Category: National Parks

Not Your Momma’s Olympic NP

It’s that time again friends. We are bringing you another installment in  
the Amazing Besties National Park Road Trip series. This was one of the most epic friend adventures either of us have ever had, so if you like best friend hijinks these posts are for you.  If you’re into pretty photos of natural wonders, you have come to the right place!  10 states. 9 National Parks and 1 National Monument. One summer of fun!

Want to catch up?  Check out the rest of the series here.

Days 19-21
Olympic National Park – Park #7!
Homeland of the Quinault and the Hoh

After weeks of driving north across the height of the US we reached Glacier National Park and began our voyage west across Washington. We made a pitstop for a waterfall and visited some childhood friends of Meridith’s. After three weeks of camping and camp food, sleeping indoors was a delight. We had pizza in Spokane that makes our mouths water to this day.

Reaching the Olympic Peninsula also meant taking our first ferry ride. We hopped on the ferry as the sun was setting over Seattle and arrived at the gates of Olympic National Park in the wee hours. Here is actual footage of Rachel getting ready to sleep in a nest of our clothes in the back of Meridith’s car.

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Carving Out Time: Spring Semester

Academic “spring” may begin at the start of the semester in January, but March is always an exciting time as true spring is just around the corner (spring equinox, holla). This period of time can get very busy for graduate students. It’s tempting to get ALL THE THINGS done before summer hits: comprehensive exams, getting out that manuscript, and that other manuscript, securing summer field work or internships, and a whole slew of other goals. Keeping track of everything we hope to get done means a litany of lists. Both of us love to make lists, lists for groceries, packing, what needs to be done around the house, around the office, lists of code to run when it finally works, lists of things that could be wrong with our R code, all the lists. One of our favorite lists has got to be the List of Fun Way to Relax After Finishing a Thing. It’s very tempting to put off a lot of things while you’re hyper focused on an academic goal, but we think it’s important to carve out time for at least some of the fun things along the way. We also always love hearing how others deal with the constant work-life compromise struggle and warding off burnout.

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Sweet Link ParTEA (December 2018 & January 2019)

Lots of great reads to share from the past two months. You may have noticed that it’s quite cold around the country right now. We’ve compiled some great readings to perfectly compliment an evening in a cozy blanket fort with a hot cocoa and those fuzzy socks you told your mom you didn’t need but are now so glad to have!

A great graphic to help you understand the polar vortex (or useful for explaining to friends and family!)

I love articles that take you along on the research journey. NatGeo Open Explorer and wildlife biologist Tyus Williams shares their experiences in the field in Belize as they use remote sensor camera traps to study jaguar movement and habitat patterns.

I don’t know if you can see the headline “The Strange Nature of the First Printed Illustration of a Sloth” without clicking to see. It’s definitely quite hilarious but still adorable. Bonus: there’s also an entire informative article with the illustration!

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