**lip synchs to boyscout songs**

Hey friends!
      I guess I just posted 3 or 4 days ago but I'm about to go incognito for a while out in the wild so I wanted to share the rest of my adventure getting here because it was pretty swell. No pictures this time because google is out to get me so we need to work out our differences before I can post more photog. Even though this is supposed to be like... a picture blog. Thanks google.
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       After I left Santa Fe I just kind of drove north to see what would happen and ended up passing through Taos instead of camping there because I couldn't figure out how to get where I originally wanted to go without a high risk of wasting a lot of time and gas. I had been driving in the dark for a while trying to find a camp ground and decided to pull over on the side of the road to look at my map. This ancient old man walked up to my car and tapped on my window and I was expecting the worst because I was feeling a little frustrated about not being able to find a place but we got to talking and he told me his wife worked at Philmont 65 years ago and let me crash at his tiny beautiful little privately owned campsite for free for the night. People can be swell. I slept by a creek and it was incredibly relaxing. The moon seems so friggin big and ghostly when it's full and there isn't much light pollution. it was awesome!
     The next morning I got an early start and pulled over in Eagle's Nest for breakfast at a little biker diner. This couple from the panhandle who were on a motorcycle tour saw me waiting around for a table and invited me and this other solo fellow to sit with them. They were also incredibly nice and full of neat bike stories. Something about the mountains makes people so friendly ^_^
      I didn't have any bureaucracy issues with work when I got here which is amazing given the amount of paperwork I've had to mail in over the last few months. A lot could be said about what goes in to one day here and the layout of the ranch and all of the weird little idiosyncrasies I've been trying to hurriedly catch on to. It's difficult to attach the right stories and conversations to the right faces at the end of the day because there are so many! Almost everyone here has been here before as a scout or venture crew or employee but there are a few of us that haven't, and there are a few people that are happy to get me up to speed quickly. I feel like a little kid running around and asking a million questions. Things at Philmont: Cottonwoods, aspen, douglas fir, ponderosa pine,  ultimate frisbee, (I just watch.) pool, ice cream trips to cimarron, lots of walking around and lounging on lawns after training, lots of training, not a lot of hygiene, lots of gossip, vegetarian options at dinner!, breakfast at 6:30am, work pants that make me look like MC Hammer diesel edition, and lots of scout songs that I don't know the words to. Tomorrow morning is our first overnight with the entire Conservation dept. we're going to take a staff picture on top of a peak in the park. how hardcore! There is only me and one other girl on the work crew. I'm really hoping we end up on the same team (they are as of yet undecided) so as to offset what will otherwise be a very sausage filled summer. I'm feeling a little homesick but I better get over it because it's only day 3 :p

When you get to the top of a mountain keep climbing!

So many things have happened in the last two weeks. Never a dull moment with my friends. Saying goodbye to everyone was difficult and sad, but my adventure has started and I can't help but feel amazing about that. I hope that I don't end up feeling disappointed that my co-workers aren't my art-night quartet or Austin or San Antonio friends. Then again, maybe I will stay out of trouble if they aren't as cool as you guys. My partner in crime Stephanie is also logging her adventures and doing more with less... she's got a one-way ticket to Europe with a backpack so follow her blog too. It's therewasnowheretogobut.blogspot.com.



 



 

I couldn't leave town without some crazy setback, so in true Amanda fashion I managed to accidentally kick a machete while I was goofing off in Cassidy's backyard a week ago. 6 stitches and a broken toe later....
I'm just happy to be off of crutches and walking semi-normally again.

Exhibit A: Pre-toe massacre shenanigans

mom giving me stitches on the kitchen table like the boss that she is

My friend Spike is really good at spinning flaming num-chucks. I wore a helmet on my head because I can't walk 10 feet without hurting myself... unfortunately no helmets on my feet. (It is probably terribly annoying that some of my pictures are sideways. I can't figure out how to get 'em upright... anyone know?)

The night before I left San Antonio Kayla and I decided to go see Taylor Swift kind of spur of the moment, so THERE I SAID IT! We saw Taylor Swift live and it was awesome. Come at me, bro. I couldn't think of any other way to spend my last week with my friends except blowing up fireworks, climbing statues, kicking machetes, seeing Taylor, going for drives through the hill country, and just laying low and chatting until the wee hours.
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I got the ball rolling about 1:30pm on May 23rd. First stop- Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I hit some pretty bad rain two hours away from the park but it cleared up right before I pulled in, thankfully. putting up a tent in the rain is absolutely no fun. The sunset pulling in was unreal. A crazy huge red sun was setting on my left and El Capitan, the ancient once-was reef, was jutting out in the distance to mark where I was headed. I couldn't stop pulling over to take pictures. So many colors.








 Laura inadvertently saved the day with the snack bag she gave me before I left. I found a bag of ramen in it and used my nifty little hand made aluminum alcohol stove to heat up some water outside of my tent, otherwise I would have been on the cheez-it diet last night. I had great plans to play guitar and write all night but pretty much ate, reviewed some medical protocol in my WFA book, and passed out. I've become a little obsessed with reviewing what to do in any kind of crazy emergency situation. I don't know why, because I just stare in horror at the pictures in my books and gag a lot. I wish I could have stayed in the Guad Mtns a little bit longer. They are truly beautiful. Unfortunately, just a little informational mile long hike was all I could take on the busted paw this morning before I hit the dusty trail. 

I'm fairly certain I drove through purgatory this afternoon.

Don't ever drive through mid-NM for the scenery.

Probably the most boring 4 hours of my life. I'm in Santa Fe now, hoping to find somewheres to camp in one of the national forests surrounding me after I soak in the city for a little bit. My first day in Philmont is tomorrow morning. All I can hope for is friendly people and a clear head.

Let me know what is going on in your lives, friends. :)