the tragedy of lake mead

We are making our way from Los Angeles to Chicago right now and we've decided to take a few detours and see the sights. One of which was supposed to be the man-made wonder that is Lake Mead Recreation Park. Unfortunately, we drove all the way down the boat launch and still weren't in the water, even though the GPS had us placed squarely in the blue.

Global warming at work I suppose, or perhaps just mankinds folly in thinking that they can divert a river and make it into a lake all in the middle of the desert. And we wonder why we have ecological problems throughout this country. Next thing you know, they're going to want to divert all of the fresh water from Lake Michigan to the water starved metropolises out West. I say NO! go live somewhere that water doesn't evaporate year round.

That's my thought anyway. Well, onto Zion National Park.

The Return

I am officially back in Chicago. And the only word for how I'm feeling right now is surreal. I'd like to go back to Germany please. Or at least go on vacation. Somehow I don't think my three week trip to El Salvador is going to come soon enough.

Last Day of Work

Well, that's that. Yesterday I finished up with work and am just about to embark on the madness of packing up my life here in Frankfurt. It's hard to believe that it's all over actually. I have one week of packing madness here and then many weeks of unpacking madness complimented by my dad's own unique brand of insanity. Here's hoping I stay sane through it all.

It's been a remarkable experience here in Frankfurt. In fact, I enjoyed this job more in the last year and a half than I have in a very long time. It's definitely due in no small part to the people that I had the opportunity to work with. Right to the end they managed to exceed all of my expectations whether it was taking extra time to be thoughtful about my review and how I could build on my experiences to giving me a leaving do that was more than almost anything I could have hoped for complete with my very own Schultutte (first day of school dealy) and a map where I could pin all of my travels in the last year.

More than anything, I feel like I'm leaving this job, this office actually, with new friends that I'll have drifting in and out of my life for a long, long time. I'm very lucky that way.

So, onto the packing madness I suppose.

Lost in the UK: Surfing Devon

Ever have one of those trips where even if the conditions aren't exactly perfect it's still fantastic? This would be one of those trips. I have to say, despite the forecast, the waves are pretty crap. With my luck they'll smooth out on Monday when I'm back in Frankfurt for my VERY LAST DAY. Whoohoo!

Anyhow, crappy waves aside, the trip is pretty fantastic. Great girls, great food. Even some good music. We heard a band on Friday night called Scaramoose. Totally local, and with a kind of Jack Johnson/Ben Harper sound to them.

So it's been such a trip to far. I arrived on Thursday, Kerry gave me ENDLESS crap about my board bag. Which is a lovely board bag, if you have 3 boards which I do not. Anyway, we manhandled the sucker into the car and headed to her house. Our 5am start time didn't pan out quite how we had hoped, but we still managed to get onto the road by about 6am and we missed ALL Of the Glastonbury traffic somehow and even squeezed in a quick session before the other girls arrived.

It has been incredibly windy so far. So bad in fact that the other girls tried to put up their tent and one of the tent poles BROKE! Can you believe it? Crap tent if you ask me, but anyway, they've managed to swing themselves a camper that has heat and a real shower in it so I suppose we're making out well in the end. Kerry and I are actually camping which is great. Wake up to the birds calling and the waves breaking. And when you step outside the tent you can do a surf check right on Croyde Bay right then and there. Absolutely lovely. And there are two other breaks that we've been surfing as well, Putsborough Sands and Saunton Beach. The surf culture here in North Devon is truly amazing. There are surf boards and surf shops everywhere. When picturing the dream world of surfing, it's always been SoCal or Hawaii that really pop into my head, but man are they hardcore here. And they have so many places to go. Incredible.

Anyhow, I'm so glad I was able to squeeze this in before I leave Europe. Hopefully I'll be able to find more opportunities to travel with her even when I'm back in the States. . . .

Euro Cup 2008: Germany wins!!!

Amazing! Germany has won a spot in the Euro cup finals. I can't believe it! Not that they played particularly well against Turkey, but man! They won!! There are car horns going off everywhere tonight it's like the entire city has come out to celebrate!

Go Deutschland!