EducatingMe

I woke up early this morning to make sausage and eggs for the boys before they took off for their trip. We were trying to cramp as many calories down them as possible as Joe has lost 4 lbs and Travis has lost 5 lbs on this ride so far.  We saw the boys off at the Gold Hill Trailhead for the beginning of their Segment 7, but not before taking some artsy fartsy shots with my camera. There was less groaning this time. As I think they were more focused on the climb ahead of them today. Of the 13 mile ride ahead of them in this portion, 8 of the miles were a 3674 foot climb. With a final reward at the end, losing all of that height in just 4 downhill miles into Copper Mountain. The girls and I were then off to Walmart and to the gas station before heading to Copper Mountain. For us it was only a 12 min drive, but we knew it would take them the better half of 5-6 hours. We settled in at Copper Mountain. I found a great little place to park with free electric, so I plugged in my lap

After much consideration and conversation last night, the gents decided to take a zero day today. This means zero miles logged toward the goal. There are some blisters and soreness, but otherwise the men have been in wild amazement of the sights they have seen. On this zero day, we decided to sleep in until about 7AM (I am a morning person). Grabbed some Starbucks across the street, ate some of my Homemade Banana Nut Muffins, these are made with Nancy Edwards recipe and do not last long when I make them. They are pretty darn good. We came back to the hotel for a little swim and a little laundry. As promised, the Tide Pods review: Wow! Now, Kristin used two Tide Pods but the washer was very large. She washed all of her clothes, Joey's clothes, and Trav's clothes. Trav removed his bicycle shorts from the dryer, smelled the nastiest place he could think of, and took a big whiff. He said "they smell great! Now, I did not go behind him to double check the smells, I took

We met up with the boys around 8PM at the end of the trail for Segment 6. It was an insanely emotional day for us, but  will tell my version of account another time. Let me introduce to you Travis Barnes, my husband and my kids hero. This is his account of the last three days.  The first three days of our Colorado Trail experience are behind us. It’s amazing what can happen in three days. We rolled into Breckenridge today behaving like we’d been gone for weeks, but time is relative as we now know miles are. That’s right, miles are relative. The 500 mile distance of this ride is not impressive. When we left for this trip we could ride 75 miles on the mountain bike with 27 lbs of gear with little problem, then do it again the next day. That being said, the past 3 days have been the hardest riding I have ever experienced in my life. On day two we took a bypass into a town and I was able to text Erin. I told her among other things that, “this is HARD.” Erin knows me better than anyone

Day two from the SAGgin wagon was quit intense. It was my first official work day on the trip and it was a busy one. I spent from 7AM until 4PM working in the van for the most part and pacing my half acre camp spot while on the phone (trying to get those steps in anywhere I can). The boys are on their day two had a fairly long road ride today. They rode segments 4 and 5 today which took them through a great deal of the devastated forestry area destroyed by the 2002 Haymen Wildfires. They ate in a small Diner in the town of Jefferson where they had cell service long enough to check in to let us know things were great, but hard. I think they were mostly worried about how their women were doing with the "roughing it". The finish ed the day by passing through Lost Creek Wilderness and Kenosha Pass. If you are interested in following them too, you can us the link provided here -  http://share.findmespot.com/ shared/faces/viewspots.jsp? glId= 04XdbcgeXBm5AP6B4QWuASXg6g9KIp epB

I do have so much still to say about education, but for the next three weeks I am dedicating this blog to the Colorado Trail. I am still in the process of EducatingMe, but for the time being it will be over the ins and outs of the Colorado Trail. My husband will guest blog from time to time over this period as he is actually the one riding the trail. I (and my two daughters) however, am the SAG ( S upport a nd G ear) vehicle for the next three weeks. My friend Kristin is with us for two of the three weeks. She is the wife of Trav's riding partner Joey. In an effort to EducateMe, I will be trying my hands at documenting this 500+ miles excursion that begins just south of Denver and ends in Durango, CO. This trail follows the Continental Divide alongside some of the most beautiful lakes and river passes. Travis and his friend Joe will experience eight mountain ranges winding up above the tree line at elevations topping out around 13,271 feet. He and Joe have been training  and pl

Tell me the truth, did the word twerker get you to click on this post? In the social media world, I would say one reaps what they sow. I would say that this is especially true of my Twitter account. I decided right away, that I would only use Twitter for my professional development as a teacher and educator. Occasionally I will throw in a picture of my children to remind the world (and myself for the matter) that I am a real person and that I do have a life outside of the Twittersphere. I passed 300 followers this year when I co-hosted the TEDed chat back in February. It was very exciting to me at the time as I never thought anyone would really care what I have to say. Also, I keep my Facebook page pretty light on friends too. I know its a novel idea, but I really only have my friends and family on there. I know people with 1000's of friends, and I'm like really? But I digress... At the GAFESummit, I was close to hovering around 375 followers. I was sitting in the keynote