US Travel and Places I Want to See

   I received a phone call from my brother this morning who is driving from New Hampshire to Texas. He is seeing some areas of the country, which I have not seen yet, but would like to visit. I love hearing about new areas people visit.

 

   One of my life's goals is to visit every state (at least in the continental US). I have visited every state on the Atlantic Ocean other than Delaware (unless you count when I drove through Delaware on my way down to North Carolina a couple years back).

 

   When I moved to North Carolina, I figured I would start by seeing every state on the eastern seaboard first. Joe and I started with South Carolina and Georgia. Both of which neither of us had visited before. When I was visiting my parents in New Hampshire a few weeks ago, we went to Rhode Island. Even though I grew up in New Hampshire, I had never actually visited Rhode Island.

 

   A road trip would be one of the best ways to see some of the states I have not visited, especially those in areas I might normally fly over. Someday I would like to drive across the country. Interstate 40 starts in Wilmington, NC and ends in Barstow, California. There is a sign at the beginning of interstate 40 that states the number of miles until the highway ends. That is one possible route.

 

   I would love to visit Nashville, and I have never been to Tennessee before. It would be an easy road trip from North Carolina. I have seen signs for Nashville the couple of times I have visited Asheville in the mountain region of North Carolina and wanted to continue driving. Nashville is also a stop on interstate 40 and would be an easy stop while driving through to California.

 

   Of course there are many other beautiful areas and things to see around the country. Here are a couple of cities I would like to visit:

 

• Memphis, Tennessee 
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• San Antonio, Texas
• St. Louis. Missouri
• Los Angeles, California
• Chicago, Illinois

 

   These are couple of my favorite destinations that I have visited in the U.S.:

 

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Savannah, Georgia
• New York City, New York
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
• San Francisco, California
• Orlando, Florida
• Newport, Rhode Island
• Stowe, Vermont

 

A Busy Couple of Weeks

    It has been a busy, but productive couple of weeks.  I have now completed two weeks of student teaching.  I am really enjoying it so far, but it is hard work.  When I got home yesterday from student teaching, I considered going to bed right away.  Since I am in a special education resource room, I have been doing a lot of setting up, meetings, and assessments.  Being in the school really brings to light the amount of testing students today go through. Education is a whole different world today and in North Carolina than when I was in school. 

    On Tuesday I got the results of my Praxis testing exams, and I passed.  It was a relief to not have to worry about when I would have time to retake the exams.  Now I just have to focus on student teaching, lesson plans, and the rest of my classes.  I can't believe September is almost here and in December I will be done student teaching and I will have my master's degree. 

Newport Mansions

    Last week, I visited Newport, Rhode Island for the first time. Newport, RI has many beautiful homes and was a popular summer vacation destination for many years since the 1700's. In the late 1800's, many mansions and summer homes were built in Newport that can now be toured. Many of these homes were designed after elements of castles from France. The homes include majestic stairwells, marble columns, larger than life ballrooms for hosting elegant dinner parties and balls, many beautiful statues and paintings, detailed ceilings, and all of them had electricity and plumbing when originally built before such things were standard in homes. The grounds are beautifully landscaped. Three of the mansions we visited had views of the ocean and were built on the cliff side including Marble House, Rose Cliff, and the Breakers. The Elms was my favorite mansion, but it was not built on the water. It makes up for it with beautifully landscaped grounds.

    I am happy that these mansions have been kept up over the years and people can visit these homes.  The homes we visited were part of the Preservation Society of Newport County.  It would be cool to travel back and time and see these homes as they were when they were in use.  I would love to see one of the balls that took place at these homes and see all the ladies dressed up in their best gowns that were specially made for the occasions and to see the staff at work. 

    The Newport mansions are a destination in "1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die." 

Top 5 Things I Hate About Air Travel

5.  Traveling alone and having to sit in the middle seat between two people you have never met before.

4.  Long layovers with no seats available at your gate.

3.  Having to take our your laptop to go through security. 

2.  No leg room in coach. 

1.  Checked bag fees.  Need I say more?

Summer Classes Done

    So after a long summer of classes, I am happy to report that I have submitted my last assignment for the summer.  I took two classes first summer sessions and two classes second summer session with just a week off between the sessions, so it has been a busy and exhausting summer.  Student teaching starts in 10 days from tomorrow. 

Rafe Esquith

Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina has some great author events.  Last night was one of them.  I met Rafe Esquith, a well known teacher who won the national teacher of the year award a few years back.  He is the author of multiple books including the bestseller, "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire."  His talk last night was inspiring.  I love what he has to say about literacy and reading, how important it is to read with children, and to read quality literature that children will enjoy.  He wants children to become lifelong readers, and I think this should be the goal of every teacher.  We need children to enjoy reading, want to read, and choose to read.  This is a challenge that I look forward to as a future teacher.