Wow!

Life is crazy! Work is in the final home stretch, but I feel like I'm doing more now than ever. I'm finishing up my dealer visits, following up with dealers I've already visited, doing various JDAim (customer based sales tool) for different dealers and scheduling some possible trainings during my last week of work! I'm also getting ready to present my 'final presentation' this Friday at the branch, then taking it Kansas City to present to all sort of management there at the Ag Marketing Center. Not to mention I'm going to be on the road 80% of the rest of my internship. Take a deep breath, I can do it!

My latest travels took me to the Snake River Valley in Idaho where spuds and hay are their big ticket items in the Ag Industry. I started out flying to Boise, drove about 2 hours down to Twin Falls then got about 2 hours of my 10 hour drive out of the way to Billings, Montana. The next day, needless to say was my best day all summer (minus going home for fair) as my journeys took me straight through Yellowstone National Park. It still blows my mind that I went through two of the most beautiful national parks in one week- Yosemite (bottom picture) and Yellowstone. Although it was a long day of driving- he scenery was amazing and I got lucky with the wildlife that I saw. Two bears, a young elk, countless buffalo and birds! Got a good view of Old Faithful blow from an observatory point that I hiked up a half mile to see (left picture.) The creeks, rivers and lakes were just breathtaking. Pictures just don't do justice to the natural beauty that these places hold in person. I hope to be able to go back some day and really spend some time at both of these parks- maybe even some saddle time! :)

I find fame to be a funny thing. Last night I met Josh Gracin (middle picture) and Jason Aldean (top picture.) Two great country artists! Sarah and I got some backstage passes for the meet and greet time for both them. We were also front and center for both the performances. As cool as it was- I realized that they are just people too. I mean, they put their pants on the same way everyone else does- one leg at a time. The obsession that some of the 'fans' had for these artists was slightly disturbing. But, they did put on a good show and I like a lot of Jason's songs. "Amarillo Skies," "Big Green Tractor," and "Country Girl." I was pretty excited to see Amarillo Skies being performed in person after living there and learning to Two-Step to that song- I love Amarillo!

Another crazy thing that happened, was I met the son of the incoming President of the American Paint Horse Association. We started razzing each other about which breed was better and all- kind of like a rivalry between two state universities. I would equate the animosity between AQHA and APHA a lot like that between IU and Purdue. My loyalties will always lie with Purdue and AQHA, but I respect the other institution in the state of Indiana for what they are good for and I respect APHA for the organization that they are. After meeting this guy, I now have two connections with APHA as the current President is from Knightstown, Indiana and I have done farm calls to his place with the vet I worked for after graduating high school. Oh what a small world indeed it is.

In the midst of the stress and the countdown to the end of the summer, God has been so good to me. Granted me the opportunity to see such beautiful sights of His creation and has been reassuring me all along the way with His butterflies. My huge yellow and black one I saw just a few hours ago- a very timely sighting indeed. I'm going to a contemporary church service this evening because it was a late night last night and a little tough to roll out of bed this morning for the traditional services. So, it'll be interesting to see what the service will be like.

This week finds me in Arizona and Colorado- no rest for the weary! But I'm excited to see Arizona again- had a great family vacation there when I was younger :)