Summer Vacation is...Poof! Gone!

Well, we had fun, but summer vacation is absolutely 100% over for me. We camped and hiked and spent time with family and just each other. We saw HAMILTON in Las Vegas and swam in the beautiful pool at our hotel. We also swam in natural hot springs in Wyoming. So many dirt and gravel roads. Miles and miles of dirt roads which allowed me to nap sometimes while The Ranger drove on in his glory of exploration, five or six maps at the ready for consultation. I lost track of the number of new Forest Service maps he bought this summer. He just can't get enough maps. We took lots of photos. We lived off bologna sandwiches on the weekends. I lost weight as I do every summer and slept very well. Just as I do every August, I wonder if I would continue to lose weight if I could hang on to this summer vacation lifestyle instead of returning to the universe of stress and work. Don't get me wrong, I love the children I teach...it's just that...it's hard to keep a healthy balance of things while teaching.

Also, my return from Yellowstone signals the beginning of ten weeks of hell where we do this living apart thing. It never gets easier.

I can't tell you how many times I've entered and exited the states of Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming (we also went to Arizona and Nevada). The RAV4 is over 283,000 miles and when I came home in July for a quick second, I discovered a stow away rodent who endured me singing at the top of my lungs to the entire Hamilton soundtrack three times all the way through, back to back. At least it had AC for the ride. We live in the woods, what can I say? Some marmot decided to use our back porch as a pooping place. Marmot poop is exceptionally sticky--you can't just sweep it off the porch even after it's dry. TMI, I know.

Here's to trading my bear spray for a lanyard and whistle. Instead of wearing an orange safety vest for bison jams and elk jams, I'll be wearing one for recess duty and bus duty. Instead of answering the incessant query, "What is there to do in this area of the park?" I'll be answering the incessant comment from fifth graders, "I don't get it." And instead of wending my way through park traffic, I'll be back on my daily I-15 commute.

Instead of looking at Facebook at 4:00 a.m. in the morning while most of the park was sleeping and I could get at least a little access to it, I am currently Facebook Fasting for at least a week. And you know what? It's not hard to leave it alone at all. I thought it would be more of a struggle for me. Facebook does keep emailing me to tell me how many messages and posts I'm missing. Apparently, THEY are rather addicted to ME and it worries them that I haven't logged in for several days.