Erin's Blog!

Rothbury!

2008-07-16T15:08:00.001-07:00

My friend Sarah and I decided to venture off to Rothbury. I had SUCH a good time and was SO glad that we decided to go. The music was awesome, the venue was great and the weather was beautiful. Luckily, Sarah took TONS of pictures.

As the festival went on, people kept adding to this "stick art." By the end of the weekend, there was tons of greenery all over the letters.

I was a little apprehensive to see how Snoop Dog would be received by a field full of white hippies, but he was great! He was, however, a little confused about where he was. He kept saying, "What's up East Lansing?"

They had tons of decorations all over the festival grounds.

This artist does these paintings during live shows. This was during Yonder Mountain String Band. He was selling them later on in his vendor booth. Very cool stuff.

This big ball slowly rose throughout the day and at night was high up in the sky and looked like the moon.

My friend from work Liz and her fiance Brian were there with a bunch of friends. It was great to run into them...this is us rockin' out at Snoop Dog.

Sarah and I.

Widespread had an insane violinist with them. She was great!

Sherwood Forest at night.

On the festival grounds was a forest they called, "Sherwood Forest." In order to get from stage to stage you had to walk through this forest. They had hammocks that you could hang out in and at night all of the decorations were all lit up. It was very cool!

Walking around the grounds Sarah and I came across this crazy fun marching band group. They were pretty funny.

The monkey structure you can see up ahead served as a virtual "flip book" at night. If enough people drummed on little drums at the base, the monkeys would spin and had strobe lights flashing on them. If you concentrated on one spot, it looked like a monkey swinging through the vines.

Some women were a bit more daring than me! They offered painted body art. I guess they stayed cool.

I was very impressed with The Black Keys!

Check out this dude with a real watermelon on his head!

This stage was decorated with old pop cans, cardboard, etc. The festival did a great job of trying to keep things as "green" as possible.

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.

Dave Matthews

A HUGE beach ball bouncing around the crowd with "Hi Dave" written on it.

Sarah and I at Dave...notice Tim Reynolds on the screen in the background.

We ran into Sarah's friend from Aquinas, Damon and his friends. Here Damon and I are perfecting the "Ninja" pose.

Eric, Damon, me, and Kevin having a great time at Dave.

The boys rockin' out!

Sarah and Damon

Sherwood Forest during the day.

We saw an acoustic guitar duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela. They were SO impressive!

VERY dirty feet on our last day!

Me, Damon and Sarah at our last show...we will definitely have some Rothbury withdrawl.

South Manitou Island

2008-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

My Dad, Pat and I visited South Manitou Island on June 21st. There were some wonderful views and great history.

My Dad and Pat at the visitors center.

There was an old school house on the island.

My Dad made me sit at the teacher's desk.

My Dad in the Dunce cap!

School's Out for Summer!

2008-07-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Rose, one of my work friends, had a bunch of us over to her house on the last day of school. We had a little too much fun!

Posing on the rocks!

The young bucks and Rose!

Boston! Memorial Day Weekend.

2008-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, Brian and I went to Boston to visit Jessica and Dave. There also happened to be the NCAA National Lacrosse Championship at Gilette Stadium :0)

Jessica and Dave tailgating before one of the games.

Jess and their dog Roco sitting in front of the fire.

Me showing Roco some love.

Friends are good.

Brian enjoying his first canoli...they are from Mike's Pastry...yum!

Apparently I am intently inspecting whether or not he likes it!

Lobster dinner! We made lobsters and they were HUGE!

I was laughing so hard when I took this picture it turned out all funny!

More tailgating.

Jessica and Dave's house overlooks a really pretty "pond." It is more of a lake to me!

Syracuse won it all!

Erin, a homemaker?!?

2007-12-03T18:49:00.001-08:00

At the end of October I took on the task of dog sitting and house sitting for Stacy and Brad who have ventured off to England due to a job opportunity through Stacy's company. I will helping them out for at least 9 months, if not longer, depending on what happens with Stacy's job. So far, it has been going well and the dogs have been lots of fun. I have the unique opportunity to "try out" homeownership and dog ownership without the long term repsonsibilities.

A photo of the house on Thanksgiving Day -- our first dusting of snow.

Rex in his usual spot. He is male and about 8 years old. He is your typical dog, loves to lay around all day and LOVES his food.

Emma in her usual spot. She is female a bit younger (4 years I think). She's a great runner and has done the 3.6 mile loop around the house with me quite a few times.

Rex with a funny look on his face.

I tried to get a picture with both dogs sitting still -- not an easy task. Here I had to taunt them with a treat.

Vegas!

2007-12-02T18:25:00.001-08:00

The NAR convention was in Vegas this year and we were lucky enough to be able to join in on the festivities. We had a great time with the usual Vredevoogd-Combs silliness.

Our parents suite was amazing...it even had a player piano. Leah had a great time posing on it!

The Vredevoogd's at dinner.

We went to see the Cirque de Solei show "Love." It was all set to Beatles songs and it was amazing! I loved it!!

Brian and I decided to take a quick trip to Venice. Just kidding! The Venetian had an indoor shopping area with real canal and a feaux ceiling. It looked so real!

Sarah and I in "Venice."

Laurie's Wedding!

2007-11-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

The rehersal dinner was a barbeque at Laurie's parents beach house. It was great!

A view from the deck of our bed and breakfast.

The happy couple!!

Laurie making a list...very Laurie!

Evelyn...a super cute flower girl.

The site of the ceremony...so pretty!

Table settings. Laurie did a great job!

I thought Laurie's hair was gorgeous!

I loved the back of her dress :)

My hair. We all wore orchids in our hair...it was so pretty!

Laurie's nephew Jackson. So cute!

