Loose ends

So, the end of the trip was pretty uneventful, and I worked my way through Minnesota and South Dakota sample sites in about 5 days.

I got to see the Badlands again, and a thunderstorm that rolled through early Friday morning provided another spectacular sunrise (opening picture). I crashed in Laramie with some Santa Cruz friends who'd just moved to town/were attending a conference.

I've enjoyed the last couple of days in town, catching up with friends, catching a Shakespeare Santa Cruz performance and working on a poster. I leave for Germany on Saturday (ok, a long plane ride, but at least it isn't a car and I can read Harry Potter finally!), and will be at a conference in Cologne for a week. Then I'm home, almost for good......