{"id":78809,"date":"2017-11-13T09:54:34","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T16:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=78809"},"modified":"2017-11-13T09:54:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T16:54:34","slug":"time-to-move-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/?p=78809","title":{"rendered":"Time to Move on"},"content":{"rendered":"

I moved to Baker City, OR at the end of April to begin my tenure as the Recreation Intern for the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Baker City field office.\u00a0 As I made the final drive into Baker, passing through lush green canyons along the I-84 corridor before dropping down into the Baker Valley with the snowcapped Elkhorn Mountains serving as a backdrop, I couldn\u2019t help but immediately fall in love with the place.\u00a0 After spending the previous couple of months walking dogs on the gray, drizzly sidewalks of Chicago, the new job and new setting were a much needed tonic.\u00a0 I was ready for anything this place would throw at me.<\/p>\n

Or so I thought.\u00a0 From driving on winding one-lane dirt roads cut into steep canyon sides, to spending days trying to perfect (or just accomplish) backing up a trailer, to the arid climate, difficulties steadily stacked on top of each other.\u00a0 By the middle of July, I felt like I didn\u2019t even have the energy to lift a dust-caked hand to wipe the sweat from my forehead.\u00a0 Seeing as I spent most of my time driving and updating signboards, I was surprised by my creeping lethargy.\u00a0 Most of my previous jobs had involved much more physical exertion, so why was all this driving wearing me out? (Upon reflection, it was probably some combination of sleeping on a couch for the first couple of months and spending almost every weekend camping\/road tripping).<\/p>\n

\"\"

My job often felt like an extended Dodge Ram commercial.<\/p><\/div>\n

As the season progressed, and as we passed the insanity that was the lead up to the Solar Eclipse, the season became easier.\u00a0 I settled into a more consistent routine and got my much needed rest, allowing me to better appreciate my surroundings.\u00a0 I began to study the landscape as I drove (since I drove over 10,000 miles this summer, I did a lot of studying), which turned that monotonous task into one of my favorite parts of my day.\u00a0 Early morning mists rose from the agricultural fields, the dried grasses around them dyed a pale gray-pink by the rising sun; the Grande Ronde River snaking through the countryside, creating a winding oasis; the sagebrush adding subtle greens to the rolling brown hills.\u00a0 Surrounded by so much beauty on a daily basis, it was hard not to love those solo drives.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Myself and my supervisor Kevin Hoskins at the end of a successful river patrol.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

The Grande Ronde River in its autumnal splendor.<\/p><\/div>\n

Now those drives come to an end.\u00a0 The season is over, and it is time for me to move on to my next job, this time in Colorado.\u00a0 I\u2019ll make one last long drive to get there, and I\u2019ll be sure to pay attention to the landscape as I go by.<\/p>\n

Michael Messina
\nRecreation Intern
\nBureau of Land Management – Baker City Field Office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I moved to Baker City, OR at the end of April to begin my tenure as the Recreation Intern for the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Baker City field office.\u00a0 As I made the final drive into Baker, passing through lush … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7382,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7382"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78817,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78809\/revisions\/78817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}