Voth

Blog Blog Blog.

2010-07-10T16:49:00.001-06:00

Blog Blog Blog Blog Blog Blog Blog.

Love,

Josh

Is the Summer Half over, or Half Begun?

2010-06-29T21:44:00.007-06:00

I'm not good at blogging. I'm also not very good at journaling. And if we are going to be honest, I'm not very good at taking pictures either. Maybe in the future I'll get better at these things, but for now, I will just update you on my life in Denver.

Work is going well. I'm trying to learn to use a reservoir simulator which has lots of bugs in it and seems to just crash from time to time with no real reason. After running the simulator and doing a few other engineery things, I hope to be able to present an oil play to the VP's of Samson.

Work is boring and that's why I left that portion fairly short. Let's talk about life. Life in Denver is fun. I have been doing a lot of cycling since I have gotten my bike. I think I have put almost 400 miles on it in the month I have had it so far, and that number would be higher if I had more free time. The best cycling is going up to Boulder and riding in the mountains with my friend, Joe. He is my resident expert when it comes to road biking. If you missed my status the other week, I indeed went 49.1 mph down a hill on the way back into Boulder. I must admit though, Joe still has me beat by going 54 mph on his bike, but I assure you, I will top 50 before the summer is over!

More good news, is that I have found a church that I am really enjoying. I have been attending Denver Fellowship Church, which has been a huge blessing in a city where I know very few people. I have gotten involved in a small group where we are studying Tim Keller's book, The Reason for God. These people have been super great, and have continued to encourage me in my faith and and extend their community to me.

Oh yeah, and I definitely can't leave out the microbreweries. Oh man, these are fantastic. Last weekend I drove up to Fort Collins to tour the New Belgium Brewery with my friend Patrick. When we got up there we learned that you are supposed to reserve a spot in order to go on the tour and that they generally filled up about 2 weeks in advance. Crap. Well, we signed up on the reserve list just in case some people didn't show up, and thanks to some crappy weather we got in! This place was awesome. We got to sample about 6 different beers and see the ins and outs of the third largest craft brewer in America. Did I mention we met some "Woo Girls" while on the tour? Well, I guess if you want to hear more about that you will have to call and ask me!

So yeah, Denver is swell. The weather is amazing and my family is coming to town on Thursday. If you happen to be in the Tulsa area on July* 19th or 20th, you should let me know because I will be there. That is all.

Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

2010-06-04T19:38:00.007-06:00

So I brought my bicycle from Oklahoma to Colorado thinking it might be a small source of entertainment as I made my way through another summer away from friends a family. Little did I know that before I had spent a single month in the city of Denver, I would be diving wallet first into the sport of cycling! That's right, I made my first visit to Boulder, CO today in order to purchase an Italian road bike made by Bianchi. Although I feel a little less Oklahoman, I have not yet fully accepted the Colorado way due to the fact that I did pay more for my car than I did for my bike.

I took it for its maiden voyage upon returning to Denver. I rode for 24.5 miles in an hour and 25 minutes along the Cherry Creek Trail, a bike path that runs through downtown and across a significant portion of the city. This was far more fun than I ever would have imagined, and I can't wait to see where the trails take me tomorrow!

A Mile High + 22 floors

2010-05-21T19:55:00.003-06:00

Oh my, I can't believe how quickly the semesters come and go at this point. I just finished semester 8 out of 10. Whoa. Having spent precisely 18.2% of my life in college, I now must remind myself that it is almost over. After next year I will be attempting to enter the workforce with the rest of the 9.5% of America that is currently unemployed.

Enough about the future though, let's catch up on what is currently happening. I arrived in Denver last Sunday and moved into my summer residence on the westward facing 22nd floor of The Inn at Auroria. Although my room slightly resembles my freshman dorm with a freestanding closet and desk chair that rocks forward (I still don't get those things), this is hands down the neatest place I have ever lived. As you can see in the picture below, I have a perfect view of the Rocky Mountains. I don't know how often you sit and look at mountains for an extended period of time, but I would strongly recommend you try this at some point in the semi-near future! I am looking forward to trekking out into this glorious example of God's creation within the next week.

Wait a minute, "Why are you in Denver?" you ask. If you did not know, I have an internship with the same company, Samson Resources, that I worked with in Wyoming last summer. Last summer I was in the middle of nowhere, and precisely 100 miles from a Wal-Mart and any sign of civilization. This summer I have an office job and walk 8 blocks to my downtown office, ride an elevator to the 30th floor, and make my way to my window office on the east side of the building. WINDOW OFFICE! This reminds me of a thought I pondered last year which was, "Do these people know who I am?" It is still hard for me to believe that the work I am currently, or even in the future, doing is equivalent to how well I am being treated at this job. I even have a nameplate outside of my office with my name on it! I must admit, the small things really do excite me the most. My ranking of coolest things so far in Denver is as follows:

1. Mountain view from my 22nd floor apartment

2. Window office

3. Hipster coffee shop called The Market (It may top Plaid)

4. Nameplate outside of my office

5. There are 9 coffee shops on my 8 block walk to work (3 Starbucks)

6. Cherry Creek running/biking trail 2 blocks from my apartment

There are many more perks to this city, but you will have to come up to find them out! Speaking of which, I am very excited for my friends and family to come up and visit. If you are one of these people, or want to be, call me and let's plan this thing! Woot!

