First, I want to know if anyone is as big of a geek as me and actually knows the reference to the title of this blog.  Probably not.  It’s a Lord of the Rings thing.  Most of my friends are not scifi/fantasy nerds like me.    I’m amazed they let me be their friend.  (No, I’m not a Trekkie.  I’ve got my limits).  Regardless, here’s my update:

 

My California trip was great.  I spent about a week with Kim and her family, and then attended a 7 day conference at Stanford that focused on the Great Depression and Word War II–but more about that later.

 

It should be noted that my sister warned me to bring a sweater since the Bay Area is a lot cooler than L.A. area I grew up in.  At that point I had already packed a bunch of shorts and short-sleeve shirts, but I crammed some warmer clothes in.  Sooooo glad I did that.

 

Sarcasm.

 

Other than the evening I arrived, and the day I left my sister’s house to go to the Stanford conference, it was in the 90s.  Oh yeah, did I mention that people in the Bay Area also don’t bother installing air conditioning  because of their cool and tepid year-long weather.  So glad I brought that sweater.   Again, sarcasm. 

 

We did our best to manage in the sweltering heat:  fans, air-conditioned movie theaters, ice cream, etc.  Kim and I even took 6 of her kids to Great America–a theme park that has a water park in it.  The amazing part is that I only got two little stripes of sunburn where I clearly missed with the sunscreen.  That’s kind of a record with me.  Despite the overly warm weather–which Kim insists is unusual–I loved being with her and her family.  I have to admit, however, that I wasn’t the usual doting aunt.  Stupid 900 page book of doom.  (See previous post).

 

Speaking of the book of doom, the Stanford experience was amazing.  And a lot of work.  The conference went from Sunday to Saturday, and we used every minute of it.  Our agendas started at 8:00 A.M until 9:00 P.M.  There were 24 teachers–from all over the U.S.–in attendance.  Because I’m feeling too lazy to describe everything, I’ll think I’ll sum up with my top ten things about the conference:

 

10.  When you are with fellow teachers, there is no such thing as a “stranger.”  (Although, there can be strange people.  After all, we do voluntarily  teach teenagers.)  No matter how different the state or school we hailed from, we all had a lot in common.  It was easy to make friends.

9.  We had private studio apartments to stay in with daily maid service.  After spending a week with Kim and her amazingly large brood (and 2 of the 8 children no longer live at home!), it was nice to have this kind of spoiling. 

8.  Speaking of spoiling, even the food at Stanford’s mess hall was gourmet.  Gus behaved terribly, however.  Aghhh!

7.  Speaking of Gus, the only day I could really eat anything substantial was Wednesday when we went into San Francisco.  I had the most amazing hamburger in the world from a burger joint called Taylor’s Automatic Refresher at the Ferry Building.  Granted I couldn’t eat the bun, but it was otherwise delectable!

6.  I didn’t get any new blisters from all the walking.  And there was A LOT of walking.  And walking tours.  And more walking.  And then we walked some more. 

5.  I was only asked 3-4 weird questions about Mormons and Utah.  That’s better than I expected.  The fact that I don’t drink seemed to be the most interesting fact to my fellow educators.  One teacher said she only drinks in May when the school year can’t quite finish soon enough.  At the final dinner party though I got to be the “designated walker” once the alcohol was served.

4.  The campus was bea-U-ti-ful.  I have a picture of the church in the middle of Stanford’s main quad below.

3.  I took about 40 pages of notes on the Great Depression and World War II.  And I didn’t even mind.  The lectures were THAT good.

2.  Speaking of amazing lectures, David Kennedy rocks.  (There is a photo below.)  I couldn’t believe I was with this top scholar at Stanford  learning about one of my favorite subjects.  I’ve learned that not all professors are necessarily good teachers.  He’s a great teacher.

1.  Ghiradelli square.  Hot fudge Sundae.  Need I say more?

 

I was able to snap a few pictures with my camera phone.  (Who has room for a real camera when they have to cram in a sweater in their luggage?)  :)   They are below.

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