Last Blast Before the New School Year - Beach 2010

This summer has been a wild adventure....traveling from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans, visiting highest peaks and grand valleys....spending time with great friends and forging new friendships with those from far away...racking up on college/baseball visits (Josh added 6 new tshirts to his collection)....and, of course, completing my master's degree....it's been a blast!

Last week, we were privileged to be invited to go to the beach with some great friends...we celebrated birthdays, had some retail therapy, played golf, rode the waves, and got some sun....all a much enjoyed break before the school year kicks back in!

Along the way, we discovered that the noise of 6 kids under the age of 10 is not so different from the noise we hear daily in the classroom (better if you ask me because of its innocence)....I learned that going with lots of guys and kids who like to ride the waves allows me to NOT be dragged into the water as much (even though the times I did go in were great - except for that wave in the face thing!)....I was reminded of how fun it is to go shopping with the 'girls' & how much damage 6 women can do at an outlet mall!....And we were reminded of how blessed we are to have friends we can call family!

And alas, summer break comes to an end....school starts back tomorrow for teachers, and the students come in a week.....seems like forever since I've been at Lassiter, but I know I'll get back into the swing of it before long....

In all things......Psalms 92:1....."It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High."

Reflections from the Past 18 Days

I made the 'mistake' of opening our vacation/field study pictures this morning, instead of working on my last grad school assignment (oh well).....that many photos take a while, but what a way to reflect on the sights and sounds of an amazing trip.....

For me, nature is God's most prominent voice.....I am amazed at His ability to create and the ability He's given us to explore and understand His world.

Many people ask me how I can be a scientist and claim to be a Christian at the same time...I usually first tell them that I am a Christian because I am a child of God, who's been saved by Grace through the blood of Jesus; and I'm a scientist because I love seeing the things God create and enjoy exploring the intricacies of His creation......The conversation then turns to evolution and all things controversial.....without all the details, basically, I believe that my God is big enough to do whatever He wants, however He wants, and on whatever time scale He decides.....why make it more complicated than that!?! (that usually gets both sides of the debate upset with me! How could I not pick a side and act like I know it all? Oh yeah, I'm not God, so I'm not going to try.....)

On the field studies trip, apparently there was an "is there a God?" conversation that I missed out on, so here's my 2 cents.....from the incredible beauty and majesty of the snow-covered mountains to the powerful carving capabilities of the Colorado River, there is NO DOUBT that God is, was, and will be! There is NO DOUBT of His love and desire for beauty; there is NO DOUBT that He is way out of man's league when it comes to manufacturing things; and there is NO DOUBT that He's given us an amazing gift through His creation.

So, take some time to enjoy His creation this summer and reflect on the amazing love He shows through the brillance of His world.

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." Psalm 24:1

Day 7 - Yosemite & Getting Home

Entering Yosemite National Park....




Marmot @ Yosemite


Tunnels throughout Yosemite....



Bridalveil Falls @ Yosemite....so much water that up close, you can't even see the falls & you get soaking wet!

El Capitan.....

Deer just hanging out on the trail to Yosemite Falls......8 pointer!

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls....

Half Dome visible on the right.....

Walked about 3-4 miles in the park today...could've spent at least another day here! Still a lot to see and explore!!!!

The next day, we spent about 5 hours in the car driving back to Ontario....

"Brown Haze" of LA....here in GA, we just call it smog, but heaven forbid an ugly word like that was used in California.

Dinner courtesy of MSU.....the rental vehicles had already been turned in, so we had to wait on the shuttle to get back to the hotel....Jeremy may have been quiet, but when he did say something, it was usually hilarious! Casey, Dave, Susanna, Nathan and Tom thought so too!

Me and Susanna.....Last night with the roommie!

Day 6 - Mono Lake

Well, surprise! We have internet access here in Lake June! Today, we visited Mono Lake and a few other places...Mono was very interesting....I'll give you the details in person later! Tomorrow is a break-neck speed race around Yosemite...hopefully get in about 6 miles of hiking! May not post tomorrow night, but we'll see!

Aaron at Obsidian Dome.....strong man contest (the rock is pumice & is very light).....


This obsidian rock is different in that it's banded....doesn't happen a lot!...and there was snow on the dome, so of course we had to make a snowman...we named him Bully.


Yellow-headed blackbird near Black Point....he's guarding a nest.....

The 'cabin' front porch...Tom, Nathan, Jamie, Steve H, Eileen, and Jeremy....waiting to go to dinner...inside the cabin.....

