Ranger Amy

Learning New Technology at NCSS

2010-11-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

I'm in an awesome Web 2.0 session right now. Just learned about tagxedo....and made a design from my Ranger Amy blog...how awesome is that!?!? I'm in love!

Revisiting the Witchita Mountains--This Time With OKAGE!

2010-06-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

My day started with an early morning run. I was eager to go running in Sulphur. I set the alarm for 5:50 am and was out the door by 6:15. We were staying at the Super 8 motel which was a little ways from the entrance of the park. I decided to start running that way and to see what time it was when I got to the Park to see how much I would be able to run through it. I turned at 12th Street and was at about 12 minutes when I hit the entrance of the park...I decided to run through the park and come out the main entrance so I could run through at least a little bit of the park.

I hadn't been in there long when I stopped....right in front of me was a white possum! It looked at me, turned, and ran back into the woods. I was excited to see that my animal sighting magic was still with me! A few steps more and there were a few deer! I was so excited and knew that this was the way I was supposed to run!

I ran to Lincoln Bridge without any more animal sightings, but thoroughly enjoying the scenery. The sun wasn't up yet, it was pretty cool (compared to how I remembered it!), and it was very tranquil. I ran through Flower Park and back onto the main drag and back toward Super 8. I didn't stop there though....I pushed a little farther to McD's...I couldn't resist stopping in for my large vanilla iced coffee! Woohoo! I was energized for the day!

Our group's day started with a talk at the Point to discuss the recreation side of the park and then we drove to Turner Falls--not a National Park but to discuss why not and it's effects on Chickasaw as a National Park.

From there we drove toward the Witchita Mountains. Again, not a National Park but an important story to tell and misconceptions to clear up.

We had lunch at a great restaurant called The Plantation in Medicine Creek.

Post lunch we drove to the top of Mount Scott....

Here's Eugene at the top!

The night before, Eugene's mom gave Eugene flags to share with everyone....so we took a group shot on the top of Mount Scott with our US flags! Fun!

Wooohooo!

Yay Carla and Socrates!

Of course everyone took a ton of photos on top of the mountain!

Christine collected everyone's flags and was sporting a very patriotic look! :)

On the way down, we stopped and learned about skee (I think that's what it's called--I'm suddenly doubting myself because I can't find the geographic definition of it online to confirm!)...it's where there is a landslide of rocks that is smooth....this was huge!

Then, onto Prairie Dog Town! :)

I eagerly took pics with my iPhone and shared them with Owen...

There were several younger pups and they frolicked near the people as mom sat in the background and watched.

But when a Beagle on a leash got too close, all of the little prairie dogs went into jump yip mode and were on high alert!

Of course, Buddy Bison had to have a picture on the range!

As we were getting read to leave the park, we spotted a REAL bison though!!!!

Always a beautiful and majestic site!

Completing another awesome and perfect day!

Chickasaw--OKAGE Style

2010-06-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our day in picture starts with the concrete Sooner in the parking lot of our hotel: Sooner Legends. Eric and I could not resist and took pictures of each other with him. :)

Then, it was on the bus and we were off!

In the rain....I could not believe that we woke up and boarded the bus with RAIN! I eagerly texted Lauren on the way to share, what I thought, was exciting news! :)

Magically, as we neared Sulphur, the sky started to lighten up and the rain started to clear. It was beautiful.

We arrived in the park and Eric shared a bit with us before starting our adventure for the day....

Eric spoke about the history of the springs...

and then, using Dakota's awesome teaching tool, the teachers made springs, and used spring water for their demonstrations!

We were then greeted by Shelly from the Chamber of Commerce who so sweetly and thoughtfully brought us a snack!

She even made us berry cake! How awesome! I was so excited to see her and couldn't believe how kind she had been to bring us water, fruit and cake! Thank you Shelly!

Then, it was on to Flower Park, with a quick photo opp at Lincoln Bridge with Eugene!

Carla introduced us to her sock monkey, Socrates, who is the mascot for her classroom! Socrates and Carla, had the first, of many pictures taken today. This one in Flower Park!

We visited Vendome Well and some, but not many, partook of the sulphur water here.

We saw deer!
Visited Bromide Pavilion...
Hiked to the top of Bromide Hill and enjoyed the view from the top!

and of course, took time to notice the ecotone as we boarded the bus.

From here we went to Mazzio's for lunch! YUM! A dreamy day indeed! Back on the bus, back to the park, driving through Sycamore Crossing (yes, even in the bus!), and to Travertine Nature Center!

We hike to Little Niagara.

Some went into the waters of Chickasaw....

took pictures...

did some hiking...
visited the End of the World....
and then went on to Buffalo and Antelope Springs!
My toes enjoyed the crisp, cool water of the springs...especially after our warm trek out there (even though it was much cooler than other times I have been out there!)

Eric pretended to scold a teacher in front of the Do Not Enter Water sign. :)

After our hike we went into the Nature Center to shop, and of course, STAMP Passports! This was Kelly's first stamp!

Dennis, a NPS enthusiast, and recent Passport stamper himself, helped teach Kelly how to stamp correctly.

We had more than just Kelly buying Passports, stickers, and stamping!

Wooohooo! STAMPS!
Ron greeted all of the teachers...and he and Eric also kindly presented me with my own NPS arrowhead of service and TRT fleece! I love it! I hope someone took a picture of it, because I would love to post one to this blog! It was so thoughtful and so utterly unexpected! THANK YOU RON, ERIC AND LAUREN!!!!
Our last activity at Chickasaw was working with the WPA posters! Each group of teachers investigated the posters and share what symbols, mottos and colors they found.

We ran out of time to make our own poster about Chickasaw, which I'm a little bummed about...I think they would have been great! There were great ideas out there! But time is always of the essence! :)

Later that night my roommate, Kelly, went online and ordered a set of postcards from Ranger Doug so she could do the activity in her classroom! Yahooo!!!

We left Chickasaw to head to dinner. Eric took this picture of me in front of the nature center, in my new TRT fleece, with Buddy Bison (thanks Mom!).....
On the way out though, we stopped at the Junior Ranger Station so that our new Passport stamp collectors could get the coveted Junior Ranger stamp! :)

We had dinner at the Arbuckle Historical Society, compliments of the Historical Society, but especially Eugene's parents! We all marveled at Eugene's father's arrowhead, with the golden buffalo chip, given to him upon his retirement from the National Park Service! :) Awesome!
Eugene's father, Roland Earsome, showed us around the Historical Society and share stories with us. He was wonderful to meet and to talk to!

We had a yummy BBQ dinner...

We all enjoyed seeing father and son interact--I think we all thought it was the best part about the evening!!! :)
Just before we pulled out to go to our hotel for the night, Eugene's father came on the bus and gave us a great calendar that had an historical fact for each day of the year for that town! It was awesome!
Another magical, fun day in Chickasaw National Recreation Area!

Our First Session

2010-06-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the kick off meeting of our Teddy Roosevelt's Dream teacher workshop!

I was very excited to meet the teachers!

One of our first activities was to read the NPS map and complete an activity sheet about them.

And Eric led us in content knowledge about the Oklahoma Parks and the National Park Service!
I'm definitely look forward to the rest of the week, getting to know the other teachers, and visiting the Oklahoma National Parks!

Wooohooo!!!

From the Land of Armadillos, Sonic, and of course Chickasaw Natioanl Recreation Area

2010-06-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Wooohooo!!! I can't believe it! More than a year ago I was working at Chickasaw National Recreation Area as a National Park Ranger through the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program, and now, I'm back to help lead teachers for a program about Oklahoma's National Parks with the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education. This is the result of a lot of hard work from Lauren, Eugene and Gary (from OKAGE)--dating back to last summer! :) This is the last vestige of programming I worked on last summer...so I'm excited to see it come to fruition and even more excited to participate!

This week's teacher institute is called: "Teddy Roosevelt's Dream: National Park Footprints in Oklahoma." Stay tuned folks, there's more to come from Ranger Amy this week! :)

*PS* Of course, that's me at my favorite Norman hotel! :)

Canyon de Chelly

2010-06-05T17:56:00.001-07:00

So, I'm going to cheat a little bit. This post really doesn't have anything to do about me being a TRT, but it DOES have to do with me traveling to a new National Park. I did tell the Ranger in the Visitor Center today that I was a TRT last summer....does that count?

I'm fortunate enough to be participating in the We the People: The Navajo Nation Experience, sponsored by the Center for Civic Ed. We are in Chinle, Arizona exploring the Navajo Nation and issues of sovereignty and the US Constitution. I'm so excited and grateful to be here. There are educators and We the People folks from almost all 50 states...and what a neat group! Did you know that the Navajo Nation here is as large as the state of West Virginia! Wow! It took us four hours to get from the Albuquerque, NM airport to Chinle.

This morning we had a morning of learning about the Navajo Nation, comparing and contrasting the Navajo Bill of Rights and the US Bill of Rights, and examining the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the 1978 Supreme Court Decision (written by Thurgood Marshall) pertaining to the ICRA od 1968. We also watched a movie about the Navajo Long Walk (like the Trail of Tears for the Cherokee).

After lunch we took jeeps into Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

The Park protects and preserves the ancient cliff dwellings.

The Navajos lease their land from the government but are allowed to live on the land and in the Canyon.

I first learned about the Canyon when I was researching historical fiction books for my 8th graders. One of the books that they may choose to read is "Sing Down the Moon" by Scott O'Dell which is about the Navajo Long Walk and partially takes place in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shay).

The drive was AMAZING!!! We saw pictographs (colored ancient cliff drawings) and petroglyphs (not colored ancient cliff drawings), ancient dwellings, and talked with people who live down there.

In order to go into the Canyon you have to go with a guide. We learned that the guides are Navajos who live on the land. In fact, we saw our guide's property and house. We were allowed to take pictures of anything except private property and people on their residences.

We finished our four hour drive with dinner at Thunderbird Lodge in the Canyon....actually, not at the lodge, but an outdoor picnic. We had Navajo Frybread with taco toppings....delish!

Tonight we're off to the North Rim for a sunset look at the Canyon. Can't wait! It's been awesome. I even got the official NPS Cancellation stamp and a bonus stamp they had!

Tomorrow? I may need to write again as we head into Monument Valley! :)

Ta-da!

2010-05-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the finished art pieces displayed in the hallway! :)

There is a short write up about our activity and why we did it, as well as the short history about FDR's New Deal program and the WPA.

The kids have enjoyed looking at each other's posters!

And I love looking at them too!!!! :)

Online Art Gallery

2010-05-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Below are the finished posters, in the likeness of the WPA, advertising for the parks of the National Mall (and one for the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial!). I'm very proud of the students and impressed with how the posters turned out! (PS some are turned sideways--please bare with me until I fix this technical difficulty!)

