smooth start in a rocky place

5:45 am... woke up, grabbed my stuff, and went to LAX... i wasn't really awake, so not too much detail there.
plane ran a bit late, but still managed to arrive on time. now, with this plane, looks were most definitely deceiving. i flew frontier, and when i got in the plane, i was pretty impressed. three seats on each side, pretty good amount of room, and tv screens in every seat. i immediately to a liking to frontier airlines...
until the pilot started to move the plane.
you know how when you take off, your just sitting on the runway, then the jets just start and the plane begins to drive down the runway super fast before it pulls up and lifts off (my favorite part)? well, why we were still on ground and going very very fast, the pilot had trouble keeping the plane straight. he swerved 4 times.... 4 times! i'm telling ya, not a good first impression. i slept on and off during the flight, but didn't really do much else. then comes time for landing. i think it's pretty typical for a bumpy landing into denver, but this landing was a whole other extreme... worst landing i ever experienced... i was gonna either pass out, or throw up, or both. you know how sometimes the plane will hit a pocket and drop a little bit, causing that weightless sensation and kind of making your stomach drop? well, on our landing the following happened three times: the plane would drop for 10 seconds straight, causing that feeling i just described, only magnified a couple of times and prolonged for 10 seconds. then to compensate, the pilot would pull up for about 5 seconds, putting my stomach, which made it's way to my throat during the drop, back in it's normal place and then some. oh, and with about 5 minutes left to do in the landing, all of the sudden you hear a click. i look up to see that my overhead bin had opened on its own amidst all the jostling. all i could do was hope that my bag wasn't going to fall on me and knock me out... actually, looking back on it, i think not being conscious for the landing would have been preferable.
so that was my flying experience for today. the denver airport is sweet... i like it a lot.
then was time for the drive to snow mountain ranch (about an hour and a half away) with the 'home james shuttle'... a 12 passenger van with 5 of us in it--one from idaho, one from oregon, one from ohio, one from illinois, and me... one from california. one of my favorite sights was when we first drove out of the airport... about ten minutes out. you look out and you can see downtown denver--a cluster of sky-scrapers and tall buildings. but the bigger picture is what made me chuckle.
think back to the cartoon tom and jerry for a bit. every once in a while, there were scenes with the little puppy and his big bulldog father. more than once, tom was found in the following predicament. here's a very general recap: jerry would hide by the puppy, and tom, knowing jerry is under the puppy, would get that sly look on his face, knowing that it would be no problem taking care of this puppy and getting jerry. however, now comes the infamous shot... while tom is ready to pounce and is looking down at the puppy, the puppy, jerry, and the audience see the big massive bulldog father standing behind tom. tom may think he's all big, but dude, he doesn't know what's behind him. and then when he does turn around, his face is at belly-level on the huge bulldog, letting tom know that he is in for a pounding.
so, back to denver. cities filled with skyscrapers definitely stick out, dwarfing all other houses and buildings. but, dude, in denver, behind this "sky scraping" landscape stand the rocky mountains... massive, beautiful, and WAY bigger than that little cluster of cement. it was almost ironic... here, we humans build modern marvels that reach "high into the sky," but just behind it God has built up this massive mountain range that could crush the city (if mountains had fists, of course). so, no one tell downtown denver what's behind it, cause if it turns around and sees those mountains, it will know it will find itself staring that the belly of the rocky mountains.
so out of the van, only i was headed to SMR... and luckily, my stop was first. for those of you who know me, my biggest fear is having to go to the bathroom while being a passenger in a car with multiple people. i thought i would be fine, but about an hour in, i had to go. i decided that i could make it and braced myself for the ride... but, then came the switch backs. why would switchbacks be bad? well, lets see: when the driver takes the hair-pin turns at 20 mph, there's this law of physics that comes into play-- centripetal force... you know, the ol' water in the pale, swing it super fast and nothing falls out. so, when you apply that to a full bladder, it's not fun. plus, you know how once you see the bathroom you have to go even worse? well, driving in the wilderness might as well have been driving through a city of outhouses cause thanks to wilderness orientation, i have no problem using the b.i.f.f.... bathroom in forest floor. needless to say, i made it to SMR and through a half hour tour/check-in without having an accident. ya, i know, i'm a big kid now. yay
so.
now for some good news, and then for some bad news... i'll just mesh it all in at once. well, i know that i won't have any issues with my roommates... oh, that may be because i don't have any. instead of being placed in blue ridge (where i requested and would have had roommates), i was put in "the bays." what are the bays, you ask? well, in the bays, everyone has their own room. nice, yes i think it is. however-- the rooms are under the basketball courts and roller rink. oh, and ya, they don't have any windows. i know, it's kind of stupid, but i have found the light in this dark situation--no really, if you turn off the light and close the door... you are literally in a box with absolutely no light... that's dark. anyway, here's the good side--one, i won't be in my room very much cause i am going to be working/exploring a lot. second, it makes me spend more time in the wonderful outside. for instance, i've been here half a day, and i've only spent about 5 minutes in my room. i dropped my stuff off, slightly unpacked, then packed up my backpack, slipped on my converses, and headed out for a little hike... i was set on finding "my spot." so, 20 minutes at a leisurely place brought me to my spot. it's pretty sweet. then i went to eat after i got back, and now i am sitting outside on my laptop... i think this will all work out okay.
now i know that was a MASSIVE post, but i had to... my blog has been lacking lately, and i finally have new stuff to write about, so, ya, you get a super long post.
but, for being so good and making it to the end, i am rewarding you with pictures. only three, because the internet is super slow, but they should sum it up kinda nice.
1. rocky mountains here at SMR... sweet, i know. 2. so there's this pine beetle thing, and it's killing all the trees... super brown, skinny, dead trees, most with the fate of this one. 3. the view from my spot... at least in one direction.
so there you have it.
tootles for now.