After a drive that
seemed like it took all day (mostly because I had never driven a minivan before in my life!) I made it to the
RMPA Convention in Boise, Idaho!
I didn't think it was possible to have a lot of fun in Boise but I was dead wrong! I had a blast!!! It was weird at first to be
spending time outside of school with some of my professors, but after getting used to that it wasn't bad. The first night there we listened to the opening speaker who was amazing. She talked a lot about dissonance and this pyramid thing. It was so interesting. Later we went to dinner where Lynn was tipsy (I think she had about 3 or 4 drinks just at dinner) and beer was spilt everywhere. Still, it was good food and good times. We tried finding the hot tub that night but it closed at 9 and it was well after. The next morning Tana and I thought it would be fun to get up early (5 freaking am!!!) and go swim laps. I knew I should have taken pictures because no one is going to believe me that I woke up that early to exercise. It was very difficult, but I managed to last a whole 15 minutes before I wanted to die. After exploring what else the gym (it was a Gold's Gym in the hotel) had to offer (a sauna that smelled of mold and a hot tub that had questionable looking water and smelled of cleaning products) we went back to our rooms to shower and get ready for breakfast. That morning I went to a few presentations that were done by
SUU students and a former
SUU student. They all did such a good job! Then Tana, Christie and I went to the Boise Zoo. I didn't think it would be all that great but I had so much fun there. I saw penguins, a zebra, a lot of geese, a tiger super up close, and so much more.
My favorite was the snow leopard.
She was so fun! At first she was just sitting there and this lady that works at the zoo started running her hand along the fence and she chased it. So of course being the follower that I am I started doing it too. The people in the gift shop told us to go outside and run back and forth so I did that too and she chased me. It was so funny to watch her try to attack me. We went back to the hotel after that and listened to a few more presentations.
Afterwards me and Tana decided that we needed more adventure so we went to the Discovery Science Center and played around for a few hours there. It was pretty nifty. I think it would have been a lot more fun if I had been a child, but my inner child had fun. On our walk back from that we stopped at the gas station and bought lottery tickets. Tana won on both of hers and I lost on mine. Idaho is now $2 richer because of me :). That night for dinner we went out for Japanese. A bunch of people wanted sushi... I had chicken that night. We then went to the Cheesecake Factory for desert. I love that place. Saturday morning I opted out of swimming because I was so tired. So I got up and went to more presentations. A guy from my school accidentally pulled the fire alarm and 3 or 4 floors were
evacuated. I laughed so hard when I found out what had happened. Leave it to one of us to pull the fire alarm in a 5 star hotel. Tana and I then left to go to the art museum. It was pretty lame. I'm glad I got a student discount on that one. At dinner that night we pretended it was Steve's birthday. He wasn't really fazed by it so it wasn't as funny as we thought it would be. After dinner we went bowling. On my first time up I fell. It was great. The next morning we had to pack up and head back to Cedar. I was sad to leave but excited to get back to Cedar. The drive back wasn't nearly as bad as the drive there. Thankfully we all made it back safely and we are all getting back to school and work and life.