Well, I hope this has kept you mildly entertained, but I must now bring it to a close. Call me, and let's catch up!

From the window of my apartment

Peru 2010

2010-03-30T22:05:00.014-06:00

I would like to start by thanking everyone who supported me both financially and through prayer. The success of this trip would not have been possible without both.

My purpose in this blog post is threefold. I would first like to show you the ways in which Christ is redeeming this world. Through His church, and through His people, Christ is working to spread the gospel to all of the nations. I would also like to show you specifically what He is doing in Trujillo, Peru through an organization known as Peru Mission. And thirdly, I would like you to see how He used this third world country, these broken people, and this beautiful community to show me his love and his grace in a way I have never known before.

Lima

Our trip got off to a flawless start. We faced no delays, and flew into the Lima airport late Friday evening. We rushed off to bed and began our next day by having breakfast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After breakfast we made our way to some of the local market in downtown Lima. This was the first of many times I would have to reflect upon my Spanish deficiency and communicate through a limited number of nouns and hand motions to haggle with the local merchants and purchase a few gifts for friends and family. Following our shopping extravaganza we made our way to the airport to fly from Lima to Trujillo where we would be spending the remainder of the week.

Our Group from OU RUF in front of the Pacific Ocean.

A New Church

On Sunday morning I decided to try out a new church since my home church was around 3000 miles away. We attended one of the local churches started by Peru Mission in Arevalo. Although I could not understand much of the service it was beautiful to be in another country, on another continent, and be worshiping the Lord with native Peruvians. The rest of our day was spent going through orientation of what we would do for the rest of the week, as well as spending some time getting to know some of the local missionaries.

The Church plant in Arevalo.

Manual Labor

One of our main tasks for the week was to repaint the sanctuary, and a portion of the outside, of one of the Trujillo church plants. Every morning we would make our way out to a church in Wichanzao and begin our day with some old fashioned manual labor. In February a storm came through the city and dropped two inches of rain on a community that averages only around a half an inch per year. This left the church sanctuary with a lot of mold damage where the water had gotten inside. We spent the first two mornings merely scraping and plastering the concrete walls to prepare them for the painting that would follow in the upcoming days. While painting I had the chance to get to know other members of our team, which included our group from OU RUF and a group from the University of Alabama RUF.

Before

After

Clementina

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go with about 10 other people from our team to a squatter community outside of Trujillo known as Clementina. In Clementina families are welcomed to come and settle, setting up shelter generally in the form of a thatch hut structure. If they remain on the land for two years it becomes legally theirs. As the family becomes more financially stable within the community they will make mud bricks and create a safer, more stable home for themselves. Peru Mission was able to go into this community and gain a piece of land where they have begun to develop a church. One of the future goals in Clementina is to get a concrete floor inside of the current dirt floored church. In order for this to happen they needed to dispose of about four inches of dirt from the sanctuary. We were able to dig this up and use it to level out a road that ran right beside the church. While the work we did in Clementina was great, this was not why I fell in love with the place. As our bus drove through the streets of Clementina all I felt was sorrow for these people. I saw a broken people, stricken with poverty, living in shanties, and struggling to meet the basic needs of their families. I secretly wondered to myself how they could live this way. Throughout the day working, many of the local children came and played with us as well as helped us with our work. They were full of joy and life. We returned to Clementina Thursday evening for a service at the church. A local band played worship and the pastor of one of the other churches led a sermon. Many from the community gathered around, singing songs of praise and listening to a sermon in a language that was little more than gibberish to myself. This place, which nearly brought me to tears of sadness on the way in, that tore my heart into tiny little pieces, had effectively put it back together, teaching me what true community looks like. Showing me how to be content in God’s blessings!

My buddy Anthony

Jahad

An example of one of the homes

Anthony loved the camera

Even in Peru...

English Classes

After our work in the mornings we went to the National University of Trujillo where we met with and had conversations with many of the local students who were studying English. Most of them were in their third or fourth year of studying and spoke English very well. The majority of the students had never been outside of Peru and enjoyed the opportunity to practice their English with native speakers, and for us it provided a great opportunity to learn more about the Peruvian culture from students like ourselves who had grown up in the country. It was amazing to see how many similarities I had with these students. One of my favorite conversations I heard about came from my friend Andrew who did his best to describe what a catnap is to one of the Peruvians.

Some of the Peruvian students I got to meet and have conversations with

Peru Mission

The organization and effectiveness ministry of Peru Mission amazed me. They were meeting the Peruvians on their level and helping them not only in the gospel, but also through all walks of life. One of the ways they minister to the men of Trujillo is through a woodshop. They consistently employ between five and fifteen men and teach them carpentry skills. While working in the woodshop they teach them how to run an honest business, including all of the financial aspects of the local industry. After they have mastered the trade, they help them to start their own business and bring in more Peruvian men to train. Some examples of the furniture can be seen at www.parishfurniture.com. The mission also offers a great opportunity for the local women through a micro financing organization they call Sinergia. They allow women to come in and take out loans to help them with their local businesses and are able to give them a much better interest rate than the local banks. They are able to take this opportunity to offer classes to theses women about things such as effective business management. One of the other opportunities they offer for Peruvians of all ages are English classes. These classes range from the basic phrases such as, “My name is ______,” to conversational classes. To find out more about Peru Mission, visit www.perumission.org.

