Daughter of an Archeologist

It started at about 5:30 yesterday morning when my dad came in and woke me up. "Come on let's go! We need to be out the door by 6:30." Me: grumble grumble grumble. I finally dragged out and got into my only pair of jeans and put on a bright red t-shirt I got in 9th grade as part of a bike ride. Finally I put on my running shoes and threw my hair back into a pony tail. I figured there was no point in putting on make up when we were going to the middle of no man's land where nobody had bothered to live for 50+ years. I had the perfect breakfast of a piece of toast and juice (I've never been a big fan of breakfast, so this was the best.) I grabbed my pillow and we headed out. My dad drove, my younger brother in the front seat, while I sprawled out in the back seat. I fell asleep until we finally reached the site where we were supposed to survey. It was the future site of an oil well, and was a square mile. We spread out about 20 yards apart from each other and began trudging. We stepped on and over sage brush, and struggled to stay in a semi straight line as we walked around pine trees, the dirt getting all over us. The first site was the slowest, since we got lost several times. We walked that section from about 10:15-12:00. We got back to the truck and ate lunch. After lunch, we headed to another site. This one was the fastest, since we didn't get lost. We found two or three cans along with some old beer bottles that dated between 1915-1960. We marked them into the GPS as "isolated artifacts" and kept walking. There were lizards everywhere, and I'm going to openly admit I tried to catch them. Those little suckers are FAST! After giving up, I was walking around another group of sage brush when something moved from under my feet. I froze when I realized it was a horned lizard or whatever those things are called. It was really fat, with yellow and orange spots on its back so it looked like a rock with lichens on it. It was so slow. I called my brother over and we teased it for a few minutes. I finally reached down to touch it. As soon as my finger touched its back, it hissed. I shrieked and decided it was time to go. We finished that section about 3:00. A quick side note: when it comes to archeology trips, NEVER get your hopes up. We started driving, and I was sure we were done. Of course not. We drove for all of 5 minutes and stopped. "Alright let's go!" Uuuuuuggggghhhh. This section was the worst. We were tired, and there was a really steep hill we had to survey. We found a "historical site", with 9 food cans, 2 tobacco flip top containers, lids, 2 milk cans, etc. We had to write down each one, and my dad recorded it into the GPS, It took 20 minutes, but it couldn't have felt anymore like death. There was no where safe to sit, since there was a giant ant hill in the middle of the site and the little red things were everywhere. Our feet were throbbing, and the mosquitoes decided we were quite appetizing. When we finally finished with the site, we kept walking. And walking. And walking. By the time we got back to the truck, I was covered with mosquito bites and burned a bright red color. We stopped at the nearest town to grab drinks for my brother and dad (I avoid soda when I can) then headed home. We resumed our previous positions, with my dad behind the wheel and my brother in the front seat. I passed out for an hour long nap, and reluctantly woke myself up when we got back to Orem. Nothing beats a day out in the archeology field, and if there is, I don't want to know what it is. I get to go back out again on Tuesday. This time I'll take my Costco camera to prove it. Until then, I gotta go babysit. Peace.