Badgette

Bummer we're back home now. The circadas are strumming their "it's hot and steamy" song. I wrote a few more entries during our trip, but they're all on my iPad (hard to publish when you don't have time for slow/sketchy wifi). Sure, I could stream them into here and then organize all of my photos to go with entries, but let's face it I'm lazy. Besides, I have some curriculum mapping to do (work begins again next week). So, I've decided to spare you all my ramblings and blast you with photos and a highlight summary (which turns out is still too many words). The good news is I'm only sharing a few pics out of the almost 2,000 we took. They're not necessarily the best photos (although I like them), but they show off some ... read more

I've been wanting to see my friend Monica for awhile now, so when she suggested we fly into San Antonio during Fiesta's last weekend celebrations, we did! Fiesta is basically a two-week party loaded with parades, royalty pageants (yes, there's royalty in Texas), dances and all sorts of food and gift vendors. It's more than that, and it certainly means a whole lot to the people of San Antonio. To outsiders it's street-to-street happy people and lots of noise and color! Standing in line is inevitable, especially if you're hungering for chicken or steak or what looks like penis (it's a sausage with a biscuit at the bottom) on a stick, but it's okay because everyone is so friendly and happy you don't mind. Standing in line is part of the fun ... really. It's also ... read more

For those of you who've driven through Grand Canyon National Park but never have made it below the rim, you have not truly experienced the awe of it all. I know this because I've been all over the top of the rim many, many times --- and, yes, it's spectacular, but oh my the wonder of the canyon bottom is so unbelievably the mother of all experiences. There are several trails down. The one we took isn't as steep as Kaibab or Bright Angel trail. Let me rephrase that, it IS steep, but its switchbacks felt easier to handle. It begins at the top of a crowded parking lot called Hilltop. It's a little intimidating at first because you look down and think, "can I just sit and slide down that bitch?" But, going down (as ... read more

Last weekend, our neighbors had a visitor from New Zealand, so they wanted to take him on a camping trip up north. Since I'm hiking the Grand Canyon this weekend (oh how I can't wait to share the pics with you guys), we opted out of touring the Grand Canyon with them. Instead, Joe, Kaylene and I took a hike on Sycamore Falls trail in Williams. The state of Arizona never ceases to amaze me. Williams is near Flagstaff and only a two-hour drive from where I live, but it's a whole other world. It's cold at night and green and, well, awesomely beautiful. If I decided to stay in Arizona (after I do my international teaching stint), it will have to be somewhere up north. I love the desert too, but the heat is wearing ... read more

It's been almost two weeks since we left Ireland, a little over a week since I made it home and back to the world of work. Needless to say, life is back to being insanely busy, but that's okay because I'm earning mullah for the next big adventure (which is in October when I get to hike the Grand Canyon and spend a night near Havasupai Falls ---- awesomeness!). What I miss most about Ireland is the misty greens, pub stops, small towns (and all of its people) and cooler temps (it's been around 116F all week; I'm freakin melting over here). What I don't miss is feeling like I'm related to Guliver. The showers, the roads, the cars all made me feel so damned huge. Guliver's Travels was not a satire about our petty politics; ... read more