It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This year Christmas is coming very early!

We had our traditional Christmas Eve fondue dinner on Sunday night. We went to Tim and Stef's, and had dinner and opened presents. It was a great evening!

On Tuesday evening we went to Stef's school concert. all "5" of her groups did great!

On Monday it snowed a little But today it snowed A LOT! It started snowing at 6 this morning, and probably won't stop until tomorrow morning. Hesperia schools were closed today. Both Hesperia and Victorville will be closed tomorrow. So that means Christmas break also came early.

We got over a foot of snow. It damaged some trees in our back yard. When it covered the Christmas lights in our front yard it made a cool light show.

Ridin' The Rails

Ok, maybe that's a bit melodramatic, but we did ride Amtrak's Coast Starlight from LA to Tacoma to spend Thanksgiving with Holly. We made it fine, and had a mostly pleasant trip.

Tim took us to Rancho Cucamonga where we caught Metrolink to LA's Union Station. There we boarded our train.




We were downstairs in a coach car, only 12 seats in our area, so it was a bit more private than regular coach. We slept there, and did some reading, but spent most of our time upstairs in the Sightseeing Car with all the windows.

We are two meals in the Dining Car. You sit with other people, so we met some interesting folks.


It was nice seeing the landscape go by, the So Cal Coast and Oregon Cascade Mountains. This time of year, too much of the trip was in the dark to see much.

We slept like on a plane, but with more leg room. We upgraded to a sleeping car for the return trip, so that we can compare.

Fall '08

We didn't do Trick or Treat at home this year because of high school football. The Hesperia High School Scorpions are now 9-0 on the season. This has never happened to us before. It has been quite exciting. We even went with our "rooting section" up to Lake Arrowhead last Friday night for a game at Rim of the World High School. This Friday, the 14th, is our last regular season game, and it is a home game. So it will be a big deal

School has kept both of us busy the past couple of months. Carolyn carved pumpkins with her class again this year. It is always a big hit. The kids get to take the Jack-o-lanterns home. So that is good for them. Carolyn has been fighting a cold that was diagnosed today are a respiratory infection, so now she is on meds. That should help.

It has been unseasonable warm here. Supposed to be in the mid 80s tomorrow. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away.

Take a Hike!

How many times have you wanted to say THAT to someone?

Well, today we did . . . with the Outdoor Club at Hesperia High School. We walked along the Pacific Crest Trail near Silverwood Lake.

It was mostly deserty dry brown stuff, but we did find some shade and trees from time to time. Another teacher is the advisor for the club, but we went along for extra support. There were 12 students and the other teacher. We had a good time, and we're glad we did it. We are also glad we have a pool to come back to.

Jack Shack

We are getting ready!

The whole McKean gang is going to be here the weekend of October 12. Yay!

That includes the newest McKean, Jack Michael. So today we got some stuff for him, and all his brothers, sisters and cousins (that's multiple choice, not necessarily all inclusive, Kallie). The new safari pack n' play we call the "Jack Shack."

Ok, Jack. Y'all come by real soon, y'hear?

Friday Night Lights!

Friday night high school football is back! For over 10 years, maybe for 13, we've spent almost every Friday night home football game with the same group. Don & Tammy Fortner and Joe Ellis, and Darrell Fortner. Our families were in the marching band together, and we've been to dozens of field shows and football games. So last night was a kind of an annual reunion. It helps that our team won 32-10.

We are always as interested in the Marching Band as we are the football game. And, of course, we never think it was as good as back when . . . We have lots of "war stories to tell. We also have a fun rivalry, because between us we are Chargers, Steelers & Raiders fans.

In a time that seems so full of things being unsettled, and all politicians promising change, it's nice to know that some things don't change. Good friendships can withstand a lot!

School Daze

We are both back in full swing in our schools. We've both had parent "Back to School" night, and we've both had conferences with parents of disruptive students. Ah, it's good to be back . . . NOT!

Are we getting too old for this? What happened to an emphasis on good teaching and educating the young? Now it is all test scores and placating parents. Students run the classrooms, and administrators run scared. We are both struggling to keep our eye on the calling that led us to teach in the first place.

Then something good happens. I went to a funeral today for a man who taught briefly in our district after retiring from teaching in Watts, LA, after retiring as a Nazarene Pastor, after working for many years as an nuclear scientist. I haven't seen him or his family for about 5 years. I walked into the church where the funeral was, and his son-in-law, the father of one of my former students, walked right up to me and said, "I don't remember your name, but I remember that you were our daughter's favorite teacher." Ok, now I'm ready for Monday.

