In Asheville!

OK so I've actually been in Asheville for a week, got behind on this! I went on a road trip for a few days out to the Outer Banks (by myself) which was really cool, the main point was to see some of the unique ecosystems out there so I definitely fulfilled that! Here's some of my fav pics from that, there's a lot more on facebook...

This was a preserve on Ocracoke Island.

This was a beach on northern Ocracoke Island.

Alligator alongside a trail in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Cool cypress trees in Pettigrew State Park (the Moccosion overlook).


So that was a nice getaway for a few days. I had some delicious sheepshead fish that was served grilled and pecan-crusted...yummy! I should have taken a picture for the blog, hehe.

So I got to Asheville last weekend and moved in. My roommate is on vacation in Scotland and won't get here til Wednesday. Here's the house:

Cute house! Cool rocking chairs on the porch.

My room...j/k...a little greenhouse that I think I can use if I want...


View from the back porch...lotso trees!

Back porch...super cute.

So I had my first week of work...it was awesome! Tuesday I was pretty much talking with the people there the whole time, familiarizing myself with what they did....Wednesday we spent all day outside doing a baseline documentation report (BDR) on a piece of property that will be conserved under a conservation easement....Thursday I worked from home, doing readings, and Friday one of my coworkers drove me around all over western NC showing me various properties in 4 of the 8 counties we cover. I should have taken photos, but I'll be going back to those places in the next few months so plenty of photos will be forthcoming. Some particularly beautiful areas were Chimney Rock, Grandfather Mountain, and Wilson Creek...one thing that struck me when we were driving was the huge difference in temperature when we were at higher elevation and lower elevation....when we were up above 6000 feet it was quite chilly and the vegetation looked like early spring still, but then 15 minutes later we were at 3000-4000 feet and it was like summer, quite warm and everything was fully leafed out. Pretty cool all the microclimates that you can experience in a relatively small area...I love North Carolina for that!

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend and so far haven't done anything too exciting, but I probably won't do any big trips cuz I'm a little bit worn out from all the driving! It's an hour commute to Morganton, and although it goes really fast (and the office is a really nice 2nd floor downtown office with big windows!), it still makes me not want to be in the car when I don't have to be. Deja vu of my time commuting from Ann Arbor to Detroit! Some day, I hope to not be so reliant on my car!!!

I caught up in some movies last night...watched Milk and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Watching Milk was really inspiring and made me realize that I really haven't been enough of an activist and need to be more of one in terms of standing up for the causes that I believe in. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was pretty good but weird ending...I guess typical Woody Allen.

Ok well I need to get out of the house for a bit, more later!

Mason Farm Biological Reserve

So I went for another trip to the Mason Farm Biological Reserve today. It's in Chapel Hill, near the botanical garden, I found about it from my Con Bio class at UNC. It's nice because you need a permit to go there and it's kind of tucked away so there's not usually too many people there.

Here's some photos:

There's actually a deer in this one, just to the right of the post and to the left of that tree branch.

This "pond" (more like a wetland type deal) had a lot of turtles, I think they were painted and box perhaps?

I just bought a bunch of new field guides so I can actually identify wildlife around here, which will be really nice to have this summer.

Also, one more thing I just had to include:

This is one of the cute neighborhood cats, Javier! Awwwww....

And...scene.

Passed all my classes!

Seriously, at Duke I'm excited to just pass my classes, whereas at U of M I still cared about grades and tried to get an A. I ended up doing the best in Conservation Biology, which I was a little surprised about because it was a surprisingly challenging class (taught by Peter White at UNC), then Business Principles I did next best, then Environmental Law (phew), then Economics of Sustainable Development. No surprise there, I thought Pfaff was a good professor but took awhile to get into the swing of the class/his way of thinking. And then the Duke Forest Practicum was just pass/fail so I passed, woo-hoo! I really liked Judd and I hope to go on the Western Field Trip next spring which he leads, you get to go to the Eastern Cascades next year! (this year was the Western Cascades). Although you have to camp out to reserve a spot for the trip...what is it with this school and having to camp out for everything??? Sheesh. :-)
Toodle-loo for now!

Robert Redford movie kick

Since Robert Redford's campus visit a few weeks ago to accept the Duke LEAF award, I realized I hadn't seen too many of his movies and thus have been on a RR movie kick the past few weeks. I like him because he doesn't overact, seems relatively down-to-earth and has a lot of great nature footage in his movies. I have most recently seen/rented:

A River Runs Through It (1992)
Not the most exciting plot, but great footage of MT and Brad Pitt. Redford directed it but isn't in it.

The Horse Whisperer (1998)
Directed by and starring RR. Read the book as well and thought the movie was a nice rendition. Scarlett Johanssen's first starring role I believe, she's so little!

Out of Africa (1985)
Incredible movie. Memoir of the life of Karen Dinesen, a Danish Baroness who moved to a farm in what is now Kenya and ran a coffee plantation. Awesome cinematography and fascinating story.

Sneakers (1992)
I normally don't like this type of movie (about "hackers" or basically computer geeks) but this one gets the adrenaline pumping but also has funny parts. Love it.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Cool seeing Redford and Newman in their prime. Fun Western, more watchable than other Westerns I've seen.

I think that will be it for my Redford movie kick....for now!

End of first year at Duke!

Well, it's finally the end of the first year at Duke and I can't believe I totally slacked on keeping up with this blog throughout the year! I found a place to live for my summer internship in Asheville and I'll be moving there on Sunday! I need to find someone to sublet my apt in the meantime, yikes!

I'll be working with Foothills Conservancy this summer...doing management plans for some land that they own. Can't wait to be out there and breathe in that fresh mountain air! And do some relaxing and not have any homework to do! And I can't wait to try out all those awesome restaurants in Asheville that people keep telling me about.

My roommate's name this summer is Catie and she's from Montana! Can't wait to hear stories about Montana and what she's done.

Well the next few days I'll be packing then I'll be leaving Durham behind for a while! I renewed my lease at my apartment so I'll be back in the same old place for the 2nd year of grad school:

Stay tuned for more!