After eleven days, eight states, two national parks, a wedding, hundreds of buffalo, thousands of dead bugs on my windshield, a new mug, renewed family time, and a couple of plaques, I'm home :)
One post to cover three days, because that's what happens when hotels don't give you free wifi (which is stupid by the way).
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| Ames Reads Crew! |
Day Nine: All America Cities, #Readingby3rd, Escape
COLORADO
1. Campaign for Grade Level Reading conference
The full day of the conference started with some interesting keynote speakers and break out sessions. I wish we had had less time listening to all 27 All America City finalists talk, and more time for break out sessions, but I appreciated hearing very briefly what everyone is doing in their communities. I won't go into too much detail about the conference here, but it was great meeting people, catching up with our Iowa partners, and freezing (the air was ON and WORKING) during the day.
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| Honored to be a Finalist for the All America City Award! |
2. Downtown Denver
We took the train into Union Station and walked around downtown. I definitely want to go back and explore more because it looks like a really fun area.
Day Ten: Where's the Fruit, Finalists, Views
COLORADO
1. Plate Full of Bacon
I know I'm a difficult person to cook for if you're not used to it, but breakfast both days was kind of lame. On Friday morning, my only option was bacon, because they didn't even have fresh fruit available. Plate full of bacon it is!
2. Kim Hanna, Super Panelist
I was on a panel with RRSC Board Member Carolyn, Oxford, MS and Dyersville, IA to talk about community partnerships to make our programs work. It was wonderful meeting the women and hearing their opportunities and challenges.
3. Handfuls of Plaques
Part of the conference was a Communications Expo where communities could submit examples of what they use. We submitted in eight of the nine categories and were finalists in seven of the eight. We won in two categories! Best Photo (picture used in United Way's campaign of our FLCE Judy Dahlke at our StoryTime program at Eastwood) and Best Media Partnership (Dolphin Media's partnership with our The Hero Effect episode!). I was in charge of getting them home safely since I was the only one not flying, and I'm happy to report that they (and I) successfully made it back to Ames.
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| Award-winning photo! |
4. Happy Hour
Once I was back at my aunt and uncle's house, we headed up to the neighborhood golf course clubhouse for happy hour and great views of the Rockies!
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| Dad's sister Margy and Uncle Jerry Preston |
5. Colorado Rockies Superfans
Friday night was a nice relaxing evening at home watching the Rockies. My aunt and uncle are big fans, and their assessment that the relief and closing pitching was terrible was showcased quite well. I'll never stop being a Twins fan, but it was fun to watch the Rockies play. And win!
Day Eleven: Driving, More Driving, Screaming, Beeping, Home
COLORADO
1. Rear View Mirror
Almost half of the drive though eastern Colorado had the Rockies in my rear view mirror, so that was awesome. That view was a lot more exciting than the view through my windshield...
NEBRASKA
1. Ugh
Blech. Nebraska is boring.
2. Ugh Again
I stopped once on the entire ten hour drive to get gas and lunch in Kearney. The restaurant that I stopped in was fairly busy, and there was a family with a toddler sitting across from me. The toddler was high-pitch screaming. Continuously. And the parents were laughing and encouraging it. And the tables around them were getting pissed. One table asked their waitress several times to say something to the parents, but she was probably 17 and had no interest in getting involved. So finally the table asked the manager, but he also looked like it was the last thing he wanted to do. Luckily for him (and us all), the parents were picking up to leave then so he avoided confrontation.
Also, eastern Nebraska, also boring.
IOWA
1. Beeping
Made it home almost exactly 10 and a half hours after I left. Thanks zero state patrol vehicles spotted the entire day! When I got home, I discovered that maintenance had not followed up with my message the day before that my smoke detector was beeping. (Sorry neighbors! Thanks Mel for letting me know when you got my mail on Friday!). I'm short, and my ceilings are tall, so BIL Extraordinaire Pat came over with a ladder (as did Mel and their roommate Dad) to switch out the battery. A new battery made the detector scream, so it's just chilling until maintenance finally responds and fixes the problem.
2. Approximately 3,590 miles
I thought I took a picture of my odometer before I left, but I apparently didn't. I did take a picture of it this morning and guestimate that I drove about 3590 miles total on the trip. Nice work #BettyWhitetheFocusNottheHuman!
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