Benternship July 6- DAY 7

This series documents a very special opportunity I had recently. I was accepted as an intern at a company in Oregon that provides naturalist-based guided tours in many different activities that travelers enjoy. All of the entries are taken directly from my makeshift journal, my camera, and my iPod video camera. Items in bold are not original to the journal, they have been added for clarity or reading enjoyment. You can decide which.

1:00 a.m. No work on 7/4- too festive. Great time at Jeff, Aaron, and Jake's...spent day (July 5) 9:45-5:45 at office. Introduced Dave to color breakouts on Google Calendar- he took to it right away which made me a bit nervous...hope whatever he uses is to his best advantage...wanted to do kayak trip with Joe or Jeremy but didn't seem appropriate at the time. Helped Dave at Costco (and got to talk business)...5k and then dinner with Jack at Deschutes Brewery. Tomorrow work 9-12 then to Tamolich at 12:30-5:00 or so with Dave. Excited to see him guide for the first time...should be an eye-opener.

Overall things seem to be going well, the ball is definitely in my court as to find what's next...

Being the owner of the company, I expected Dave to really know his natural world. The way he conducted himself in the office as an introverted individual was something that I expected to carry on into the outdoors. However, Dave had a wonderful way of engaging his audience ("oh, baby!") and getting them as excited about the outdoors as he is. I was truly honored to be working next to him on this outing as it was a special place for me anyway. The tours that his company does are typically in Central Oregon on the east side of the Cascade crest. Today however, we were on the west slope in the thick and heavy presence of Douglas Fir trees, Oregon Grape and Vine Maples. The McKenzie River roared along adjacent to our trail and I was continually impressed by Dave's understanding of what I consider to be my own backyard. This same trail is the one that my old Boy Scout Troop 318 and I hiked in 2008, just weeks before CTR and I wed.