My first stop on this first spring recruiting trip brought me to San Luis Obispo and California State Polytechnic University. And the rain began. Biblical deluges aside, I had a packed schedule, and met with some great people at Cal Poly.

On Monday night, I jumped in the trusty Prius, pictured above, and headed to UC-Santa Cruz. Sidebar - Your mascot is spectacular! And the rain just kept on. My sincere gratitude goes out to Jan Carmichael at Career Services. Not only did she set an excellent info session for SCA, but she clued me in to the sale that Mervyn's was having on rainboots. So from Thursday afternoon forward, my feet remained pleasantly warm and dry in my obnoxious giant-red-poppy-print rainboots.

For this trip, when picking up my rental car, Alamo was awesome and let me have my pick of cars. Obviously, I went with the Prius, and I have no regrets (well, save the harrowing drive through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest sans snow chains). So for my last day in Santa Cruz, there was a break in the rain, allowing for an afternoon in the redwoods on campus (pictured below) and this lovely pic taken at Coolidge Drive. UC-Santa Cruz, you're great, and I'm sure even better when the sun is shining!

I left the east coast on January 19, leaving behing sub-freezing temps, and flew into sunny California. Upon arriving in San Jose, I immediately rocked the flip flops, and packed away my winter coat (really Californians, isn't a parka a bit much in 50 degree weather?). After a brief overnight stay in San Jose, I headed up to San Francisco and had a lunch date with the California sea lions at pier 39. Over delicious bowls of chowder and lobster bisque we had a great and lengthy discussion about SCA internships. Many of the sea lions had the same questions that potential SCA interns have - Where can I work? Is housing provided? Can I get academic credit for my internship? Yes, yes, and yes; all of that and more!

Now note the pair of sea lions at the center of the above pic. Prior to our meeting, they were bickering and barking loudly at each other over what they were going to do with their summer. Daphne, on the right, was rather upset that Giuseppe, on the left, just wanted to stay put on the raft all summer, loafing in the sun, and stuffing his face with anchovies. Luckily, SCA places interns at Channel Islands, where Daphne's family has a summer home (where they play lots of bocce). Double-plus-bonus here - local internship opportunity! SCA places interns at Channel Islands! And look how happy they are now! Crisis averted.

So all together, my first day in San Francisco was a success. And I just  made that all up.

When I'm not on the road for SCA, I really do enjoy being sedentary and somewhat domestic at my humble apartment in Bellows Falls, VT. In all of my domesticity, I've crafted a wreath paying homage to the greatest of holiday crooners, Bing Crosby. This is it, and not gonna lie, Bing's smiling face and the bright lights make my day! So Happy Holidays to all from your favorite SCA Western Recruitment Representative!

The last stop of this trip brought me to Evergreen State College. And again, rain. Rain, rain rain. Get out your slickers and wellie boots! Unfortunately I had neither. Nonetheless, mad props to Evergreen for its emphasis upon sustainability and environmental education. Evergreen and SCA, totally BFFs. And while I didn't get to see a live geoduck or the Evergreen Geoduck mascot, the welcome woman statue at Evergreen, picture below, was very cool.

When in Portland, bring your umbrella, or your waterproof/windproof fleece, or a snazzy fishermens' rainsuit getup. Despite the rain, Portland was great! Recruiting stops on this leg of the trip included Portland State University and Lewis and Clark College. On a rainy Sunday, I hopped on the MAX Lightrail (AWESOME way to get around Portland!) and headed to the World Forestry Center. What you see below is a tree cut from a 635-year old Redwood, cut for the 1959 Oregon Centennial Exposition in Portland. So right about the time that the tree was cut, at its outermost ring, SCA was founded. Crazy beans, man.

While at The University of Oregon and Oregon State, I was not able to get pictures with either Donald or Benny the Beaver. This is me frowning. But it was great to get out on each campus and meet with faculty and staff. While at the University of Oregon, the university was commemorating Veterans' Day by displaying flags on the University mall. One red flag for every U.S. soldier, one white flag for every Iraqi civilian; a sobering scene. At Oregon State, I had an awesome meeting with the MANNRS group, which was probably my favorite information session so far this year.

Minus the rain, and my SCA print materials arriving late at the hotel, I had a great visit to Western Washington University. Everyone in the Huxley College, Career Services, and Outdoor Recreation was super-welcoming and getting to meet with the Outdoor Recreation Club at their internship discussion was a great way to let students know about SCA. All together, Western Washington University made for an excellent stop on this trip. Most memorable though were the outdoor sculptures on campus, namely Tom Otterness' "Feats of Strength." I could be way off, but I like to imagine the little sculptures as a happy SCA trail crew out in the backcountry. For example:

Adventure starts when stuff goes wrong, right? You bet it does! Arriving in Seattle two days early, I had a great chance to get familiar with the city. One of my best buds long time friend from Camp Anokijig, Mr. Nick Postorino, was an AWESOME host! We saw the Polyphonic Spree in concert (FABULOUS!), checked out the Space Needle, and generally had a great time about town. We even made it up to Mount Rainier and spent time tromping around the park and seeing all of the great work of SCA crews and volunteers. Here's Nick and I hanging out in a sweet rock outcropping beside the Ohanapecosh River.

In the original itinerary for this trip, after visiting UC-Santa Barbara, I was slated to travel to UC-San Diego. However, with the fires and cancelation of classes at UCSD, I ended up flying directly from Santa Barbara to Seattle. To everyone at UCSD, and the residents of Southern California affected by the fires, please know that SCA's thoughts are with you.

With a bit of extra time on my hands, and Halloween looming, it was time to fashion a costume. I like to call this one the start of the "Beth Erdey For The Student Conservation Association Collection." This is piece one in what may expand into a collection of couture and I'm sure I'll be getting calls from the boys in Milan at Dolce and Gabbana any minute. Eat your heart out Project Runway kiddies! No, I'm just kidding. But here it is, the dress, aptly named "Conservation In Action."

As you've probably read in my biography, I'm from Wisconsin. It's cold there. I like it cold. And at UC-Santa Barbara, 85 degree heat in late October just seemed wrong; I felt a bit like a polar bear roasting in the southern California sun. Nonetheless, my visit to UCSB was great! Super-big class presentations (thank you Dr. Freudenburg and your huge Environmental Studies class!!), lots of interest at info sessions, and great faculty support (mad props to Eric Zimmerman, Academic Advisor and Internship Coordinator for the Environmental Studies Program; he's even an SCA alum!) made this visit excellent. As evidenced by the droves of bikes on campus, seen in the picture above, students at UCSB have certainly got the environment and conservation on their brains. So UCSB students, when you're not cruising around on your sweet bikes, take a look at the sca website. Heck, when you've got an awesome SCA internship, you might even be able to take your bike with you! What a deal!