Working On Our Art

2010-04-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Even though National Park Week is over, in class we are still finishing up our WPA National Park posters...

Some have finished (below are Stanton Park and Rock Creek Park)...

Some are just getting started (Emma is drawing Lincoln Park):

Others are progressing well (Cyvon is completing his poster on the Washington Monument--cherry blossoms and all!).

Johel works on his poster about Anacostia Park...

Brinna and Antionette finished their poster on the Washington Monument.

Niya and Krystal worked on their respective posters.

Paul and Julian are working on their poster for the Lincoln Memorial.

While they were asked to create a poster for a National Park in DC, Jordan asked to do one for Jamestown. He talks about the trip often and is very proud of the wonderful photography he took there. He is using one of his pictures as the reference for his National Park WPA Poster.

The WPA poster for the DC War Memorial (World War I Memorial) that Malik J. is working on is almost finished...

Stay tuned for photos of the finished posters--coming soon!

Art for the Parks

2010-04-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today is the last school day for NPS week---but we will be continuing our lesson into next week. The kids today in two of my four classes started to make their own WPA posters for parks here in DC.

I improvised from my lesson a little bit--we brainstormed National Parks here in DC. This was really enlightening to me---and I think to the kids. They knew a lot of the parks in Southeast where some live---like Fort Dupont and Cedar Hill. They knew the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Some of the kids who have been going with me on field trips this week called out the Mary McLeod Bethune House and Ford's Theater. Jocelyn did the C&O Canal for her History Day project documentary and so she called that one out.

I thought it was interesting how many parks they knew of but didn't know they were National Park Service parks. The girls class really loved the idea of Rock Creek Park even though most don't think they have been.

After we brainstormed parks, they completed the worksheet to get them to think about how they would represent that park. They had to pick out an icon for their park, think about the colors, and then create a slogan. Having the WPA posters up and accessible to the kids was really, really helpful.

Once they had their worksheet complete and concept in mind many of them decided to sketch a rough draft on a scrap sheet of paper.

Once that was done, I gave them an 8.5 x 11 piece of cream card stock and a plate of craypas.

We taped the edges of the paper with masking tape so that when they're finished they can peel the tape off and have a crisp border for their art work (just like the WPA posters!).

If you haven't used craypas before I highly recommend them! Craypas are a mix of crayons and oil pastels. They're wonderful. They have bright, bright colors and then you can blend them with a tissue or a finger. The kids who have started coloring with them have loved them! I am amazed at what an awesome job they have done with perspective and capturing the icon/feature of the park! Their slogans have been awesome too! Stay tuned for an online gallery in future posts!

My second class for the day just started to draw and color on their poster when the bell rang....but they have a great start and will be able to dive in when I see them next!

My last class of the day is the furthest behind because of the schedule. Today we read about the WPA and examined the posters. They did a good job analyzing and sharing their posters.

The last class finished and then it was time for our final field trip for the week! Today's trip was a double header--the Old Stone House and C&O Canal--both in Georgetown.

We went to the Old Stone House first because they were closing shortly. It takes a good 45-50 minutes to get from our school to the Old Stone House via public transportation and walking.

We made it in time and the kids quickly took to stamping their passports while the ranger finished up a few things so she could talk to our group.

She gave a great overview of the house and explained colonial life. The kids asked great questions too--they wanted to know how many people lived in the house (anywhere from 7-13 at one time), how old it was (it dates back to 1765), and what else it was in it's 250 year history (private residences, businesses, and a used car dealership).

The kids felt the original building beams and were excited to be touching history!

We went upstairs and viewed the bedroom...

the dining room...
and the children's bedroom. The ranger also told us that up to 6 slaves/indentured servants may have lived here at one time (part of the 13 people who lived in the house) and they all would have shared one room this size. The kids had trouble fathoming it....

While some explored upstairs, others explored downstairs....the games were particularly popular...

We took a picture outside of the house...

and then went to see the gardens in the back....the kids really liked the green space.

Then we walked the block and a half down to the C&O Canal. The visitor center is closed currently for renovation and the mules rides don't start for another month so our trip there was short....but there was a mother duck and her ducklings there to greet us!

We just finished talking about canals in US History last week so seeing the canal was pretty cool for the kids. Only a few had been down here.

I pointed out the towpath, where the mule covering is, the boat, and how the locks operate....they were really impressed with the water difference on the two sides of the lock.

The trip there made it very clear how the locks work.

On the way out a few of the kids took a picture with the statue of the individual who is credited with helping C&O become a National Park.

We were then headed back to school...but on our way we stopped to see the George Washington statue. It's a site for the Passport to History assignment...and also maintained by the NPS but not a stamp.
It's one of two statues of George Washington in DC and the oldest. This is the first one and is near GW University and the Foggy Bottom subway stop. It's of George as a general. The other statue is at the National Cathedral.

NPS week may be over officially but there's still lot to do!!!! Stay tuned for more updates!!!

105 Y'all

2010-04-22T18:50:00.001-07:00

Today was a very fun day! This blog post title is the motto that my boys use for our homeroom. My room number is 105 and since I have the all boys class, they like to say, "105 Y'all!" In fact, when they filled out their yearbook class flower, song, etc. they put "105 Y'all!" for their class motto! I'm dedicating this post's title to them--I think this picture should be the poster for NPS Week! Check out what they're all wearing!

After testing today we had class. I was really, really excited to start this lesson. It's a lesson that I wrote this summer. The lesson is about the WPA posters about the National Park Service. It asks students to investigate these WPA posters (or posters that were done in their likeness) and then to make a poster about a park they know in the WPA likeness.

Lauren ordered these beautiful posters for the ed. programs and lent them to me for this week and for this lesson. They've been received very enthusiastically by all who have seen them. I love them and think I will buy some for my own classroom in the future---they're perfect!

We only got through part of the lesson today. We read about the Great Depression, the New Deal and the WPA's Federal Art Project.

Then, students, already sitting in groups, chose a poster to focus on. They brought the poster back to their seat and worked on the group worksheet which asks them to look at the poster's colors, words, icons, etc.

After they completed their question sheet I had the student groups stand up and share their poster with other students.

The kids responded really well to the questions and the presentations. They really loved the bright colors.

I was able to get through the lesson, to this point, with three of my four classes.

My boys class did a smashing job with color description and detail...I was really, really impressed!

I need to back track--as my afternoon classes came in I gave each student a National Park Week sticker that Lauren sent.

My students LOVE stickers! They wore them on their clothes, their arms, the backs of their hands, and their faces.

I took the group photo as class ended. The group shot is for Lauren. CHECK OUT THOSE NPS WEEK STICKERS!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! :)

THANK YOU for all you did for us this National Park Week!

After school we had our out of school field trip to a National Park. Today's park was the Old Post Office Pavilion downtown. I had nine students with me today and none of them had been to this site before today. Of course we had to take photos in front of the Ben Franklin statue!

Then, it was inside! Through security, down to the food court level and finally! The entrance to the Tower elevator! While waiting to catch the elevator up to the 9th floor, Gable and Jordan stamped their Passports. They got two stamps today and were really excited.

The kids were a bit daunted by the glass elevator that took us up to the 9th floor, but loved the view on the way up (and later on the way down).

Once we reached the top, the views were gorgeous and the breeze was phenomenal! We couldn't have picked a better to visit.

The kids quickly scattered to see what the view was like from each side. They liked that there were cables, but not glass.

Of course we took photos...

and tried to find famous landmarks...

and we even found our school!

We had to have a group shot!

When we were up at the top the kids found Freedom Plaza. None of them had been there but they were very curious about the layout. I love Freedom Plaza and think that it's clever so I was quick to suggest that we pay it a visit.

After a short stop in the food court for a refresher, we were walking again, this time past City Hall, and to Freedom Plaza.
We followed the Pennsylvania Avenue on the ground and the kids found out what was at each end: the Capitol to the east and the White House to the west. They also had fun watching the skateboarders.

We made it back to school by 6 pm. I met three younger friends in the hallway who wanted to know where we just came back from. I explained and continued on to explain about my uniform and our Oklahoma trip--hey! It's Park Week--it's about teaching right?

I led them to the Oklahoma trip banners and shared some of the stories. They were fantastic and truly interested. It was very cute and very sincere.

The girls found the photo of me at the Land Run Monument to be very funny because I was doing a leg kick. I did one for them in the hallway and they wanted to know how I got the picture like that though...they were fascinated that it could be captured in a picture.

So....of course...they tried it....and guess what?

I captured their kick too! :)

Future rangers I think! :) They definitely have the leg kick down and the interest in the Parks! :)

Destination: Ford's Theater and Petersen House

2010-04-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today's trip was to Ford's Theater and the Petersen House. Despite the rain, I had a healthy group of 14. Some had been to Ford's Theater before but I don't think anyone had been through the Petersen House previously. None of us (me included) had been through the new museum in the basement.

Thanks to Sarah Jencks and Jack Flack for securing tickets for our group! I picked them up from the box office while the kids got in line.

Once, in we followed the crowd down the stairs to the new museum. Those with Passports quickly took to stamping them...eager for two new stamps! :)

CJ did a little perusing and was instantly drawn to the larger black NPS Passport. He admitted that if he got that one he thought it would be harder to lose...

Once in the museum the kids disappeared into the gallery and the sea of tourists. I really liked the displays but it was difficult to heard everyone together. The kids kept running back to me to report things that they saw. Affrika found the Emancipation Proclamation replica which she was excited about since we discussed it last week for Emancipation Day.

Lamont found the gun that Booth used to shoot Lincoln.

The statue of Lincoln reading was a huge hit! First Jordan posed with him...

then Aliyah took her photo with a magazine she brought...

Kemry improvised on Aliyah's pose...

Affrika struck a pose...
CJ smiled...
Jahmeelah wanted to see what Lincoln was reading...

and Malik was impressed with what Lincoln was reading.

We headed upstairs to the theater itself. The kids were pretty excited and I was excited for them!

Unfortunately, there wasn't a sit down talk, but rather one where the we could take photos but had to keep moving. I stopped long enough to share a brief version of how Booth came in to Lincoln's box, where Lincoln and his wife were, how Booth broke his leg, about the play---the basics.

A ranger, whose name I didn't catch, came over and kindly took our group photo--much appreciated!

We went upstairs where we could take as much time and as many photos as we wanted to. Alando wanted a picture with Lincoln's box in the background.

And so did a few others...

Owen desperately wanted to enter the presidential box. Jordan and Owen tried the doorknob, tried to jimmy the door, and finally just knocked. Sadly, they could not get in...

We also had to take a photo by the bust of Lincoln.

We wormed our way downstairs and across the street to the Petersen House where Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865.

