I'm Ready To Go! Oh Wait...

So after my overnight to San Fran and car ride to Davis, I was extremely exhausted. But my life is all go-go-go and not sleep-sleep-sleep. I'm running on fumes at this point. What kept me going? The scenery changing from grass to sand to mountain tops. And then I get this email "Sorry, but your background check hasn't cleared and we can't have you start work yet."

Awesome.

Where am I right now? Sitting in a hotel in Kingman, Arizona. Two hours from Flagstaff. Two days before I was to start work. Maybe someone could have notified me about this before my road trip from Davis?

I can still move in, but I just can't work. I don't do so well with the sitting around part. I have an image of an airstream trailer a la 1960s style with no internet or cable...

I wonder what's taking so long with my check--I'm clean (ok two parking tickets). Honestly, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop this whole drive. Why? Because this isn't my life. Not really. In reality I'm a city girl who stays indoors most of the time and enjoys the television more than most things in life. I just keep waiting for things to go wrong, very optimistically of course.

I did get a chance to go out and get a real backpack for overnight hike trips. It was all very official. I tried on a few different color and styles, adjusted the straps, and declared some "too small," or "too awkward." It was the first time I really felt like this whole thing was really happening. (Keep in mind, this is before I was informed my background check was taking forever.)

I picked out a baby blue women's coyote style Kelty backpack that top loads and a cover that disconnects to form a fanny pack (how awesome would I be to rip apart my backpack and make a fanny pack out of it in public??). My mother eyed me skeptically, having never personally needed such gear, "Are you sure you need one that big?"

At that point, I launched into the hypothetical situations in which I would pack specific items. You see, I am slowly becoming an expert at gear having spent one whole week in the park service.

Shoes were next on the list. Out of the three they had with ankle support (something I was told I needed by a girl heading to study bears in Alaska), I picked the best ones with high hopes in mind for them.

Rounding out my list was my graduation gift from my brother:


It reads "Congratulations Bria-- May 2010" He got me the biggest, sharpest knife for survival in the Canyon. I love it, I just hope I'll never have to use it in the context it was given in (to fight mountain lions).

(I'll update this post with more pictures when I find my cord)