Gotta "keep our eyes on the lives" of our students. That's what it's all about!!

Yard & Pool

In my last update, I wanted to include pictures of our yard and pool and night, but I couldn't find them. Well, here they are.

Too bad summer is kinda over. There was still yard work to do today, but too much school work to enjoy the yard and pool this evening. Ugh!

Well, there's always tomorrow. Wait, there's also NASCAR and NFL. That's why we have TiVo.

Summer's End

Some people live by the astronomical calendar, and they think there are 20 more days of summer. We are school teachers. We know when summer really ends. Today! Ugh

Carolyn starts back teaching 2nd grade tomorrow with a room of 30 (eager?) scholars. Let's hope! Actually, Rod started back on August 11. So our summer has been practically done for a while. But we did get in some summertime activites.

Yard Work

We painted the patio cover, which meant taking it mostly apart and painting each board individually with a brush, then reassembling it.

Kayaking

We got to go to Big Bear lake and enjoy our kayaks, along with watching ducks and sailboats. It's nice to have that opportunity less than 1 hour from our house

Pool
We spent a lot of time, when it got too hot to work on the house or in the yard, swimming and reading by the pool. We even spent some evenings watching movies outdoors by projecting from a DVD player to a white board screen. Our own "drive-in" theater.

Hollywood Bowl

We usually do this once a year. This year with Tim & Stef and the Prices, we saw a concert production of Les Miserables. It was fantastic!

NASCAR

This weekend my brother David, along with Marcia and Jon came down from Roseville to join us for 2 NASCAR races. Our favorite drivers didn't win, but it is always fun to suffer in the heat, have your eardrums numbed by the engines, sit next to drunk red necks, and smell that exhaust from 100 octane racing fuel. It was great fun! No, really, it was. This is the third time Carolyn and I have gone down to Fontana, and it is a great experience.

So now our routine changes. Actually, we never stop thinking about teaching. Most days this summer we were reading, revising, planning or dreaming about how to be better teachers. It is a great calling, and we are proud of what we do and how we do it.

We're hoping, though, that we can "get a life" other than teaching. So stay tuned for more updates and we try to keep the adventure going.

Back in Hesperia

We arrived home tonight about 7:15. We left David & Marcy's at 9:30. We had to stop a lot, we are real tired of the traveling.

Tim met us when we pulled in the driveway, and after unhooking the trailer we went and got Mexican food -- La Casita salsa. What a way to come home.

Tomorrow we start cleaning the trailer, fixing the yard and pool, reading the mail, paying the bills, and making up for being gone for 4 weeks.

Fires, Fields & Family

We are back in (cough, cough) California. We had heard about the fires for a couple of weeks, but when we drove by Mt. Shasta and couldn’t see it, we finally realized how bad the smoke was. We later learned that it is a lot better now. So it must have been bad.

And the drought is bad, too. Everything looks drier than usual, and I’ve never seen Shasta Lake so low. We could see the bottom in places that used to be wide lake 40 years ago. Sorry, we didn’t get pictures of either the hidden Mt. Shasta or the lake.

The rest of northern California was agricultural fields. The rice fields were the greenest. The white crane was so common in the rice fields of Taiwan and China, that to see them in California was interesting.

I think the bird is called Ibis.
(You have to look hard to see two of them)

We arrived at David & Marcy’s house on Wednesday night. We had lunch with Grant & Karrie on Thursday, and basically just stayed lazy all day.

Friday should be the last day of this trip. Who would ever think someone would be glad to see Hesperia!!


Oh, PS:
One more JACK: We have been using our Garmin GPS. We got tired of the naggy lady whose voice is standard. We switched to a male British voice that I called "Bernard." But he pronounced American words wrong. Cirque Dr. in Tacoma he called Cirque doctor. Shoshone St. was Show-Shown Saint. So I looked for more voices, and found an American male voice named: Jack.

Snow, Smoke & Secret Service

In June 1995 our family stopped to visit Crater Lake, Oregon on our way from Roseburg back home to Hesperia. We had about an hour to visit on a Sunday afternoon. As we approached the area, it started snowing. By the time we got to the lake the falling snow and the ground/lake fog made our visibility about 50 ft. We never saw the lake.

Last night we arrived at Diamond Lake with clear skies and the setting sun lighting up the snow covered peaks. We couldn’t wait to get our first view of Crater Lake.

