Summer School ended last week so summer vacation has officially begun! We kicked it off a little early the weekend before with a trip to the Boundary Waters for Zach's bachelor party.
After all the gear was loaded we had breakfast at the lodge before heading out. We had six total, all high school friends plus Zach's brother, the best man. Here are Barry, Andrew, and Zach. Check out Andrew's...er..."awesome" hat.
Gearing up to push off. We camped for 3 nights. Ability ranged from essentially no canoe experience to seasoned veterans.
From left to right: Kyle, Andrew, me, Zach, Barry, and Matt.
Paddling to our first site. Matt was my partner the first day, and he was awesome. He learned so much on this trip: paddle strokes, how to deal with a capsized canoe (sort of), and a bunch of knots.
I would highly recommend a canoe camping experience to anyone who enjoys the outdoors. You carry all your gear between lakes on trails called portages which are measured in rods (a rod is one canoe length, 16 feet). Our shortest was 12 rods and our longest was 230. Here's Kyle doing the heavy lifting on one of our first portages.
There are a few ways you can get the canoe up on your shoulders, we did a one person lift for the most part. These canoes were on the heavy side, they didn't trust us with the kevlar ones.
The groom portaging on day 1
We didn't see any bears but hanging your food is still a good idea. Zach and Matt did some brotherly bonding getting the food up onto a weak branch.
This was the big portage. It's marked as 230 rods but with all the switchbacks it was quite a bit further. This is the only portage we took two trips to cover and we took turns with the canoe. Here I'm bringing it up the front side of the hill.
Day 2 was beautiful, we had lots of sun in the afternoon and found a great camp site on a lake to our selves.
We portaged back to Pine Lake to hike Johnson's Falls, a series of waterfalls that empty down into a creek.
At the top there was a beautiful calm pond that was great for swimming. Matt and Barry saw a moose before we all got up there.
On the way back down we took turns standing under the waterfall, it was quite powerful. With the water so high the current was pretty strong.
Bridal party minus Stuart in the run-out pool.
Day 3 was pretty rainy. We got hit once paddling across Deer Lake and again right after setting up camp. I was a little worried we might tip a canoe with all the wind but everyone did a great job and we made it without anyone getting dunked.
After our last night we packed up and had an early pick-up to get back to the lodge. We stopped in Duluth on the way home to get some hard-earned burgers at Fitger's Brewery. Delicious.
And this past weekend Zach and Laura tied the knot! It was such a great weekend filled with great friends and a beautiful wedding. Congrats to Zach and Laura!
I'm now on the road again, writing from Notre Dame and heading on to Columbus OH to stay with a high school friend. Come back soon for roller coasters, another wedding, water skiing in Northern Michigan, a concert in Chicago, and lots more shananigans. See you all soon!
Some fun things have been happening so it must be time for a blog post! The drama of May was two job offers: one to teach math in Shenzhen, China and another to sign on full time at my alma mater, Edina High School. The traveler in me sure wanted to hop the next flight to Asia but the details just weren't adding up quite right so I'm excited to be a Hornet again! I'll be teaching entry level algebra and a course called Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry next year. I'm excited to be teaching math again!
The last day that the seniors were all in session everyone walked into their classrooms to find a paper crane on each desk.
The cranes all say "you are loved" or "you are special". What a great legacy to leave behind! Well done, class of 2014.
Memorial Day has always been a favorite holiday of mine. Waverly, MN, the town where my dad grew up, holds a special celebration each year. We always put flowers on the grave of my grandparents. Here they are with my uncle Jim.
Memorial day signals the start of Summer for me. We almost always put the boat in regardless of the weather and go for the first ski in sub-60 degree water.
This year was a delightful exception. We had incredible weather. 80s and sunny and this awesome sunset.
Waverly puts on quite the celebration. Monday morning starts with mass at the cemetery.
A parade follows led by the veterans.
I think kids in Radio Flyer wagons will always symbolize summer in small towns for me. It feels so American.
The real treat of the day is the memorial service in the park. They read a few poems and name all of the veterans from Waverly who have passed away, laying a flower at the base of each cross.
A 21 gun salute follows, 2 cannons are shot, and taps are played. It's very powerful.
I don't think I've been in Waverly for Memorial Day since high school. I missed it, and it was great to be back.
We rounded out the weekend by playing some Canasta and enjoying the weather. My calculus students (those few remaining, anyway) had to present a game involving math or logic as their final project. I've learned so many new games! Apparently Canasta was developed in Uruguay.
