Monday, June 17, 2013
Trip 3 to Yellowstone
See the above post for pictures of my third trip to Yellowstone...
I have learned a few things about living here...
(1) Freeze your water before you go on a trip. It gets so hot here that the frozen water bottles can first serve as 'ice' in the cooler and then as they melt I can drink nice cold water.
(2) Bring clothes for every season imaginable. Just because it is hot and sunny in the morning, this does not tell you how the weather will be an hour from now. It could be thunderstorms by afternoon.
(3) Watch out for slowed/stopped vehicles in Yellowstone. Sometimes it is a 'wild goose chase'. Sometimes it is dangerous, like a growling mama bear (not getting out of the car for that!), and sometimes it is something awesome, like a Bald Eagle. You never know which!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Need Tires?
I awoke this morning to find this outside my door.... FREE TIRES!
I watched several people come by and look at them, and then talk about what an oddball size of tire they were.... so tiny.... Many people up here have BIG trucks they drive. And if the vehicle isn't big, they put a lift kit on it. Yesterday I saw an old old Subaru station wagon that had a lift kit! It was hilarious! And apparently road rules are quite relaxed here. I have seen people driving those mini motorcycles that look like they are made for a kindergartner on major roads, as well as all kinds of 4-wheel vehicles and golf carts. My staff at my old job often tried to convince me they could take a golf cart out on 'real' roads, but I told them it was against the law. Apparently up here it is not against the law -OR- no one enforces that law!
When I first got up this morning, it was actually foggy outside, with moisture in the air. It so very much reminded me of home. But like home, it burned off my mid-morning.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Yellowstone Trip 2
I went to Yellowstone yesterday. This time I went in through the North Entrance (instead of the West Entrance). The North Entrance was definitely more 'touristy' with the lodge and restaurants, and a nearby town. I did some short walks and some of the scenic drives, since I haven't been feeling the greatest. But it sure was nice to be out in nature!
I took the west side of the north loop and made it about halfway around the loop. There is a LOT to explore at Yellowstone! I stopped at 5 different visitor centers / museums and that was quite interesting. The Park Ranger museum was probably my favorite, learning about the history of the park rangers, women in the park service, the President and foreign dignitaries visiting Yellowstone and other parks, the different uniforms they have worn, etc. I am reading a book right now called 'Hey Ranger' about funny stories about working in the National Park System. It is hilarious and very much reminds me of working at my old job! I found out a lot of parks hire summer help, and that is something I might really be interested in doing in the future, especially if I am teaching and my summers would be more or less available to do that. At the Canyon Village center, I found out about the Campfire talks they have. Every night at 9:30 pm for 45 minutes. There were some really interesting talks. I am thinking about picking one that is really neat and going. It would be quite a trip back home (probably wouldn't get back until 1 am), but if the talk is good, it would be worth it. Plus hanging around the campfire would be quite fun!
Scroll down to the next blog post and you can view a slideshow of some of the pictures from this trip!
I took the west side of the north loop and made it about halfway around the loop. There is a LOT to explore at Yellowstone! I stopped at 5 different visitor centers / museums and that was quite interesting. The Park Ranger museum was probably my favorite, learning about the history of the park rangers, women in the park service, the President and foreign dignitaries visiting Yellowstone and other parks, the different uniforms they have worn, etc. I am reading a book right now called 'Hey Ranger' about funny stories about working in the National Park System. It is hilarious and very much reminds me of working at my old job! I found out a lot of parks hire summer help, and that is something I might really be interested in doing in the future, especially if I am teaching and my summers would be more or less available to do that. At the Canyon Village center, I found out about the Campfire talks they have. Every night at 9:30 pm for 45 minutes. There were some really interesting talks. I am thinking about picking one that is really neat and going. It would be quite a trip back home (probably wouldn't get back until 1 am), but if the talk is good, it would be worth it. Plus hanging around the campfire would be quite fun!
Scroll down to the next blog post and you can view a slideshow of some of the pictures from this trip!
Yellowstone - Trip 2 Slideshow
Click on the picture, and once the page loads, click slideshow which is near the upper left corner to see pictures of trip 2 to Yellowstone!
Friday, June 7, 2013
June 7, 2013
Howdy! I will try to get some pictures posted tomorrow. Sorry! I have been dealing with some health issues for the past few weeks and that has been rather time consuming.
I have been working on getting my lesson plans going for teaching stats later this summer. Actually, I start teaching in a few weeks. Yikes! Where did the time go. I am doing the lessons in prezi, which is sort of like powerpoint. Thought I would give that a try.
I am also working on completing my Online Instructor Certificate through MSU this summer. I took a class Thursday morning on using an LMS - Learning Management System. Which is fancy speak for an online system that students log into and their professors post notes, grades, class news, they can even take quizzes online, submit papers they have written for a class, etc. Many colleges and universities have a system like this. Anyway... This was one of the best trainings I have attended, hands down. The instructors were skilled at dealing with people afraid of computers, as well as those who were programmers and had much computer skill. This was a class on the 'basics' and is required for the Online Instructor Certificate. Even though I have some experience using the system, I still picked up some good tricks and tips. I am looking forward to taking more classes from these people as I found this class to be quite excellent! AND, they hired a new gal to work on the system, and she is a former math professor, so I talked to her for awhile about teaching math and she has some great ideas! It was fun to talk to someone who loves to teach math as much as I do!
Other than that..... The rabbits are good! Silly as ever! They jump on my pillow in the middle of the night hoping that I will feed them cheerios or chocolate. I keep trying to tell them cheerios and chocolate aren't for rabbits, but they disagree. Also that they are not supposed to be nocturnal animals, but I think they know I will cave and give them something if they wake me up in the middle of the night!
Ok. Time for me to go to bed. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.
I have been working on getting my lesson plans going for teaching stats later this summer. Actually, I start teaching in a few weeks. Yikes! Where did the time go. I am doing the lessons in prezi, which is sort of like powerpoint. Thought I would give that a try.
I am also working on completing my Online Instructor Certificate through MSU this summer. I took a class Thursday morning on using an LMS - Learning Management System. Which is fancy speak for an online system that students log into and their professors post notes, grades, class news, they can even take quizzes online, submit papers they have written for a class, etc. Many colleges and universities have a system like this. Anyway... This was one of the best trainings I have attended, hands down. The instructors were skilled at dealing with people afraid of computers, as well as those who were programmers and had much computer skill. This was a class on the 'basics' and is required for the Online Instructor Certificate. Even though I have some experience using the system, I still picked up some good tricks and tips. I am looking forward to taking more classes from these people as I found this class to be quite excellent! AND, they hired a new gal to work on the system, and she is a former math professor, so I talked to her for awhile about teaching math and she has some great ideas! It was fun to talk to someone who loves to teach math as much as I do!
Other than that..... The rabbits are good! Silly as ever! They jump on my pillow in the middle of the night hoping that I will feed them cheerios or chocolate. I keep trying to tell them cheerios and chocolate aren't for rabbits, but they disagree. Also that they are not supposed to be nocturnal animals, but I think they know I will cave and give them something if they wake me up in the middle of the night!
Ok. Time for me to go to bed. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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