The Gospel

The Gospel is true. It is true in Norman, OK as well as in Trujillo, Peru. This may not come as a revelation to you, but this was something hard for me to truly grasp until I returned home from Peru. Christ died for my sins, as well as for the sins of my brothers and sister in Peru. Before I left for South America a friend told me that he believed most individuals benefited more from a short-term mission trip than the place they actually went to serve. I was determined not to let this happen to me. I failed. The people of Peru and Peru Mission have opened my eyes to a world I have never known before. Although this single experience will undoubtedly last a lifetime, I have a strong desire to stay involved with Peru Mission. At the current time I don’t know what this will look like, whether it will be through financial support or more manual labor, but I trust that God will provide the right opportunity at the right time.

Thank you again for your lasting support throughout all of my endeavors. It is through the support of my friends and family that I continue to strive forward. Without this support I could would have never gotten to play a role in what God is doing in Trujillo, Peru.

Act 2... and 3

2010-01-18T23:42:00.009-07:00

Okay, so for the faithful 3.5 that have been looking forward to the rest of the story from my trip, I must apologize. I have been lazy. I have not, nor do I presently want to blog, but I feel as if I must finish the job which I have started. I am however going to take the easy way out. This will be a photo blog. The following are photos from New York and Canada (mostly taken by Justin Farnish). Enjoy!

Many lessons were learned on the subway.

The "Wolf Pack" minus one.

It really is all you need.

This was INSIDE of Toys R Us. Whoa.

Plus one.

Niagara Falls is one of those places you have to see at least once.

A geology nerd's paradise.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Epic.

Oh, and a surprise appearance by Styx in Canada.

Modern art take 1.

Modern art take 2.

Modern art take 3.

Modern art take 4.

Fort Wolf Pack.

Inside view of fort wolf pack.

We had car trouble in Elyria, OH.

Another one of those places, "You have to see at least once."

Ahh... Greatness!

We saw this sign in an apartment across the street from Wrigley. IT IS!

After leaving Chicago we made our way to Colorado for 3 days of skiing. It was fun, but I did not take any pictures. Sorry. Highlights include referring to everyone as "Bra" while on the mountain, and the final dinner with, "The fun side."

My Wolf Pack

2010-01-04T21:19:00.005-07:00

Hello. How ‘bout that ride in? I guess that’s why they call in the Great White North. You guys may not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when I met Mike Dreher (Dre-her not Dreyer), I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack… it grew by one. So there… there were two of us in the wolf pack… I was alone first in the pack, and then Mike joined later. And a week ago, when Mike introduced me to you guys, I thought, “Wait a second, could it be?” And now, I know for sure, I just added three more to my wolf pack. Five of us wolves, running around the northeast together, in New York, Canada, and Pennsylvania, looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight, I make a toast!

As many of you know, I have left the friendly confines of Norman, OK to embark on a road trip spanning 15 days, 2 countries, 10 states, 3800 miles of driving, and one epic story. Today marks day 7 of the trip, and I bring you act one of the three-act blog.

Act one is titled, “My Wolf Pack.”

I flew into Philadelphia, PA on December 28^th. It was here when Mike picked me up and brought me back to his hometown just outside of Allentown. Although I had never been to PA before, I was familiar with Allentown thanks to Billy Joel. I knew it to be a dark, shady place, where work was hard to find due to the factories closing and the all of the coal being stripped from the ground. Well, I was wrong. It is actually a fantastic place that has Yocco’s (the King of Hot Dogs), Wawa, and some great people. After dinner at a local diner we watched a great movie that would supply us with an arsenal of quotes for the remainder of the trip. That movie was The Hangover. This was the beginning of what we would each come to recognize as, “Our Wolf Pack.”

Our wolf pack was comprised of Michael Dreher, Rachel Hoyer, Courtney Matisko, Justin Farnish, and myself, Joshua Voth. Our true journey began the day after I arrived in PA, when we would make our way to destination number one, New York, NY. This day was very close to being, literal status update day, where I would update my status with things such as, “Josh Voth is in a large city,” or “Josh Voth is cold.” Thankfully for you all, this did not happen and I merely tried to update it regularly with more witty approach. The gold medal for status of the day goes to the first one of the morning, “Josh Voth just went through the Lincoln Tunnel, but somehow missed the sea of swirly, twirly gumdrops.” Luckily for me, others in the wolf pack shared my love the movie Elf.

I’m thankful for my day in New York City because of the many lessons I learned.

Lesson1: There is a delicate balance between looking straight up, and not running into people. I was never able to master this feat, but I made significant progress throughout the day. I would say my average bpm (bumps per minute) decreased by a factor of at least 5 before 2:00.

Lesson 2: A crowded train is no excuse for improper sexual conduct. This was announced loudly as we stepped onto the subway train. I was really hoping that at some point during the day we would encounter a level 8 sketchy ride on the subway. Sadly though, we barely reached a level 4.

