"the sun is shining on down into Tennessee"

So I'm here! ...and have been for a week and a half. I apologize this has taken me so long to get up and running. The blog site is blocked at the Ranch and is in the process of being unblocked so I'm sending this from Kit and Ryan's house. The first week has been really great. I moved in last Wednesday into my sweet apartment. It's a ton of space for just me, but I'm enjoying it. I feel kind of cut off from the world though- I don't get cell reception, internet, or even TV channels. But it's all good, because I live in paradise. Wears Valley Ranch's property borders the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, so it's completely beautiful.
Thursday was my first day of work and it was pretty chill. Seth, my boss, is about to move into a new house so all week he's been a little distracted. Friday, I helped organize the mailing of the annual report and then drove it to Knoxville to be mailed.
The weekend has proved to be the best part about interning here. I didn't really have anything to do, so Seth said I could take the Explorer and go hang out in the National Park. I spent most of my time driving up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies. It clouded over right as I got up to the observation tower, so I couldn't see quite as far as normal, but it was beautiful. Clingman's Dome is right in the middle of the Smokies, so it's surrounded on all side by peaks. From there, I drove to the other side of the Park and hung out by the river. Apparently everyone tubes or swims down the river when it's really hot and I was kicking myself for not bringing my swimsuit. Sunday I went to church at Church of the Cove, then spent the afternoon just hanging out.
All the Ranch kids returned Sunday night so it's been great to have a little more action around the place. Work this week has been a lot more "normal"- a lot of camp stuff and helping with the recreation time for the Ranch kids, or "rec".
So I live in paradise. Not only is the park beautiful, but the Ranch property is pretty great too. I go running every night (I'm training for a half-marathon in Chicago in September) and every night without fail the sunset at the end of my run is phenomenal. Every night the sunset is like bright pink and orange. It's incredible. So that's the end of my post for now, it's already pretty long. Tomorrow I'm helping Seth and Amy move into their new house and hopefully watching the Belmont. Ok, that's it for now. Good night!