Josh Levinger

Finished my thesis on the Boycott Toolkit and handed it in at 4:50 on a Friday. It’s online as a PDF for your reading pleasure. Thanks to everyone who helped me make it a reality.

As before, by the numbers:

• 4326.4 mi on 140.25 gallons of gas, for an avg 30.84 mpg
• 18 states (NH MA CT NY NJ PA OH IN IL WI MN SD NE CO UT AZ (briefly, spent no $) NV and finally CA
• 15 days
• five moose
• 400+ buffalo
• one five foot rattlesnake
• 287 MIT nerds in Vegas
• 15,000 foot skydive
• and two badass new room-mates

Flying back to Boston tonight finish up at the lab, so my west coast residence isn’t quite permanent yet, but I’ll leave my heart (and all my stuff) in Berkeley.

Jumped out of a perfectly good airplane this morning. My instructor, Leonard, was also a former aero engineering student, so we had a nice relaxing technical talk about the safety systems and the aircraft capabilities on the way up. Before we slid out the door he said: “whatever happens, I’m coming down with you.” True to his word, we landed safely. Checked another item one off the lifelong to-do list.

Assume the position

Going up

Looking out

Heading down

Shocking Freefall

A little bit of drool

Steering the chute

Still psyched

Following my foolish tradition of traveling to the desert every summer, I somehow convinced Ruth to hike 15 miles in the 100 degree heat. Because we only had one sturdy pack, I carried the majority of the weight. By the last mile, I acknowledged the justice of her skepticism. Still, the photos speak for themselves.

Hiking in Zion NP

View from our campsite

Ruth is skeptical of hiking

Rattlesnake!

Almost there

Finally got to the mountains!

Alpine Views

Continental Divide

Moose

Meese

Saw the best of South Dakota today: Sioux Falls, 400 miles of I-90, the ur-tourist trap at Wall Drug, the sudden rise of the Badlands from the plains, a decommissioned nuclear missile at the Minuteman National Historical Site, buffalo BBQ in Rapid City, and Mount Rushmore at night. Went for a swim in our hotel pool to relax, only to be told that it was closed to due child vomit ten minutes after we got in. I wondered why it was that color…

Badlands

Minuteman Silo

Dinosaur at Wall Drug

Ruth and President Polk

Mt Rushmore

Crazy Horse