On our way out of Grand Teton we encountered a big fox!
Porcelain Basin
At Yellowstone on Wednesday. 
Yellowstone!
We pulled arrived at Yellowstone’s northeast entrance after camping on forest service land and a spectacular ascent into the mountains. 
State of Fear
While winding our way up into the mountains with steep cliffs, Griffin bursts out with this:
“This state is scarier than Minnesota!”
Bison
Major bison action near our tent last night.
North Dakota
We spent much of the day crossing North Dakota. This was the last state west of the Mississippi that Andrew hadn’t been to. It was a gorgeous drive. Should be camping in Theodore Roosevelt National Park shortly.
As we enter the park, “This city is blocking the way of the beautiful view.”
California Bound!
One dead battery and one poopy diaper later, and we’re off!
Mileage: 101166
Nine Years Down
It’s been another great year in the classroom, and I feel as engaged and motivated as I ever have. I’m definitely looking forward to the time off in the coming summer weeks, but I no longer fear the arrival of September, as I did when I first jumped into this new career.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade since I left my IT career. I would write “no regrets” but that sounds too pensive, like I really do have regrets but I’m trying to convince myself that I don’t. In this case it’s the opposite of regret—I am profoundly fortunate that I found a career that gives back more than I put into it. For those of you who know some of my background interests, consider that in addition to teaching a fantastic social studies course all year, I did the following in my classroom:
- taught students how to design 3D models to print on a 3D printer
- had a bocce ball tournament (well, we went outside for this)
- blasted music during our weekly advisory musical chairs deathmatch
- played dungeons and dragons (!)
It’s a very good fit.
The Eels & Steve Perry
Mind-boggling Eels concert at the Fitzgerald Theater tonight. Mark Oliver Everett and the band were in top form. As I giddily posted to facebook afterwards, “Eels were SO good. I’d rank this in my top five lifetime shows. Stunning performance. We got Grace Kelly Blues AND Last Stop This Town. (Two favorite songs.) Along with a lot of great numbers from the latest album. Joy. Rapture.”
But that was only the beginning. After the second encore, Everett invites none other than Steve Perry (Journey!) on stage for his first public performance in 20 years. Unbelievable. A few pictures borrowed from the internet (my phone didn’t hold up) followed by a video of the Steve Perry encore:
Opting Out
We came across this display at a local St. Paul school a few weeks ago. It gave me hope. Kudos to the courageous parents, teachers, and administrators who resist the pressure to conflate standardized test scores with educational achievement.
Including the top shelf, out of the frame above, I counted 46 houses. The school has 570 students in grades 4-8 this year, suggesting that about 8% of the students opted out.
A small step?