Another week gone

How have I been here for 3 weeks now?? I can't believe how fast time is going by. This past week, I started doing work in the lab. The first thing I have to do for my project is remove DNA from ocean floor sediments that have been collected from around the world.  These sediments are kept in a -80C freezer, so to get a sample to use for the DNA extraction, we need to use forceful methods.

Aside from working all week, I got to do some pretty exciting things. We walked downtown and explored, and we found a rose garden.

That also happened to have some rather large trees. On Friday the 4th, we had a pot luck meal, which turned out really good. We also went downtown to check out the Riverfront Park festival (not much was happening there).  That evening we all decided we've seen fireworks enough times to skip walking downtown again, so we played charades and watched Disney's How to Train Your Dragon.



Saturday morning, we walked down to the farmer's market again. I didn't get anything, but I enjoy going.

I took my roommate to the wonderful bakery I discovered (New Morning Bakery), and I managed to snap a picture of my sandwich before I devoured it this time.

(Freshly baked croissant, fresh cheddar cheese, lettuce, and smoked turkey)

Today (Sunday), we went to the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail and hiked 4 miles along the McKenzie River.

Near the end of our hike, there was a gorgeous blue pool (which the natives naturally call Blue Pool).

The pool is filled by spring water from the mountains, so we knew it would be cold, but after the long hike in the grueling heat, of course I wanted to jump in. Of course I lasted 3 seconds before scrambling out of the water with no feeling in my skin.



After finishing our hike back to the car, we were all extremely dehydrated, so we searched forever to find a source of water.

Also, we found this cute little guy.

On the way back, we picked up a watermelon, which was probably the best watermelon I've ever eaten. But that could just be because I was starving.