Best Wedding Ever

My destination wedding, er, school trip, was so fabulous. I don't know if I've ever had more fun with a group of students. And, like a wedding, it went by way too fast, I didn't have enough time with everyone, and I am really sad that it's over. Going back to school on Tuesday is going to be a big letdown.

We drove, caravan style, with lots of parents volunteering themselves for three days of fun in the Sierra Nevadas. Wednesday morning, I awoke to the sound of pouring rain. We drove the all-year highway, that was completed in 1926. When it was finished, visitor to Yosemite went through the roof, coupled with affordable vehicles. I can only image that the steep numbers only lasted a few years. I have never made this drive and I'm so glad I did. It was GORGEOUS...as are all routes to Yosemite. This one was a nice, gentle climb into the valley.

When we arrived, it was still raining, but there were moments of snow in the air, only to end up in puddles on the ground.

But, as you can see, the ladies in their Sorels loved it. Note what the ground looks like now.

Some rangers gave us a walking tour of the valley...mostly to Lower Yosemite Falls. I actually didn't go on this tour, as I was coordinating with parents and figured out the room situation. I had asked for the boys and girls to be separated, it didn't quite turn out that way. So, I sat in my car, dividing up the girls and boys, while the rain turned to snow.

I don't have pictures of the epic snowball fight that happened after I handed out keys to the cabins. I love snowball fights...especially when I'm wearing waterproof gear and I don't get hit in the face. It's the worst when you get hit in the face with a snowball. I think half of the senior class was running around, throwing snow, while the white stuff just kept dumping down.

It's also hilarious to see high school boys get so excited about throwing a snowball at their math teacher. What they don't realize is that a) it doesn't phase me and b) I will toss 'em right back. Which is exactly what I did. Best school day ever!

That night, we caught the bus over to dinner. Turns out that our bus driver went to one of the high schools in our district and the founding family of Curry Village went to another one. When I got there, I realized I forgot my computer to show a movie about Hetch Hetchy. So, I got back on the bus. Then on the bus, I realized that another teacher had the speakers. So, I wasn't going to be able to get those. 70 minutes later, I was back with the kids and they were restless. The movie showing a bust, we sent the girls on the first bus, so that the boys could help put chains on the parents' cars. I hadn't eaten yet, so I sat down with my food and demanded some company.

Here I am with the boys.

I was in the middle of about five conversations, one of them being about how we lost time in our day due to the Chilean earthquake. These boys love their Physics. One of my students asked me, with a worried look, how many things could he study in college. I told him it depended on time and money and he looked really sad. Turns out, he loves my Stats class so much that he wants to fit it in among Polish and music. This same student told me that the study trip was the best ever and if they had to go home that night, it still would have been the best. The boys and I played an epic game of Would You Rather? I was involved to keep this game PG, and it was mostly about how you wanted to die (remember, all the girls were back at the ranch).

We went home and put the kids to bed. Have I mentioned that I love my kids? They are really just so wonderful. Sure, they don't view us teachers as supreme beings to be respected at all times like I did my teachers, but they are ever so sweet and they've grown up so much in the time I've known them.

On Thursday morning, I awoke and dressed to run. It was sunny and a Winter Wonderland. Of course, no matter how early you wake up, someone is going to be awake. The view of Half Dome was the best I've seen...the light was perfect! When I got back to the cabins, I put on the snowshoes for a jaunt around in the snow.

When I got back from my run, more kids were out and about.

When we arrived, the ground was just dirt. Can you believe the difference? Some of them have never been in snow and many haven't been in snow as it's fallen. Apparently, Yosemite gets snow like this about twice a year. I can't believe we got to see it.

Snowball throwing resumes.

You can see here that we stayed in the cabins at Curry Village. I've only ever stayed in the canvas tent cabins and this was a treat. Heated with a bathroom and lots of space. This was a phenomenal venue for our trip. It was also easy to keep the kids in their rooms given the snow and the threat of bears.

We checked out on Thursday morning and headed to the Ansel Adams gallery for our photography walk. We heard a bit about Adams and then went to walk with our cameras. It was bright and sunny and just gorgeous.

I loved this scene of some deer just lounging.

