Nate Landon's Blog

I love my job. I get paid to do what I love, and today was no exception. I was able to go on my first rafting trip since 2004 and had a blast! I floated down the Green River from Rainbow Park to Split Mountain in Dinosaur National Monument. It was a fun trip, and I am writing a story about it. My rough draft is finished, and I hope to have the final finished by the end of the weekend. If I don’t have it done email me and remind me to work on it! It will be part of another book I am starting to write. My first book is coming slowly but steadily. Thanks for your patience. I should have pictures up soon from my trip!

Since I have been here in Dinosaur National Monument I have experienced winter, spring, and summer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in that order. The weather fluctuates in interesting patterns here. It can be snowing in Vernal and be sunny here. Vernal is only about ten miles away as the crow flies, so it can get somewhat confusing as to what weather to expect.
Dinosaur N.M. is settled in between the Uinta Mountains and the Rockey Mountains, so we have interesting weather, as well as plant and animal communities. I have never been anywhere else where I could see a marmot and a prairie dog living in the same habitat.
I fear I am being stalked by a wild turkey. I heard it the first time a couple of days ago at work, and now it is getting closer and closer to my apartment. I am convinced he is using the mule deer as spies, because the other night I looked up and there was a deer staring at me through my window! If this legion of marmot-prairie dog-mule deer-wild turkey team up, it could spell trouble for us all!
Okay, enough of me being silly. Thanks for stopping by!

When I was a kid I always enjoyed participating in the Junior Ranger program at Kings Canyon National Park. It was always fun learning about nature and earning my Blue Jay patch from the park rangers. The JR program had more to do with me deciding to be a park ranger than anything else.
Today was Junior Ranger Day at Dinosaur National Monument. Twenty-two years after I first wanted to be one of those cool rangers with the neat hat, I stood before a crowd of children and taught them about the importance of the National Park Service. It may seem silly to my readers, and to my co-workers for that matter, that I feel it is an honor to wear the NPS uniform, but it holds a special meaning for me. It was only four years ago that I thought my dream would never come true, and that my life-long goal could not be accomplished. So today was my life coming full-circle. I am proud to be a park of the National Park Service, but I am honored to have been able to teach the kids about why I love the National Park Service. Maybe I lit a spark in one of them as a ranger did for me so many years ago.

There isn’t a whole lot to report right now here in Dinosaurland. I am working slowly on my book and have the first draft on about three chapters now. Work and school are taking up most of my time, so writing has been the last thing on my mind. I have to develop three programs for children in the next few weeks, so I will be quite the busy ranger for a while.
Kaia is heading out to see me on Tuesday, so I will be back in Salt Lake for a couple of days. It seems all of our good friends are abandoning the USA for other countries lately, so now we are saying goodbye to a few more (I better get presents mailed to me when you get there!).
As always, I will push forward and keep you posted on what’s shakin’ here. Oh, and enjoy this video.

Now that I have been away from Arizona for a month, it is time to head home and see my wife and pets. This first month has blown by, and doesn’t really seem like I have been away for so long. I have had to relearn how to do a lot of things, and I am surprised at my luck in surviving away from Kaia.

So tomorrow I fly home. Hopefully I won’t have a repeat of a few years ago (I can’t believe I am even considering flying home even relatively close to April 3rd, what the heck was I thinking?). Airplanes and I are not friends. We are like oil and water, keep separate for best results. So if you don’t see me posting on either my blog or my Facebook status by Friday, check with Kaia to see if I survived my flight.

Well, it’s time to get packing for tomorrow. Fortunately I don’t have much to do since I forgot some of my good clothes at home. Catch you on the flip-side hepcats!