Some more pictures from the trip

I didn't have internet access through some of my trip so I am going to upload a few pictures here that I couldn't upload before.

Vermont:

My sister working at Red Hen, a pretty great bread place that sources much of the state with bread. The second picture is a look into the factory and the third picture is at Lake Champlain in Burlington.

North Carolina: I forgot to take pictures in Asheville, which is basically a warmer version of Vermont. Whoops! This is my friend Mrs. Debi. She serves in the U.S. Army and she is a musician. The picture on the right is where we saw dolphins! I never knew that dolphins could live in rivers, but some kinds can. Those dolphins that have to live in salt water can still go hunting for fish in rivers with brackish water, which is water that is a salt and fresh water mix.

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs:

I believe I said I would post some pictures of the pups on my visit. Here are some of them! From left: Chloe from NC, Pixy from Indianapolis, Cargo is the one with Ms. Emily from Cleveland, and Zoey and Bailey from Savannah. I am missing photos of Ricky and Chloe's sister, but trust me, they are cute.

Savannah, GA

You may remember that we learned that the state of Georgia is pretty far south and a lot closer to the equator than Chicago is to the equator. You may know that summers are hot here and they are even HOTTER the closer a person is to the equator. So (make an inference) the summers in Georgia are.... HOT!

Luckily, the week I ended up visiting Georgia wasn't too hot. It was about 92 degreesand humid, pretty much the same as Chicago. I went and visited a teacher friend of mine, Ms. Stacey, who teaches pre-kindergarten, and her husband, Mr. Gearry, who teaches people how to cook at a culinary school. They live near Savannah, Georgia on an island. The island's name is Wilmington Island which is surrounded completely by water and marsh and is decorated with Palmetto trees and trees that have Spanish Moss hanging from them. Stacey and Gearry's house (for right now) is on the water! I mean ON the water. If you look closely at the photo you can see wherethe water comes UNDER the house. Crazy, right?

The water levels go up and down throughout the day too! Low tide means that the water is low and high tide means the water levels are _____. Here is a picture of the marsh at high and low tide. Yes, that is the same dock!

Mr. Gearry decided that crab could be delicious to eat for dinner. He used crab traps and ended up catching about 14 crabs in a few hours! I didn't know that crabs weren't red. They turn red after you cook them. Check out the process in the pictures below.

Other things I learned:

There are kinds of dolphins that live in salt water, fresh water, and a combination of salt and fresh water called brackish water.

The founder of the Girl Scouts of America, Juliette Gordon Low, was born in Savannah.

Fort Pulaski, named after Casimir Pulaski, is near Savannah.

For my friends that are older like me: Forrest Gump was filmed in Savannah.

Book Recommendation:

There is an author named Gail Langer Karwoski. She is an author from the state of Georgia. Check out some of her works at http://www.gailkarwoski.com/html/books.htm

Hope you are reading a lot this summer! One more post about my trip to come.

Sorry for the big delay!

Hello all,

Sorry for the long hiatus (time away). I had to take a trip home to Chicagoland to take care of some business. I didn't do the New York city and Washington D.C. part of the tour, but I did end up going to North Carolina and to Georgia. I didn't have internet in Georgia, so I will upload some photos soon that will include how we caught crabs in a crab trap!

On another note, the business I needed to tend to back in mid-June included some paperwork for employment. I have accepted a position at another district since the number of students was not high enough for me to be guaranteed a position this fall with 146. I can still be reached at katconno@gmail.com if you ever need to contact me. I have to say, I had some of the most fun students in the world and I'll miss seeing your faces everyday.

Expect to see the GA post sometime in the next few days. Hopefully you are stopping by the library to enjoy the air conditioning and a few books. Hope all is well!

Ms. C

Intermission and a note...

Hello all,

I need to take an intermission to tend to some business back home, so there will be no NYC/Washington DC in this trip. Hopefully I will be able to continue to North Carolina. I still have some pictures to post from Vermont and a recipe to share so stay tuned.