Lesson 3: You can’t put a price on green peanut M&M’s. Okay, that’s a lie. There is a price and it is $13/lb and worth every penny.

Lesson 4: The subway is an excellent place for an epic battle.

Lesson 5: Honking is not allowed in New York and can result in a $300 fine. Although we did not receive this fine, I think Mike owes the city of New York somewhere in the neighborhood of $4200.

Although my time in New York was short, I feel that I have left a better person for the lessons this city has taught me. Throughout our trip we selected a song we think will accurately depict the experience we are about to embark upon. I believe we got this one right with a little number written by Jay-Z called, “Empire State of Mind.” I will end this act with a few of the lyrics.

"In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
 Theres nothing you can’t do,
 Now you’re in New York, 
These streets will make you feel brand new, 
The lights will inspire you, 
Lets hear it for New York, New York, New York ."

Everything is Better in 3D!

2009-10-28T14:04:00.004-06:00

So last Thursday night my compadres and I set out for Bricktown to watch our very own Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Sacramento Kings in the final preseason game of the 2009 season (thanks to Chesapeake and my sister for the $126 tickets). This was a momentous occasion for 3 out of the 5 peeps in the group as they had never been to an NBA game before. Little did we know, this was only the bunny hill on the way to the double black that would soon cross our paths.

As we left the game we walked past the movie theatre. For some time now, Sethy and I have been discussing how great it would be to see a movie in 3D. In fact, he tried to talk me into going to see Final Destination in 3D. LAME. Anyways, as we crossed the theatre we saw that the original Toy Story was playing in 3D. This was great, because even if the 3D thing sucked, we knew the movie would be phenomenal. As we got into line both Katie and Tristen proceeded to make a scene about the Toy Story movie in 3D. As the line standers began to stare, I knew I had to be quick on my feet in order to keep from losing man points in the eyes of all of the Oklahoma City late Thursday night movie goers. Immediately, I began rousing up a debate over which of the Saw movies were the best because there was no way Saw VI was going to be scary. Phew, crisis avoided.

As we slipped into the theatre we received our 3D glasses which were not your cereal box, plastic red and blue lens 3D glasses, no, they were Buddy Holly replica, wear out in public 3D glasses. As Woody came on the screen and asked us to put on our glasses, the six of us (4 college kids and two adults a few rows in front of us) did as he asked and put on our spectacles and prepared for the mind blowing experience that is three dimensional. Now, what is better than just one 3D movie you ask... TWO! That is right, to the surprise of all of us, this was not just Toy Story in 3D, but a double feature of both Toy Story one and Toy Story two! Now, if I had known this going into the 10:00 pm movie, I would have probably vetoed the idea, but for some reason when the unexpected bonus movie was announced, I was filled only with jubilee!

3 and a half hours and 3 dimensions later my mind was, "literally" blown, and we made our way back to Norman. I skipped class the next morning and slept passed noon. I wish real life could be 3D...

Greener Grass

2009-10-08T23:54:00.003-06:00

Life is kind of dull right now. I have not had a blog worthy story yet this semester. Do not fear though faithful 3 1/2, there is adventure on the horizon. Before the first month of 2010 is over, I will have succeeded to go on 3 trips which should create some sort of excitement for us all.

1. Lincoln, Nebraska

2. New York, New York

3. Breckenridge, Colorado

If I go on these 3 trips and have nothing to bring back for you, I vow to remove this blog and all of its content from the mind altering drug that is the interweb.

Slow Down... Or Maybe Speed Up... But Just a Little Bit

2009-09-23T01:13:00.005-06:00

What in the world is happening?!?! I have so much time to be bored and lonely, yet I have no time to accomplish any of my personal goals or be of service to others! I object to alone time and weekends spent on my own, yet I complain about not being caught up on a number of things including my reading list, school work, relish assignments, and various projects at Tara's house. Now I look at the calendar and but a week is left in September! 3 football games are over. I have already begun the madness of midterms. I am still trying to catch up with people from summer. I am in the process of creating new friendships. My nephew is almost 2! He is also the best looking child you will ever see. How do things go at such an alarming pace while dragging on for so long. I'm ready to see, "what's next" in life, but I love the comfort of college. My point is, I don't understand life.

Long Time, No Post.

2009-09-13T01:50:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I would like to apologize to the 3.5 of you who stumble across my blog from time to time and have seen no change in the past month. It seems as if the number of friends I have to hang out with is inversely related to the number of blog posts I create.

Sad fact number two is that I currently have no great story to share in which I either made a fool of myself. This is not to say that I have not made a fool of myself in the past month, only that it hasn't resulted in a positive experience to be shared with all.

