Hey Kids. I'm back again from survey camp. I had a great time this last couple of days. Highlights include: Water bombing the eco students, having them steal our mouse' balls for all our computers, swimming in a freezing mountain lake after a rain fall, cliff jumping into the river, late night card games, a very drunk student playing his bagpipes for all to hear at 1:30 in the morning, watching Goldmember with the boys. Good times all around. For some reason though, everyone at camp was eager to get home and within a half hour of being done, everyone had left. Oh well. Only a week and a half till school. Until then, I will do some work on my survey camp major report and try to take it easy.

I'm back from survey camp until tomorrow night. It has been a great time so far.
Our average day is as follows:
6:30 - Alarm goes off. (But just a crappy watch alarm with no snooze button)
6:38 - Roll out of bed. Rub eyes. Scratch yourself.
6:40 - Shower. No one else from the floor is up yet so both showers are available.
6:45 - Done shower. Dress. Apply deodorent. Perhaps apply Goldbond also.
6:55 - Go to the dining hall for breakfast.
6:56 - Make sandwiches for lunch.
7:01 - Get breakfast comprised of musli, yogourt, fruit, bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee
7:15 - Finish breakfast.
7:25 - Finish coffee and sparse conversation with table-mates about quality of breakfast and days upcoming events.
7:27 - Brush teeth.
7:30 - Arrive in equipment room to pack up for a day of surveying.
7:40 - Get equipment organized and packed in van.
7:50 - Arrive a couple kilometers down the road where surveying will occur.
11:30 - After a number of hours of either GPS measurements or survey traverse execution, eat half of lunch.
3:00 - Finish work in the field. Arrive back at camp and eat remaining lunch.
3:30 - Arrive at computer lab for computations and processing.
5:30 - Finish most of comps.
5:35 - Go to room. Lay on bed. Turn on iPod. Listen to Denison Witmer, Brand New, Anathallo, Broken Social Scene and Owen.
5:55 - Go to dining room for supper. Wait in line.
6:00 - Get supper. Try to find a table to eat at that has Geomatics classmates, not biology students who are just finishing up their supper which started at 5:30.
6:30 - Finish supper. Get dessert and coffee.
6:40 - Finish dessert. Go to washroom.
6:50 - Finish 'dropping kids off at the pool'.
7:00 - Go to computer lab for briefing for next days survey exercise.
7:30 - Do more computations and work from last couple days survey exercises.
9:30 - Finish working on survey stuff.
9:35 - Get more coffee.
9:40 - Find people drinking alcohol and playing either volleyball or soccer. Join in volleyball or soccer.
10:30 - Stop playing sports. Start playing a$$hole. (or canasta or some other card game)
11:30 - Stop playing cards. Head to bed.
12:00 - Asleep, dreaming of surveying.

What a day it has been. I'm tired just thinking about everything I've been doing. It's been really great though. A lot of fun and everyone from our class is getting along well. It's been a great way to get to know my classmates for this coming year. I know a lot of them from my third year, but many didn't do internship and came from the class a year behind me.

Soo much food though. I've haven't spent so much time on the crapper. My colon is just screaming at me because of everything I'm putting through it.

I'm heading out to "survey camp" in beautiful Kananaskis. I'll be gone for a week or so and then hopefully back next weekend before heading out for another four days at camp. Should be a good time with my old school chums that I haven't really seen much for the last year that I have been on internship. Apparently, it is also a time for guys to be drinking all the time, but there is a good core of people in our class that aren't into that kind of thing so it should still be fun. Most of us will be sober for the week. I should have some great stories to tell after my two weeks. I wonder what else I should have packed? Hmmm. I wonder what I will leave behind? I left all my bathroom stuff at my parents house this weekend so I had to buy more. Now I have five toothbrushes, three razors, (one electric, two not) three deodorents, two tubes of toothpaste and two cans of shaving cream. It's always good to have a spare or two.