After our walk through we were back outside, taking another group shot.

The kids did a great job and I enjoyed sharing another DC National Park with them. :)

I must admit, it was rather daunting to be in uniform at Ford's Theater--especially since there were so many tourists. I didn't get asked any questions I couldn't answer, they were basic, basic questions---but I was also very quick to point out that I really don't work at this particular National Park. It was difficult to explain while in the uniform and gathering my students.

That's been the biggest thing to get used to being in uniform this week: being in the Nation's Capitol in uniform. When I was in uniform in Sulphur there was only one place I worked (it was assumed). Here in DC, there are sooo many more people, who are willing to ask so many more questions and have lots to share. Yesterday, coming back from Mary McLeod Bethune, as we were all on the subway, a gentleman asked me what Park I work at. I explained that I am actually an 8th grade History Teacher, but I worked at a National Park in Oklahoma this past summer. I explained the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program and shared that it is National Park Week, which is why I am in uniform and that we're visiting National Parks after school to celebrate. Then, we were at our stop. :) At least I was able to share that it's National Park Week with him...and that the smallest National Park is Thaddeus Kosciuszko's house in Philly. :)

I spoke to another man in line at Starbucks this morning---he used to live in Williamsport, MD which is along the C&O Canal. He was very interested in my story. :)

Every day is exciting and every day brings new stories. Can't wait to hear what tomorrow brings!

Mary McLeod Bethune, Dorothy Height and the National Council of Negro Women

2010-04-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

This week is CAS testing for DCPS. I have enjoyed being in my uniform, especially to spice up testing...the uniform reminds me of all the great things education CAN do...and what I fundamentally believe in....

I was excited to have lunch with Jen and to catch up--lots of good things to share! And a most excellent way to spend lunch during National Park Week! :)

As one of the ways to celebrate National Park Week with my students, I arranged field trips to National Parks in DC after school. Today's trip was to the Mary McLeod Bethune National Historic Site. We booked out of school at 3:30 pm and trucked to the site. I had eight students with me.

We arrived and our ranger greeted us and said how fitting that we came to visit today. Had we heard? Dorothy Height passed away at early this morning. Some of my students heard on the news this morning. I had not. I was shocked and saddened to hear about the loss of such a tremendous leader and American hero.

And then very glad that through serendipity I had chosen to come to the home of the National Council of Negro Women today.

I was also very proud of the kids did know about Ms. Height's passing, but also how they already knew something about her!

After a video introduction and a short Q&A, we had an excellent tour of the house with Ranger Margaret Miles. She taught the kids about Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women---with tremendous passion and reverence.

We were there much longer than anticipated but it was well worth it.

Kemry, Gable and Jordan brought their Passports and just before we left the house those got their stamps.

Ranger Miles was nice enough to take our picture on the front steps as we left.

"On the count of three say, 'National Park Week!"

Mark and Soba met me back at school and I finished putting together the Oklahoma Spring Break collage to hang in the hallway.

Even though I've had the pictures printed for a few days now it's taken me until today to finish arranging and narrating the pictures. It was soooo fun to look through them and to post them!

I'm eager to hear students' and staff reactions tomorrow!

It went a little long and so Mark picked up Burrito Brothers for us and Soba got his cut of the meal too. :)

Oh yeah! And also added to my room are the awesome WPA posters that Lauren lent me for my upcoming WPA/NPS lesson! They look stunning in my room and really brighten it up!

The kids have been very attracted to them. I can't wait to integrate them into my teaching later this week!

I'm excited for my third day of Ranger Amy during National Park Week.

Back in the Grey and Green

2010-04-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

I was most excited this morning. Today was the start of my week at school celebrating National Park Week. As part of my commitment from being a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher this past summer, I am in uniform this week at school....and loving it!

It felt great to get up this morning and to put on my grey and green. Thanks to Lauren, and her work to get my a badge, I am completely official---thank you!

I had a lot of record setting to do today with my students. No, they don't need to salute me. I am not an officer. It is NOT a costume. I definitely got a lot of double takes and some, "Oh! Ms. Trenkle! That's you!" I also got a lot of compliments that the uniform fit my personality--I must admit, I like hearing that. :)

In class today we talked a bit about why I was in uniform today--being National Park Week and all. I also introduced the field trips to DC National Parks that I will be taking after school with the kids for this coming week. The kids are pretty excited. I'm very excited too! Stay tuned to find out where we are going!

I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the week! :)

National Park Week

2010-04-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

April 17-25 is National Park Week! Visit a park, think about their importance and celebrate all that the National Parks represent!

Stay tuned for a special Ranger Amy surprise on Monday!

My Top 10 Spring Break OK Trip List

2010-04-04T09:57:00.001-07:00

Last year Jen and I had the kids make a Top 10 list for the spring break trip...it's interesting to see what the kids wrote and how they ranked their favorite activities. Jen, Bethany and I did one last year with our spring break blog and we think it turned out well. The boys will be posting their Top 10 list for this spring break too (stay tuned). In the meantime, here's my Top 10 list....

10. Introducing the boys to Sonic and Which 'Wich?

9. Driving the open Oklahoma road with the boys! (which includes seeing the great OK windfarms!)

8. Seeing all of the great people in Okalhoma who work tireless to educate and teach about Oklahoma history and culture: Lauren, Chris, Shelley, Kathryn, Minoma, Joel, Crystal, Eugene, Gary, and Nathan.

7. Reading the boys' blogs and seeing what they decided to write about.

6. Meers Cafe with the boys--and our day in the Wichita Mountains---the bison and prairie dogs were awesome!

5. Having lunch with Kiera and Najah---in OKLAHOMA!!!!

4. All of the special presentations that everyone did for the boys--from collecting water at Chickasaw, talking to Bruce (while he was on vacation!), to the special presentation at Washita with the phenomenal artifacts---I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my students!

3. Being in uniform again! (complete with badge and hat!!!) and with Lauren in uniform at Chickasaw!

2. The presentation by the students to each other about their respective National Parks--that's what STAMPS is all about!!!

1. Sharing my spring break with the boys in Oklahoma and seeing the National Parks in another part of the country with them.

Flying Home

2010-04-03T20:20:00.001-07:00

We made it home safely.

The boys were terrific about getting up....especially considering their wake up call was at 5:00 a.m. We were packed, loaded in the car, and driving to the gas station to fill up at 5:50 a.m. Outstanding!

As we drove to the airport we watched lightening in the still dark sky.

We made it to the airport in good time and even returned the car without any glitches. Phew!

Check in went quickly as did security and before we knew it we were sitting in the boarding area. The flight before ours was still at the boarding area so we camped out on the floor.

Some of the boys continued their souvenir shopping and eventually all found breakfast. For some, it was the last chance to have more Sonic!

Despite the thunderstorm that rolled through from 6:45-7:15, our flight departed on time at 8:15 a.m. We were home by noon EST.

Thanks to all for a wonderful and safe spring break trip! Now, it's time for sleep! :)

Our Last Day in Oklahoma

2010-04-01T17:20:00.001-07:00

Today was our last day in Oklahoma for spring break. :( We have visited all of the National Parks in Oklahoma so this was our day to visit other sites that were nearby.

We first went to the Toy and Action Figure Museum in Paul's Valley. This was my third time going---once with Mark, once with Jon (although it was closed the day that we went and so we only saw pictures outside), and today (makes three!). The boys were a little sleepy on our 45 minute drive there, but after a few minutes in the museum they perked up!

I think they were overwhelmed by all of the toys in there! It is truly eye candy when you first see it.

We spent an hour there and then were off to a site that was even new to me: the Wichita Mountains.

CJ was my front seat co-pilot of the day. :)

All last summer I heard about it and was told I should go but I just never did. I'm glad that we had today to explore there---it was definitely a treat!

We first had lunch in Meers at the Meers Cafe--another place I was told was a must see. Meers has long horn burgers and is a total local joint. I had Texas Toothpicks (fried onions and peppers) and potato wedges and drinks were served in mason jars....the boys all seemed pretty happy with their selections. The ambiance was fun too.

We hopped in the car after lunch and entered the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge.

Contrary to what I thought, it's NOT a state park, but rather run by the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. The park is unique in that it has free ranging bison, longhorn, antelope, and prairie dogs. I'm sure it has much more than that even....

Within minutes of being in the park we saw bison

and the longhorn cattle.

After a stop at the visitor center we drove to prairie dog town and spent almost 40 minutes there just watching the little guys. It was very fun.

We drove up the road some more and saw bison that were quite close to the road.

And we continued on, up to Mt. Scott that I was also told all last summer about. It has a 360 degree view from the top. It was awesome. It was also very, very windy!

We had a great time and the boys seemed to really enjoy the day.

Of course, we had an afternoon Sonic stop (our last for the trip) and drove back to Norman.

Dinner was with Lauren and Chris at Chipotle. Yum! :) So excited that Lauren and Chris decided to spend the night at the Norman hotel with us! It was great to catch up!

We have an early, early flight back to DC tomorrow.

OKCI

2010-03-31T17:08:00.001-07:00

Today was our third and final National Park visit in Oklahoma. But we didn't start the day at a National Park. We actually started with a tour of the University of Oklahoma (OU).

We arrived and were greeted by our tour guide John Paul. He is from Elk City which we passed yesterday on our way to Washita. John Paul gave us a great tour....even showing the boys the famous football field!

He was lively and kept the boys moving. I think their favorite part was walking down the center of campus as students got out of class.

OU has 20,000 students (undergrad and grad) on that campus and it seemed so big compared to where we've been the last few days! As one of the boys said, "Campus seems like a mini DC!"

After our tour we went to the Oklahoma Alliance for Geography Education office on campus to see Eugene again. This summer I met Eugene while I worked at the Park and since I've seen him two other times--at the NCSS conference in Atlanta and in DC when he came for an alliance meeting about a month ago. Eugene and Gary have been able to connect with Lauren and had a really successful spring conference at Chickasaw National Recreation Area last weekend and are hosting a week long teacher workshop this summer about the National Parks. As a member of the DC Geographic Alliance and a National Park enthusiast it's great to see all of it coming together!

Eugene met the boys when we first arrived (thank you for the parking pass Eugene!) and greeted them warmly and gave them OKAGE hats and shirts! It was so wonderful! We returned to visit with him for a few minutes.

After our visit we had a little time to kill before lunch so we stopped at two stores that sold OU paraphernalia---one of them being the OU bookstore.

Our lunch was a real treat--for two big reasons! First, lunch was at Which 'Wich? A personal fave of mine. I think the boys really liked it too. We ate outside under a tree with a warm breeze and the temperature in the mid 80s.

