09 Jun A Week of New Experiences

This past week I was able to attend Alamosa’s biggest festival of the year, called “Summerfest.” In comparison to festivals that happen in Texas cities like Austin or San Antonio, it was incredibly small. I mean, I’m comparing to festivals like Austin City Limits (ACL), where Zilker Park has 100,000+ people in it at one time and it’s crawling with individuals from all over the world, so you can imagine my face when I saw only a small park and what looked like an intimate gathering. At one time there were probably maximum of 1,000 people present, but to the locals it was “crazy.” I stayed and worked at a booth for the Sangre de Cristo Heritage Area and the National Park Service. It was a blast! We were able to teach people about the work the Heritage Area does for the local youth and all the camps they put on in order to teach people about the history of the area. We also had kids bob for ducks in a little baby pool and, of course, they loved getting to stick their face in water and seeing what their prize was! Also this week I went out and conducted water research with the park geologist, Andrew! We hiked a total of five miles and determined the height and velocity of all the streams to the right of the dune field. I am not going to lie, it was hard work and those hikes were exhausting while having to carry all the equipment. But it was definitely worth it because Andrew is incredibly smart and is an encyclopedia of knowledge, and me and the other intern were treated for lunch afterwards! So definitely worth the free food. Anyway, things are finally picking up speed here at the park for me, and I’m currently planning my very own interpretation program! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!