Yet Another Trip to Seattle

From December 2007
I just returned from another work trip to Seattle. We flew in Monday and got home late last night. Thankfully, we were able to avoid all of the flooding brought on by lots of rain in the area by flying. If we had driven, we would have either been unable to get through, or had to have taken a huge detour. One of the major freeways entering the Seattle area was completely flooded and still wasn't open when we left yesterday.

I traveled with 4 colleagues for a Head Start conference entitled I Am Moving, I Am Learning, which was focused on the epidemic of obesity that is plaguing our country, and starting at very young ages these days. And so, since I work for a preschool program for 3-5 year olds, I was able to get some really good ideas and techniques to bring back and teach my teachers about. But even better yet, it was a great conference for also getting me up and moving, as well as making better choices when eating. They kept us moving by dancing, hopping, skipping, jumping, etc. all throughout the seminar. Of course all of these were great activity ideas to use in the classroom. Then they fed us very healthy meals for breakfast and lunch. No soda and no sweets (except on the very last day we got a small portion of brownie ).

I really did feel great all week and I need to keep it up! However, I must admit that as we ate dinner in the airport last night, before catching our flight home, we all headed to Wendys! LOL After a while, ya just have to have some of that good ol' comfort food.

A Trip to Charleston, South Carolina

From September 2007
I just returned late last Thursday night from a work trip to Charleston. A co-worker/friend and I left last Sunday morning very early. We arranged to go a day earlier than needed so that we could spend the day Monday site-seeing. It was great! Although it was quite HOT there -- and extremely humid! When we left Sunday morning it was rainy and about 50 degrees here. When we arrived in South Carolina, it was in the mid 80's with about 70% humidity. So it was quite a change and since I hate humidity (having been raised in the dry west), it was not fun to get used to.

Charleston is a very historic city. I knew that before going, but it was great to see all the historic homes and places. We took about a 3-hour walking tour that pretty much covered all of the downtown area. The tour focused on the historic homes and mansions, which were beautiful. I took lots of pictures that I will soon get posted onto the site.

We didn't get the chance to tour Ft Sumter, although it could be seen from the shoreline. However, we did get a chance to ride a small boat taxi across one of the rivers, just to experience the water and get to see a better view of Charleston from a distance. While on the water, we got a quick glimpse of a dolphin... too bad I wasn't a bit quicker with my camera!
As much as I loved my get-a-way, I'm also happy to be back to enjoy beautiful autumn! I absolutely love this time of year, including the cool, cool, weather!!

The two-day conference we attended was great also... I was able to gain a lot of information to bring back to our program that will hopefully prepare us for our upcoming Federal Program Review this year. (More to stress about!)

It's Back to Work I Go...

From May 2007
I had a nice day off yesterday, just to recuperate from my trip, but now I'm back to work this morning. BUMMER. I enjoy not working way too much! I think I need to win the lottery or something so I can be a bum and do whatever I want. Although, I think I really would become a bum with no purpose. So as much as I complain about it, work is good for me.

I have posted all my pictures from my trip to San Antonio in the photo section of my 360 page. As you can tell I loved the River Walk and I love trees.

1 Comment: Loved the pics!!! (Celia)

Honey, I'm Home!

From April 2007
I got home from San Antonio last night. What a great trip and what a great city!! I want to go back there and visit "for real" and not for work. Although I really can't complain, we really did get quite a bit of free time to go site-see. And the weather was beautiful. It was 80 degrees and above the whole time. I even got a slight sunburn which will turn into a great start to my summer tan. (Too bad it wasn't on my legs )

Some of the places we visited were:

The River Walk and a river boat tour - my favorite and most beautiful, I could walk or sit along the River Walk all day long.

Market Square - a great Mexican and Farmer's Market. We didn't get out to the Market until Friday -the first day of San Antonio's annual Fiesta. The place was packed and very festive. Great fun!! (I would have liked to have stayed a bit longer and gotten into the festivities a bit more.)

La Villita-another type of market, but more about art and hand made crafts. I love to look at art, however we didn't spend much time here due to our desire to get out to Market Square. (Our time walking and standing was always a bit limited due to my co-worker's health difficulties - and we had to kind of prioritize which things we wanted to spend this limited time on.)

The Alamo- I didn't get to spend much time there since it closed at 5:30 every day. But one evening I made it through the door at 5 minutes before closing. So I quickly snapped a few photos, skimmed through the gift shop, and was out the gate. Sadly, I really didn't get to read any of the actual historical placards.
multiple gift shops - of course there were quite a few of these around The Alamo and throughout town.

River Center Mall - your average mall, except that the river and River Walk ran right around it. So I sat and listened to a live band play while enjoying the cool breeze from the river. (I also bought my first pair of Croc's shoes, which I now wear constantly!)
the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center - this was where our conference was held, which probably doesn't sound like such a big deal, except it had a great park, some cool sculptures and statues, and again, the river ran right under it.

Hard Rock Cafe - I always like to buy a Hard Rock t-shirt when visiting a new city. I rarely eat in the cafe -- I just buy souvenirs. :)

A couple of great restaurants - We actually had quite a bit of food provided for us during our conference. But we did eat at a great Texan steak place and also a nice hometown Mexican Cafe. Both were YUMMY!!

Every evening, once my co-worker had taken a cab back to the hotel, I had some time alone to walk and see more of the sites of San Antonio. I usually didn't stay out past dark, since that's not really a safe idea. But I did get to spend more time on the River Walk and do a bit of shopping. I kept thinking over and over about how San Antonio would be a great romantic get-away. If I ever get the chance, it would be a place I'd visit again for exactly that purpose.
I hope to have all my photos posted in my photo section very soon.

1 Comment: I'm glad you had a great time. Can't wait to see the pics!!! :o) (Celia)
　

I'm Off to San Antonio!

From April 2007
One of the great perks of where I work is that every so often I get to take a trip. And so much like this, sometimes I get to go to new places! I've never really spent much time in Texas at all, so I'm excited to have a bit warmer weather and to see some new sites. I'm traveling with one other co-worker. She has a few health problems that makes it hard for her to walk long distances, so I'm not sure how willing she'll be to get out there and play the role of tourist. If the moment presents itself, I'll actually go it alone!

Of course I'm not getting an all expense paid trip just to site-see. I will actually attend some conference/training sessions during the day. I'm not really even sure exactly what I'm going to walk away having learned. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

SEATTLE BOUND!!

FROM OCTOBER 2006
I'm off to Seattle for a couple of days! Seattle is one of my favorite cities to visit. I love the food, the weather, the atmosphere, and most of all I LOVE Pike's Market! I'm headed there for work with a co-worker, but I've made sure to schedule some site-seeing into our spare time. I'm also excited to be getting out of town as well.

I do love to travel, especially on work's dollar. I've been lucky over the years to travel to some pretty cool places for work... Washington DC, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Seattle (a few times) and of course all over Oregon for various trainings, seminars, conferences, mtgs, etc. The conference I'm going to this time is on those living in poverty and is based on a book "Bridges to Poverty" that I have found very interesting. The author of the book is presenting the training and I'm kind of excited to hear what he has to say. I've been working with the low-income for many years now and hope that this will improve my skills, knowledge, and awareness.