Welcome to Richland

We arrived in Richland on Monday afternoon and went right to look at our first house. It was a little ranch house, but with some interesting modifications. And the landlord was a little pushy. Then we checked into the PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Lab) guest house, which is very nice, and went to look at a different house. This one was almost exactly the same as the last one but didn't have as many alterations, so it had a more open floor plan which I liked better. And I liked the landlord better. I thought that would be my new house. The next morning we biked around Richland, down by the river, which has a beautiful walking path that runs the length of the river. For lunch we met with my new bosses, Emily and Kim, who I love and will be my mentors when I start as well. Talking to them made me so excited to start at my job. They are also going to help me start a CSA in the area (which they are both members of) and told me about a bunch of stuff to do around Richland for fun (like softball and ultimate Frisbee). That afternoon I met up with Wendi, the woman who had offered to help me find places here in Richland. She was very nice and had offered because all her properties were already rented. The first house we saw was not very nice, but the second house we went to was perfect. The owners had bought it a year and a half ago, done alot of work, and now were moving. They wanted to sell it, but then decided they weren't ready yet, and are renting it. I think I was the first person that saw it and the woman, Walker, and I got along great. She is an electrical engineer at Bonneville Power (the local utility) and we decided that I would rent it right then. I filed out the application and gave them $1000 deposit. It a two car garage, a little covered walkway between the garage and the house, a beautiful backyard and patio,
two little living rooms with fireplaces, a hall bathroom and one in the master bedroom, and a really nice kitchen. And it's yellow, I always knew I would live in a yellow house. Anyways, here are some pictures of it,

although it doesn't capture it, so come and visit and see for yourself. I'll be there starting September 30th.

The Last Days

We finished the presentations on Wednesday, which went well. Everybody did a great job and it was pretty well attended. All the presentations and the papers will be available on the website in about 2 or 3 weeks. www.wise-intern.org
We went to dinner after the presentations which was really fun, and delicious. It was at this restaurant called the Chophouse that had really good steaks and it was a good send-off. The next day we had our last WISE meeting and a meeting with senator Kaufman, which is the only senator who is an engineer. He replaced Biden and was really down-to-earth and obviously very smart.
That night a few of us went to Ben's Chili Bowl, a DC staple. It was really greasy, but really fun. We got the whole room we were sitting in to start singing 'My Girl'.

Friday I walked around Georgetown for the last time, packed, and went to the National's Game with Sarah A (who I worked with at the candy store in Seattle) and her boyfriend Joel (who was a chemistry major and I knew from class. They actually came from behind and won, which is a rare occurrence, and it was a really good game. Now I am getting ready to head back to MN and finally getting excited, now that there is nothing standing between me and the plane but some cleaning and a few hours.

But this has definitely been quite an experience. I have learned so much. I think I will probably blog one more time, as a reflection, once I get around to thinking about it. Thanks for reading, I like knowing people care about what I'm doing.

Friday I finally finished my three drafts. Yay! So I rewarded myself by going to the Anne Taylor store and picking out a new outfit. I don't have that many business clothes, so I am really sick of wearing the same things all summer. Then I went to the modern part of the National Museum of Art. I decided I really like modern art, I love the bright simplicity. I couldn't tell you why, it's just my aesthetic. Then I went home and went for a run. Then I went to dinner at this restaurant that I heard heard about and Kurt and I tried to go to but it was closed. It does all local, seasonal ingredients and has a tree in the middle of the restaurant. And the food was really yummy too. Then I went to a movie at the movie theater right next door. It was a very relaxing, fun night and it was nice to just hang out by myself for awhile, which I don't get to do very often here.
This morning I went to this screen printing workshop at the Corcoran Art Gallery.
We got a tour of the museum and then got to make a screen print. I made this tree. I stenciled leaves in the background and then screen printed the tree. Screen printing is alot harder than it seems, its hard to get the paint even.

Then I went for a bike ride. Saturday night I met up with some friends I met who also graduated from UW at this bar with a live piano player who played requests and everyone in the bar sang along, which was really fun.

Sunday I dropped my bike off at the bike store to send it home, then walked up to U St and 14th for this street fair that was supposed to be happening. On the way I passed by the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market and bought some of the best peaches I have ever had in my life. I ate 3 today. The street fair was a little underwhelming, but it was interesting to see a new neighborhood. Then I walked to the Newseum, which was really neat. All the exhibits were really interactive and had lots of different media (TV, sound recordings, text, pictures, artifacts, movies, etc) to portray each thing. They had pieces of the Berlin wall and from 9/11. My favorite exhibit was one about the first amendment. They also had a whole room of newspapers from famous events that you could look at, all the way back to the 1500's.
Then I walked to the Botanical Garden, which was nice, but not that impressive. Then I walked home. It got REALLY HOT this afternoon, so it was nice to take a shower and not feel so sweaty after I got home. It's about 90 with atleast 80% humidity everyday now, which is so sticky.
Now I might start packing or work on my presentation, or I might just wait til tomorrow :)