TGIF

To tell you the truth I really have no idea that it is Friday, you lose track of the days here. That and everyday seems to be the same anyway. All in all a great week: here is what I haven't mentioned yet.

Wednesday:
     Again it was one of those mornings where I went in and then was told to take the morning off. So Kourtney and I went on a hike to Observation Point. We took the trial that starts on the Zion Ponderosa property and is only 3.1 miles pretty flat, instead of 5 miles uphill from the park. If you come to visit me, you should have me take you on this hike, it is amazing. The view was beautiful, and you see more of Zion's National Park then you do from Angels Landing. 

     The afternoon was full of well nothing really. Kourtney and I went up to $5 the ATV trail to clear it of branches and such. But other then that, to tell you the truth I can't really remember. Wait, that's it, we moved pool chairs! Yep, we moved all the chairs and we aren't even in charge of the pool area! Thankfully after that we got to sweep up the relax. All in all, an easy day at the ranch.

Thursday:
     I thought that Wednesday was a slow day, nope Thursday was. Ton, Katie and I had to unload the truck that was left out in the snow. So we had wet golf cart seats and soaked cardboard boxes of clay pigeons. The only guests that came in that morning were friends of my supervisor Bryce. So we sent them down the zipline and then it was lunch time.
     The afternoon was even less busy then the morning, so it was of to trail maintenance. I got to see more trails then I've been on before. Which was great because I was able to get more experiences with different elements on the trails. All in all, a day of no guests.

Today, Friday:
     A real day off! Yet, because I can't get off the ranch with out a car, I was in the Rec Barn for the morning. Where I ended up helping out with a rock climber. Yep, I worked on my day off, but right now I really had not much else to do.
     No worries though, I relaxed in the afternoon. I started a movie and feel asleep, waking up in time for my massage. My roommate needed more practice with Hot Stone Massages, so I took up here offer to practice on me. And yes it was amazing! Though, I kind of wasted it by carrying a microwave back to our apartment. There was a whole microwave theft that went down, but that is a whole other story that I don't want to get into.

    Now I'm just sitting on the couch filling you in on my not so exciting life. So, if you read all this way I congratulate you. You are a true friend :)

Terrible Tuesday

Okay, let me start by saying that it wasn't a terrible day, I just like the alliteration. It was a rough day though, you will see that as I go on.

First, it started by me almost burning my eye out. My contact container had gotten knocked over last night somehow. But I figured that it had soaked for the 6 hours that it needed to, so I went to put the my right contact in. Then the burning pain in my eye began. It hurt!! A lot!! So I was resigned to wearing my glasses.

Then, you know it is going to be a good day when you come into the Rec Barn to be welcomed by a dirty bathroom and a half cleaned up vomit mess. I had the bathroom and Kourtney took the stairs (the "mess"), which I give here sainthood for. However, after the Barn smelled of bleach, we worked on cleaning up after the paintball games yesterday. I just have to say that those masks can be a pain in the behind to clean.

At eleven, a couple came in for an ATV ride. Since it was a slow day I was able to tag on with the group so that I could get more experience on the ATV. Let me just say that this was the point where I wished that I didn't have my glasses on. I got so much dirt in my eyes, but I still had a blast. Well until five minutes left in the ride when one of the guests got in an accident right in front of me. I won't go into details, but it remained me of how dangerous ATV riding can be. The guest is fine, just some scraps and bruises. However, it was quite the experience to go through.

The afternoon seemed to go much better, and the day picked up from there. I went out with a group for Skeet Shooting, and may I just say that it is hard to throw those clay pigeons at first. Yes we throw them manually with this weird contraption. Right at the end I tried it again and was able to succeed. From there we sat around the Rec Barn waiting for a job and eventually went out on trail maintenance. This time I has an pick axish tool, and may I just say that it is hard to hit the same spot every time.

On the way back from maintenance my thumb was pretty tired from all the ATVing. But no worries, I spent the evening watching disc 2 of season 1 of Glee. Yep that's right: Glee.

Well friends there is the summary of my not so terrible Tuesday.

Fake Out

So there is nothing like going to work in the morning, only to be sent back to your apartment for a half day off. Well that is what happened this morning. We have a group of 11 and 12 year olds in at camp, and we were thinking that we were going to do rec with them all day. However, they went off to Bryce this morning; so we didn't have rec with them till 3. Since the camp is pretty quite other then that group, and we needed to figure out days off for this week, Kourtney and I were off till 3. So what are we to do?

 Well we went to Zion's National Park like any normal person would do.

Here is the view from the top of Overlook, on the eastern side of the park right before the big tunnel. We hiked this real quick to find this beautiful view.

The other hike that we did was the unknown one down to the locally named Nuddy Pools. No worries, there were no nudes. But they are beautiful little pools. The hike back up to the road may have been the hardest part of the day.

Eventually, after an episode of Glee, it was time to work. In the end the group wasn't to crazy, other then bungee tramp taking forever. The worst part of the day was the rank skunk smell that arrived after our furry friend "kicked the bucket."

So after a relaxing evening of Glee watching, it is time to sleep and start a new day tomorrow.

First Day On The Job

Today was the first day and I have a feeling that this job is going to be a trial by fire. However, the best way to learn what I'm doing is to be doing it, so I might as well just start. It is just a little nerve wracking to do things for the first couple of times around the guest.

Today started of with some Mini-ATV rides and then a trip to the laundry for the paintball suits. Then we went out to do trail maintain with the ATV's. I felt so much better driving an ATV in the dirt then on snow. All in all I feel much better with an ATV after today. Out on the trails I lopped branches, ripped of limbs and climbed trees; it was fun. The sun was bright and warm, so I got a bit of a burn, yes I know it was my own fault.

The afternoon was spent waiting for a group of 40 11 and 12 year old. But they didn't show up till 5:20. So at one point we decided to go out on the trails and ride around some. This in combination will the morning really helped me feel better on an ATV.

Now that it is late, it is time to sleep. (Also, I'm starting to fall asleep while typing. So sorry for any errors).

Enjoy,
Lora

So ... Life

Now begins the new phase of my life. I am no longer a BYU student and I am now a Syracuse student. I'm working my summer at Zion Ponderosa, were I have no cell phone reception and just internet. Starting things new like this always scares me and make things uncomfortable. But I will adjust, I always do!

So I don't have much to say today. I'm tired and reading to sleep even though it is only 9:40! And I didn't even work today.

Floor Plan

So here is the floor plan from my facility planning program. It is a community recreation center. Enjoy if you want.