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.

Benternship July 3- DAY 4

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.

7:00 a.m. Slept ok. Up earlier and very sunny through rain fly. Rained on and off last night. Looking forward to abated dust.

10:45 p.m. Didn't abate much though...did grunt work for Dave- fixed POS (point of sale, not piece of...) machine through BofA merchant services. Four calls at :15 minutes each = one hour! Ran a 5k and went to get new book- Collapse by Jared Diamond. Sampled beer at Silver Moon (video to supplement this) with crappy baked fries with gorganzola cheese. No shower as Jack had offered. He was at a baseball game and never called (found out later that this was b/c he had text messaged me and I don't get texts- bummer!)...stinky tomorrow I guess. Paddle first thing at 8:15 then database with Megan. Sure wish CTR was here.

LOTS OF CUSSING IN THIS VIDEO. I apologize but I'm not G rated when I've had a few beers :)


PS- The Snake Bite Porter is what I'm referencing in the video. Here's the webpage with more info.

*And I totally misused the word "acquiesce" in my video...didn't know what it meant until I returned home to make this post!*

Benternship July 2- DAY 3

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.

12:20 a.m. This morning seems so long ago...Dave, James & Jack were all great to meet. Very kind and Jack was very knowledgeable and a good storyteller. Hung out in office for about four hours; left to go run a 5k on the Deschutes River (!), grocery shop, and set up tent. Dinner was sandwiches and chips/salsa. Back to WLT warehouse @ 7:15 for a starlight canoe tour at Sparks Lake (that's three new lakes in two days for those of you keeping track) with Jack. Four gals (two stayed in van because it was too cold/wet for them). All was great 'til we were back at the lot when one of them fell as I helped her out of the van...I literally feel sick about it. Off to bed now- no beer :(