The last of my Floridian students were seniors this year so I flew down to see them walk. It was a great trip! We started it off by going to the farewell lunch at the high school. That afternoon we had our traditional "Loaves and Fish" card game at Panera. Fish is my favorite card game and I'll teach anyone that wants to learn. I'm so glad they've continued playing in Florida.
After cards I met up with my friend Larry. I met Larry my second year in Florida and we skied together several times that year. It was great to get back out on Lake Seminole.
Daisy came too! She isn't quite up for skiing, but she went for a swim. I have the scratches to prove it.
Saturday morning I went to brunch with a great group of friends. Mike and Trevor were both in the ACE program, and Mo, a St. Mary's grad, lives and works in Florida. We went to The Hangar, a restaurant with a patio that overlooks Albert Whitted Airport. It's a good spot.
Afterwards we walked over to the Dali museum. We had all been inside before so we just wandered around the garden. There's some cool stuff out there.
Like this visual representation of pi. They have the diameter and circumference both laid out in horizontal lines of stones and the idea is that you should walk them and feel the ratio. I love mathematical art!
Saturday night we went out with lots of the St. Pete Catholic teachers and we ran into some of our old students! It was great to see them all grown up!
It all ended Sunday with graduation. I'm so proud of this class, what a great bunch of kids. Congratulations and best of luck!
Lots and lots of exciting things coming this summer. Come back to see what's going on!
My great uncle John decided to take up technology in his late 80s. He's now mastered the use of the internet, and he sent me an email the other day that in effect said "must be about time for a blog post". Ok, Uncle John.
All the districts in which I sub had Spring Break the first week of April, and I wasn't quite ready for the snowboard season to be over, so I headed West to visit some friends. Here's a map to follow along.
It wouldn't be Iowa without a barn welcoming you to the state. My first stop was to see Ellen Voegele, a good friend of mine that I met in Florida. She's now living in Waterloo, Iowa changing young lives in a local parish.
Aside from talking each others' ears off about what we've been doing the last two years, our big event was Baconfest.
Baconfest brought together restaurants all over the area to schowcase their best bacon-laced foods. Like these amazing bacon cinnamon rolls.
And our favorite item of the day, bacon-wrapped doughnut holes (seriously...so good).
I love the disclaimer here. Essentially "bacon isn't healthy." Also, note the bacon eating contests. I chose not to participate.
Those who did regretted it. They used this pre-cooked Hormel stuff that they ate cold. No thank you. The "winner" was the one who ate closest to a pound in 10 minutes. Then they brought the winners of the three rounds together for a championship. I feel like everyone lost in this contest.
Back on the road on Sunday afternoon. A student gave me a coupon for a free Shamrock Shake. I'd never had one before, and it was pretty good!
I had not counted on entering Missouri on this trip. Every time I've driven to Colorado I've taken 80 across Nebraska, but this time I took a little detour to see Sarah!
Avid readers will remember Sarah from our multiple adventures in South America. She's now back home in Falls City, NE substitute teaching. We strolled down memory lane with some Chilean refreshments.
Then on Monday I made the long haul across northern Kansas (another new route for me) to the rockies. It was good to see them again!
Ciara, in the orange coat, is another great friend I met in South America. She lives in Colorado Springs, and her dad, to her right, has a place in the town of Breckenridge. They graciously hosted me for two nights and two awesome days of riding.
Ciara is getting married this summer! That's her fiancée Bill on the far left. Congratulations, guys!
The Peratt's place is awesome, a little mountain chalet with plenty of bedrooms to hold the huge family when they all come back to visit. I had a great stay and hope to be back soon!
Day 2 on the mountain. We had great snow, especially considering it was April. Now I feel like the season is really over.
After my time in Breck, I stayed two nights in Denver with some friends from the ACE program. I did some planning for my long-term calculus job that was about to begin and had an interview with a school in China that went well. Things for next year are still up in the air, but the school seemed excited to talk with me.
I spent my last night on the road with Molly, a good friend that was in my high school class. She's living in Independence Iowa working for a company that uses stats (hey! math!) to assess the impact wind farms have on animals and their habitats. Cool stuff!
She also has adorable pets that are very cuddly. Great to see you Molly!
My last stop was a timeless burger joint in Albert Lea, MN that we first saw on the news maybe 12 years ago. We stopped on the way to a family reunion that year, and I hadn't been back since. Things haven't changed, and the burgers are still delicious.
Last week I was with my new Calculus and Stats kids that I'll be teaching the rest of the year, but since Mrs. Galt hasn't had her baby yet, they told her she had to come back to work. So I'm back on the sub lists until the little Galt is born. Pray for a healthy mom and child--and that it comes soon!