But the real excitement? Kiera Grant and Najah Musa, two of my former 8th graders who now attend OU, joined us for lunch!!!! Leg kick! Leg kick! It was very exciting!!!! Our visit wasn't very long, but it was super! What a cool thing! :)

We were next off to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.

The boys were not alive when the bombing took place so this was a new piece of history for them as well.

We arrived and looked around on the grounds and then sat to hear Ranger Nathan give an interpretive talk about the site. I think it was pretty informative for the boys.

We then went inside to the museum and spent almost an hour looking at the artifacts and hearing the oral histories of survivors. It was really powerful for all of us.

Of course, we got our Passport stamp as well.

We were pretty fried by this point--emotionally and physically--it was near 90. So, I decided to switch up our itinerary bit and we made a Sonic stop at the headquarters. We all got something refreshing to drink and then headed out to the Land Run Monument.

I think it's such a cool monument. The boys seemed content to look at it from a distance, but were impressed by the size and scope of it.

We headed to Chileno's for dinner and even put our name on the wait list (which I was shocked they even had) but decided to nix it. There' s a Taylor Swift concert a few blocks away tonight and there were Taylor Swift groupies EVERYWHERE! I don't think the guys knew what to make of it.

We got stuck by a train so I decided to go back and try to get on the interstate another way---and was unsuccessful. But I was successful in showing the boys the state capitol building. They were amazed how we could drive right up to it and leave the car there while we shot a picture. (Jen, we thought of you!)

So, we decided to come home and blog first and now we're headed to dinner, with free time to follow. Another great day.

Washita

2010-03-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today was another magical day.

Owen was my front seat co-pilot today. :)

We took off a little later than yesterday morning and drove three hours west to Washita National Battlefield. We arrived and were immediately greeted by Ranger Kathryn.

I met Kathryn this past summer when I attended a teacher workshop she sponsored. I was so eager to write her when the trip was finalized and tell her we were coming.

I will tell you right now, she out did herself! The entire staff outdid themselves today! It was AWESOME!

As I previously told you, I have wanted to bring students to this park since I first visited almost four years ago. In my wildest dreams I could not have planned a better day for my students. The experience was outstanding--truly above and beyond. Kathryn, Minoma, Joel, and Crystal--THANK YOU!

When we arrived we were welcomed into a Cheyenne tipi. We had to imagine the walls of the tipi (the tip of which would have extended to the top of the very tall ceiling). Minoma taught us how to enter a tipi and we sat on buffalo skins and other animals from the area.

We were introduced to so many artifacts that were used by the Cheynne---parfleches (above)--used to carry items...it was also one of our vocabulary words at the very beginning of the year! We held a buffalo bladder which was used as a water jug (very appropriate, isn't it?)

Minoma told us about the pouch made of a buffalo stomach (see below). This was cool because I hadn't seen this before! I must admit it kinda grossed me out while at the same time making me excited to see it! :)

We saw moccasins made with the hide of a buffalo but turned inside out so that the fur was on the inside--can you imagine how warm those would be during the winter on the prairie?

And then we learned about the beadwork of a mocassin. We even saw Minoma's baby shoe!!!

The boys were able to try on some of the ceremonial pieces a chief today would wear during ceremonies. We also learned that there are currently several young men their age who are chiefs! Being a chief take a lot because it requires that you give to your tribe members if you can, without questions asked and without believing you will be repaid. The example was if someone from your tribe asked you for $1 and you have it you must hand it over without any questions asked.

We held a purse made out of a turtle shell (this was very cool too!!!!). Minoma also told us about eating turtle---and how delicious it is. She says she remembers how delighted her mother would be to find turtle eggs if they were having turtle---but she never got the eggs as a kid because her mom loved them so much! :)

Here are more of the artifacts---you can see the stomach, there are two horns---an unpolished one (like the one I used in our class at the beginning of the year) and a polished one that's used as a cup. There is also a buffalo hair rope!

We moved from the tipi--leaving it correctly of course...and walked over to a table and Ranger Joel, who was no longer ranger Joel but a doctor in the US Army.

He, too, had objects. He spoke about what it was like to be a doctor in the late 1860s. Through photographs and objects the boys learned about the lack of germ knowledge, amputation "in the field", and how to extract a bullet from a soldier. We learned all of this and then returned to the tipi.

The presentation was beautifully layered to show the differences in culture and help to explain how this clash of cultures happened. When we went back to the tipi Minoma shared pictures of plants that will be grown in a garden on the grounds. She went through and explained what each of these plants are used for.

She then shared family pictures and pictures from the scene. I have not mentioned this yet, but Minoma is a direct descendant of those who fought and died at Wishita. It is very moving to be led through such an experience by someone who has such close ties to history.

The boys learned what it meant to be a warrior and were led downstairs to make their own warrior shields. Ms. Minoma thought about being an art teacher before she became a Park Ranger--and so it was neat to do this activity and see her art background come to life!

It was a great activity that taught us a lot! The boys each chose an animal/nature symbol that they felt represented themselves. They used the traditional colors of life and race: red, yellow, black and white, to decorate their shields.

Then, Ms. Crystal had the boys put together an arrowhead....but it was an unique twist....she first had them group the pieces based on pictures that were on the other side of the arrowhead--they were pictures of things found in a National Park. They then put the arrowhead puzzle together. There was one piece left though---and the kids had to figure out what the picture on that piece was---and finally, the boys decided that it looked like trash....something that doesn't belong in the park.....It was a neat twist on a symbol we have been learning all about!

We then went upstairs and got our STAMPS! :)

And our ranger friends stamped our STAMPS stamp! :)

We then, headed for the battle site.

We took about a mile and a half round trip walk through the site of where history happened. Along the way Minoma and Kathryn set the scene for us, pointing out geographical landmarks to help us envision Custer's troops and the attack that fateful November morning in 1868. We also learned where the 50 lodges were set up the morning of the attack.

They also pointed out some of the plants that we learned about back in the Visitor Center and some new ones too!

We also visited a special tree that many Cheyenne come to leave something---we saw many cloths tied to the tree. Minoma explained that people come here and tie a cloth on the tree, say a prayer and hope to leave behind a struggle or grief or an issue they have. She says no one ever removes anything from the site because that would open oneself up to taking something you didn't want to take with you, home with you. She also poured a little water because you don't stop at the tree with water/food and not leave some. We were allowed to go to the tree and CJ left a little water behind as well. It was very moving.

Then, we stopped along the bank of the Washita and talked about the attack. We also walked tot he site of the Pony Kill---where 800 ponies were killed. For the Cheyenne this was like killing family members because the horses were so connected to the people that they knew how to respond to different sounds. They couldn't be rounded up originally by Custer's men because the horses didn't know their smells. The US Army used the women to round up the horses and then made the women and children stand nearby while they killed them. It was so powerful for all of us to hear this from Minoma while standing at the site.

We went back to the Visitor Center where we were all presented with gifts---tshirts for the boys and a mug and bag for me! This was so kind, especially after they gave us the Passport stickers earlier! Washita is the featured park for the Southwest region this year and Ms. Crystal designed it! Very cool!

Just before the boys learned about the role of the Forest Service here at Washita from Tom. It was nice for them to get such a complete picture of the history, culture and natural resources from everyone!

We left and started our three hour drive back to Norman. At the junction of I-40 we found a Sonic and enjoyed an afternoon treat of drinks, slushes, cream slushes, Sonic blasts, mozzerella sticks, chedd'r bites, and fries. It was a great pick me up!

We also stopped near Weatherford on the way back to do a little souvenir shopping at the Cherokee Trading Post.

CJ and Owen learned how to unlink two horshoes from a chain.

In Weatherford there are quite a few windfarms. Places where you can just see tons of windmills.

We hit traffic on the way back but finally made it to Applebee's for dinner and then back to the hotel for fitness time and blogging time.

I'm very proud of all the boys experienced and were open to learning about today. It was a lot and a very different story than what they have exposure to back in DC. They did a great job of engaging and reflecting on their experience.

More Bison Footage--I couldn't resist

2010-03-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

Comin' Through Sycamore Crossing

2010-03-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here we are, coming through Sycamore Crossing on our way to the Nature Center!

PS That's Phil, our rental car! :)

A Presentation at the Elementary School

2010-03-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

This was very exciting for all involved! Jessica's 6th grade class did a fantastic job of introducing us to Oklahoma's three National Parks. They shared with us the history of each park, along with interesting facts. It really helped to set the scene for the beginning of our trip!

This video clip is during Jessica's students' presentation---we collected water for them this morning at Vendome and then they had the students pass the water around for all to smell! It was a wonderful connection!

I also love this video because you can see the tremendous support of the National Park Service by their presence at the assembly! Thank you to all for attending! The principal of the school, Mr. Duck, was also there! It was very exciting!

The Waters of Chickasaw

2010-03-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

The water here in Sulphur is why Chickasaw (then Platt) became a National Park. They have been a source of life for hundreds of years and for many people and animals. Today, the boys were able to take time and just listen to it, stand in it, feel it, and enjoy it.

These waters are why so many people come in the summer time--to relax and cool off....while it wasn't very warm yesterday (mid 70s), it was still refreshing and a beautiful way to interact with the Park and to think about why it's one of our 392 National Parks. I think by the end of the day, all of the boys understood why....

BISON! BISON!

2010-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here is some video that Ms. Lauren shot as we all watched the bison. I think this was the part of the day where the most pictures were taken! :)

The whole herd paraded right past us--including the two bison born last spring!

I'm surprised at how much their coat had grown for the winter, since I last saw them! They were beautiful and awe inspiring--and I don't think, just for me! The boys seemed to love them as well! Wooohooo!

Questions for Superintendent Bruce

2010-03-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

I thought everyone might like to read the great questions the boys came up with on Sunday night to ask Superintendent Bruce. They were able to ask most of them too! Great job guys! And many thanks to Bruce for taking his vacation time to talk to the boys! :)

Questions for Superintendent Bruce Noble at Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Monday, March 29, 2010

Asked by DC STAMPS members

How did you start with the Park Service?
Did you ever work in DC?
Please describe what you do as Superintendent. As Oklahoma State Coordinator.
Who do you report to?
What is your favorite National Park?
What is your favorite park that you manage?
What is your most memorable experience in the National Park Service?
What is the biggest problem National Parks face? What is the biggest problem the Parks in your region face? What can people do to help? What can young people do to help?
Of all the positions you’ve held, which one required the most work and which on did you enjoy the most?
What service projects does your park do?
How often do you get a vacation and where in Colorado are you? Do you ski or snowboard?
What do you do vs. what do those underneath you do?
What can young people do to support the Parks?
How many young people visit the park? What do they do?
How many people visit Chickasaw National Recreation Area and what do they do?
How does a Superintendent become a superintendent of the park?
Do you have kids? Do you take them to National Parks? Do you encourage their participation in the parks?
Do you have an NPS passport? About how many stamps do you have?
Do you have to wear a uniform? If so, do you like wearing your uniform?

