5/8/14 -- Shelf Road

Dear Troy,

This morning Emily and I left for Shelf Road after first stopping at your mom’s house to pick up the Shelf Road Guide Book.  Your mom is really looking forward to having you and Justin home to help her unpack boxes.  Unfortunately Dakota wasn’t at the front door, so the only kisses I’ve gotten today were from Emily.

We are off!

We made good time on the drive down with Emily sleeping most of the way.  The washboard on Shelf Road woke her up just before we arrived.  We are camping at the Bank Campground and are in the same spot you and I camped in a couple years ago.  Emily and I climbed two routes today before heading back to the campsite.  Emily did a great job leading her first sport route outdoors (the 5.5 we climbed and re-climbed after forgetting to un-knot the rope before we pulled it).  By the second route, we had experienced sun, rain, graupel, and thunder, with the weather only looking worse.  Of course, as we walked back up the road, the sun came back out.  Oh well, such is life in Colorado during spring.

All ready with the gear!

Potential climbing walls

Spider man

A determined tree

Emily's fingers were cold...

We managed to gather some firewood for a campfire.  I’m not sure Emily quite understands how dry it is here; she wanted an “Alaska-sized” fire, and brought back a log the size of a small tree.  This was not burned.  I thought our campfire was sufficiently sized; Emily described it as “cute.”  Either way it warmed us up and made two delicious s’mores and the forest nearby is still standing.

For dinner we had Santa Fe peas (basically Santa Fe chicken soup with a 4 serving bag of peas added for good measure).  It was probably even gluten free.  Emily was wise to recommend we use the partial propane canister first.  Somehow it still had fuel even though it was probably older than me.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Sand Dunes.  Hopefully Emily can manage to stay awake, as it is her turn to drive.  Tell your mom Happy Mother’s Day.  We will try to crash on your couch the Sunday before Memorial Day on our trip back to Colorado.

Aidan

5/7/14 -- Road Trip Preparations

Dear Caitlin,

Hello!  Since you have specifically requested blogging for this road trip, I will be writing this first letter to you.  You see, bringing a computer and editing photos on the go can be quite difficult in the middle of nowhere in the desert, but letters can be written from any location. A wonderful reality of letters!  So this trip will be recorded in letters to dear friends and family from both Aidan and I, and they will then be compiled on the internet and completed with pictures when we find some time on a rainy day after our trip is complete.

We will be heading off tomorrow morning (I think Aidan wants to leave earlier than I want to get up, but I’m sure we will figure it out and I can always sleep on the drive!).  The day has been spent running round to various stores to get last minute items and food.  We’ve been to REI at least twice (the sales guy thinks we are regulars) and may stop in Colorado Springs on the way out once more tomorrow.  But we are getting close!  And have made quite a mess of the living room…

Gear staging area

The only things left on the agenda are to write down directions, pack the car with the gear, and make chocolate chip cookies! (Because obviously that is the most important item to bring on any road trip.)  We are getting excited!

I keep having issues because most of my camping experience is in Alaska, where the sun doesn’t set, it will probably be below freezing at night, and as soon as you step out of your car you will be swarmed by mosquitoes.  It is a good thing Aidan keeps reminding me that it is hot in the desert, there are no bugs, and we will DEFINITELY need a headlight/lantern as the sun will surely set in this area of the country.  This will be something new to me…

I think that is about all of our notable preparations thus far.  I look forward to sharing our adventures with you and the rest of the world soon!  I think it will be a pretty great trip.  I’m sure there are things we have overlooked or forgotten, and they will probably make for funny stories down the road (literally). 

For now I am thankful to be out of school for the summer where we won’t have to worry about physics anymore.  I hope you are having a great time in Maine and are able to spend some time outside!

Looking forward to seeing you come fall.  Take care, and God bless!

Your friend,

Emily

Dear Emily (in 2024)

I haven’t blogged much this semester.  School gets busy you know.  But anyway, I took an English class (maybe that’s where all of my writing efforts were focused.  Yeah, let’s go with that!) and we primarily focused on rhetorical situation and audience, something I hadn’t really thought much about prior.  Turns out that it’s pretty important, and also my subconscious has done a descent job considering it even while I remain naïve.  So, our first assignment of the semester was a discussion board post introducing ourselves.  We were told to include personal academic and non-academic interests, to reflect on a quote from the syllabus, and to discuss the dynamics between professional and academic environments and how we navigate those two arenas as coop students.  Afterwards we were asked to repeat the assignment using a new rhetorical context.  I chose to write a letter to my future self.

I am posting this letter to my future self here, so that 10 years from now I will be more likely to stumble upon it here rather than in my Northeastern Spring 2014 English folder on my computer (because why on earth would I revisit that 10 years from now?)  Here goes!

Dear Emily (in 2024),

I am a junior in college and majoring in biology and environmental science, but I am considering switching fields into theology. What did you think I should do?  (I realize you have an advantage over me here, as you have already made that decision, but what could it hurt to ask?)  Co-op has been great in helping me discover what I don’t want to do… But so far my future is still in a cloud of mist (hopefully that mist has parted for you at least a little bit).  Anyway, at present I am aware of two things.  1) I do not want to work in a lab.  And 2) I like to play outside.  (Do I ever more back to Alaska???)

As you can tell, I am in the wandering stages of life.  I am not-so-patiently waiting on some epiphany to point me in the right direction and open the magic curtain with a TA-DAH!!!  But so far the opened curtain has only revealed the daily weather (I supposed this in itself is a good thing, as without that open curtain I would not have known to put on a raincoat this morning… but I doubt you are very interested in the weather of 10 years ago so I will try to avoid that topic from here on out – one would hope there are more interesting things to talk about with my future self anyway, without digressing to the weather). 

At present I am trying to determine the role that ministry plays in my life.  I am aware of the mission “to make disciples of every nation…” but I don’t yet understand how that will physically play out in my life (your life?  Our lives…?) I suppose this is where the rift is developing between biology and myself.  (In case you don’t remember, our 12 year old self was determined she was going to be a geneticist – our 22 year old self isn’t so sure…)  So my task now is to figure out how we will make the transition from an academic career in biology to a professional career in ministry.  The cool thing is I think those could over lap a bit, I’m just still working on figuring out that process… Any tips?  (I really wish you would hurry up and write me back).

So I am a student, and you are a professional.  Co-op has tried to mold me into a professional, but so far it has been unsuccessful.  Perhaps you have had better luck.  I think for me this academic stage is more about testing things out and making up my mind, whereas when I am you and a real professional hopefully I will have already settled into a field.  I’m not saying you can’t explore a bit and change your mind if you need to (please don’t be stuck in a career that I dislike), but I would hope there is at least a little more consistency and direction in your life.  My job is to acquire the skill set in academics that you will apply to society professionally.  Sound like a plan?  We make a good team!

One thing I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart is that you always continue to explore.  Remember when we climbed up that big rock in Denali?  Or when we went to Costa Rica and camped in the rainforest?  Or __________  (you fill in the blank, you know more about us than I do!)  I think T.S. Eliot called it pretty good “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know that place for the first time.”  I guess that is what you and I are always doing; as you venture into the world and find your place in society you continue to see me in a new light.  Bruner commented, “Knowing is a process, not a product.”  Even after 22 years I still can’t fully answer the fundamental question ‘Who am I?’  As I get to know Emily better, I can still wonder who she is, she isn’t finished yet.  Do you have a better idea at 32?  I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.

Love, 

Emily (in 2014)