Road Trip: Flagstaff, AZ to Amarillo, TX

Wow, this day was a long day. We managed to change two time zones, so instead of getting in at 8:30 pm, we checked into the hotel at 10:30 pm. Ugh. Since we had stopped at a few Route 66 towns and the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, our time was backed up.
(Note: We wanted to stop at Meteor Crater, but it was $16 a person!!! That is crazy since we were just going to be doing a quick 30 minute stop and not spending several hours there. Wish we could have, but that's how it goes.)

We stopped in the quintessential town of Winslow, AZ to take some touristy pictures in the early morning.

For some reason I love the texture of this old brick...

On to the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park. The park has a 28-mile drive with stops along the way, if you go from south to north. However, for our time constraints, we just entered at the north entrance and drove along about 10 miles or so. While we didn't see the actual petrified wood that the park in named after, we did see the Painted Desert and some intriguing petroglyphs and remains of ancient dwellings. If we ever get to come back, I'm definitely going through the whole park.

Outside the visitor's center and then inside. I loved the architecture and mood of the place...

 Looking out from the terrace of the visitor's center...

 Painted Desert behind us...

 Petroglyphs...

 Ancient ruins...

An old car left from Route 66...

The drive after was just really gorgeous, with all of the colors and formations of the rocks as we drove through. I kept trying to get pictures from the car, but that never really works.

And I love that New Mexico decorates its overpasses...

 And last, a beautiful sunset. Took these from the car, alas, there was nowhere to pull over. Turned out ok though I thought...

Road Trip: Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ

Today wasn't a traveling day, except to drive the 75 miles to the Grand Canyon. Once there, we started with the Mather Point overlook, then took to shuttle to South Kaibab Trailhead near Yaki Point. The South Kaibab trail begins at the top of the canyon and descends all the way to the river, if one wants to hike that far. However, for our day, we hiked past Ooh-Ahh Point to Cedar Ridge. It's 3 miles round trip, and very hot! There was a bit of a breeze today, but it was sunny the whole way which makes for a strenuous hike. If we had started earlier, I would have wanted to go to the next turn-around point, but it was just too hot and we wanted to get back to the hotel and rest today before the next three long days.
With that all said, I am so glad that I was able to see the Canyon. It truly is amazing and grand!! As we hiked lower into the Canyon, the colors came alive- greens, blues, browns, reds started showing everywhere. I can only imagine how gorgeous it is at sunset!! We didn't walk much along the rim, but that seemed like a good choice for people who were limited in hiking or had medical conditions. Going into the Canyon was very rewarding. Here's a few pictures, though being there and taking in the immensity of the place can't be replaced!!

Also, around the 180/ 64 junction, some retro business, including the Flintstones cafe, were roadside attractions. We stopped for these shots:

Road Trip: Central Valley, CA to Flagstaff, AZ

Justin and I started our road trip across America today. We drove all the way from California's central valley to Flagstaff, AZ today. Total trip, including stops, was about 12 hours and about 700 miles. I got lucky and only had to drive right after lunch for about 2 hours. Justin, my wonderful hubby, is amazing!! :) So I took pictures along the way.

Starting off, Spike was a little antsy, but then he settled down. We put him in his cage for a little bit, but then he sat on top of the luggage the rest of the way. Poor thing, he's still kinda confused and he was running around the hotel room exploring, but has chilled now too. I wish I could make it easier on him, but I'm not sure what to do there. It's just a lot of new things to handle.

The drive down HWY 99 in California was pretty uneventful. Once we got on HWY 40, rerouted historic 66, the terrain was basically desert. The hills became more rust-colored as we went south. As we got closer to the border of California and Arizona, we started to see a little more shrubs and trees. We kept passing "Elk Crossing" signs but I was never quick enough to get a picture. For about an hour we took the historic route 66 around the Amboy Crater area (though we didn't stop since we had such a long driving day today). It is a little sad to see so many little business deserted with the re-routed highway. I guess that is progress? I don't know... Finally, once we crossed to Arizona I started seeing pine trees, which for some reason I didn't expect. It's very interesting to see the different geographical features.

Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon- stay tuned!!

