Summer in Virginia

What I did this summer:

1. Research
2. Research with undergrad
3. 3 days of holiday
4. Research

Research picks up as soon as classes are over. No more undergrads pestering the boss. And data is needed. I swear the cows in our study hate us now. I would too, if someone collected my blood from the jugular twice a week. Summer holidays are for undergrads.

Having an undergrad research person work with you is a double edged sword. On the other hand you have an extra pair of hands to do stuff. But you have to train the pair of hands. And that pair of hands usually has absolutely no experience in research to begin with. Needless to say, the extra stress broke me down gradually. And I found again that I am not a huge people person under stress.There are lots of things I think I did okay on the training, but also some I will do better next time. It is a bit like training a puppy - consistency being the key. (Although undergrads rarely bite or pee on the carpet.)

The actual holiday sadly was shadowed with power outage. During the hottest and most humid time of the year. I found that I love air conditioning, warm water, unspoiled food, and electricity. To cool off during these days, Luray caverns was visited. Constant temperature underground was heavenly.

Hiking the Palisades was fun. Especially since it was really early in the morning and trails were absolutely empty. The water falls were great as usual and the spray felt nice after trekking in the increasing heat and humidity. Apparently the water there is always super cold.

The environment and nature here are really nice. Rolling hills (at least it feels like hills when you are biking up them), fields and forests. The commercials for travel around here always say "Virginia is for lovers". I can see where it comes from. Although It seems a bit discriminating to singles. The most prominent touristy things of this state are probably the Natural bridge and fake Stonehenge. And of course the coast has beaches and such. Oh and the movie Dirty Dancing was shot here at a hotel up in the hills. 

I managed few weekends for biking and even an afternoon on the river to relax. Biking here is great. I you do not do what I did. After going down hill at reasonable speed for OVER 30 MINUTES and gawking at the beautiful valley, the uphill part is bound to be horrifying no matter which route you take. And I tried every single route there was, cursing all the way up. Generally it is a bad sign when you see those professional looking bikers go the opposite direction.

All in all. Summer was awesome.