What the past month has done is make me think. I spent the summer in what some might call, the "Real World." This was both a scary and exciting place. I was in bed by 11 and I woke up every morning at 6:30 to go to work. I got a paycheck on the 1st and the 15th. I drove a work truck and had a few beers with a guy named Herb while we discussed the current state of the energy industry. Now I am back in Norman where I have classes to keep up with and an irregular sleep schedule. I have friends and social dynamics that seem to change daily which create a since of bonus stress that goes along with the woes of an engineering major. I play basketball at 10:00 pm and rarely wake up before 10:00 am unless I have class. My diet consists of things ranging from the mystery meat of Taco Bell to a delicious steak grilled to perfection over a hot bed of charcoal. Just the other day there were over 40 people all in my house at once! College is crazy! It is so far away from what is "normal," that I am still learning what to do with it. I have now been back in this lifestyle for around 5 weeks and I feel as if I am acclimating well, but it scares me to think of what life will be like outside of this 24,000 peer bubble I am enveloped in currently. Will I be successful? Do I have what it takes to find a community within a city of 3-5 million people?

So the above is basically just an open minded rambling of what I have been thinking about recently, but I am truly happy to be back at the University of Oklahoma. While I currently miss the mountains and great weather, it doesn't outweigh the fact that I missed my friends and family dearly while I was gone and I dread having to leave them again in the future. As this semester and year continues on I hope to remember that this college world is not "normal." That it is actually a scary place where one can be surrounded by 24,000 of their peers and yet feel more alone than ever before. I pray that God may use me as an instrument to these people and that he will continue to encourage me with the ministry of RUF.

Boomer Sooner!

Finished. Done. Completed.

2009-08-13T21:40:00.007-06:00

Guess what. It's OVER! Well, all but about three and a half hours from over. I have succeeded. I lasted an entire summer in Wyoming! Do not be fooled, I am no super hero. John Stuart is. He lived in this barren, treeless, female lacking land for a year! Wow!

I must thank a few people for helping me to a grand exit from the equality state. I begin with JA and one who will probably never read this, Kristy Knapp. As Justin arrived in Denver I knew the summer was coming to a close. He flew into Denver, a solid three and a half hours from Rawlins, early Wednesday afternoon. We met up with Denver local Kristy in order to see the best of Denver on this long awaited reunion. Possibly a poor decision due to the fact that we got back to Rawlins at 4 am and I had to be in Rock Springs, 2 hours west of Rawlins, by 8:30 am for a meeting. I'm not a morning person.

The next few days were spent in Rawlins. Rawlins sucks, but we toured the old state prison built in the late 1800's, and learned as JA puts it, "Our action do in fact have consequences." I really wanted to buy a sticker which stated, "I spent time in Rawlins, WY" with an eerie picture of the prison on it, but I believe burning those memories is probably the best way to deal with them.

Then my final weekend as a semi-resident of the equality state came. We met up with actual resident J Stu and these last days were spent with a couple of Okies and our fair share of alcoholic beverages. Marijuana Party of Wyoming and a slightly odd reference to a founding father made for some inside jokes that will carry us through at least the next six months.

So this brings us to where I sit tonight. Denver. Ahh... I truly do love this place. JA and I attended a couple of Rockies vs Cubs games and met up with my family for dinner and a night game. Back to the city though. I have been in and out of Denver all summer long and have met a number of people who live in the city. I can see myself here. Let's compare a couple of statistics.

Oklahoma - 6th most obese state

Colorado - 1st most fit state

OKC - 2nd most obese city in America

Tulsa - 16th most obese city in America

Denver - 4th fittest city in America

Ok, so I know there is more to a city than it's ability to eat less food and exercise, but I find these statistics a little frightening. I love the elevation, and I love the mountains. These are things I will never have in Oklahoma. For now though, I have a year and nine months left in school. That is all. Then I will enter into this real world that I have merely gotten a taste of over the last 3 months.

Fair Week!

2009-08-01T14:55:00.002-06:00

Yes, you read it correctly, it is that time again. The time when Rawlins, WY comes alive with the Carbon Country Fair! According to the locals this is the time of year they all look forward to. There are Rodeos all week which all culminate in the grand finale of the demolition derby. Keep a close watch on this blog because I plan on updating you on all of the grand events of this most glorious week.

I Reached Another Mountain Top, but this One wasn't Figurative

2009-07-19T17:04:00.007-06:00

Hiking and walking have a lot in common, right? So a hiking trail marked, "Difficult" is nothing more than a difficult walk. I feel as if I am a pretty advanced walker, so I decided to head towards the Medicine Bow Peak trail, a 7 mile, 1,600 ft gain, trail boasting atop the 12,013 ft peak of Medicine Bow Mountain. Although this entry begins with a slight foreshadowing of a struggle to reach the peak of the tallest mountain in souther Wyoming, I reached the peak with little frustration. The peak was beautiful. To look down upon the place I started and see how far I had come was a feeling of great accomplishment. Not to mention it was my first literal mountain to hike to the top of. It was here that I met two nice guys, who came up the mountain from the opposite side, that advised me there was another trail just down the way that was a quicker, easier way home. Although my original plan was to head back down the trail I came up, I felt assured by the guy who stated that he had made this hike several times. Not wanting to get lost in the mountains, I asked him if it was a pretty easy to find the intersecting trail back to the trail head. He assured me, "You can't miss it."

