Life goes by so fast these days. It's been 6 months since we left State College, PA. Chihiro and I and our cat, Caesar, spent nearly 4 years there.
It took me nearly 3 years to get my degree at Penn State and almost another year to get a full time decent paying job. Our going away party there in State College was tons of fun. If you'd like to see the pictures, click the link here (you'll need a Snapfish ID and password to view, sorry. They are from a friend of mine, Ramesh, who took pics at the party. It's free though. Just click the link and sign up). We miss all you guys!
The spring, and summer, and now fall, have definitely flown by living here in Wyoming. I have been meaning to do something like this weblog thing for a while now, chronicling our lives here, but with moving two times since getting out here (long story), the field season for my work demanding 10 hour + days, Chihiro's job demanding the same, and building a house for the first time, I always seem to get sidetracked. Lately, I've been able to put some more things together and make this site happen, so here goes.
We're closing on a house this Wednesday. It's been quite an experience getting to understand fully the central role that Home Depot and Lowes play in our U.S. economy. We still have many "Robert Frost" miles to go before we sleep, but it's manageable now. Will keep you posted.
Here's a link to a little slideshow I created back in August for our house progress to date. Apologies if I didn't send this to you earlier. In case you haven't seen it, it's a good 6 and a half minutes long, click here only if you have time to kill ;). And if you don't want to see the long slideshow, skip to this short one with the latest photos as of this past week. Click here for the short slideshow.
We are living in Rock Springs, WY now about 180 miles to the east of Salt Lake City, UT. The Grand Tetons are about a 3 hour drive north of us. The Uinta Mountains are about a 2 hour drive south of us. Both ranges are breathtaking. The Wasatch Mountains which house Park City, UT are about 2 hours and 45 minutes to the west and are incredibly scenic too. Cheyenne, home to Sierra Trading Post, my all-time favorite store, is about 4 hours to the west of us. Denver and Fort Collins, CO are about 5 hours southeast of us. So we're not too far from some major mountains and some major metropolitan areas which is nice.
The city of Rock Springs is a growing town of about 25,000 people. There is a huge oil and natural gas boom going on in the surrounding areas here in Southwestern WY. Prices for everything are a bit higher than I would have expected, but it's not too terrible. Housing prices are a bit high and climbing. That's one reason we decided to buy right away. Renting was about as expensive as buying and the longer we waited, the more the prices increased. We're really excited about our new house.
In terms of work, Chihiro and I both are liking our jobs pretty much. I never thought that I'd be able to make a living playing in the dirt, but lo and behold, here I am getting a date in the sandbox every business day. Here's a link to some photos from this past summer working out in the high deserts of Wyoming (click here to view). Chihiro is working for an engineering/surveying consulting firm in Rock Springs. She is doing GIS and CAD work for them and really enjoys the people and projects she's been given.
I'll sign off on that note. That should bring you up to speed on our lives out here in the land that is "Rising from the Plains" (a great book by John McPhee), Wyoming.
Thanks for checking in and I'll write more again soon.
Drew
The spring, and summer, and now fall, have definitely flown by living here in Wyoming. I have been meaning to do something like this weblog thing for a while now, chronicling our lives here, but with moving two times since getting out here (long story), the field season for my work demanding 10 hour + days, Chihiro's job demanding the same, and building a house for the first time, I always seem to get sidetracked. Lately, I've been able to put some more things together and make this site happen, so here goes.
We're closing on a house this Wednesday. It's been quite an experience getting to understand fully the central role that Home Depot and Lowes play in our U.S. economy. We still have many "Robert Frost" miles to go before we sleep, but it's manageable now. Will keep you posted.
Here's a link to a little slideshow I created back in August for our house progress to date. Apologies if I didn't send this to you earlier. In case you haven't seen it, it's a good 6 and a half minutes long, click here only if you have time to kill ;). And if you don't want to see the long slideshow, skip to this short one with the latest photos as of this past week. Click here for the short slideshow.
We are living in Rock Springs, WY now about 180 miles to the east of Salt Lake City, UT. The Grand Tetons are about a 3 hour drive north of us. The Uinta Mountains are about a 2 hour drive south of us. Both ranges are breathtaking. The Wasatch Mountains which house Park City, UT are about 2 hours and 45 minutes to the west and are incredibly scenic too. Cheyenne, home to Sierra Trading Post, my all-time favorite store, is about 4 hours to the west of us. Denver and Fort Collins, CO are about 5 hours southeast of us. So we're not too far from some major mountains and some major metropolitan areas which is nice.
The city of Rock Springs is a growing town of about 25,000 people. There is a huge oil and natural gas boom going on in the surrounding areas here in Southwestern WY. Prices for everything are a bit higher than I would have expected, but it's not too terrible. Housing prices are a bit high and climbing. That's one reason we decided to buy right away. Renting was about as expensive as buying and the longer we waited, the more the prices increased. We're really excited about our new house.
In terms of work, Chihiro and I both are liking our jobs pretty much. I never thought that I'd be able to make a living playing in the dirt, but lo and behold, here I am getting a date in the sandbox every business day. Here's a link to some photos from this past summer working out in the high deserts of Wyoming (click here to view). Chihiro is working for an engineering/surveying consulting firm in Rock Springs. She is doing GIS and CAD work for them and really enjoys the people and projects she's been given.
I'll sign off on that note. That should bring you up to speed on our lives out here in the land that is "Rising from the Plains" (a great book by John McPhee), Wyoming.
Thanks for checking in and I'll write more again soon.
Drew
4 comments:
Lovely post Drew and Chihiro! Thank you for sharing your lives with us :) I miss you tons!! Get back here for a visit some time soon! (or else I'd love to drive over to RS). Your house looks great!! When will it be ready? You must be excited to move in!
I need to get back to work here... many hugs from State College!
:) Ymene
hi guys! snowing out there yet :)? how's caesar?
Drew, great blog! You, Chihiro, and Cesar are treasured new friends here in WY! I am glad I get to share some of this new adventure with you!
--Tree
Good to hear from you guys (indirectly, through a web blog) but still...I heard back! :-)
I checked out those new pics of the house. Looks like it's coming along nicely. I really look forward to using you (I mean, visiting you) and getting to the tetons. As soon as I can get the snapfish thing figured out I'm looking forward to checking out the pics from the party. Good luck with everything and we'll talk again!
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