Relivin' the TRT Dream

2010-03-29T20:48:00.001-07:00

It's been a very magical day for me. Today, Owen, Jordan, CJ, Nick and I traveled to Chickasaw National Recreation Area. It has been a full, full day that flew by! We left our hotel bright and early--6:45! We were dressed and on the road!!! I should say early, not bright, as the sun wasn't up yet! Norman is an hour's drive from Sulphur so we had some quiet time in the car to wake up. It was beautiful driving in the open landscape--especially as the sun began to rise. It was a brisk 41 degrees this a.m. when we left and there was mist over the Washita River and low laying fog in the fields----absolutely beautiful with the landscape. It was very tranquil and I loved our drive in this a.m.

We met Lauren and Chris at the Vis, reunited with Shelley, got a stamp, and felt a buffalo hide--all before 8:30 am!

I should state right now that I think I have a new record for the most pictures taken in one day---more than 1500 on one card, more than 500 on another card, and with the help of everyone here videotaping and Ms. Jen for the borrowing of the extra flip camera, we have more than an hour and a half of video! So, I'm having quite a hard time choosing which photos to post!

The boys each went through and picked out which photos they wanted to use with their blog (Jordan is using the photos he took!) so that helped to eliminate some great ones. It was great to see which ones they wanted to focus on.

But I digress....

It's getting late so I'm going to do a photo tour for you..... :)

We first stopped to collect water at Vendome for our 6th graders presentation later in the day. This was the first exposure for the boys why the town is called "Sulphur."

From there we went to the Headquarters building for our conference call with Superintendent Bruce. Even though he is on vacation, he took out time from his vacation to talk with the boys. The boys came up with 19 AWESOME questions last night after our dinner with Ms. Lauren and Mr. Chris. Lauren and Chris came back to the hotel with us and shared what a Superintendent of a National Park does and why it was a big deal that we got to talk to Bruce. The boys did an AMAZING job! I'm really, really proud of them and so glad that they had this opportunity!

While we got things together for the conference call they were introduced to the terrific staff! :) Here's Ranger Ron!

We had our conference call with Bruce....

and then it was time to head to Sulphur Elementary! We had a joint presentation about our National Parks in our city/state! Ms. Jessica Mueller's 6th grade students presented to our 8th grade boys about the three National Parks in Oklahoma. We shared about 15 National Parks in DC. It was a fantastic embodiment of what STAMPS is about---truly awesome! And so, so cool to see the kids interact with each other! Wooohoo! Thanks Lauren and Jessica for making this happen! :) Congrats to the kids who prepared their presentations! :)

With a feeling of relief and accomplishment, we headed into the Park itself and explored.....We went across Lincoln Bridge and into Flower Park...

We even found the Redbud treet--Oklahoma's State Tree!

and then headed to Mazzio's for lunch.

We came back to the Vis and Ms. Shelley from the Chamber of Commerce brought us goodies! How sweet! She brought us waters, fruit, and a goody bag! Thank you Shelley!

After lunch we did more exploration in the Platt District of the Park---our first stop? THE BISON! And they were out! It was like they were waiting for us. They paraded past us as we followed them down the fence--grunting, drinking water, and rolling in the dirt....MAGNIFICENT!

We stopped at Bromide Pavillion and then Bromide Hill and took in the view from the overlook....

and then moved up the road toward the Nature Center...stopping to play in the water along the way.

We also stopped at the Junior Ranger Station to learn about it and to get the very special and unique stamp! Very cool!

We stopped at Bear Falls and played in the waters of Chickasaw for a while.....

By the time we made it to the Nature Center we were in full swing! We had the debut of the STAMPS stamp (Thanks Ms. Jen!)! Met the owls, met Ranger Stefan, watched the video, and took a look in the book store.

We went to Little Niagara, made by the CCC. In the summer this place is PACKED---today, it was only us and serene!
After we said good bye to Ms. Laure and Mr. Chris we continued on to Buckhorn so they could see the other part of the park. The boys skipped stones and Nick even went in to his knees! It was neat to have this very different experience from the Platt district.

Of course we had to stop and take a picture with the brown sign!

We made one last stop at Vendome to collect some of the water in our water bottles. The boys want to bring some back with them and to let their family members smell and taste the mineral water!

On our way to our last stop we took yet another photo--this time at Junk City---a home?/shop? with interesting things on the outside---like this KFC bucket for instance....I had always thought I would stop this summer and never did so I was glad the boys wanted to investigage with me and see what the place was all about!

Earlier this week Ms. Lauren had the great idea of taking the boys to the Fried Pie Shop---fantastic idea Lauren! Fried pies are made on the spot...they are pie dough filled with various fruit jellies and then folded over and deep fried--some still sold while hot! No one else had had a fried pie before so we all got a different flavor and dove in! Jordan got Vanilla, Owen chocolate, Nick blackberry, CJ apricot, and I got coconut. Most thought they were pretty good--CJ wasn't sure about the fruit on the inside but was glad he tried it. I loved the coconut one!

We headed back to Norman and our day ended the way it started---with a quiet drive on I-35....

THANK YOU FOR A TERRIFIC DAY LAUREN!!!!! :) I definitely enjoyed my Ranger Amy day and I'm very proud of the boys for their long day! :)

We're Here!

2010-03-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

We are here! We are here! We've had a full travel day but all is great and let me say one more time, WE ARE HERE IN OKLAHOMA!

It's a bit late so I will have to update pictures later, but I wanted to share our exciting news:

1) WE ARE IN OKLAHOMA!
2) We had a great dinner with Lauren and Chris at Pei Wei.
3) We had a super meeting about tomorrow's conference call with Superintendent Bruce.
4) The boys had some nice downtown in the pool and in the workout room while Lauren, Chris and I caught up!

So excited! The boys are busy posting right now. Be sure to check out the STAMPS blog to see what their impressions are! :)

Stay tuned--MUCH more to come! :)

Preparing for our Presentation

2010-03-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

It is a half day and I am sitting in my room with the four boys and Ms. Jen. We are working on our presentation for our 6th Grade Sulphur students.

We are also working on our blog!

Drum roll please for the release of our new blog site (it will be fully up and running by the start of our trip on Sunday, March 29!). Be sure to sign up as a follower!

Our blog site is: http://stampsdc.blogspot.com

To see more videos check out our new blog!

Four Years Ago This Summer

2010-03-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

I was just preparing things for our upcoming trip and my parent tomorrow night when I looked and Mark and said, "Do you realize it was four years ago this summer that we went to Washita?" Mark and I spent three summers in a row following National Historic Trails and visiting as many National Parks as we could.

The first summer we packed up our new Saturn Vue and our new Boston Terrier puppy and hit the road to follow Lewis and Clark. It was epic. We learned, somewhere around South Dakota, not to follow EVERY road that had a Lewis and Clark sign. I think our biggest lesson came after following a dirt road that wound through corn fields in Iowa only to, after an hour, end up next to a nearly dried up creek and a wayside that said, "Caught Big Fish..." Evidently, some 200 years earlier Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery went fishing there and documented in their journals that they had caught a big fish there. Interesting. Just probably not worth an hour plus of our time.... We really wanted that hour plus back when we got west of the Rockies!

The following year we spent two and a half weeks following the Santa Fe Trail. Neither Mark or I had been to New Mexico before and so we were headed out to the Southwest. We learned so much on that trip too! On the way back we decided to drive south a bit so that we could hit more National Parks. On the way home we drove through Oklahoma and stopped at Washita.

We both remember it being soooo hot that day, what I've since learned is standard Oklahoma summer heat--I think the car read 113 degrees. The new Visitor Center was still being built and the office was smaller. Mark and I were prepared to take turns going in to watch the movie and peruse the book store because we couldn't leave Soba in the car in the extreme heat. Lo and behold, the Ranger kindly invited us in to hold Soba on our laps and watch the movie together. That right there won me over to the park for eternity. I became infatuated with the story that the park told....I also incorporated into my summer Teacher-2-Teacher Department of Education talks. I remember thinking how cool it would be to take my students there some day.

I was reminded of that day tonight. How exciting to think that one week from today I will actually be there with my students! I'm so excited and so excited for my students to see and learn about history that excited me so much a few years ago (and still excites me today!).

Oklahoma, here my students come!

(PS, To finish the story...our third year we followed the Pony Express Trail across the middle of the country.)

ONE WEEK!

2010-03-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY WE'LL BE IN NORMAN!

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!

Meeting with Ms. Jen

2010-03-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ms. Jen met with us our lunch hour today to prepare for spring break trip--which is in TEN DAYS! She brought us brochures from the National Mall National Parks so that we could put together little goodies for our Oklahoma 6th graders we will be visiting.

We also formed a plan for finishing our presentation. We're going to meet next Friday on our half day and Ms. Jen has graciously agreed to stop by again to help us with that (or maybe even see our nearly finished product!) :)

We reviewed our itinerary for the Oklahoma trip and Owen likes that we're staying in Norman which will remind us of our fellow STAMPSer who is not coming on the trip, but also named Norman. :)

We all can't believe how soon the trip is! :) AND WE'RE ALL SO EXCITED!

Preparing for Our Visit

2010-03-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday three STAMPSers, Owen, Jordan and Norman, and I jumped in my car, endured the rain and visited three National Parks. The purpose? To take photos and make videos about our National Parks on the Mall. While we are in Oklahoma we will be visiting a 6th grade classroom to teach them about our National Parks here and they will teach us about Chickasaw National Recreation Area (literally across the street from their school)! I'm not sure if the video below will be used but I thought I would post it now. I think it's a nice preview. :)

The boys and I had a great time. We visited the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and the George Mason Memorial. The video below is from the Mason Memorial.

We arrive in 11 days!

Ranger Amy Returns

2010-03-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my classroom at lunch time UBER excited! In two weeks I will be returning to Chickasaw for Spring Break---BUT NOT ALONE!!! I will be with four of my fabulous students: Owen, CJ, Jordan and Nick! I am so excited to be able to share my summer TRT experience with my students here in DC! We've been learning about National Parks all year so the kids are eager to see National Parks in another region!

I cannot wait to see Lauren, the other rangers, the Park, and all my favorite Oklahoma haunts. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for updates with preparations and of course, a link to our new official blog site for the trip! See you soon Oklahoma!

(And yes, these pictures were taken in my classroom--the poster of Chickasaw has been my personal visual sanctuary all year. One look at the calming waters of Chickasaw and I'm instantly transported back to my magnificent summer!)