This is where the story really begins. I missed it. I hiked about a mile only to see on my map that there was no way I hadn't gone too far. So I retreated back towards my original trail dreading the 300 ft climb back up the boulder ridden peak only to have to make the 7 mile hike back down the original trail. It was on the way back that I saw what faintly resembled the trail I was looking for. It wasn't. I didn't know this at the time so I started to venture down it looking on with amazement the 5 foot snow drift that covered the entire mountain side. Soon I ran out of solid ground and had to venture onto this large area of snow. Now, as I prepared for this trip I did not realize how much snow could still be present in July. JULY! So I wore my Chacos and I have since learned that Chacos were not intended for the snow. Ok, so I am heading onto the vast snow covered mountain side only to realize that the nice walkable incline has turned into what resembled to me a double black diamond ski run. Luckily, I have spent much time on my but on double black diamonds, so I proceeded to sit down, dig my Chacos into the snow, and sled down the mountain on my butt, sometimes trying to stand up and ski. Although by this time I had realized that I was not on the trail, I knew I couldn't go back up, and I was loosing daylight.

It was on my way sledding down the mountain that I saw a trail off in the distance as well as a parking lot with a number of cars in it. Hope. I immediately tossed all survivor man thoughts aside and resorted to my little girl find people and beg for help side. I trekked across the rocky mountain terrain to get to this trail and follow it to the parking lot I had spotted from above.

It was here that I met Dave and Bob. These were nice guys. It was Dave I approached, explaining my situation, and asked for a ride back to my truck. He had no problem with this and told me he and Bob were waiting on the rest of their party and then we could go. It was in this time that I noticed he was wearing a shirt with a picture of the great state of Oklahoma, so I simply asked him if he was from there. He was currently living in California, but had spent 20 years in Oklahoma working in the oil and gas industry as a geologist. Ah! We proceeded with solid conversation until they eventually drove me the five miles back to my truck. Bob was a super nice guy too. He told me a story of the time he got lost hiking and approached a lonely cabin out in the middle of nowhere. He also warned me of about 10 animals that could jump out in front of my vehicle on the way home and any given moment.

On the way out of the mountains I saw a moose. MOOSE! It was a real moose this time too, not some creepy guy in a suit that my mother persuaded me to take a picture with.

Side view of the mountain a approximate place of sledding. I started my hike just to the left of the lake on the top of the picture.

This was a piece of the trail. I now understand, "difficult hike," is different from difficult walk.

Wyomin

2009-07-14T19:09:00.003-06:00

After approximately 2 months in Wyoming I have developed a theory based upon an in depth study of the state's phonetics. I hypothesize the state of Wyoming will soon drop the "g" and officially become Wyomin.

I currently live in Rawlins, WY, which I assume was once known as Rawlings, but simply transformed to Rawlins over time as the local dialect continued to develop. Those who have lived in the ever so great city of Rawlins love to go campin. While campin they will usually do some fishin. People stay in shape up here in the mountains too. You just can't beat a good day hikin, bikin, or runnin.

Catch my drift?

Elk, Bison, and Bears, OH MY!

2009-07-08T17:46:00.006-06:00

So this last weekend was a good one. My family came to Wyoming to visit me and we trekked up to the Grand Teton mountains and Yellowstone National Park. I could probably write a book about all of the ridiculous things my family and I do, but for your reading sake I will only highlight one occurrence from each day.

Our first night was spent at Jackson lake in the Grand Teton National forest. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We stayed in a little cabin right on the lake. After we arrived my sister and I decided to go and do some fishing. We actually did pretty well too, catching 4 trout in less than 2 hours, tripling my summer fish total. On my way out I was approached by a kind lady who asked me if the trail I had just come from was open. I responded yes, and quizzed her to why she asked. I then found out only the day before there was a moose with her baby chasing people off the trail. Shortly after this I found out that they assumed everything was ok because a bear had eaten the baby moose.

Day 2. On our second day we made our way north into Yellowstone National Park. This is a beautiful place but terribly inefficient. While in Yellowstone we saw 2 elk, tons of buffalo, and a bear (ok, it was actually in the Tetons, but close enough). We spent the entire day driving around the park and we saw only 3 species of animals. I feel that if you are out to see animals, you should probably stick to the zoo.

Day 2, part 2. That is not a story from day 2. Our original plan was to camp inside of Yellowstone. We had a campground reserved, but about the time we were going to make our way to camp we encountered a furious rain storm. It was only hours before this that we had bought hot dogs and stuff to make s'mores on the camp fire. Due to this torrential downpour we mad our way into Jackson where we tacked on an extra night to our resort. After we arrived to our nice two bed accommodation, my mom had become deeply saddened due to the fact that we had bought outrageously expensive hot dogs to roast and we would not even be able to eat them because there wasn't even a microwave in our room. To this I responded, "It's ok, I'm an engineer." I proceeded to use the mini coffee pot to cook dinner. Mmm mmm coffee pot boiled hot dogs!

Day 3. We spent the day shopping in Jackson and then went to the rodeo. I am curious as to when in life one decides to strap his hand to a bull and see how long he can hold on. I also wonder how I get started in this industry.

Day 4. We drove home. It was somewhat good to be back in Rawlins after a jam packed weekend including 2 national parks, 2 lakes, and a ski resort. I love my family. I am sad they are gone.

5 1/2 weeks left.

