Moving to Seattle

Dan and I packed up my little Jetta until it was bursting with boxes and space bags (these are amazing, btw). We left right on July 4th and made our first stop at Devil's tower. The next day we stayed at a KOA campsite in Missoula, which had a slightly less inspiring view of the neighbor's backyards and the campsite swimming pool. The town itself was actually quite cool - kind of like Madison. The next night we reached Seattle.

 At the Reptile Gardens near Rapid City, SD

Devil's Tower, WY

Berkeley Pit is an open pit copper mine in Butte, Montana, that closed in the early 80s. Surrounding groundwater is seeping into the pit, getting more acidic as heavy metals and minerals dissolve into it.  Its could be a huge environmental problem if the toxic water starts seeping back into the ground water reservoirs, so there are several plans in place to take care of the problem.  In the meantime, the Pit is a hub for studies surrounding bacterial extremophiles. 

Mount Rainier in Seattle. Taken from the plane as Dan went home