2019

   





 Scotland,   Antarctica,  Puffins and More,  Alaska,  Joshua Tree NP,

New Zealand,  Argentina,  East Africa,  Nepal,  SW--USA,  Svalbard,  Norway-Iceland,

Camino de Portugues,

this is all I am writing on 2019.

there will be more in 2020.

So, what happened in 2019

(don't know why some lettering is highlighted in white... 
if a photo caption is red, it means it is a link to a photo album)

 

During the winter my friends, Cindy and Caroline, and I did some xc skiing in Colorado as well as a rails to trails day in Wy.   We spent a a number of days (and nights) xc skiing at our local area, plus I taught skiing and snowboarding at Snowy Range on weekends.  Made  it to Steamboat for a few days as well.

 


















In March I participated in Congressional Visiting Days as a Future Leaders in Science Award recipient.  Graduate Students, Faculty, and other scientists in Agricultural fields spent a day training and then spent the next day talking to our Congressional Representatives (Senators and House members) about how important two projects in particular needed government financial support. It was a great experience about lobbying and how the Federal government works.
http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2019/02/uw-doctoral-student-receives-future-leader-in-science-honor.html 

in DC

I also spent a few extras days in DC visiting friends and went to the National Cathedral, the Zoo, and hit a few museums on the Mall.






 

I bought a new(er) car in March, a 2001 blue Honda Civic, yes, it is a manual--I love shifting gears as part of driving.  I finally donated my white Acura to the Sierra Club in October.  It had just under 310,000 miles, and I still miss it.  My new car is zippy though, and I do enjoy driving it.







In April I completed the Written portion of my doctoral prelim exams, I have still to finish off the Oral portion, at which time I will become ABD (all but dissertation) on my PhD in Soil Microbial Ecology.







Over Memorial Day weekend, we went from left to right overnight.

 
In June, I joined a couple friends to ski up Traver Peak, near Breckenridge, CO.  It was a really pretty day and we saw Mountain Goats!  There also a few exiting stream crossings on snow bridges, that all held up.

Traver Peak

 

Crow Creek

Also in June I did a bit of field work near Laramie:

Savage Run

 Cindy and I did a little recon hike to help the Forest Service plan for the summer trail maintenance.

Then July!  I spent a month in NE Europe.  A weekend or so in Copenhagen. Then two plus weeks in Finland, a week in Tallinn, Estonia, a weekend in Riga, Latvia, and finally the impetus for the trip, a few days in Visby, Sweden at my niece Katie's wedding. Each photo will take you to photos of that area/event.

Map of my Finland travels

In Finland, I was in Helsinki for a few days, including a day trip to Suomenlinna Island,  then I rented a car and traveled around the southern half of the country and visited 5 National Parks [Syote; Olanka; Riis; Hossa; Koli], went to the Eastern most point of the EU (Finland's border with Russia), and spent an evening watching Russian Brown bears that had been lured to Finland with salmon. In all, there were14 bears that showed up that evening.
I also stopped in a small town, Savonlina, that has a medieval castle that now functions as a world class opera house.  

Helsinki and Suomenlinna Island

Finnish - Russian border stakes

Syote National Park

Olanka National Park

 

Russian Brown Bears - in Finland

Hossa National Park

 

Riis National Park

Koli National Park

Savonlina

Tallinn and Riga

Finally, some photos of my niece's wedding in Visby, Sweden.

 

Katy and Jonathan in Visby

 

Winds with Pacifica

In August, a fellow researcher and I hiked into the Dinwoody Glacial Cirque, near Gannett Peak, in the Wind River Mountains and did some sampling of the glacier for microbes. 
While I was gone, I had new housemate move in, a MS student from Columbia working on birds and affiliated insects in Panama.

September had a fun event.  I was inducted into the New York State High School Girls Soccer Hall of Fame.  I visited a few friends along the way, hitting Ithaca, Clinton, Detroit, and Chicago and seeing some family at the ceremony.  Of course, the best part was being able to bring back fresh cider, maple syrup, apple salsa, maple sugar candies, Fluff and eat fresh cider donuts.

Soccer Hall of Fame

Later in  September, my friends Joe and Katrina invited me to join them for a weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I forgot my camera, though I do have a few cellphone (mine does not have a good camera) photos to share.

RMNP

October 28 was National Public Lands Day and I participated in the Run the Red.  Unfortunately, I was not feeling very strong, so walked a good portion of it.  But it was a nice weekend full of weather (sun, rain, sleet, hail, fog, more sun....) and scenic camping. 
 

Red Desert, Wyoming

December took me to Puerto Rico for a week.  I stayed in Luquillo, at the beach for most of it, then headed to Old San Juan for a day or so.  Did some running on the beach, played in the somewhat large waves, spent one day in El Yunque National Forest, and read a bunch of fun books.

Old San Juan

Luquillo

With the goal of trying to stay in shape, I have been playing a bit of ice hockey, an occasional evening of soccer, running, mt biking, hiking, commuting to work by bike, as well as the random trips to the gym for fitness or yoga classes and weight lifting; though it is all never enough.

I joined the University Women's Club Book Group and have been enjoying the monthly discussions about a book.



Finally, here are some photos of home, cat, chickens and landscape around Laramie and nearby mountains.

happy chicks in compost 😃

I hope that you have a terrific New Year and look forward to hearing from you if you would like to comment on any of my photos.

ET