CSUS Graduation for my Master's in Education

I know I am beyond slacking in posting lately (sorry grandma!!) But now I am posting, so there. I am going to do better since it was the last day of school. And hopefully I can kinda back-date the posts or something for the books I've read and things like that.

Anyway, so I walked in the graduation ceremony and California State University, Stanislaus yesterday. Woot Woot! Go me! I was technically done with my master's in education in December 2011, but waited until this year to do the ceremony.

And it was really hot, especially in the gown. Luckily it was only about 75 degrees, or I think a few people would have passed out or something. I was a little disappointed, to be honest, because it didn't seem like people took it as seriously. For example, students decorated the tops of their hats. And tossed beach balls around above the graduates during the ceremony. Tacky. That's what I think. I guess others would think that it was just fun, but it was my master's, for crying out loud, so I expected some dignity. They even tried to do the wave at one point. I think they said it was near 1,000 graduates. Maybe with so many it is hard to control.

Needless to say, I'm glad that I did the ceremony, but it wasn't a good as I had hoped. But I do love my mom and grandma and grandpa H. for sticking it out and going with me. Afterwards, we ate at Qdoba, one of my favorite nicer fast-food places. It was laid back, but it was nice.

So here's  a few pictures of the day:

(OMgosh, Crystal, I know this picture isn't centered. But this was the third try and since it was better than the others, I just left it. You should have seen the others...) 

 And since it was outside, I totally got sunburned. Hence the horrid tan line across my forehead. Luckily, the concealer I put on today evened it out a little bit...

Pinnacles National Monument

Last weekend I hiked down at Pinnacles National Monument with my good teacher friend Kelly. It has some crazy rock formations and  cool caves too. It's only good to go about this time of year though, because it gets very hot and dry by about mid-May. I went last year in May, and I was perspiring like gusher. We took a trail that loops around the southern part of the park and through the southern caves as well. It was about the same as the northern route I did last year, except it had a few steeper portions of rocks- like they actually have rails installed and steps carved out of the rock for you to climb up. I'm not sure which one I liked better, but I am leaning towards the northern trail.
I hope to take a few of the youth group kids in the next few weeks before it gets too hot. I know they would love the wacky rocks and going through the caves.

Here's a few pics:

Jar of Dreams

Recently I read Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida. The only complaint I had was that it was too short! It was a tale of a Japanese-American family in the Bay area who struggled to make their way in America in the face of discrimination. The narrative is from a young girl's perspective. She has an aunt who comes to America to visit for the first time over the summer. While Rinko at first feels awkward of about her aunt, who fully embraces her Japanese heritage, over the summer her perspective changes.

I loved this book, because I made me understand the perspective of others. More than a hundred years ago, my family came over from Germany on my mom's side and Ireland on my dad's side. But I never experienced being an immigrant myself. Sure, I moved to another state after college, and there was a bit of culture shock going from Ohio to California, but nothing like what the family went through in Jar of Dreams. I can't pretend to understand, but reading this book definitely opened my eyes more. As a teacher, I really try to understand my students, some of which are recent immigrants.

Being from Rinko's perspective, all of the things her family faced were written simply, instead of being all political hodge-podge. While America isn't perfect, people still come for a chance of a better life. I hope as a teacher, I am always helping my students have a better life. That's why I read- to understand my world and my students better.

Super Teacher

Last week, we have a spirit week at school. Those are always fun. A few of the days weren't very easy to dress up for... Grease Lightning Day, Mustache Day anyone? But then there was sports team day, superhero day, and of course school spirit day. Those I could do. I borrowed my aunt's 49er's jersey on Wednesday, and it was funny because some students who really like Raiders, for instance, acted like I was a complete nutcase. (In all honesty, I really don't care about the team, I was just dressing up for the day. If I had had a jersey, I would have totally worn Ohio State though).


Thursday was superhero day. I was in a conundrum because I couldn't find my Incredible's outfit. It must be packed and stored with everything else. So I improvised. I made a SuperTeacher logo and wore it under a white button-up shirt. And I pinned on a cape too. The kids liked it, and I supported spirit week. It was a win-win for everyone. :)