The Week that Was

Ha ok, so maybe this is now a once-weekly blog, but still a blog none-the-less.  This week has been quite solid, capped off with an amazing weekend that I will soon get to.  The work week was busy with a lot of projects and meetings.  It was cool because they brought in all the interns from the other plants for two days and we had various things going on.  On Tuesday, we got to go out to Hagerstown, Maryland to a nice restaurant for a lunch with corporate.  All the execs, including the CEO, were there and we had an amazing three course lunch.  It was  cool talking to all the higher ups that deal with all the big picture business of the company.  We also had a "Donuts and a Download" with the VP of engineering who talked to us over a teleconference about his job and all that JLG does throughout the world.  The coolest part of this internship is getting to experience new things and learn things that the classroom would never teach me.  I have gotten a lot from this, even from the projects that are not that fun.  I am excited to go back to school, but I will certainly enjoy what is left of this internship.

The rest of the week held nothing too exciting, but the weekend was amazing.  I had a tough choice between going up to Pittsburgh with some of the interns for a Pirate's baseball game or go up to DC for what was promised to be an "epic weekend."  As I usually do, I picked the epic-ness.  I left early Friday from work (note to self: tell boss early next time you plan on doing that...), and cruised down to Fairfax Station, Virginia.  I had dinner with my favorite family to dine with, the Foggs and got to check out "the wall."  What is the wall you ask? Other than a Pink Floyd album, it is a secret place inside a small suburban neighborhood in NOVA.  So hipster.  We hung out there for a little bit before I needed to go meet up with my big in Fredericksburg.  I spend the night with him and fell asleep through the movie we were watching. Sorry, but I had been up since 4:45 AM.

I finally got to sleep in for the first time in weeks, and it was amazing.  It was only till 9:45, but that was all I needed.  I got ready and went to cruise around Fredericksburg with Phil.  Got to see many historic sights, like where George Washington went to school, and then went downtown for lunch.  Had a baller black bean burger.  But it was time to head back up to the Fogg household for the meat of my awesome weekend.  We had to wait forever for her friends to arrive, but once they did we headed down to Pohick bay for an afternoon of paddleboarding and kayaking.  As I blogged before, paddleboarding is one of my newfound passions and it was great showing someone else the excitement and difficulty of the sport.  I may have fallen off, but it was due to a lack of concentration, not a lack of skill.  I do have to say, Alex was quite the natural.  She has agreed to paddleboard across a large body of water some day (one of my new life goals), and she recommended going from Australia to New Zealand.  I do not think she understands how long that is, but oh well.

Once we got back from the bay, we immediately got ready and headed out for our evening plan, a camping trip.  To me it wasn't exactly camping, as we were staying in cabins, but it was still pretty cool.  It was pretty much dark by the time we got there, and we had not even gotten food yet.  We went on a side adventure to get food, booze, and other miscellaneous supplies for the evening.  Upon returning it was definitely dark and we enjoyed a night full of drinking, games, and fellowship.  The Taco Bell big box and super taco pack was an amazing choice.  The tequila was not.  The raging fire kept us warm through the night and a trip to the mysterious cabin B1 was enough to make the night epic. 

Our friend the beaver from the Ranger Station

We woke up the next morning and slowly headed back to civilization.  I did little for the next few hours after that, but laid around and watched Rat Race, my favorite movie prior to approximately 9th grade.  So many memories were rekindled while watching that movie.  I reluctantly made the voyage back up to Pennsylvania and am about to go to bed so I can get up early and start my week tomorrow.  Until next time people!  (or person, as I probably am down to about 1 follower..)