Across the Pond: Day Eight- DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN

Today we were allowed to sleep in!! Our sleep in time was set at 8 o clock, but the professors got up early and started cooking. Because of the noise, I really only slept till 7 ish. I don't know how professors have so much energy, but they have way more than me. I'm only 19!! What does this say about the rest of my life!?!

Anyways, we ate a great breakfast of bagels, turkey bacon, eggs, and potatoes, and then packed up our picturesque camp at Deer Park (not the water bottle company). The gas stations out in the west have very interesting names, and every time we stop at one of these some members of the Granola Group buy a souvenir. Yesterday we stopped at the Big D station. Today we were luckly enough to stop at the Kum & Go. After a quick load up at the Kum & Go, we were off to travel through the Big Horn mountains and deeper into Wyoming.

We made various stops in the Big Horn mountains to discuss unique geological features, but my favorite stop is why the title of this post is from Frozen. We were at an elevation of about 9000 feet when we pulled the van over to explore the half- snowed mountainside. Channeling my inner Elsa/ Pocahontas, I ran through the crisp air to the peak of our mountainside. Once I climbed over the hill, the wintered beauty of the mountains stunned my senses. For once, a girl from Alabama could frolick in snow that was thick enough to not mix with the earth. SO FROLICK I DID. With Let it Go playing on full blast in my head, I ran through the snow, smiling, spinning, skipping, and POOF sinking. It turns out the snow is over 4 feet deep at some points. My fellow Granola Groupers, who even though similar in age are vastly more mature, looked on and probably pondered leaving me there. That is when the snow balls began to fly. In my mind, my fellow class mates turned into Deatheaters (Harry Potter reference get with it people) and I turned viscous. A few of us engaged in this snowy war, while the rest climb a gaint rock and practiced their best Spider-Man pose. Ok so maybe we are not that mature, but I believe that a childlike sense of wonder when it comes to certain things is a great trait to have throughout life. We stayed on the snowy tundra for quite a while. At one point, the professors began to throw snowballs as well, but for this battle, we all just stood back and watched as their competitiveness grew somewhat dangerously. After getting enough snow out of my boots to make my own ski resort, we loaded up in the Geologic Van of Discovery and started heading out of the mountains. We stopped on the side of the road at various other places to discuss unique geologic features. Apparently the highway department is a geologist best friend because when they cut holes through a mountain to make way for a road, a geologist can get an actual look at the soil horizons. I would attempt to describe to you what we learned, but I know I am going to screw it up and probably make you not want to read this blog anymore. So instead Ill switch to another topic- HOT SPRINGS.

I'm feelin hot hot hot (springs)

In the town of Thermopolis as in Mia, we stopped to float around in a hot spring!! I was very excited about this partly because I was hoping the water would contain magical powers that would make my hair very long and thick. It was more like a giant cloudy hotub, but still pretty cool. I forgot to take off my sliver peace sign ring, and the composition of the water tarnishes silver jewlrey, so now it is bronze!! Oh and my hair is the exact same. After the springs, we headed into the town of Riverton. YES CIVILIZATION.

We dined at a local resteraunt and spent the night watch watching tv and catching up on laundry. It's the simple things. Sorry this day has been pretty anticlimactic. Tomorrow we will mainly be driving over the the Grand Tetons and the mothership of all parks- Yellowstone. I'm so excited its hard to breathe, someone grab me my inhaler.