Montana Sucks, North Dakota has Oil, and South Dakota needs to Learn How to Sing

2009-06-28T17:02:00.006-06:00

I love a good adventure. I also enjoy a little reggae music. Take those two things, 2 national parks, and karaoke night in South Dakota and it comes out to be a pretty good weekend.

I spent last week working in North Dakota. I had never been to North Dakota. There's not much to it. Especially in Crosby, ND, population 1,089 (1,090 last week). I left on Monday and traveled through Montana, and arrived upon my destination, just 5 miles south of Canada, just in time to enjoy a t-bone steak on Samson's tab. If you have been following my blog this summer you have probably learned that I like lists. And since I'm always trying to look at the cup half full, here is my list of things I enjoyed from North Dakota.

Northern Accents

Ok, so North Dakota sucks. It's ok though, because they have oil and I got paid. This entry isn't about ND though. It is about adventure. It all began on the way home. I left ND Friday with some bread, gatorade, and my sleeping bag in the back of my truck. I drove throughout the day and arrived in Rapid City, SD around 7 or so. My plans were simply to find a coffee shop with free internet and waste about 3 hours. I found what has become one of my favorite coffee shops (although chances are I will never go there again) in Alternative Fuels, located in downtown Rapid City. This place was great, but like all great things, not perfect. Karaoke. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but I think SD needs a few lessons in Karaoke.

It's not a concert. I feel as if I should be able to answer my phone whenever I please without having to exit the building.
A few bad singers are kind of fun to make fun of every now and then, but it gets old when the same crappy person sings 3 songs in a row.
If no one wants to sing, just give it a break. DJ funky mamma needs to take a few minutes off.

So this was a solid few hours of entertainment. After the coffee shop closed I walked outside only to hear the sounds of South Africa. Just down the street from the coffee shop there was a reggae band playing at a block party. This was great, and I listened to every Bob Marley song on my ipod after the concert. It was finally time for sleep. Now when you are by yourself in a tourist town where you can't find a decent room for under $100 dollars what do you do? You got it, I busted out my sleeping bag in the back seat of the truck and slept like a baby for 6 straight hours.

I woke up the next morning hungry and with an idea. In this tourist town with many many expensive hotels, I figured it would be easy to find a free breakfast. I was right. I drove down to the local Quality Inn and found their breakfast bar where I enjoyed a waffle and delightful conversation from a nice family from Kansas.

Now it was time to continue my along my journey to the main attraction. Mount Rushmore. I understand many people may find this national monument lame and not everything it's cracked up to be, but I am not one of those people. I am the nerdy guy who goes there by himself and spends two hours taking pictures (some of which can be seen on fbook) and watching the video on how it was made. If you haven't been to Mount Rushmore before I would suggest you put it somewhere around half way down your list for semi-near future enjoyment. After seeing the giant heads of my country's great presidents, I went to the second national park on my list, Devil's Tower. This was neat, but once again in a nerdy geologist kind of way. Finally my adventure was over and I continued home.

So what did I learn from this experience you ask? I love tourism. I'm a sucker for it. Some people want to go to the places where there is no one, but not me. I mean, if there are thousands and thousands of people who want to see this "tourist trap" every year, it's got to be pretty cool right? So there, I said it. I'm not ashamed. I'm a tourist. Bring on Jackson Hole and Yellowstone!

If April Showers bring May Flowers, What do June Snows Bring?

2009-06-06T20:14:00.008-06:00

You know that 10,000 ft above sea level, side of a mountain looking straight down a 300 ft cliff in your Saturn Ion after you had just driven past a sign that definitely didn't have a picture of your vehicle, "What the hell am I doing" feeling? Ok, well maybe it isn't as common as I might have perceived at first, but it really is quite the rush. I felt this rush for most of my day on Saturday as I decided to go exploring in the vast Wyoming wilderness.

On my adventure last Saturday I encountered snow. At first I was excited. For a kid from Oklahoma, the snow comes few and far between, so whenever I saw piles of snow in the mountains I instantly pulled over the car and started to play in it. A little childish yes, but still fun. Now if this were the end of my snow story, things would be great. Sadly though I must continue. As my Saturn Ion and I both continued to try and be things we are not, on off road vehicle and a mountain man, we came upon a section of road covered in snow with tire tracks going through it. The snow was fairly deep, but to turn around and go back would cost me an extra 25 miles of mountain terrain to cross. I should have turned around. About 10 ft into this snow my car came to a stop. A complete stop that is, where it will go neither forward nor backward. Hmm... After 30 minutes of trying to solve this problem I was faced with a dilemma. Do I call someone from work and open myself up to be ridiculed for another 10 weeks, or do I go Man vs Wild on the situation? You guessed right, I took on the mountain in a fierce battle.

Step 1: Identify the problem - I was stuck.

Step 2: Ration Food and Water. You never know how long you are going to be out there.

Step 3: Become Oriented with your Surrounding - There was snow all around.

Step 4: Locate items that could be useful; hammer, sticks, baby pine trees, rocks, snow,

Step 5: Go MacGyver and get out of the snow

So here is what I did. I got the jack out of the back of my car and lifted the front end of my car. I wandered around in the forest until I found a handful of branches and put them under my tires. I then cut down a few small pine trees to lay down as a track to get the car backed out. Guess what? It worked! I was free and took the long way back around and safely arrived back in Rawlins. Crisis averted once again.

