Tater Tot Day 4

Larry gets his last-minute snacks added

Do I really have to wear this helmet?

Coeur d'Alene Lake

along the trail

Larry on the cool bridge over Chatcolet Lake

Today was a beautiful day on the Trail of the Coeur D'Alene.  We drove to Harrison and rode the Harrison to Plummer segment.  Larry put 30 miles on his bike and I rode 22.  (I didn't go all the way to Plummer).  I just took a shower and feel great.  No sunburn or sore muscles today.

Tater Tot Day 3



lunch at Pub and Grub with a few of the gang

First glimpse of the cabin

the cabin

view of the lake from the cabin

Rain, rain, go away...guess not.  Today was too rainy for me to get excited about riding.  We talked to people, went to Wallace for lunch, and went to Black Lake.  We wanted to see the old Bardwell A-frame cabin.  There are lots more homes, some really large and fancy, around the lake.  As we drove around the lake, we saw some cabins with few modifications.  The old Bardwell A-Frame is a full-fledged cabin now.  They enclosed the front deck, added a room in the back, and it now has a basement area.  I took a few pics of the lake and the cabin.

Tater Tot 2012 Day 2 June 25, 2012

One of the bridges we cross on the trail

view of the Coeur d'Alene River

"See, I told you we were riding across a river."

Wait for me! I'm getting further behind :)

Today's challenge was riding from Kellogg to Mullan (40 miles) when both of us have only been on our bikes a couple of times so far this year. We left at 11:15 (the rest of the group left at 9:00) because we were slow getting organized. But when we finally began, the trail was beautiful--lots of greenery--unfortunately, we didn't see any moose.

We thought we'd eat dinner at Mullan, but the restaurant was closed so we rode back to Wallace and had dinner at the 1313 Club. We devoured our dinners so fast the waitress said, "you're already done with your dinner?" We got back to our trailer about 8:30 p.m.

Larry fared better better than I did after the ride concluded. Even using several coats of SPF 30 sunscreen, my knees and upper thighs look and feel like roasted fire. Larry's arms are already turning to tan this morning, but his nose is quite red. I was exhausted when we got back to the trailer. I took a shower and went straight to bed. Larry went to get more ice for the cooler.

Tater TOT 2012

We arrived in Kellogg about 6:00.  It was slow going around Coeur d'Alene because they were using half of the highway for the Ironman competition (the bicycle portion). 

Everyone is walking around and trying out everybody else's trikes

See all the trikes lined up -- there must be 70 of them

Everyone is checking out all the trikes and velomobile

This one has 4 wheels

This velomobile is build around a trike

The leaning trike

This lady has a patriotic trike sock for wind aerodynamics

This is a HAZE Kettweizel with a fabric fairing  (Haze is a trike with two wheels in back insteam of front)

We saw lots of different types of recumbent trikes tonight.  I'll include some pics.

Almost done packing

We're almost done packing for the trip to Kellogg.  The bikes are loaded and ready to go.  The house looks like a bomb was set off.  I need to whip up a salad for the potluck tonight and finish a few odds and ends (clean up a few messes?).

We went to Steph's wedding yesterday.  She was such a beautiful bride.  Ty had been sick all day but came to the wedding as the meds had kicked in.  We ate too much and enjoyed Ty and Dee's company.

Day 3 I-Stem

Well, if I ever want to make blood-and-gore movies, I now know how to make fake blood.  Today we tried different recipes to see whether maple syrup would work as well as karo syrup, how many drops of red food coloring to add, how much blue or green to add, how much cornstarch to use, etc...trying to make "perfect" blood.   Then we went outside and made blood spatter posters to show different types of blood spatter patterns.

Next on the agenda was modeling clay and lots of tools/instruments to hit, stab, and make different type of trauma on the clay. 

Our blood spatter---big blobs were dropped, long lines were flung

Strawberry DNA separation; the DNA separates into sticky, gooey strands kind of like snot

Strawberry DNA

Finally, each group came up with a crime scene scenario using at least three forensic tests and presented to the rest of the class.  Tomorrow each group will teach a lesson to the other groups.  Our group is using candy photochromography.

Day 2 I-Stem Conference

Becky says, "Will this work?"

This morning started out with a small engineering activity.  We had to invent a free-standing catapult that would launch marshmallows.  Then there was a field trip to the Kootenai County Jail.  It was clean, but boy I sure wouldn't want to have to stay there.  I think we were the entertainment for the day because all the inmates were really staring at us as we toured.

Family Fun activities

Our catapult projects--using sticks, rubber bands, marshmallows, and a small condiment cup
Monte and Jay

Is Jay happy with their structure?  It's pretty wobbly.