The Ride Home

2009-08-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, Jen flew out to Oklahoma to see the park and to drive home with me. I really, really appreciated her company---and we had a blast on our road trip!

We made several decisions early on:

1. To visit as many parks as we could;
2. To just see how the day goes;
3. To get home by Saturday (I knew I would be antsy by that point....).

After we said goodbye to Lauren we headed east across Oklahoma and stopped for the first time (if you don't count the side road pullovers to check the bike and bike rack) in Fort Smith, AR. We decided to grab lunch first and then headed to the park.

Jen hadn't been to the famous Mazzio's yet and so we dined there---a treat for both of us---love that lunch buffet! We even got the dessert pizza---butter and cinnamon sugar on a crust with chocolate chips---YUM!

Then, it was off to Fort Smith National Historic Site! It was hot, but it didn't seem as hot as when Mark and visited in 2006--thank goodness!

Our first stop was to the visitor center to get stamps! Unfortunately, one was upside down. :(
Then on to a tour of the museum---there are definitely some shots here that were not included--only on Jen's camera! But suffice it to say that we had a good time being interactive with the exhibits!
We both loved visit Judge Park's courtroom and deciphering what was authentic and what is a replica....

I could not resist pretending that I was a pioneer headed west! Those wagons are much higher than you might think! If only I had a team of horses!

Our trip would not have been complete without our border picture....
We also visited the gallows---for our friend Eric! :) Rather morbid but fascinating and an integral part of the story at Fort Smith--especially since Judge Parker was known as "The Hanging Judge" for his intolerance of crime and terrorism in the frontier!

We had such a good time at Fort Smith that realized we would not make it to Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site that evening...so we made the most of our daylight and went to visit the Capitol building in Little Rock (remember Jen's fascination with state Capitol buildings?). :)
Jen even found an orange cone within our first minutes out of the car!

And we found the Little Rock that Little Rock is named for (just kidding).....

It was a great time to be on the Capitol grounds---really beautiful with the setting sun. We found the statue of the Little Rock Nine and couldn't resist taking a photo with them!

After a great self-tour of the exterior of the building we headed to dinner--PF Chang's! The same one that Mark and I first ate at! Loved it! Had a phone call home to our guys...and enjoyed some tasty Chinese food!

The next morning we got up early to visit High School--but first had a stop at Starbucks for CAFFEINE! Thanks to Lauren and Chris I had a gift card for my morning brew! Thank you!!!! :)

Last time I was there the new visitor center hadn't been started yet and the visitor center was in the gas station (historic building) across the street. It was neat to see the new visitor center--absolutely beautiful!

We both loved being at the school! We couldn't go in because only registration was happening...but we did maximize our photos outside!

The exhibits inside of the visitor center were beautiful....

and of course there were more stamps to get!

After we left Little Rock we hit the pedal to the metal to get to Tennessee in time to meet up with Jen's friend Susan for dinner. We made it and had a great time! Susan ended up staying with us for the night and we had a little bit of a slumber party! We all went for coffee together the next morning and then Jen and I headed off....

I dropped her off at her house around 3pm and drove the rest of my short ride home reflecting on our road trip, my summer, and thinking about the coming school year....but foremost on my mind was getting home to see Mark and Soba....

Leaving Chickasaw :(

2009-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

It is unbelievable that the day finally came....time to drive back home DC and leave my summer of Park Ranger-ness behind. :( I stayed up pretty late the night before packing and got up early to put all of my things in the new rental car....

Lauren and Chris and Jen came over....with Starbucks in hand---an incredibly sweet (and appreciated gesture!!!).

We took lots of pictures--I just wasn't ready to leave...

Our goodbyes took longer and Chris and Lauren had to get to work so we all drove over to the Vis together and continued with out good byes (and tears and Kleenex).....
And we took more pictures (not bad for self-timer on the roof the rental car, huh?)....

and of course a group leg kick picture!!!!...

and pictures by the beautiful flowering tree outside of the Vis...of our favorite Ranger couple!!!

Then, a photo of the Ranger Girls...

and an accompanying high kick!

Then, it was time for Chris to head off....but not without a quick pose by his truck!

And then.... :( ....time for Jen and Amy to head out....

We were smiling in this photo, but not for long...

It was soooo hard to drive off. My summer at Chickasaw was so special and summer of awesome memories. The hardest part was looking in the rear view mirror and seeing Lauren waving--both of us with our Kleenex in hand....

Thanks Eric and Vickie!

2009-08-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is a special shout out to Eric and Vickie! On my last days they both gave me something very special....

Vicki made me a fantastic photo cube that I absolutely love---each side of the cube has a different picture of our staff doing various things in the office. It's a great photo cube and one that I'm glad I will have when I go home!

Vicki also was sooo sooo kind as to go in the owl cage to get me owl pellets. Not just once, but twice. She had put aside several owl pellets for me earlier in the summer, but I never collected them in a bag and subsequently they were thrown out. I wanted to make sure I had some to take back as teaching objects, so Vicki went back in and collected more pellets for me.

Thanks Vicki!!!!

Then, that same afternoon, Eric presented me with a wonderful framed document of the Black Sulphur Springs. I love it! It reminds me of the great afternoon we spent in the Park's archives and it definitely reminds me of all of the great [park] history that Eric knows and likes to share.

I am very honored to have received such a gift and I really love it! I know exactly where I will hand it when I head home! I am so touched! Thank you Eric!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

2009-08-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that a week ago I was still in Oklahoma. I have a lot to report and update...and it's coming....

But first, an ode to Lauren and her awesome baking!

On my second to last day Lauren brought me peanut butter chocolate bars. They were delicious! They were like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup on top and a rolled oats and cookie crumble bottom. They were refrigerated...and a perfect late afternoon treat!

You can read her blog to see the recipe. I'll send you there because she has done a great post outlining the process and telling about the recipe itself.

As I said, I have a ton to update--and it will come in pieces.

But tonight I'm craving these yummy treats and wish I could see my friend Lauren and enjoy a great peanut butter chocolate bar with her! :)

My Last Day... :(

2009-08-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

My last day.....I will not capture everything about my last day...it was a roller coast of a day....it started off with my previous entry about feeding the Bison...that was the high point...after that it was a lot of goodbyes and tears and near tears.....

Well...let me show you my day...

After our bison feeding Lauren and I showed Jen around the park a bit since she hadn't seen it in the daylight yet....

We went to the springs....

and of course the Lincoln Bridge!!!

and then towards the Nature Center...but Jen couldn't resist dipping her toes in the waters of Chickasaw at the crossing!

Then, a behind the scenes look at the office and meeting Eric....

and the rest of the staff.....
and Daphine and Prince...

Then....to the STAMP!!!!
Vicki introduced Jen to Crooked Horn....
and some of the other animals in the Nature Center.
Jen went with us back to the Vis while Lauren and I got a few things done. She hopped on the intranet and took care of some work away from work as well!
Then, it was lunch time--a trip to Roma for Jen, Laure, Eric and me!
A toast to Jen's visit! :)

Sadness to come....our stop that afternoon entailed a visit to Cheryl's office---normally a very happy outing...but today...
I had to turn my Park Ranger badge in....and it was just too much.... :(
Lauren and I headed back to the Nature Center for me to say goodbye and to take final photos. Jen took some too...
There were moments of leg kicks...

and photo taking with the giant arrowhead...

catching up on local news in the Sulphur paper....

and a moment or two with the puppets. Then, we headed to the Junior Ranger Station so that Jen could get the other stamp Chickasaw has. We showed Jen the Ranger Station....

and then it was time for me to say goodbye---and yet more tears....
Jen and Lauren headed to Ardmore and I headed home to go for a run one last time in the park and to finish packing. Somewhere around 9:30 pm I realized I was hungry and headed to the Chinese restaurant I hadn't tried all summer....and tried something new....
I couldn't believe my summer was over already! :(

Feeding the Bison

2009-08-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of my TRT experience came on my last full day as a Ranger....

I was absolutely ecstatic when I learned that Chickasaw has a bison herd! I couldn't wait to see them and on my first day in the Park when Mark and I had driven up only minutes before, we went in search of finding the bison.

Then, pretty early on in my ranger experience I found out that there is actually a person who gets to feed the bison!!! DREAM JOB! I instantly asked Lauren if there is some way I could partake in one of the feedings. She introduced me to Precious, and later when Steve returned from vacation, she introduced me to Steve as well. Both of them work in the Resource Management division of the park and feeding the bison is one of their job responsibilities.

I was given the go-ahead feed the bison!! Precious, Lauren and I would set up the date!!!

On my last day, August 12, it came to fruition!

We met Precious early in the morning.

I was beside myself with excitement. Lauren, Jen and I were all going on this adventure with Precious together.

Jen decided to ride in the cab with Precious and Lauren and I eagerly climbed in the back of the truck. This wasn't just any truck--it was a special bison viewing and feeding truck!

I felt like I was going on a safari!

I was soooo excited!

Precious gave Lauren and I the bucket of "cubes." The cubes weren't really cubes, but rather pellets.

These aren't just any cubes/pellets...they are what the bison are fed. The bison graze in the pasture but during respective seasons receive supplemental feedings. That's what we were doing---going in to deliver the extra food.

Precious instructed us to not use them all at once and to throw them out away from the truck when the bison come running.

We opened the gate, drove through, had the gate shut behind us and we were off....

It didn't take long before the bison came running toward the truck!

It was startling! They are very fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much faster than I thought they would be!

In my haste to get them away from the truck I threw 90% of the cubes---much to Lauren's horror.

It was amazing--the bison just started to hoover the pellets up from the ground.

Lauren, meanwhile, was in a panic because I had hastily thrown most of the pellets overboard.

Precious was summoned and quickly handed us more pellets, also in disbelief that I had thrown so many of the pellets overboard so quickly.

We took some photos of the bison eating and then decided that with most of the cubes gone (including the new ones that Precious had handed us) that we should leave them in peace.

We drove out, and were finished with our feeding in less than 15 minutes. It was an exciting 15 minutes and rounded out my awesome experiences as a ranger!

Thank you Lauren, Precious and Steve!!!!! I know it's something I'll be talking about for years to come!!!!

Our Last In Service Visit...and Jen Arrives!

2009-08-12T09:41:00.001-07:00

On August 11 Lauren and I met at 8 am at the Vis, got our final things for our presentation and headed out to Pauls Valley for the in service. A great omen--it was raining....pretty hard in some places. Pauls Valley is about 30 miles down the road--home of the Action Figure Museum I wrote about previously--so we had a little bit of a road trip before us. As we drove down the road we spotted a rainbow...another excellent omen.

I couldn't resist requesting a pull over by Lauren and to take photos of it. I love rainbows. Much to Lauren's horror, I handed her the camera, jumped out of the car, and ran to the middle of the road so she could take my photo with the rainbow. No harm done---we are all safe...

