Summer Plans

It was the same question over and over again before school ended May 24: what are you doing this summer?

I've had an exciting summer so far (almost two weeks, so far), and it's about to get a whole lot better.

First, I am on a self-imposed teaching embargo. I'm not thinking about it, I'm not reading school-related books, I'm skipping all the professional development opportunities I signed up for during the school year. I need to detox from failure...and there was a lot of failure in my classroom last year, mostly on the part of my students. I had about 80 students, and I handed out 19 failing grades...not my greatest semester of instruction in the least.

The good news is that the action at Point Pleasant is about to heat up because my 2nd Annual Father's Day Road Trip is upon us. This time we will follow the Santa Fe Trail from St. Louis through Kansas City and Dodge City into Colorado and into New Mexico. It gained its reputation in the middle 1800s, when the vast American prairie was a 900-mile frontier between the United States and the newly minted nation of Mexico. There are about 29.5 million fewer bison roaming the plains than there were then...bummer. But the trip should be fun nonetheless.

Some of you may remember the trip I took last summer to Arizona. This one should be better in a number of ways:
1. We actually have a theme. I've been reading up on the Santa Fe Trail for six months now, and I'm really ready to be a wagonmaster.
2. My sister, Julie, and her awesome sons will join us. Instead of being one dad for three kids, the ratio of adults to kids will be 2:5. You have to like those odds! Jenny and my brother-in-law, Don, will join us in Taos, New Mexico, where we will spend a weekend in the most beautiful corner of the Rocky Mountains.
3. I'll have video. I'm hoping to do a lot of editing and uploading on the trip so everyone can see video on my blog. I'll have at least two videos on YouTube, I promise.

It's getting late. I'll provide more information on the itinerary later this week. We leave on the 8th for Santa Fe!