This afternoon after lunch Family Engineering was emphasized.  We all got to play with all the activities.

I-Stem Day 2 (cont.)

After lunch we had Family Engineering activities stations so we could try out all the activities available (on loan) if our school decides to have Family Engineering Night.  When we returned to our CSI strand, we practiced obtaining fingerprints from objects and made plaster castings of our footprints.

At the end of the day I went swimming at the Coeur d'Alene Resort's pool and then walked around the floating boardwalk before it got dark.  I returned to my room tired, but still had to work on lesson plans.  We have to turn four of them in by Thursday.

Visit Friends at Coeur d'Alene

I haven't made contact with Toni yet, but met with Jan on Sunday, had tilapia for lunch, and then walked her dog at a local park.  We visited until 6:00.  Jan wouldn't let me snap her pic, but have one of her dog :)

I-Stem 2012

I'm in Coeur d'Alene staying at the Best Western Hotel.  I signed up for the Crime-Scene Investigation strand and began receiving free technology, books, and equipment yesterday. My day started at 6 a.m. (walk on the path around the lake) and ended at 8:30 last night.

Everyone received a Prodigy 7" android tablet yesterday with a bag at lunchtime and a few instructions on how to run it.  In my CSI strand I received three books containing CSI lesson plan ideas, a digital microscope that runs from my computer, magnifying glasses, an investigation kit, and material to do the burning test (to test whether a fabric is rayon, cotton, wool, etc.).  We did the burning test, found a way to salvage a burned note using glycerin and water, and fingerprinted ourselves.  We had to decide what type of fingerprint pattern we had.

This morning I'll take another walk on the lake path (and will take a few pics), we visit the detectives at the local police station, and continue to get practice on some of the lessons we might be doing with our students while incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math into the lessons.

Arrived Home

Joaquin, Larry, and Isaac

I'm a pretty happy little guy!!!

Regional Veterans Memorial at the park

June 13:  We went to a different park along the Columbia River today and walked for about 2-1/2 hours until we all got hungry.  We left Jason's about 5:30 and got home about 8:45.  Got unloaded and now to get ready for my next trip...Coeur d'Alene I-Stem.

Howard Amon Park, Richland

Joaquin found a great stick to mess around with.  Look how high the water is.  It comes right up to the grass.

June 12:  We got to have Joaquin and Isaac for the day while Jason and Sally toiled away at their jobs.  Weren't we the lucky ones :)  We took a picnic lunch to the park by the river.  It was filled with people, kids, kayakers, joggers, and bikers.  Isaac slept for several hours while we walked around.

The Adventure Continues

The walrus always fascinates the kids---it's floating on its back

Emerson, Eli, Rowdy, and Larry at Redondo park

Eli climbing at the park

Emerson and Rowdy on the Pier

June 7: Walked to Redondo Beach and played at Redondo Park with Emerson, Eli, and Rowdy. Emerson even got Rowdy to go down the slide with her. We left the umbrella-stroller and my wallet behind accidentally and a kind lady prevented some kids from taking it. I feel so thankful! I didn't even realize it was missing. We'd gone home, made dinner, and were enjoying the kids when we received a call about my wallet.

Eli isn't sure if he really wants to feed the Budgie Bird

Nicole's kids with Emerson and Eli

Puffin bird at the zoo

June 8: We went to the Fort Defiance Zoo...tigers, sharks, seals, polar bear, Budgie birds, and elephant were the kids' favorites. We braved the rain when we left Federal Way and it finally turned into a nice day when we arrived at the zoo. Then a leisurely drive (I-5 traffic jams) to Everett to see Billie and Dave. JoLynn and her 4 boys are visiting so we also get to get to know our great-nephews from Texas.

This tiger looks so regal

June 8 dinnertime arrived at Billie and Dave's house. 

These planes were called Flying Tigers and they painted teeth on the planes

Dave, Dawson, and Larry

June 9:  Visited the Aviation Museum at Everett and watched the Japanese Zero and Flying Tiger plane put on an airshow.

I'm checking out the plants and gardening tools

June 10:  We went to Sorticulture, an outdoor plant and craft show, at Everett.  We also listened to some free entertainment. 

June 11:  Larry and I went to Sorticulture again, dropped by the new Cabela store in Marysville, and went to the Farmers Market to get some fresh vegies, strawberries, and flowers.

Darliss at Cabelas

June 12: Next leg of the adventure, on to Jason's house in Richland. We arrived about 11 pm last night and slept hard. This morning we babysat Isaac (4-1/2 mos old) and went down to the waterfront park to walk and enjoy the beautiful weather. Joaquin had his last day of school today and Jason & Sally both had to work. Larry made stir-fry for dinner then we all went for a walk.