Back in DC (finally!)

Wow, I just arrived back in DC yesterday morning after a trip to Austin, TX and Portland, ME. I had a super-great time in Austin with Carlos and my friends from La Selva/OTS. I presented a poster on the final chapter from my dissertation -- hoarding by agoutis and how this affects seed infestation by insects, removal by mammals, and subsequent germination and seedling growth. I think my poster was a hit and I had a lot of interested people come by to chat with me about it. After that, a bunch of us went out for fancy martinis at a nearby place called the Brown Bar -- it was really fun! I was in Austin for about a week and from there, I flew directly to Portland, ME for my friend Christina's wedding.

I met up with my UCSB buddies Erin, Jennifer, and Michele and we basically ate our way around Portland! Christina's wedding was great and full of fun people (she even got married on a boat!). After that, we had a couple more days to do stuff in Portland, including a walking food/history tour of the city that was really cool! We toured the Old Port part of town and ate/drank a lot: mead, lobster on a cracker, mango with chocolate balsamic and curry balsamic, cheeses (goat and 2 raw cow's milk), scones with blueberry jam, smoked maple trout on a cracker, needham truffle and other chocolates, whoopie pie, and beers from Shipyard brewery. Sheesh! On top of that guided tour, we ate lobster, chowder, and basically anything that had blueberries in it! My flight back to DC was delayed for a day, but it worked out really well because I got to spend more time with Jen and Erin~

While I had a fun time in my summer travels, it is nice to be home. I also have to download ALL of these pictures and start posting about the OTS course, Texas, and Maine! Oh yea...and I leave for a Disneyworld trip with Shannon in 24 days!