WOW (Week Of Welcome)

USU has this whole week of activities that they call WOW. Monday started out with free Aggie Ice Cream (see previous post), followed by the Scotty Dog and music on Tuesday (also see previous post). Wednesday's big event was at the quad in front of Old Main where school groups and businesses had tables set up that students could go to for information. Some of the "booths" were giving away free food or other things and were frequented more by the students, of which I am one. Not a day of healthy eating to say the least. I had an ice cream sandwich, a Creamie (basically a slighter less caloric fudgecicle), and fried dough with honey. Maybe there was more but I don't remember. I did get some good information though including the ORC Rental List, some student groups, renters insurance, and an indoor center. Plus, set up a checking account through Wells Fargo that I finalized on Thursday. I got a free USU t-shirt and free checks! Now I have 2 checking accounts, 2 savings accounts, 2 debit cards, and 2 credit cards....crazy.

Thursday evening the RHA (Resident Housing Association) had a BBQ that was actually really good. They had some sort of chicken but I had the pulled BBQ beef in a bun with baked beans, corn on the cob, and potates with carrots in a cheesy sauce. Then I topped it off with some sort of crusty thing, strawberries, and a Creamie. There was also a slip-n-slide complete with accelerating soap (aka dish soap) but it was a little chilly with the breeze and I passed it up. It was interesting to watch the underclassmen (measly undergrads mwah hahaha...) and spend a few minutes with my roommate outside our apartment.

Instead of participating in the WOW activities today (Friday) (dodgeball, kickball, a dance), I went mountain biking instead. I had stopped at the Ranger (Information) Station yesterday and asked about easy trails for biking as well as some good hiking trails. I drove up Logan Canyon to the Temple Fork Saw Mill path that the woman ranger had said is her favorite for biking. This is no easy trail to me as there are several big rocks that are difficult to traverse and impossible in some spots....even if I could get my tire through, my pedals would have caught. Needless to say, I stopped several times to move around rocks and otherwise maintain a feeling of safety. I ended up walking my bike a good distance higher on the trail as it was narrow and I didn't think I could navigate it without falling down the slope into the creek. Although I didn't think I'd made it very close to where the saw mill was, I realized later when I looked at the trail map again that I couldn't have been too far from it when I turned around.

I did try to ride a bit more on the way down and was a little more successful and only managed to fall once with minimal consequences ...did have to fix my chain at one point but I managed just fine for never having done it before. :-)

Before heading back to Logan, I attempted to take some photos of the beautiful canyon but don't think that my pictures will come out that great. Driving through the canyon is amazing and it's nearly impossible if not impossible to capture it on film. It also doesn't help that I had to drive and couldn't easily take pictures while doing it. The pull offs are not at the best photo ops either and I missed a couple that may have proved useful for a good shot. Guess I'll just have to go back and try some more.

After eating and cleaning up, I headed over to the Newman Center to drop off my info sheet and see if there were still plans for doing some gardening tomorrow. Turns out that they did have movie night (they weren't sure earlier in the week) so I joined the other 3 people and watched what remained of "The Mission"...very good movie..."a sad feel good movie" as someone else put it. I found out that Eamonn (another grad student in NR and an officer) still has not moved into his room at the Newman Center as it is not finished. Because of that they are working on his room tomorrow instead of yard work so I decided to join in.