Mono Lake..... as the sun is beginning to set.....

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness....And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water from the sky. And it was so.....And God said, "Let the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear. And it was so. (Genesis 3-9, shortened)


Tufa on Mono Lake... these figures are basically the result of a 25 foot decrease in water level....the calcium carbonate precipitated out of solution in the water creating these columns above the current lake level.

Our night-time visitor!

-A

Day 5

Today, we began our trek at Mammoth Mountain, a ski resort...we utilized the shuttle to get to Devil's Postpile...This part of the park has only been opened for 2 days due to snow still covering the trails. The ski slopes were still open and were pretty busy by the time we left. CRAZY! It is June 26, right?




Obsidian plug gives this mountain top a much different look than what we've seen so far along the trip.


Keith and Dave.....the kaolinite is stuck to his tongue! Kaolinite is geology's winter flag pole! Luckily, it doesn't hurt to get it off your tongue!


Hot Creek.....hydrothermal hot springs, with temperatures reaching 300 degrees!


Probably will not get anymore updates until I get back to Ontario....we are staying at a lodge the next two nights and I'm not sure about internet availability...tomorrow, I finally get to give my presentation on birds of the Eastern Sierra....one more thing to check off my list!

-A

Update from Mammoth Lakes

Day 3:

Ancient bristle-cone pine trees, growing at an altitude of 10,000 + feet! In case you haven't been this high up....it's beautiful and it'll definitely 'take your breath away'....figuratively and LITERALLY! Some of these trees have been found to be 4,000 years old...Chipmunk decided to come say high in the parking lot.....it was the size of some Georgia squirrels!

Laundry Party @ the hotel. Toni and Steve demonstrate one of the great features of low relative humidity....things dry outside pretty quickly. The best part was while we waited on the one washer, we could sit at the hot tub and complete our homework....we're such geeks!

Day 4: Bishop Tuff. Great obsidian (volcanic glass) collected here! I'm bringing some home!

Pine Creek Canyon.... great views (rolling snowmelt stream in foreground, towering granite mountins in the backgroun) and old mine shafts (mined for tungsten)

Crowley Lake was formed from an ancient caldera (sunken middle of an erupted volcano)

Snow on the Sierras.....

The Eastern Sierra Group @ McGee trail head.....Kneeling (Left to right): me, Toni, and Jeremy...standing....Nathan, Tom, Susanna (my roommie), Aaron, Steve R, Steve H, Eileen, Dave.....two towers in the back...Jamie (instructor) and Casey. Two other instructors, Keith and Sharon, were on camera duty, and I have no clue where Greg, our 4th instructor, was!

Convict Lake.....glacier formed lake in the Sierras....winds coming down the mountain were creating waves....the story behind the name's pretty interesting...google it if you want! ;o)

Saturday's high around Mammoth Lakes is supposed to be 74; tonight's low - 43! We pulled out the jackets at lunch today, mainly because of the winds....just to give you some perspective, we have no A/C in our room for the next 2 nights....there's central heat and there's a free-standing fan and a window that opens, and I'm plenty cool enough for sleep tonight (CRAZY!)....should be an interesting last few days.....Hope to be able to post some great wildlife photos in addition to more geologic ones in a few days....and before I forget....691 pictures and counting!

Until next time....It's 11:00 pm here and I've got a 6:30am wake-up call with my name on it! -A

Update from Lone Pine, CA

Hey everyone! My terrific roommie is letting me use her computer to give everyone an update......we've been on our studies for 2 days and have seen a lot....tonight we have a star party...hope to see the space station come overhead....hope to check in again in a few days!

Day 1. We explored various desert environments including this wash area.


Morman Rock Formations...huge holes that were carved out...

Fossil Falls....glacial stream falls that of course is not dry...cool place to explore!

Keith, one of our instructors and others in the desert..

Here lizard, lizard!

Fossils in the rocks.....in center is a cast of a crinoid stem....

View of Sierra Nevada Mountain Range from Lone Pine...there's still quite a bit of snow on the peaks.

Alabama Hills.....up close....Location for many of 'old Hollywood' movies/westerns were filmed.

Whitney Portal.....didn't see any bears...but the falls from the melting snow was awesome! Temps were in the upper 60s - low 70s.

Looking down from Whitney Portal, looking at Alabama Hills in close and Inyo Mtns in the background...

Owens Lake (dry lake)

Bunny outside our hotel....