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May 31, 2009
Photo on Outdoor Photographer
Check out one of my photos of the Palo Duro Canyon on Outdoor Photographer Magazine's website!
Posted by lauren at 11:36 AM | Comments (2)
May 30, 2009
Someone Stop Me...
I'm in line to ride a mechanical bull.
Posted by lauren at 12:24 AM | Comments (3)
May 24, 2009
Palo Duro Canyon
Sorry for the delay, but I have been really busy lately! I've had a lot to do to get ready for my job on Tuesday and also I've lost my camera cord! Luckily I have all of my storm chasing pictures already on my computer, but once these are done I have to find that cord before I can post any more.
Anyway, I left off with us eating chicken at a place called Cane's in Norman, Oklahoma. That night, we all piled back into the van for a long drive to Texas to be ready for the storms predicted for the next day. On the drive we had a "Bohemian Rhapsody" sing-along which, I think, may have completely freaked out our Australian friend Sherry, who had never heard the song before. It was one of the best road trip sing-alongs I think I have ever been a part of.
Anyway, we stopped for the night in the Texas panhandle (it's that little part that sicks up out of Texas, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about) and stayed in a little town on Route 66 called Shamrock.
The next morning, we got up at dawn to head out to the Palo Duro Canyon for some sightseeing before starting the chase. I took this picture out the hotel window right before heading down for breakfast:
For breakfast, the hotel had a Texas-shaped waffle iron! Of course we all had one:
We got on the road and started driving to the canyon. The roads out there were so empty with nothing but endless fields on either side. It was really unbelievable. You can actually drive for 100 miles without seeing another town.
Out the van window:
Leaning water tower in one of the towns:
Giant cross:
We arrived at the Palo Duro Canyon a couple hours later and drove through it, taking pictures out the windows. It was really beautiful and so different from the geography here in Connecticut:
Footprints in the canyon:
Flood Gauge in one of the deepest parts of the canyon:
Brent and me taking each other's pictures:
A cave in the canyon:
View from the top:
Brent and Me:
Brent, Dave, Sherry, and Matt:
We left the canyon in the early afternoon and immediately headed out on the chase, trying to catch our first tornado.
Pictures coming soon!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 02:29 PM | Comments (5)
May 19, 2009
Birthday Surprise
So, guess what I got for a birthday surprise? A job! I got a call about fifteen minutes ago that I have my first ever permanent position starting next Tuesday. The reason I say this was such a surprise was because my interview last Friday lasted all of one minute. No really, one minute. They didn't ask me any questions, just told me what the job was, said it was nice to meet me, told me they had a lot of other people interviewing for the position, and sent me on my way. Anyway, I'm officially employed! I'm really excited because for the past few weeks I've been having a little freak-out about turning 23 and still being jobless, but not anymore!
All right, I have to go get ready for birthday festivities....
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes this morning, by the way!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 05:15 PM | Comments (7)
23
Sorry for the brief hiatus in blogging, I've had so much other stuff going on lately.... but guess what! It's my birthday! 23 today!
I'll be back to posting soon, I promise!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 01:18 AM | Comments (5)
May 05, 2009
Bricktown and the National Weather Center
After visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial, we all went for a quick walk through Oklahoma City's Bricktown district to get some lunch.
Bricks in Bricktown:
At the corner of Mickey Mantle and Flaming Lips:
We went to a sports restaurant for lunch that had the best view of the nearby baseball field. Imagine eating here during a game!
Over lunch we discussed what to do with the rest of our day and decided to head over to Norman, OK to see the National Weather Center:
The inside of the National Weather Center was amazing. It was everything I had ever dreamed it would be (yes, of course I dream about the National Weather Center). When we first walked in, we watched some of Reed's videos on a large, flat, touch-screen TV. Here's one of the videos we watched, of an F4 tornado in the June 24, 2003 outbreak (I was there on my last storm chasing trip, but missed this huge tornado, unfortunately):
We ended up getting a full tour of the building, because one of our tour guides, Matt, works there. One of the coolest things was this hanging globe in the middle of a huge atrium with different things projected on it:
Brent:
Does this look familiar? It's "Dorothy" from the movie Twister. If you're familiar with the movie, you'll also recognize the one in the middle as Jonas' rip-off of Dorothy. The one on the far right is the real deal from NOAA:
So cool:
The Flying Cow Cafe:
We ended up getting up to the observation deck on the top floor, where Matt told us he likes to watch thunderstorms. He also pointed out these cool vents that, apparently, can suck all the air out of the building in 30 seconds in an emergency:
The Observatory (with the coolest chairs on springs you'll ever sit in):
Severe weather vehicles out in the parking lot:
We actually ended up getting to go outside and watch a weather balloon getting sent off into the atmosphere (it was much cooler than it sounds):
Brent watching the weather balloon:
Last little speck before it disappeared:
Ok, so maybe I took a few too many pictures of the weather balloon, but it was my first! And I'm a huge weather dork....
Anyway, here's the fountain out front of the National Weather Center:
After the NWC, we drove through Norman, Oklahoma and saw the old Norman train station:
Then we went to a place called Cane's (something we don't have up here in CT) where we had an awesome chicken dinner:
Sunset in Norman, Oklahoma:
Weather pictures coming soon!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at 05:25 PM | Comments (4)