We continued down the road and found our destination: Pauls Valley High School. Mr. Bobby Russell, the Superintendent, was fantastic! He introduced us and it was show time! We got our PowerPoint loaded and we were off! Lauren was spectacular! She gave a history of the park, gave the NPS spiel, and discussed educational opportunities with the park. I got to share about our education program offerings and gave a little shout out for my 8th grade partnership that I would love to have happen with a local teacher here. The presentation went very smoothly and then....even better....there was a break following our presentation! So we were able to hand out our bags of flyers to the teachers in person and talk with several of them that had questions. Lauren and I felt it was a very successful outreach and ended our in service visits on such a high note!

On the way back we stopped to pick up our lunch at Amy's Cakes....it was a 100+ year old house that sells cakes, sandwiches, and cookies---it was such a quaint little place. We picked up lunch to eat when we got back to the Vis.

The day flew by. At 2 pm we had a meeting with Gary and Eugene from the Oklahoma Alliance for Geography Education. We are working to set up a teacher workshop at the Park...Gary and Eugene have been phenomenal to work with and we're so excited about the possibilities.

And as soon as our meeting was over???? It was off to home to change really, really quickly and then we had to drive to OK City to pick up Jen !!!! Jen was coming in to a) visit Lauren, b) see the park and c) to drive home with me to DC. Lauren and I were both so excited to see her!

We picked her up at the OK City Bombing Memorial where she had spent the afternoon. The plan was to pick her up and then go to dinner--which is exactly what we did!

We had lunch in downtown Oklahoma City at my favorite Mexican restaurant (thanks Lynn!).

We sat overlooking the canal, talking, eating, taking pictures, and recounting our summer adventures.

Before it got dark we drove over to the State Capitol. Jen has a goal to visit all 50 state capitols and Oklahoma was one that she was missing. So of course we had to head over! And take a few photos!

The oil rig is near the Capitol--taken as we drove off. We had one more stop for the night!

The airport! I had to turn in Lucky Lucy and get a one way rental car for the way home. Despite the fact that I had a reservation, we had to wait almost an hour for a car---pretty trying considering we all had had a long day and were pretty tired, with a drive to get home still.

We were all near delirium when I finally got the the car keys for the new car.

We drove back to the Casino off of I-35 where the road split--I headed home in my new rental car and Jen and Lauren hopped in her car to drive to Ardmore. As we drove through the parking lot what did we see? AN ARMADILLO!!!! I know I didn't act fast enough to take a picture, but I think Jen might have gotten a photo.

It was a great ending to a super day!

Turner Falls and Fried Pies

2009-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Lauren and I have had a busy, busy day. We had two scheduled stops for in-service presentations today--first in Wynnewood and then in Ada. We finished up at lunch time, ate, and hit the road, passing out our education materials at some of the smaller school districts in the area: Latta, Roff, Dickson, Ardmore, Plainview, and Springer. There may have been more, but I have lost track. It was a really successful day even if it took on a different life than what we had anticipated. Ada teachers were wonderful and we felt we made some great headway there. A special thanks to Ms. Paula Kedy there who helped us put materials in the hands of excited teachers!

On the way back from Springer, Lauren pulled off the road to the Turner Falls overlook. Turner Falls is down the road from Chickasaw National Recreation Area. It is another vacation hotspot among both locals and tourists. I had heard about Turner Falls all summer, but hadn't seen it yet. I was really grateful to Lauren for stopping and showing me before I left....

And then....
We stopped for Fried Pies! You may remember from my Big Thicket entry that I tried one in Texas....however, this (the one I tried today) was the type that I believed to be the "true" fried pie. It was fabulous. Definitely fried (how could it NOT be fabulous!?) and full of fruit filling. I chose peach.

Another fantastic day as a National Park Ranger!

Road Trip to Big Thicket National Preserve

2009-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Road trip. That's what we were taking. From July 29-31 Ron, Lauren and I took a road trip to Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas to learn about their education program. The trip took almost 10 hours each way, but was filled with great conversation, small towns, LOTS of beverages (which yielded just as many restroom stops), and much more! I think the photos is the best way to share our adventures with you.

The way down was full of fun little stops. We searched and searched for "Something Different" to stop and eat at, per the suggestion of the gentleman at the Post Office. After a little round of Who's on First, I picked up on the fact that Something Different is the name of a local restaurant. Turns out though that Something Different was harder to find than expected. We explored other options along the way, stopping to pose for photos of course. Here, Ron and Amy sport the local look. Convincing, huh? :)

We never did find "Something Different" despite our efforts. We ended up in a local little restaurant. Ron was most please because they had country fried steak, exactly what he was looking for! It was fun to be at a local eatery.

Lesley, our contact at Big Thicket, arranged for us to stay at the Field Research Station. None of us were quite sure what to expect. Our stomachs first sank when we spotted the porta-potties outside when we pulled up. But when we opened the door to the station we were greeted with this....
Those porta potties were just a farce! Our place was swanky! In addition to the common room you see, there were two dorm rooms--one male and one for females, bathrooms for each, a kitchen, a dining room, and small offices. They were wonderful accommodations! Ron had his room to himself (unless you count the giant stuffed bird that seemed to stand guard over the boy's room) and Lauren and I shared the room with four girls the first night and two girls the second night. The accommodations were fantastic, but I must admit they made me realize what a city girl I am. IT WAS SOOOOOOOOO DARK when the lights were out! YIKES! I don't think I've ever been in such a dark room.

We met Lesley shorty after 9 am on Thursday. We were eager to learn about Big Thicket and see how their education program works. Lesley took us on a great tour of the Visitor Center and we met some of her Teacher Ranger Teachers....Lesley employs FIVE of them during the summer, basically in lieu of seasonal rangers. That morning, while we learned about the park, education at the park, and how she handles school groups, a storm moved in. It rained and rained and rained. The rain with the trees and greenery made for an awesome outdoor smell. I spent at least 15 minutes outside watching it rain and the wind blow the tall, tall pine trees. Before we knew it, we were off to lunch at a local restaurant that Lesley recommended....Pretty great food and I finally got to try the illustrious fried pies I'd heard from. This was pretty delicious, although it reminded me of a McDonald's apple pie--I've been told that a "real" fried pie looks like a little half moon pie with baked fruit inside....similar to the Hostess pies that I coveted in my friends' lunch boxes growing up, but without the preservatives.
After lunch we took a walk with Lesley. There are five main parts to the park and spread out in some areas more than 20 miles between sections. It's pretty unique park that yields some pretty unique challenges with staffing, outreach, education, and unity. In between the strips of park, some of the land is owned by lumber companies--it creates almost a patchwork quilt in the sense that one area is dense with trees and ground cover and then another section is barren while another section has newly planted trees and newer growth. Really unique. Lelsey took us on the Sundew Trail and showed us some of the really cool nature.

Probably the coolest plant I learned about is the Pitcher Plant. It actually attracts little insects to its hollow tube and then traps them inside. It is not a Venus Flytrap but is similar.
Lesley opened one up for us and this is what we saw. While you might not be able to see it here, we could see little insects inside, some with their wings still on. It was very fascinating.
We walked a ways further and were taught about this plant (whose name escapes me right now--see below). Lesley says they have contests to see how long they can make each seed dangle by its sticky thread. Lauren won this time (winning length not pictured here). The seeds have a sticky thread attached so they aren't washed away from their surroundings by water when the forest floor floods.
And then, there was the sassafras plant. This was cool because each of the leaves below is from the sassafras. Note that each leaf has a different shape, yet they're all from the same plant.
Of course Lauren and I couldn't leave until we had our stamp!!!! :)

After a really full, and exciting day in the park we headed out to get gas for our next adventure. And while we were filling up, I spied with my little eyes, this very cool contraption in the parking lot next door. It looked so fun that I couldn't resist going over to find out about it. It's a trike of sorts but has no motor and you don't push off to make it go. You merely use quick movements to tork it in one direction and then the other. The woman who's trike it was was kind enough to let me try. It was very fun and cool, but much harder than it looked like--I think it would be a great workout for oblique muscles.

After we filled up, Lauren, Ron, Susan (a Big Thicket TRT) and I headed out in search of dinner---in a round about fashion. I was really focused on getting some great photos of cypress trees and their knobby roots. Long story short we stopped in this section of land maintained by the Nature Conservancy. There was only one cypress tree visible in the distance on the grounds but we did find lots of Spanish Moss.

And these beautiful grapes....

We hopped back in the car and continued south. To illustrate how far south Big Thicket is I will let you know that the Gulf of Mexico was nearby. Lauren was really excited to see the Gulf and Ron was really kind to oblige....so off we went! :)

We drove for a little bit and crossed the Inter coastal Highway....

And then came upon the Gulf!

We just pulled off the side of the road and all headed toward the water...

We saw pelicans flying in formation....

A picture perfect sunset...

Walked in the very warm water and collected seashells....

And of course, took lots and lots of photos!
It was a wonderful ending to our day!

But it wasn't quite over! We stayed until the sun had set and then started our drive back. By this point we were all pretty hungry. We had scoped places out on the way down and Ron and remembered passing this place: Papa's Place. It looked local, well visited, and fun....

Dinner was indeed fantastic! I had the largest Cobb Salad I've ever seen, everyone tried etouffee and gumbo, and we listened to some live country music. It felt like a true Texas experience.

We slept soundly that night and were up early the next morning to drive back to Sulphur. Our must see stop though (for me, anyway) was the large Sam Houston statue we passed on the interstate in Huntsville, TX on the way down. He was just hanging out along the highway. Soooooo fascinating.

So we stopped. We learned that he made is premiere in 1993 for the bicentennial of Sam Houston's birth. He is 67 feet tall and stands on a 10 foot tall pedestal....that's one big Sam! Thank you Ron and Lauren for entertaining my whim! :) He was cool to see! I love historical statues--especially ones you don't expect to see!

After our Sam Houston statue experience we drove for a bit more. Ironically, we got off the interstate for gas and there, in front of us, was the restaurant Something Different that we had tried to find two days earlier. Lauren and I went inside to explore and were taken by its charm ...and cakes...So we stopped for lunch! I was more focused on dessert though....trying to figure out what I was going to have! In the end I ended up with a coconut, pecan type of cake (which I couldn't begin to finish) as well as a piece of 7-up pound cake to take home with me. Ron had a piece of Lemon Icebox Pie and Lauren had tres leche. All of it was so good! I'm glad we don't live near it because it could be a very unhealthy place to live near!

Alas, our trip ended around 6:30 when we pulled into my driveway in Sulphur. It was a most exciting trip and I really appreciate Ron for taking us! Lauren and I learned a lot from the park and all it had to offer! And we had a lot of great laughs along the way! Thanks Ron!

