Last Day at Dead Horse Point

Well, my last day at Dead Horse Point State Park was September 20, last Tuesday. I went in at 8:30 a.m. and waited for my field trip to start with the Moab Charter School. I was working with 5th and 6th grade students, doing environmental education inside their classroom once a week, then I had planned two field trips per trimester for them to come up to the park. Tuesday, the 20th was their first field trip and my last day, so I was thinking that would make it easier and keep my mind off the fact that I wouldn't be seeing them again.

They showed up at 9:20 a.m. I met them at the bus, let them use the restrooms and then ushered them into the amphitheater outside the visitor center so I could give them their nametags. For name tags, I've been using old postcards with blank labels on them. I punch two holes, one on each side, into the top and make a loop with a piece of yarn. I passed out sharpies for them to write their names, then we went over the rules for the day. We went into the theater (art gallery) and watched the park video. It was funny--I'm actually in the park video talking about plant adaptations to the desert, and they all turned around to look at me and laughed.

I did a short program on biological soil crust, then we made some of our own by taking pieces of thread, pulling them through a drop of glue and then covering them with sand. The sand sticks to the thread, and there's your very own piece of biological soil crust! (haha)

After that activity we walked along the park's nature trail, then I had them make their own field guides to the plants and animals of Dead Horse Point State Park.

Next, we went up to the Point to see the view and had lunch in the picnic area. After lunch we hiked out to the potholes north of the visitor center and did some activities and they got to use their drawing boards to sketch something they learned about at the park. We had to try hard to keep them out of the pothole water. Of course, lots of things got dropped into the potholes: an apple, feet and lots of pieces of paper. Oops!

One more visit to the restroom and they were ready to get back on the bus and go back to school! Then I had to say goodbye to everyone, talk a lot about where I'm going and then turn in my keys and uniform.

It all felt weird, like I wasn't really leaving, but by the time we packed up the "cottage" and got on the road it suddenly seemed very real! After three days with little sleep and lots of packing, carrying and driving, I finally crashed last night and slept in until 9:30 p.m.

The drunken cat story:

I know my cat hates traveling so I called the vet and asked if they could help make a 12-hour drive easier for both of us. They sold me a little bottle of tranquilizer pills and I was to give her 1/2 a pill every 6-8 hours. I started in the morning before we were ready to leave. I knew she was drugged when she didn't fight me when I put her in the cat carrier. She did fight sleep and freaked out for about two hours before finally relaxing and falling asleep. During that time I got a lot of "how could you?" meows and stares.

When we got to the wildlife refuge where we're staying for a couple months, I let her out of the carrier and thought she'd head straight for the litter box. She immediately started running around the house, exploring and purring. She was totally drunk still though; she tried jumping up on the kitchen counter, the bathroom counter and a dresser and fell off all three. Lots of attention later, she stuck with staying on the floor and couches. She was soooo excited to be out of the carrier! When she did discover her food and water dish, she gulped it down and kept exploring. She slept all the next day (and I thought she must be hungover) and came out again at night with the same excitement. I think she's just as excited as I am to be in a new place!

I am, however, looking forward to being able to tell people I just moved here from Utah without wanting to cry!