Cable Car Ride

It was damp, cloudy, rainy, and grey. And still we explored. The Cable Car ride was short, but UP HILL and well worth it. What fun!

(Sally, San Francisco, January 2010)

(Kat, San Francisco, January 2010)

California

"Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair"

-Led Zeppelin

Two days after the semester started, I flew to Sacramento, CA with my Gal Pal Sal to attend the Annual International Conference of the Association of Science Teacher Educators to present a paper (more research from the "big D"). We spent three days and three nights in Sacramento hobnobbing with brilliant science educators, taking to old friends, planning new venues of research, and making new friends. It was, as always, a fabulous conference.

Saturday, Sal rented a car and we drove to Muir Woods and Muir Beach. Breathtaking. That night we stayed on Lombard Street in San Francisco. Sunday we tramped from Pier 1 to China Town and back again. That evening I dined with my Aunt Bernice, Aunt Mary Anna and Uncle Martin. We ate a delicious meal at Kabul. Sal and I returned to the Midwest at the crack of dawn on Monday. It was a whirl-wind, wild, wonderful trip. And I was without a camera. But I did have a Flip Video video recorder with me. So my goal over the next few days is to sort through the 30 - 90 second videos I took and share some of my experiences. Stay tuned.

Safe and Sound...

(Our Capitol from Constitution and Third Streets, Saturday, August 2, 2008)

We made it home safely! As many of you know, I had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. last week for the Association of Teacher Educators Summer Conference (ATE). With the help of John's mom, who purchased our Travelocity tickets (Round trip with taxes and fees $179! Thanks Loree!), I was able to take John and Orion with me. After dreading the trip much of the spring it occurred to me that 1) John's always wanted to go, 2) Orion would really dig the museums, 3) The hotel room would be nearly $200 a night whether I slept alone or not, and best of all 4) The Smithsonian Museums do not charge admission. Things came together and the Leslies left at the butt crack of dawn on Friday, August 1. We returned close to 11:00 pm on Wednesday, August 6. It was a long week. And I kept a journal. So over the next couple of days I plan to share with you our adventures and pictures from our trip to D.C.

SRATE

SRATE stands for the Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators. And that's where I am headed in a mere 6 or so hours! Yes, it's just after 2:00 a.m. and yes I am printing off my overhead slides, just in case I don't have access to a projector, yes I haven't completed packing, yes I am driving, and yes it looks like I'll get less than four hours of sleep!

Ugh! This year's SRATE conference will be held in St. Louis, so I have about a three hour drive in front of me tomorrow morning. I will be presenting on Thursday with a group of professors from UCM and again on Friday, solo. My Friday presentation is "Common Earth Science Misconceptions of Preservice Teachers." It is a discussion friendly version of my previous research and current and future dissertation.

We will be staying downtown in the Hyatt just off of Union Station! I am excited to be a "tourist" in St. Louis. After a few days with the conference I plan to hang with my St. Louis Teacher Friends, if time permits, before returning to the 'Burg, classes, paper grading, and the dreaded dissertation!