Yes, its hard to believe folks but I am now 27 years young. (well, technically not until tomorrow but when you read this it’ll be true. Its akin to post-dating a check). A good age that is for sure. Its too bad I have schoolwork to do and can’t spend it at Bridger or something, but its not the end of the world.

I have to finish a take-home exam, meet my professor at 11, give out a couple of make-up quizzes at 12:30, and then proctor our first Stat 216 exam at 6. Not that much that has to get done really. So it should be a good day.

I rewarded myself with a new 250 GB external hard-drive (120 bucks from tigerdirect.com) and a new pair of clogs (I had a pair a long time ago that Davy managed to confiscate and wore out). So right now my computer is bleeping as it backs up 18 GB of photos from my harddrive and I’m wearing my wonderful, new-smelling shoes. As soon as I finish typing this I’m going to go to bed because its after 11 o’clock and that is past my bedtime.

Aren’t Friday’s the best? They are especially nice when you had 2 tests that week. One thing about a test is that you don’t necessarily know how you’ll do before you take it, but you do know that at least it will be over.

I had a pretty tough test today in Stat 424. Which is a math stat class. Its pretty interesting but it is a whole new type of material that takes a little bit to get used to. We have a take-home portion of it thats due next week that’ll be the other half of the grade. I felt like if I had a little more time the in-class part would’ve gone better, but that just means that I’ll need to have the material straight that much more for next time.

Also, Modest Mouse is going to play a concert in Bozeman the Saturday at the end of our spring break. NONE of the bands I’m familiar with ever come to this town. Some do stop by Missoula, which is a little larger and a few hours to the west. That’s the town that inspired me to come to school here actually. Modest Mouse is a band I tried to see about 3 years ago in Minneapolis but the show sold out before I was able to get tickets. So this is exciting. One of the things I miss about Asheville is the fairly regular supply of music they have coming through there.

Unlike Davy, there are no ziplines or gorillas in my possible future. I do think I’ll go down to Yellowstone tomorrow. Bridger can be a little hectic on the weekends and finding some peace will be nice. Thanks for reading about my little slice of the universe out here. Hope that whoever you are and and whatever you’re doing things are working out for you.

Michael

Here are a couple of pictures from Vegas. I didn’t actually take that many. I wanted to really get some good shots of the lights but that didn’t happen. The city certainly does better at night when the dark takes over and the multitude of lights brings your eye away from the typical big city grunge. There is a pyramid there with a giant spotlight shooting up from the top of it that you can see when you are about 70 miles outside of town.

The area outside of Vegas is quite splendid. I really am fond of the southwest. Where we actually played was about 15 minutes from our hotel and had some very nice hills surrounding it. They seem painted with lines of red and tan. Almost like they are made out of sand, very fragile looking. That picture of the sunset is untouched by the way. Thats really what it looked like. I might almost use the term “reality”.

Back in Bozeman. Things are calming down as I catch up. Vegas was quite interesting.

Some highlights:

• Our team (the Rum Runners) went 6-2 over Friday-Sunday
• Got stuck in an elevator with 22 other people for an hour and a half (more will come on this)
• Saw some standard Vegas sights, the fountains at the Bellagio hotel, an audio-anamatronic Zeus and friends pop out of a fountain inside Ceasar’s Palace
• Lost 2 dollars gambling
• Enjoyed 80 degree weather for a 3 days
• Spent 3 hours driving the final 80 miles home, (arriving at 3 am), on a snow-covered interstate
• General marveling at the train-wreck of civilization that is Las Vegas

And much more!

Right now I’m trying to stay on top of my game so I can go to Bridger tomorrow, because it has snowed about 4 feet there in the month of February, including about 3 in the last week. So there is a lot of freshy pow-pow out there waiting for me.

I just decided just recently that I’m going to Las Vegas this weekend. There is an Ultimate Tournament (flat plastic discs) there and MSU is taking a team. Mapquest says its 850 miles from Bozeman. We’re leaving Thursday morning. It will be an interesting drive, through Utah and Nevada, basically all new ground for me, which is exciting and one of the main reasons why I’m going. I’ve been through Utah a couple times but have not traveled this route exactly. I believe I’ll be the first Sulock in Vegas. (At least in our immediate family).

I go to Vegas with a mixture of excitement and fear for what I’ll encounter there, other than some warmer weather. At the very least it will be a learning experience. Right now I associate Vegas with lights, buffets, and gambling (although not necessarily in that order). I have gotten a little ahead as far as school is concerned, but the beginning of next week will still be challenging. You can’t miss four days around here without paying the consequences. But I will deal with that Monday.
Hopefully when I come back I’ll have some interesting pictures and some insight into one of Elvis’ favorite cities. I hope everyone is doing well.

p.s. I’m glad that the Tar Heels managed to pull out that win against Coach K and the rest of his cronies.

According to their website. Bridger has gotten about 20″ of new snow since wednesday. Which has made for an excellent, tiring, and brief, weekend. There are so many places to explore out there. I feel like everytime I go I find something new. Its a seriously different mountain then Breckenridge was. Even though its a lot smaller I would say Bridger has a lot more varied terrain.

Something I have yet to do it hike to the top and ride down the ridge. Coming down from the ridge requires a mandatory hike because the lifts don’t go all the way. Also,  you are required to to carry a shovel and avalanche tranceiver (to find others and be found, just in case). I was reading a book on hiking the ridge called “Steppin’ Up”, describing the different descending routes. I found it interesting that on more than a few, a 20-30 ft huck off a cliff was casually mentioned as required. Thankfully, not every thing is that crazy and I shall be seeking one of the more tame ways to be my introduction.

I took this picture of a cloud from my car window as I came into the parking lot this morning at Bridger. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen something like that. The cruddy cell phone picture does not do it justice, it was a spectacular cloud.