Twilight and Paint Your Wagon

2009-08-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is a little less ranger-ish--but important for the telling of what I've been experiencing this summer in down time (besides running).

Early this summer Eric told me about his favorite musical: Paint Your Wagon. Now, I'm pretty familiar with musicals but I hadn't ever heard of this one.... A quick summary:

A 1969 release with Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg and Clint Eastwood, all about a Gold Rush town that booms (and then collapses--literally), while centered around the romantic interests of a woman who takes two husbands (after being "sold" by her husband who had two wives). Confusing huh? I'm not doing it justice...

Several times this summer Eric has invited me over to watch it and finally, this past Tuesday I headed out and to see this musical for myself. This 164 minute film is indeed unique. I loved the history (even if inaccurate) in it and just, experiencing a new musical. It cannot begin to compete, in my book, with The Sound of Music, but then again I'm not sure any musical ever will. What I think was better than anything was seeing Eric and his wife, Liz, so excited about it. I truly appreciate the exposure to the "new" musical. THANK YOU ERIC!

The other obsession for the last two weeks (less than) has been the Twilight series. Right now Lauren is rolling her eyes at me writing this. :) She has heard more about it than anyone should (although if she just read it for herself she, too, would be obsessed with it!)..... :) It started off with mere curiosity. I watched my 8th graders read the series, heard from friends how great the series is, and, with free time this summer to read, I decided to give the books a chance. While shopping for my OK adventure back in June I picked up the first book at Target and said to myself, "well, if I get desperate it will be nice to have around...." Little did I know. I inhaled the book. I couldn't put it down. I read and read and read. I stayed up until 1 am reading. I don't remember the last time I was so obsessed with a book. My family knows that once I get into a good book I'm hard to move. This, however, took it to new levels. It is a good thing that I was by myself the last two weeks. I read before bed (for hours---this from a woman who is fanatic about getting sleep!)...I read when I got up (just a few pages I promised myself)...I read while I ate dinner....I would have probably tried to read during work too but wouldn't afford myself the opportunity--the book stayed at home only. Book one was done. I picked up book two with Mark in Norman and wouldn't let myself even crack it open until he left. Then whooosh! Book two was done. By the end of book two my obsession was fever pitch. I picked up both books 3 and 4 in Big Thicket at the Walmart there. I didn't care that they were hard cover, weighed a ton, cost more than I should pay for them..... [I should interject here that I bought them despite being on the Ardmore Public Library wait list under Chris' name....they were all checked out though and when faced with the issue of waiting for them or paying for my own copies---well, the choice was all too clear.]

I read half of book 3 and couldn't stand it any longer. Would Bella become a vampire? I couldn't stand it. I must add here that I AM NOT A VAMPIRE FAN! But these books are just....so....addictive!!!! In a state of sheer impatience I emailed two of my former students who I was pretty sure had read them...Meridian and Zoe. How ironic is this? Here, I am a 30 something reading these books, emailing my teenage students for the answers to my questions....THANK YOU ZOE FOR WRITING ME BACK! With my new found knowledge I tossed the rest of book 3 aside (after I read the last chapter) and dove into book 4. I am proud to say that I finished it last night--after a few marathon reading sessions. My shoulders are sore from propping myself up in bed with the book....but my curiosity is satisfied.

Looking back I have to say, the books have been a source of conversation wherever I've gone. At the laundromat in Sulphur I had a conversation about them with two teenage girls---they both loved the books, but were split on the movie. At Red Robin last night the waitress and I had a conversation about the series. If nothing else, I feel like I have been inaugurated into a bit of pop culture reading this summer--and loved every word of it!

I thought I would be satiated now that I finished reading them. However, when Zoe wrote me back, she mentioned that Stephenie Meyer wrote a sequel to the series from Edward's perspective called Midnight Sun. It's online. And today.....I downloaded it....and started to read it.....it looks like I have more reading to do......

Collections and Archives of Chickasaw

2009-08-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

On July 23, Eric invited me to a special opportunity. He and Lynn were headed to the Museum Collection building for research . It's its own building, sealed with the appropriate archival-ness---humidity controlled, leak proof, double locked, etc., located near the maintenance buildings. I was totally game!

Precious met us at the building and let us in. It was truly exciting! Free access to the documents, photos, and artifacts of the park.

We spent almost four hours in the small room---investigating, exploring, oooohhhing and aaaaahing.... Truly a fun, fun afternoon for a history teacher! Eric was great about pointing out certain documents and explaining why they were so exciting from the park's history perspective.

Eric and Lynn used the finding aids more than I did---I used the hunt and peck method---exploring what looked interesting or checking out a box because I was curious about it.

Some of the sources we found included a guide to Platt National Park (above) and certificate of proficiency of masonry for a CCC member (below).
We found this pan with a handwritten note attached to it, saying that it was used as a dinner plate by the 808 CCC regiment at Platt. It was found in 1988 in the park by a former CCC member.
Then there were early law enforcement records....handwritten, and sometimes typed, accounts of incidents in the park--ranging from stolen wallets, to kids who were throwing rocks at cars, to a lost girl.

The photo below is of my favorite object. Can you guess what they are?? I would have never guessed it in a million years.....they're buffalo teeth.

Another very cool artifact is the water jug that was found--rusted....a reminder of why so many came to Platt National Park in its early years (and before!).

And of course, the visitor sign in log---this is just the shell for the log in--the pages were not inside...but notice that it still says Platt National Park, which means it predates 1976 (when Platt became Chickasaw National Recreation Area).
My photo of this photo doesn't do it justice--but it's a panoramic photo of the CCC camp in our park...
These were objects that have not yet been catalogued....the stack on the right are water canteens and then to the left is a little toy plane.

I truly enjoyed my afternoon in the archives. Really cool things and I hope I am able to use some of my photos when I share my experiences with my students. A very fun, historical afternoon! Thanks Eric and Lynn!

DI-1s and In Service Visits

2009-08-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

The last few days have been spent preparing for our teacher in-service presentations. Lauren and I spent a bit of time earlier this summer calling, faxing, and then visiting School Superintendents so that we could come share our information about education programs at the parks with the teachers. To prepare for that, we spent a lot of time polishing what we had worked on all summer. This included information sheets on the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher Program at Chickasaw, advertising for a Teacher Advisory Board, a listing of all ed program offerings, and how to find Chickasaw NRA ed info online. And thanks to Eric yesterday we got these items up on the park's website as well!

I have also been learning about government spending and DI-1s. I'm not sure what the DI-1 stands for but it's the way to purchase things...which is a pretty long process. It was our goal to write out the DI-1s and then when they had worked their way up the chain, things are ordered and voila! Goodies arrive! This is an incredibly simplified version of the process. But this week Lauren and I have done a lot of DI-1 writing and investigation for education kits for the lesson plans that have been developed. It's really interesting to see and learn about this behind-the-scenes action.

Well, as you can imagine....a lot of work also yields some fun times.

Yesterday morning Eric went outside to put the flag up just before opening and he came back and got me, telling me to bring my camera. Just outside the front door, were great sets of probably raccoon tracks. It appears that the little guy, in an attempt to get to the trash under the cigarette extinguisher area jumped in the dust, scattering it on the floor. When he jumped off of the container later, he left not only his footprints, but also his tail imprint (we think)--see the picture up below.

Later that afternoon we caught Dakota having a moment with our foxy friend (we have a variety of skins in our office).

And then Lauren modeled our new safety bandannas for us---hot off the runway.

This morning was show time! Our first stop was our local school district: Sulphur. Mr. Tony Duck set us up with a table in the hallway so that we could greet teachers as they entered the cafeteria for their meeting. We had all of our flyers ready--neatly displayed on the buffalo.

We seemed to reach a lot of the teachers. Special thanks to Mrs. Krug, the wife of one of our Law Enforcement rangers, who helped us meet some of the teachers. Our fingers are crossed that we will hear from them this school year!

After almost three hours at Sulphur, we drove down the road to Davis and set up in their cafeteria. We had a table where teachers could stop by and pick up information. The goings were a little slow at first--my hypothesis is that they were hungry and beelined for the free pizza. But as the lunch hour went on we had more and more people. I believe some solid contacts were made. It was definitely fun to meet the local teachers and to tell them about the park.

I'm now sitting here, listening to the pounding rain and booming thunder. We have severe thunderstorm warnings in effect. This storm seemed to come out of nowhere. Lauren and I went to headquarters and came out 20 minutes later to a sky that looked like this:

Ominous but beautiful. Hopefully it broke some of the 115 degree (with the heat index) temperatures.

It's been a fantastic week so far!

Sightings

2009-08-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you can tell from my other entries, and frequencies of these entries, that this summer's evenings have been a lot about running for me. I have really, really enjoyed running in this National Park. It has been a source of tranquility, strength, meditation, reflection, and relaxation for me. One of my many reasons for wanting to do TRT in another state was to just have a break from DC. As much as I love where I live, I needed a little break from it. Sulphur definitely has provided this break and everything about it has been fantastic. My runs have helped me to reflect on this great opportunity.

And then, of course, there are the animals. Again, as if you couldn't tell, I just love seeing the wildlife. I've always loved animals and the cool thing about the animals in the park is that I never know what I'm going to see.

Tonight tops the list I think, for the most animals, of different varieties, seen in one night. On my five mile run tonight, I saw, in this order: the bison (which I was absolutely thrilled about! I haven't seen them in weeks), a HUGE armadillo (seriously, much bigger than any I've seen before--the tail was a bit creepy, but he was soooo cool), two does who stopped to watch me as I stopped to watch them, and then Mr. Box Turtle who had just finished crossing the road.

As I rounded the corner of the road to the Nature Center, I realized that I don't have many nights of running in the park left and a wave of sadness washed over me. While I thought the heat was going to kill me at first, I've adapted (and the temperatures have dropped some), and my evening runs are something I really look forward to. I know I'll get to return to running in my National Parks in DC (the National Mall, Rock Creek, and the GW Parkway) but I will definitely miss this park and its animals.

A Tarantula

2009-07-31T19:02:00.001-07:00

Just when I thought I have seen it all.....

I had just passed the three mile mark of my 6.5+ mile run when I pulled over to the side of the road to adjust my inserts in my shoe. I finished up, felt good about the adjustment, and was about to head off again when I noticed something near me crossing the street....

Yup...

a tarantula.

He was just truckin' across the road. I followed him until he entered the grass. I've seen tarantulas before but it's just different when they're not behind glass, in some sort of terrarium, and you're on their turf.

That was my cool experience on my run tonight. That...and it is only in the high 80s with low humidity. Fantabulous!