Week 11

This week was a busy week at work, as activities are picking up in the preparation of the grand opening of Miller dining hall next week. A large project that we worked on included creating binders with menus, recipes, and instructions for each station. It was a great feat to finish those and hand them over to the executive chef, Martin's waiting hands.

Chloe invited Jim from Key Impact to come up to Bozeman to help set up the General Mills cereal bins at the remaining 3 locations on campus. Employees at all locations were excited to see brand new dispensers! We tried them out at breakfast the next morning and were pleasantly surprised that the cereal didn't get stuck or create a cereal avalanche!

The line-up at Miller dining hall in the "Nook" breakfast area

The week ended with heavy lifting as the first deliveries from FSA (Food Services of America) came in to fill our empty storeroom at Miller dining hall. We unloaded 778 cases of dry storage items and 9 pallets of food in the -5 degree freezer the next day.

Putting away the products that we helped procure and make deals on

The fun after work and on weekends never ends in Bozeman! We have loved the free spirit living and encouragement from everyone we meet here. One of our favorite events that was so representative of the "Bozeman vibe" was SLAM music/art festival. We started off the morning with a free outdoor yoga session. We giggled as our yogi instructor told us to "flick our little lizard tongues and brace ourselves for the bikes riding up our backs". We also got to see all of the talented vendors, enjoy music, attend a culinary demonstration, and spend a day in the beautiful sun.

We made a list of all of the things we would like to do before we leave next week. We started off with a favorite, the Farmers market at Bogert park. Another new thing we tried was a Brew Run with Bozeman running company- a 5K in Livingston, with a rewarding beer at Katabatic brewing company at the end. Alyssa won a FREE pair of shoes from Bozeman running company!

We ended the week with a fun night of climbing with our amazing and wonderful coworker Jeri. The Spire climbing gym is huge and challenging. We left with smiles on our faces and sore arms after lifting heavy cases for two days and scaling up the climbing walls.

This Saturday, we set our sights on Baldy peak, our last long hike before we leave. As we talked about in a previous blog post, the Bridger Ridge Run commenced this Saturday. These inspiring athletes run along the length of the Bridger Ridge (something we were unable to conquer merely hiking earlier this summer). We decided to hike up to Baldy, the last peak of the ridge and cheer the runners on. We stumbled up and cheered people on as they ran by with bloodied knees, pulled hamstrings, and loud burps. At the finish line we cheered them on again and teared up as we were moved by their resilience and drive. A few runners joked that they would like to see us next year... our competitive selves are tempted by the challenge.

At the top of Baldy by the aid station

Part of the grueling course