So I know there is one question that is still bugging you. Did I go fishing? Yes. I suck at fishing.

The Weather

2009-05-30T21:06:00.001-06:00

I think if you live in a small town you are required to talk about the weather at least once with anyone you have more than a 10 min conversation with. I have a couple of hypotheses about this, but I'm pretty sure there is just not much else to talk about. Yesterday it hit a blistering 80 degrees and it was the talk of the town. Come to find out this was an extremely hot day for this town. I love the weather here!

So while on the subject of small towns I want to share a little bit about Rawlins with you. It is in the middle of nowhere! The nearest Wal-Mart is 100 miles away. It's ok though because between Alco and Davidson's Gun and Grocery I think I can get pretty much everything I need.

My favorite place in town is Huckleberry's. Huckleberry's is the local coffee shop. I have lived in Rawlins for exactly one week now, and I have already become known by name and offered a job at this wonderful local expression of Wyoming pride.

While I am in the middle of nowhere, there are some great people up here. I attended a church at First Souther Baptist Church Rawlins during my first weekend in town and I was chased down and invited to lunch by one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. I have also already been to one of the local lakes to go fishing and to a bbq all within my first week in town. Although I am very far away from my friends, family, and loved ones, the community of the Equality State have been very kind and welcomed this okie into their state for the summer.

So I would like to conclude this post with a list of my favorite things about Wyoming so far in no particular order:

Pronghorn Antelope (google it, they are everywhere out here!)
Huckleberry's Espresso
Prairie Dogs
John Stuart
Natural Gas
Mountains
40 degree nights
70 degree days
SNOW!
Work Truck

The Art of Deception

2009-05-21T20:37:00.000-06:00

So my stay in Denver is almost over. I have seen people on the side of the street playing guitar, harp, bass, djembe, flute, and probably a few other instruments I can not recall at this moment. That is not important though. I arrived in Denver knowing I was going to get treated well, but by no means did I know what I was getting in to. Before I go about listing off the ridiculous amount of things supplied by Samson, my company for the summer, I would like to remind you that if I were filling out a survey I would check the box "high school degree and some college." So this is the list of a few things I have received during my first week in Denver:

5 nights in the Sheraton in downtown Denver which is a literal hop, skip, and jump away from the office
Meals for the week which include but are not limited to The Cheesecake Factory and world famous Denver Chop House and Brewery
A moving stipend which is approximately 25 times the cost of gas to travel to Rawlins, WY from Norman
A window office on the 30th floor of what might possible be the largest building I have ever been inside of. Did I mention the view of the snowcapped Rockies out of that window?

I really hope they don't find out who I am. This is kind of fun.

Denver

2009-05-17T22:08:00.000-06:00

So here it goes. I'm a blogger. I hope that in the future this will entertain you and bring you excitement and laughter, but tonight it will be some of the many thoughts I have had after a 10 hour drive from Norman to Denver and the hour and a half I spent wandering the streets of downtown.

Let's back up for a minute. I am blessed. I have some very wonderful friends and live in a gospel community. What does that mean? I have no idea, but it is better than I could ever imagine. I spent last night with some of the people I love most in this world. We sang hymns and cried together (a manly sort of got something stuck in your eye crying that is). Not that odd right? Who wouldn't want to spend their last night in town with their best friends? What is crazy is that most of these people I have only been friends with for a semester. In that short semester they have truly brought joy and community into my life. Even better than that, they have brought the gospel. They confront me about my sin and praise me for things I haven't done. You guys are great, and you know who you are.

The Drive

I was really dreading the drive from Norman to Denver. I am not the biggest fan of being alone and 10 hours staring out at the beauty of western Kansas while my friends prepared for summer conference wasn't exactly my ideal lazy Sunday. I did prepare for it however though. A play list including the best of Simon and Garfunkel along with a long list of hymns, radio lab, and sermons seemed like they just might be able to do the trick. To my surprise the drive was not nearly as terrible as I had once assumed it would be. The bulk of it was spent listening to hymns and Kevin Twitt lecture about the postmodern hymn movement.

Denver

Wow. I arrived to the Sheraton around 8 mountain time and approached the front desk only to be greeted by the greatest British accent I could have imagined. She soon had me checked into my room and sent to room 915. Wow. I don' mean to sound like I have never stayed in a place like this before... but I haven't. There is a receptionist desk in my room for crying out loud. On that note, I will be taking applications for a personal summer secretary position. Pay sucks, but the company is great.

Downtown

To some people a nice relaxing night in the room after a long day driving would sound great. Not to me, I had to go explore. My hotel and office are right in the middle of downtown Denver. Wow. I felt like a freshman on campus as I walked around with my head pointed straight up looking at all of the giant buildings. I even found a map. I was a little intimidated to walk around by myself, but that did not stop me. I even made friends. One guy offered me pot while another asked me if I knew Denver very well because he was, "Looking to find some honies and rebound."

This is an exciting place. Maybe I will come up with more exciting stories from Denver. Maybe not.