Yesterday- Burlington and a Whale

You never know where a day of travel may take you. I was having some computer issues and I had to go to a store called Small Dog Electronics around here. While I was there, the cashier told me to check out the whale statue down the road. This statue was placed there because there was a beluga whale fossil found there in the 1800's. I got pretty excited about this and decided to go on an adventure to learn more about this little fella!

My journey to learn more about this whale took me to Burlington, VT. While I was there I decided to take a bike ride to the museum along Lake Champlain. I ended up riding about 7 miles and then it was too floody (do you like my new adjective?). Anyways, I ended up riding my bike to a museum called ECHO and I got to see a fossil of a beluga whale. I included a picture of a beluga whale fossil diagram so you can tell what the bones are etc. Much of western Vermont used to be covered by sea water. This beluga died and was covered by materials and became a fossil. They think the beluga lived about 12,500 years ago. Here is a link with some more info on the little guy: http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Vermont/VT-fossil-whale.html

On a side note, I ate a most excellent dinner at a place called the Skinny Pancake with my sister. YUMMERS. I also went to see the capital building in Montpelier at night. More exploring to come!

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

Non-fiction recommendation is Great Migrations: Whales by Laura Marsh

Fiction and a very bizarre fiction at that is called Whales on Stilts: M.T. Anderson. This book includes a whale that shoots laser beams from its eyes. A little violent, but not too bad.

MOO-ving on to Vermont!

Knock! Knock!

Who's there?
Ice cream soda!
Ice cream

soda who?
ICE CREAM SODA PEOPLE CAN

HEAR ME…

Ben and Jerry's Factory was my main destination today. The ice cream creation place is in a small town NW of Montpelier called Waterbury, VT. It was hard work having to sample all of that ice cream, but someone had to do it. I tried something called Bonnaroo something and some strange ice cream with potato chips in it. They were both surprisingly yummy!

Although I wasn't able to take pictures inside the factory, I was able to take some photos elsewhere including outside and in the tasting area. I also visited the "Flavor Graveyard" where not-so-popular flavors and flavors that were too expensive to continue making now reside or rest. My tongue and tummy were happy from visiting the factory and I am sure you wish you could reach through the computer and take some too. Unfortunately, you will just have to taste with your eyes!

Random Cow/Ice cream facts:

Ben and Jerry's ice cream only uses cow milk from small farms and will be using only fair trade products by 2013.

A cow can make enough milk to make 1 and a half gallons of ice cream a day.

A cow can drink up to 75 gallons of water a day!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Since I was surrounded by cow trivia today, I must recommend a cow book. Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin is a silly book about persuasive cows that teach you that creativity and persistence can pay off!

On a side note, I tried to go for a bike ride today with no luck because I had to get some repairs done on it. Hopefully I'll do a bike ride tomorrow in Stowe, Vermont!

Lots of love to my family, students, and friends!

Cleveland time!

Hello ya'll!

After being in a wedding in Indianapolis, I am on my way. Where and I? I'm in Cleveland, Ohio to visit Ms. Cipriano! It took me about 5 and a half hours to travel from Indianapolis to Cleveland. I got here around 5:00pm. (Students: Can you figure out what time I left Indy?) Sorry, but I don't have pictures yet because I have to upload my photos. I should have some posted by the end of the day tomorrow.

Lots of things reminded me of this school year on my way to Cleveland. On my way here, I passed up some of the land where Johnny Appleseed roamed and I thought about our play. Langston Hughes, author of the poem we acted out called April Rain Song, attended high school in Cleveland. For those of you that like Superman, you may like to know that the creators of Superman were from here too!

My book recommendation is a book from a local author named Tricia Springstubb. The book is called What Happened on Fox Street. I have also visited two of the cutest dogs on earth, Pixie and Cargo. They inspired a search for some dog books. Here is a list of some fiction and non-fiction reads: http://pbskids.org/martha/parentsteachers/activities/books.html

Tomorrow is my longest travel day of the trip from Cleveland to Montpelier. I'll probably post late tomorrow night.

Hasta Manana!