When we woke up this morning we thought someone was burning something. Then when we went outside we saw the sky was hazy. Sure enough, a nearby wildfire was filling the sky with smoke. Our second chance at seeing Crater Lake was being jeopardized. But through the smoke we saw the lake.


The website said our first words would be, “Wow!” They were right. Without even thinking about it, we walked up to the over look, and I said, “Wow, look at that blue color!”

WOW! Look at that blue color!

We drove along many overlooks. At one there was a ranger and a fire officer and they had some parking blocked off. Then we noticed that one of the tourists talking to the ranger had an earpiece on like a secret service agent. Then we noticed a limousine parked by us. We had followed it into the park, and noticed that they didn’t pay. As we were getting ready to leave the overlook a few dozen motorcycles came up, followed by a Suburban motorcade, followed by park and police vehicles with their lights flashing. Several more earphone guys got out of the Suburbans, and several Middle Eastern looking people also go out. As we finally left I asked one of the rangers, “What’s going on?” He said, “Oh, just a dignitary.” We never knew who it was, but heard a rumor that it was the king of Jordan. And he didn’t get to see the lake either. So now we have something in common with the king of Jordan.

Secret Service Chipmunk


Diamond Lake - Our site is near the lake


Mt. Thielsen, one of the many old volcanoes in the area

We came back to our campsite and sat outside and read until the mosquitoes convinced us to go inside. Tomorrow it's on to David & Marcy’s. It will be a long, hot day!

I Do Know Jack

Over three weeks ago we left on this odyssey. But before we got out of the driveway I bent the stabilizer JACK because I didn't have it raised far enough. On the second day we blew a tire in the middle of nowhere, and I had to use the floor JACK I brought to raise the trailer to change the tire.

We finally got to Mike & Kallie's on the third day so we could finally meet our grandson, JACK. Over the next week we kinda got to know JACK. Though I'm sure he keeps changing every day, so we now don't know him as well as we used to. But while we were in Colorado, I had to use the floor JACK again, to raise the trailer to repair the plumbing that was tore up when the tire blew.

In Idaho I ruined my cordless drill installing the new stabilizer JACK that I bought in Utah. Then in Pt. Ludlow I had to use the floor JACK again to replace a brand new tire that had gone mysteriously flat.

This morning, as we were getting ready to leave Washington I needed to put on the new tire I bought to replace the mystery flat. I was going to use some stacking blocks as a rolling JACK, just roll the trailer forward and the good tire would go up on the blocks, while the back tire would go up in the air for changing. As I was raising the trailer to put it on the hitch, the tongue JACK broke, dropping the trailer. So I had to use the floor JACK again to get the trailer on the hitch so I could roll in forward on the rolling JACK.

On the way to Diamond Lake, Oregon we stopped at bought a new tongue JACK which I installed tonight. So after these three weeks of odyssey, you can’t tell me that I don’t know . . . .

Washington Weekend -- Water, Water & Water

Friday we rented a canoe and kayaks where we are camped at American Lake here at Ft. Lewis. Holly's dog, Coda, went with us. We saw a couple of bald eagles. You will too if you look hard enough.





































Saturday we met up with our friends the Smiths for a picnic at Lake Sammamish. We went on their boat, then picnicked, then had pizza at their house.








































On the way home the setting sun was lighting up Mt. Rainer, but the picture doesn't do it justice.









Sunday after church Holly grilled some salmon, then we took Coda for a walk at a park along Puget Sound. The Olympic Mountains were in view today.

Boats, Blooms & Battle Beans

On Wednesday, Holly joined us for lunch at Anthony's on Puget Sound in Tacoma. It was great food and great views; not just of the boats, but also of Mount Rainer.
























Anthony's is located at Point Defiance park in Tacoma. They also have some great flower gardens, and an old Hudson Bay Co. fur trading fort. It was a beautiful park and way to spend the afternoon.









On Thursday, we all had lunch together at Ft. Lewis at a coffee and sandwich place called Battle Bean. Then we got a tour of one of Dan' Strykers. Well actually, it belongs to the Army, but it's assigned to Dan.









You can see Carolyn inside the Stryker holding a cup from Battle Bean.












We tried to go kayaking today, but there were no rental kayaks available. We'll try again tomorrow.

Otherwise these two days have just been lazy times with Holly & Dan and the dogs.

We found a tennis ball at the park yesterday, and Coda has had fun with it.