Super Adventure Tour: Day 6

Today we explored San Francisco with Carmen as our native guide.  

We walked from Carmen's house through Golden Gate Park all the way to the bay.  We followed the bay to Fisherman's Wharf, where we tried our first In-N-Out Burgers.  They were awesome!  Later we looked at the California sea lions at Pier 39 and walked into downtown.  We visited a really cool toy store in the city before catching a bus back to the house.  

Carmen was our photojournalist for the day.

Matt, Nikki, and Aaron in front of the "Full House" house.

This is what happens when you point an expensive camera directly at Nikki.

Matt, Aaron, and Nikki watching some naughty seagulls by the bay.

Matt ate three tubs of ketchup with this meal.

Aaron and Matt give a 'thumbs up', indicating that they were very pleased with their In-N-Out Burger experience.

Aaron's face required a massive amount of sunscreen.

California sea lions at Pier 39.

Matt and Aaron on the bus back home.

Super Adventure Tour: Day 5

It's the end of day 5 on the Super Adventure Tour.

Tonight we're staying with Carmen and Derrek in San Francisco.

So far we've visited the San Diego Zoo, jumped in the Pacific Ocean in

 the middle of the night, surfed San Elijo State Beach, watched elephant seals basking near Cambria, and drove a stretch of Highway 1.

Matt watching elephant seals.

Nikki's surfing sunburn.  

Matt and Aaron show off their sunburns.

Aaron grilling for a crowd at the hostel in San Diego.

Nikki eating some really good food at the hostel in San Diego.

Matt and Nikki at the San Diego Zoo crocodile exhibit.

Matt and Nikki boogie-boarding at San Elijo State Beach.

OMG! I like totally went blonde.

No really, I did. Now all I need are some implants and a tanning bed... Oh no! It's happening. ..."Don't go into the light"...

Anyway here's a 'before' picture from the Arkansas Academy of Sciences meeting a few weeks ago and then my 'after' from about 30 minutes ago. I've wanted to do this ever since my hair began the dead rabbit brown phase. It's like seeing a plump version of my official mental image of myself.

New Mexico NMBIS and Hendrix Talk

I'm back from New Mexico and I gave a talk about my alligator research to the Hendrix Biology Club last night, so I think it's time for an update.

Santa Fe was really cool. It's a very artsy little place like Eureka Springs, but the buildings are all in the southwest style so the whole theme works to draw you in. My poster didn't win the award, but they paid for us to go there so we didn't expect to be considered.

This is our hotel. It was very nice and ultra stylized, like the rest of Santa Fe. It's called the Inn at Loretto and it's right in the middle of the downtown area. My room had a giant window that opened onto someone else's roof, so I kept going out there at night to look around.

We visited some cliff dwellings where the place allows people to climb ladders into some of the homes. It was my favorite part of the whole trip, and I think I would go back just to do it again. This is a picture of Dr. Swanson, Ben, and Madeline inside one of the smaller cliff dwellings.

This is me "Vanna Whiting" my new alligator poster at the symposium. I think it's funny that my jacket looks like a lab coat.

Stay tuned for more updates! I'm hunting the Ivory-billed Woodpecker tomorrow if weather permits.

Upcoming Stuff

Here's what I'll be up to in the next few months:

INBRE Symposium in Santa Fe and AAS Symposium in Clarksville, both to my present poster about alligator research I've been working on.

Hunt for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Southeast Arkansas the first day of spring break.

College of Natural Science and Mathematics Poster Symposium at UCA and talk at Hendrix about the alligator research in April.

Memphis in May (just Sunday, ... if I'm feeling rich.)

Super-Adventure Tour of the West coast the middle two weeks of May. Beach camping near San Diego, invade Carmen's house in San Francisco, camp in the Redwoods, hang out in Portland, camp at Mt. Rainier, and wander Seattle before heading home.

Summer School June and July
Cell Biology and Physics II (frowny face)

Graduate again in August!

Get a real job!
"Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it." ~Albert Einstein

I'll be posting about these individually when the time comes. I'm rarely short on activities, that's for sure.

Back to School

I'm back in school and I have senioritis for sure. I just made a video of my stolen lab rats escaping from their cage. My only comment: Rats are smarter than guinea pigs.

Oh, and you'll want your speakers on for my eclectic musical selections during the video.

Snake Bite

I think the title says it all. I got my first snake bite Monday from a grouchy little Blood Python named "Satan's Slave Girl" (above). I was cleaning her enclosure and I must have spooked her when I picked her up to put her back inside because she struck and grazed my knuckle. It didn't hurt. In fact, I had to look at my hand before I was sure she'd even hit me. Not to say that it didn't hurt later... it did.