We packed up our things from the not so glamorous Deer Park camping site (not to be confused with the delicious Deer Park water) and headed to Riverton, Wyoming, the home of our long-awaited hotel. Though the Comfort Inn wasn't entirely glamorous, we hardly noticed. After getting a little laundry done, we entered our feather-stuffed slumber havens as zombies and awoke with the energy of caffeinated children. But even though the bed was a welcome change from the thin sleeping pad, I was happy to leave the hotel. Riverton, Wyoming, isn't the classiest of places, and I had the unfortunate displeasure of encountering two depraved individuals on the third floor while I sat outside of my room on the phone with my best friend from home. I won't go into much detail for fear of worrying those who are prone to overreacting. But I survived the incident untouched, and that's all that matters. It was a needed reminder that women shouldn't go anywhere alone in a strange place after about 10:00. Mommy always says nothing good happens after dark.
So we said goodbye to Riverton and began our slow journey to the Tetons. The day was spent mostly in the van, which made frequent stops at the most riveting of geologic specimens. At each stop, my thoughts were pretty consistent: "This rock looks eerily similar to the last stop... Are we driving in circles?" "Ooh shiny!" "Whoever made up this geologic lingo clearly didn't believe in any word under 3 syllables. What a butthead." (Butthead is a euphemism I've chosen to use in place of my real thought. For the sake of the children.) To my professors, I'd like to add here that I was also very attentive to the lectures. Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me, especially because the majority of it is far too complexed for the likes of my artsy fartsy brain. But look. I drew some of the words... If that counts for anything. It was slim pickings because I only know how to spell a couple.
Our learning adventure ended at the magnificent Gros Ventre campsite. Check this out (picture quality is horrific because, like a fool, I only took pictures on my mom's Nikon. So I took a picture of a picture on the iPad of someone much smarter than myself.)
Once we settled in, my group (Tim and Melissa) cooked a delicious pesto pasta, without much help from me. Surprisingly, I'm learning just as much about cooking on this trip as I am about rocks. But which genre of knowledge will be more useful in my life? It's hard to tell... On the one hand, I could improve my love life with a solid cooking skill set: "Hey there, hunk. I casually cooked a lamb roast and truffle potatoes. And I happen to have some extra. Wanna come over?" But on the other hand, I could always impress the fellas with my rock expertise: "Instead of a diamond ring, you could buy me a cubic zirconia. Looks the same and it's cheaper. You're welcome." I'm clearly very smooth.
But I digress. After dinner, Tim and I made plans for a morning hike up the hill about a mile away from the camp. The professors warned us that it was farther than it looked. But our ambition and curiosity trumped reason and we decided to disregard their warnings and do it anyway.
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