Glacier National Park

Backcountry hiking! July 25-31st.

Night before hiking. Kalispell Brewing Company!

Best toilet view in the world

Brought the boys home some "ForestCraft"tee shirts and some huckleberry taffies and cocoa packets

Last night at home before hiking

I'm packed. 20 lbs, but feels like more. My back aches from trying it on; I'm in trouble!!

Ice cream for those that ate their dinner :)

Off to a week of fresh air and hiking.  I'll come back to my final month as an AmeriCorps member, my first month as a post-doc at ISU, and a meeting with the Iowa Food Coop Director of the Board before I start my part-time job in September as their new Distribution Coordinator. Change is on the horizon!

I am a sucker for this guy

El Rincon Catracho

Enjoying Honduran food with my lovely YVC co-facilitator, Jazmin.

Tajadas con Pollo

Youth Volunteer Corps camps

I facilitated three summer camps for our Youth Volunteer Corps of Des Moines group. The first was themed "Build a Better Future," and we did all sorts of hands-on activities, from turning an old Des Moines Register newspaper stand into a Free Little Library, to painting new stair treads for our basement stairway at Community Youth Concepts, to assembling and staining/painting six bat houses to be donated to Polk County Conservation. During the second week of camp ("Food, Hunger & Nutrition") we packaged 691 meals at Meals from the Heartland (which will feed over 4,000 people!), served lunch at a homeless shelter and toured their gardens, visited the Iowa Food Cooperative and learned about local food systems, watched and discussed documentaries on food production in the U.S., volunteered to spread wood chips around newly planted fruit trees at a community orchard, and assisted FoodCorps members with weeding and teaching elementary students some cooking lessons using fresh produce. Our last week was "The Great Outdoors," and in partnership with Polk County Conservation, we visited a different county park each day and learned about native landscapes, water quality and water quality testing, invasive species in our woodlands, and other great lessons. We then followed up with volunteer activities related to each educational component.

There were great moments and there were trying moments (such is live with teenagers I suppose). Here are some highlights:

20th h.s. Reunion

Thank goodness I have these great ladies still in my life to share it with.

20th H.S. Reunion

It was odd. But I spent it with four of my besties, so it was manageable. Not sure I would care to go to another in the future. But it was nice to be together for this, with those I love and care about, who have been for over 20 years and counting.