So, I'm up in Didsbury today and tomorrow for a bit visiting my folks, among other things. Today I went to a wedding of a guy that I went to highschool with. I haven't really seen him too much in the last few years, just run into him now and again so I was a bit surprised that I was invited to the wedding. I went to the ceremony and found that I didn't know anyone else there, other than a couple old people that I am either related to, or know from my old church. It was a nice wedding but I decided to not go to the reception. I can't decide what I feel a dork for more: going to a wedding by myself (no girlfriend, no family, no friends. Is that a wedding faux paw?) or because I didn't make an effort to meet anyone or even talk to the people I kind of knew even a little bit. Maybe I would have had a good time at the reception. I'm a dork.

So instead, I spent the afternoon with my parents. It was when James and I were on the ferry going to Newfoundland that I saw a couple playing "travel scrabble". I love scrabble and don't have anyone that will play with me, other than my dad. That is our game and it's always a close match. I played with some friends one time and beat them by a fair bit. I just had good letters and was able to use the triple word scores, but now they don't want to play with me anymore. I think it's because I used the word "harem" to get about 50 points. Anyway, when on the ferry, I had a strong urge to get back home and play scrabble and also golf with my dad. We managed to do both tonight. I was losing the golf game by three strokes but finished with a birdie, bogie and par on the last three to overtake him by one stroke. We were tied going into the last hole and both had putts of about 15 feet for par. I made mine and won. The scrabble game was also close. He got more big points on the triple word scores, but I had more high point words in general. He was ahead by about thirty at one point but I was able to pull back. We were actually tied at 265 points with only his one tile left. He had a blank and had two spots that he could get 10 points with it. So he won that game, 275 to 265. Good match. If anyone likes to play scrabble, let me know. I think I'll pick up travel scrabble. That would be gold.

The last few days since being home, forest fires in the west have been exhaling their smokey breath on our city. The sky is a dull gray and the sun has been a fiery blood red as it sets. It's dry and hot and beautiful. Though, it also hints at something more terrible. From afar it's a site to behold but fires are raging and lives are in danger. It reminds me of some of the waterfalls we saw this summer also. (ie, Niagara Falls) They are so powerful and beautiful to behold, but to get too close or to be caught in the current above the falls spells certain death. God too, is powerful and a wonder to behold, yet his presence would be too much for these sinful, mortal bodies. We get such small glimpses from afar, yet those are enough at times. Other times we wish we could be in the middle of his presence and get the full experience of his love. Some day soon we will. We will long for those days.

I can't sleep right now, although I've already given it a try for about half a minute. My bed was extremely comfortable. I forgot how great it is to sleep in a bed after spending a month on the ground.

The last stretch of road through the prairies really defined for me why it is home. The fields were a golden shade of yellow in Manitoba where the harvest has already begun. A small windmill turned to look as we sped by. The sun was red as it set over a dusty skyline. In Saskatchewan, we passed a combine and several tractors on the road. We stopped for supper and it felt like a lazy Sunday afternoon. The wind blew hot and strong. We kept the windows open instead of using the air conditioning. We raced the sun west. It lapped us. Twice.

We made it home! It's good to be back. We made it in good time and had a great time at Denny's tonight also. We'll get some sleep and be back to regular life in no time. I have nothing else to say tonight. How odd.

We made it to DeKalb, IL tonight. We're bagged but will be back to Canada tomorrow hopefully. Still on track for Calgary on Wednesday night. We've got Denny's planned for the night we get back, if we get back early enough. Look out here we come, equipped with new experiences, photographs and two volumes of Canadian poetry. That's a right good time we had. (Think Newfie)

What a trip it has been! Sorry it's been so long, but apparently the Maritimes doesn't have any internet access at all. They put public access stations at the schools so the fisherman can check their email, but of course, it being summer, all the schools are closed right now. No matter though. We had a great time in the East and now are on our way back home. We'll be in Toronto and Niagara falls today and then be coming through the midwest tomorrow. In a couple days we will be back in Manitoba and hopefully home by Wednesday night. Watch out, here we come.