E. walks in Cook's Meadow under a shrouded Half Dome.

Gabe, our guide, explains some technical photography skills to my photography loving students.

Gabe was awesome. He lives nearby and spends his time photographing, hiking, and climbing. My kids were most impressed with his beard, which took about two months. They attempted Novembeard and had no success.

I wish I had taken this picture at 7am when I saw it on my run. Everything was golden in color.

After our photography tour, we had lunch and some talks. We first heard from a ranger on the topic of Hetch Hetchy. I do not keep it a secret that I think the dam at Hetch Hetchy should be removed. I was impressed that the discussion was about the history and the pros and cons. it's tough when you come from a place where most of our yummy water is a result of the dam, but I don't really understand the dam. We also heard from two rangers who work on minority outreach. One of my colleagues heard a story on NPR and we contacted the park to see if we could chat with him. Somehow, it all worked out and it was amazing.

We had about an hour of free time after the talks before heading out of the valley.

A bunch of us went on a hike to the Spider Caves underneath Yosemite Falls.

From the Valley, we were off to the park's edge. We had dinner in the gateway town of Oakhurst. The pizza we ate had more cheese and grease than I've ever seen, but calories were welcome. We continued on to Tenaya Lodge, a resort-like spot in the mountains. We had amazingly comfortable rooms, a pool and spa area, ice skating, fire places, and a spinning (fake) raccoon in the lobby.

Yeah...we had fun on the skates.

R. is a skater. It's crazy to watch someone who is so comfortable on skates.

We met after the skating closed and got our kids ready for bed. I definitely did one of those mental pictures as I stood in front of 93 of the best students I've ever taught and just took it all in. I really didn't want it to end. I spent some time hanging with some girls in the lobby in front of the fire and enjoying time with my fellow faculty. Did I tell you that I had a plate of fruit and chocolate in my room to welcome me. And my bed was turned down with chocolate on the pillow. Sometimes it pays to be the one doing all the work to set up our destination wedding.

For some bizarre reason, I like doing the room checks at night. It reminds me of my times as a cabin mom at camp, getting to tuck kids in and wish them sweet dreams. Although this time, it turned into me running around the hotel filling vending machine orders. We didn't want our kids roaming the halls after room checks had started, but didn't want them being grumpy either. So, I collected money and orders and then went wandered around finding the vending machine that worked. This meant a conversation that involved a lot of saying "No" on my part (to questions like: can I get some spaghetti, is there asparagus in the vending machine, can you just pick something for me). High school boys are exasperating sometimes. In one room, I went in to take an order and ended up getting in a deep discussion with some kids (including our Finnish exchange student) about why they had to be in their rooms at 10:30pm (same kid who said, "your eyes are pretty red"...I told you!). I haven't done a lot of these school trips, so I don't know, but 10:30 seems plenty late to me. But, my students are raised to question politely. So, we had a really thoughtful and good talk about responsibility. This is when I most appreciate teaching seniors. Meanwhile, in the hall, my colleague had heard me talking in the room and said, "I think there's a girl in the boys' room." I came out just before he was about to barge in.

Buffet breakfast on Friday!

These kids were up way before me and they had already stuffed themselves. We had a relaxing morning and didn't have to get up until 8. What a treat! After breakfast, we welcomed someone from Mariposa, another gateway town, to talk about what the experience is to live just outside the park. The guy we talked to was amazing - former National Park Deputy Supervisor, who oversaw coming back after the flood in 1997 and the purchase of the diesel hybrid shuttle buses for the valley. He is now on the Board of Supervisors in Mariposa...so he's seen the federal government side of things as well as the local government side. He had a great way of engaging our students and had so much knowledge about the park and surrounding communities. The students asked great questions about collaboration among the gateway towns, public transportation, and what the future might look like for the park. I was so impressed with their interest.

We made our way home, with that euphoric feeling of time well spent. It's pretty awesome that my job this week was to take my kids to Yosemite.

I had planned to stay in the park and ski, but I opted to sleep in my own bed and get sleep. I slept for about 12 hours on Friday night and then took a long nap in the afternoon. Lazy Saturday. Quite nice.

It's hard to believe that I only have two more months to teach these kids. That's the beauty of teaching and the curse.