Laurie's family

Kelly and I at the reception.

Stephanie and I.

Stephanie and I...yum!!

The rest of the pictures: Lots of dancing and fun!!

Jessica's Wedding

2007-10-01T17:15:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I ventured out to "Western Mass" for Jessica's wedding. Jess and I worked together at camp and she also moved out to Boston and was the best roomate a girl could have. Her wedding was tons of fun, full of classic Anderson humor. Here are some photos from the weekend.

The beautiful bride.

Pretty cake!

The happy couple!

Crazy groomsmen!

We spent some time taking picutres in this gorgeous park.

Dan and Maggie being silly.

More silliness!

Molly and I.

Jessica and I.

Cutest Kids Ever!

2007-09-15T18:11:00.001-07:00

We spent some time up at the Vredevoogd's cottage on Glen Lake. Here are some shots of Ethan and Violet playing together...too cute!

Underage, should we say?

Laurie's Bachelorette Party!

2007-09-15T18:07:00.001-07:00

Our friend Laurie came up all the way from Florida for her bachelorette party. Her sister did a great job of making the night a lot of fun! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the bride-to-be!

Kelly and I.

Stephanie and I.

The Drive Home!

2007-09-15T18:01:00.001-07:00

During the drive home I was amazed at the change in scenery throughout most of Wyoming. Here are a few shots from the drive. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the Sturgis Biker Rally bikers who helped me when my car broke down. They were a great help!

Jackson, Wyoming

2007-09-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

During my trip out west this summer, I spent some time visiting Mary, an old friend from college, in Jackson Wyoming. We spent some time in the Tetons and also did an overnight in the Windriver Range.

The Tetons

A double rainbow! So pretty!

Mary on the gondola at Teton Village.

The following photos are from our trip through the Wind River Range.

Fireweed

Cheryl with her dog Smoky. He was a champ and even had his own backpack!

Mary checking out the view.

Mary and I with Smoky.

Dawson Pitamakan

2007-09-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

These photos are from a hike a few of us did on one of our off weekends during my U Montana class. For those of you who know my "bear scare" story from my trip to Glacier with my brother in 2000, this is the hike that we were supposed to do before we were evacuated. It was great to finally complete the hike! With Chris, we were planning on breaking up the 18.8-mile loop into two days. We made it to Old Man Lake the first day and then were evacuated. This time, we did the whole loop in one day. It ranks up there in my top hikes...spectacular views!

Two Medicine Lake - location of the trailhead. A general note about these pictures: the mountains are typically much more snow covered. I was there late in the season, plus they had an abnormally warm summer which most likely contributed to the snow melt.

Starting the hike, only 18.8 miles to go!

When I was here in 2000, this area had a large stream flowing through it.

Making our way! We're getting higher!

Old Man Lake, our lunch stop. This is as far as we got in 2000 and was also the location of the infamous bear incident.

Lupines! My favorite wildflower. They were pretty scarce during my trip because it was late in the season. I was so exctied to see some!

A cute little squirrell...apparently they live at high elevations as well.

We made it to the top! A view of Pitamakan Lake.

Christina and Emily at the top. It was windy!

Sam and Emily ventured out to these rocks! They are brave! They finally convinced Christina and I to climb out there as well...it wasn't that scary!

Making our way down...a view of No Name Lake.

Two Medicine Lake...finally we made it back!

Conservation Ecology -- University of Montana Biological Station

2007-09-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the 2 week course I took this summer. We stayed in small cabins on the beautiful Flathead Lake in northern Montana, the site of the university's biological research station. Most of our days were spent in the field in Glacier National Park with various conservationists. We met with scientists who work on projects ranging from grizzly population management, grey wolf conservation, fire ecology, tadpole breeding habits to invasive plants. Their work was inspiring and along the way we had the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery!

Here is an evening view from my cabin on Flathead Lake. I loved the way the sun peered through the clouds.

Harrison Lake, GNP.

Jeff Stetz, who works on the grizzly population project, installs a camera to try to catch images of grizzlies rubbing on bear rub trees.

Bear rub tree.

Nayak Flood Plain. Here we studied tadpole breeding ponds.

Boreal Toad tadpoles!!

Polebridge is a VERY small town near the northern portion of Glacier. It was quite eclectic. Below are some shots of the area.

Their only bathroom was this outhouse.

They even had a three legged dog roaming around. So cute!

A baby spruce grouse that a classmate of mine snatched up. Probably not the best idea!

Diane Boyd, a wolf researcher showing us a bear rub tree -- there were remnants of grizzly hair caught on the bark of the tree.

Wolf skat . . . a little gross! Diane explained that this must have been from a wolf that was "lower" in the pack order. Its skat was full of hair indicating that it was one of the last to eat from the kill and didn't get much meat.

An old wolf den near Dover's Pike, GNP.

Hidden Meadow, GNP.

Mr. toad just hangin' out! We spent a day tromping through the muck catching toads and swabing them in order to check for signs of chytrid virus.

Aster Falls, GNP. Here we spent time searching for rocky mountain tailed frog tadpoles. They lach on to the bottom of river rock and thrive in very cold water.

Bouman Lake, GNP. Here we spoke with Wade Fredenberg about the plight of the Bull Trout, a species whose numbers have been declining.

A field of fire weed...beautiful pink flowers that come up soon after a forest fire.

A hazy view from the top of Apgar Lookout, GNP. Due to the many fires the area has experienced over the summer, many of the views were quite hazy.

A towering ponderosa pine on National Forest Land.

A large burn scar...look how deep it is!

Ponderosa pines are characterized by large chunky bark...I thought it was pretty. It smells like vanilla!

The tree also had what looked like grizzly scratch marks!

More scratch marks!