6/10

after thursday, I took a little break from movies and returned to reading and packing and org.ing the Boulder Olympics.
Still in Q: 500 Days of Summer, A Bridge Too Far, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

RE: The First Trip

Here is a photo album of my first journey up into the mountains. We went to Burnt Lake in the Winds . Again, it was only a short overnight trip, but def. a good intro to getting back into the outdoors and learning about camping etiquette/techniques. Enjoy!

Photos from the mountains

Hot Dog Eating Results

On July 4th, 2011, at roughly 1pm MT, I decided to try and eat 8 hot dogs as fast as possible, in honor of our nations greatness and replication of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition held earlier in the day. I managed to finish my 8 hot dogs in 6 minute, 5.85 seconds. Always a competitor, I am slightly disappointed in this result. After watching the tape (yes, I recorded it) I identified several factors that in the future could help me consume hot dogs faster. Here are the things I learned from my 4th of July self-challenge:

1. Just because you like a food doesn't mean you can't eat it indefinitely. I ate peanut butter sandwiches every day from Kindergarden to 5th grade, then didn't touch them again 'til Senior Year of HS. Same goes for hot dogs. There is always a threshold were something stops being tasty or yummy and becomes nauseating. I must keep this in mind for the upcoming gallon challenge.

2. Competitive eaters are athletes. I don't care what you say- they have trained their muscles and body to do impressive feats that normal people cannot. As I was progressing, my jaw began to feel fatigued, and I could not chew as fast as normal. My jaw was out of shape.

3. Again, unlike competitive eaters, I have not trained my stomach or throat to handle large pieces of food. So even though it feels more impressive to take large chunks of hot dogs, I am bound to chew it more into manageable bites. Therefore, I have deduced that quicker, smaller bites are the way to go.

4. Sitting down is not the way to go- it contracts the esophagus, making swallowing and food passage longer and more difficult. I sat down for the benefit of the camera, but next time I will set the stage a little better.

5. And finally: Don't worry about the time. Just get the job done.

The Eve of the First Trip

Tomorrow, I, Cathy, Kricket, Dan-the Llama folk- and 4 visitors from Ohio will venture out for the first guided trip of Highline Trail Llama's for the summer!

It will be just a brief, overnight excursion up into the Wind River Mountains, but I am so incredibly psyched for it! I spent at least 3 hours packing, unpacking, repacking, checking bag weights, aligning packed items for optimal distribution, etc., for some time now, obviously up into the early hours of the morning. That's ok, I'm use to working on little sleep :-)

Ah man... so excited. I was assigned my official HTL Gear today (2 panniers [special bags the llamas carry], a food tub, a tent, a sleeping mat, and my own mug!) and I started geeking out because it was actually happening.

For some time now, I've felt this draw to the outdoors and nature. I've talked about being a wildlife biologist, and loving the wild and all this jazz, but I hadn't really gotten to do much about it. Well, part of the reason I took this internship was becasue I'd get the chance to really get out there and live it. Real camping, hiking, everything... it's gonna be a blast. BE BACK LATE THURSDAY!!!

In what was hopefully a good omen prior to my first outing, I got to watch a moose cow and her young male calf (you can tell because he has a pure black nose) tromping around and grazing in the pond next to my house. I sat for an hour watching the two of them as the sun set- an evening well spent.