First Day of Spring

Last week, in less-than-dramatic fashion (unlike last year), the ice breaking on the Little Missouri River exactly coincided with the first day of spring!  By the time the town woke up last Saturday, the river was flowing again and large chunks of ice had made their way onto the riverbanks.

 View from the Medora Bridge

The weather was wonderful too!  A quick drive up into the park proved that we weren't the only ones happy about the return of spring.  We saw three beavers swimming happily upstream and swear that some of the grass is starting to turn green already (hard to tell).  Enjoy these visions of spring from the top of Wind Canyon!

Beavers & Ice

Another Creature Happy it's Spring

Yucca Plant

Serengeti: The Video

My only regret is that we didn't take a picture of the giant spider in our bathroom that soon became our friend: Frederick. Mosquito nets are good for much more than keeping the mosquitoes off of you!

Lake Manyara: The Video

Here's the next installment of Tanzania Memories Revamped '08.  Our first day of safari took us to Lake Manyara National Park.  Again, this was all Nathan, so enjoy!

Consensus 2010

I'm dying to hear how much hype there is in other states over the 2010 Census.  I don't remember seeing droves of commercials, flyers, and people out urging you to fill out the census form in Wisconsin in 2000, but then again, I was wrapping up my Junior year in high school, preparing for a trip to Spain, and hanging out with a new guy I liked (who I ended up marrying five years later).  In other words, I wasn't paying attention.

Here in North Dakota, the 2010 Census is a BIG deal.  Ads and flyers are everywhere, urging you to "please, please fill out the form and mail it back - our very existence as a state depends on it" (or something to that effect).  I had my census form hand-delivered to my doorstep by a volunteer Saturday.  I figure this over-the-top public awareness campaign is much more pronounced in North Dakota, where the population truly has been steadily declining and the poor state literally needs everyone to be counted in order to keep it on the federal funding map.

Given that we own a house in Minnesota, live in North Dakota, and are moving to Kansas in May, Nathan and I were pretty confused about where and when we need to reply.  I really, really wanted to give our +2 population count to North Dakota for several reasons:

1. I really do consider this my home, despite what my tax return and permanent address say.
2. You get a lot more bang for your census buck out here - adding two more people here is a much larger percentage of the population than in Minnesota!
3. North Dakota has been just plain nice to us.  Not only were we allowed to vote in the 2008 primaries (just by living here for 30 days and signing our street address on the paper form in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame entryway), while Minnesota completely shut us out with their "must be present to vote" caucus system, they BY FAR charge us the least amount in taxes to live here.  Consider this: given the same yearly salary for our family in 2009, Minnesota charged us $5000 to live there, Kansas would have charged us $4022 for being full-year residents, and North Dakota's looking really good at $1699.  There are so many reasons to love North Dakota!

You can imagine how happy I was to find out that the date for which you count where you live is April 1, 2010!  So, we have a consensus for the census.  Without a doubt, I can say, "Yes!  I am living in North Dakota on April 1, 2010.  Sign me up for funding for that new stop sign on the corner of 1st & 2nd street.  North Dakota, you deserve it!"

Kilimanjaro: The Video

We got some new video-editing software this month and Nathan is recreating our Tanzania video!  Here's the first part: Mt. Kilimanjaro climb via the Machame Route in HD.



If you haven't heard the story and still want more details after viewing the movie, check out these old posts.  I sure wish I were back in Africa right now!

Kilimanjaro Hike

Summit Journal Entry

Return to the Park

I haven't had a drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park since January.  We only have six weeks left in North Dakota and no concrete plans to return, so it's time to start taking advantage of this beautiful place before we leave!

 Easy to forget these aren't mountains

Not a minute after leaving the house, the sun went away and I started one of the most wildlife-less drives of my life up the only plowed section of the park road.  The prairie dogs were out, but I got all the way onto the slushy East Boundary Road before seeing a single bison, horse, or deer.  I was starting to think there was some kind of Ungulate Council Convention deep in the park, that I hadn't been invited to.

This place is still gorgeous and half-covered with snow.  I find myself really excited to see large sections of prairie peaking out, even if it's still dormant and brown.  Finally, I was able to find tiny bison dots along the East Boundary Road and white-tailed deer in the campground. 

I was about to give up on seeing anything really interesting, when I rounded the final turn right before leaving the park.  There, not 20 feet from my car on the road, were a dozen pronghorns - the closest batch I've ever seen!

It's funny how nature rewards you for being patient, and sometimes apathetic.  I'm hoping soon the park will recognize how long I've waited to see a mountain lion and award me that sighting too.

Square Butte

Surviving Snowmagedon

We did what we had to do.  I got into DC the second Reagan National Airport opened Thursday after a combined 32 inches of snow shut down government offices for four days and brought the amazing Metro Transit System to a halt.  Then, I talked my way onto an earlier flight for free Monday to avoid the delay on my regularly-scheduled take-off due to the next round of snow.  Excellent timing for an excellent weekend! 

Since it's been a few weeks since we returned, I'll just give you the facts and then a bunch of pictures.

1. We visited the Iwo Jima memorial at sunset and rewarded our tromp through the snow with an amazing middle eastern meal at Lebanese Taverna.
   
   
   
2. The Natural History & American History Museums graced our itinerary.  Seeing an encased Giant Squid, the flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner, and President Lincoln's actual hat (and facial molds) were amazing.  The biggest surprise was walking into just another room in the museum (ok, there was a guard in this room) and coming across The Hope Diamond on a twirling pedestal.  45.52 carats of deep blue glory, cut down from 112 original carats when it was hauled out of India.  I'm not a big fan of diamonds usually (you have to spend money to forever insure them), but that was cool.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Hope Diamond
3. We stopped back into the Museum of the American Indian for lunch and accidentally discovered an art form I'd never dreamed existed: Peruvian Scissor Dancers.
   
   
   
4. One amazing dinner at a place called Founding Fathers.  Truly my kind of place, it proudly declared its use of tapwater and tries hard to purchase its food from family farms (many of them local).  I highly recommend the Straw and Hay pasta dish, which featured homemade noodles and a sauce I just couldn't figure out.
5. My favorite thing this time?  Would you believe the National Archives topped the chart?  Yes!  In the same room I got to see our copy of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, Consitution, and Bill of Rights!  It was the last week EVER you're allowed to take flash-free pictures, so you can see just how incredibly faded our Declaration really is.  Good for us, a lot of governments don't make it half as long as we have and yes, it made me proud to be an American.  I am not proud to announce, however, that the whole time I was in that room, I had the School House Rock Preamble song in my head courtesy of my 8th Grade History teacher, Mr. Madlung.
   
   
   
   
   
    
   Declaration of Independence
   
6. Hit the Botanical Gardens again for Orchid Week, rode the Metro, watched the Olympics and played Settlers of Catan in the hotel.  You can't beat DC.  I don't know what it is about that city, but I love it!