We're in NYC!!

I don't have a lot of time to write today as there is only one computer available at this hotel. The hotel room is clean, and the staff are nice, but the neighborhood is iffy - not bad, but not great, either. We took a cab into NYC yesterday and it cost $40. We found out that is not the type of cab to take, and today we will either call a metered cab or take the subway into Manhatten. Our hotel is in Queens.

Yesterday we got on our hop on, hop off bus and took a couple of quick tours of the city. Today we will go to the Empire State Bldg., Ground Zero, UN and Central Park and then we are going to try to go to Times Square and get discounted tickets to a Broadway Show.

We are having fun but miss everyone lots (especially me, since I have been gone 9 days now! I will try to write tomorrow, but if not we will see everyone on Thursday, as our plane gets in Wed at about midnight.

Library of Congress

This post is actually out of order, but I don't know how to change it! Yesterday we went to the Library of Congress and the Air and Space museum. At the Air and Space museum, we watched a good IMAX movie about Black Holes. But the highlight of my day was the Library of Congress! I even went across the street and got my own library card! There is an amazing collection of Jefferson's books - about 7,000 books in one area. The entire collection at the Library of Congress has over 6 miles of books! The building is absolutely beautiful, inside and out with many details, beautiful carvings and murals. If you go to DC, be sure to visit the Library of Congress!

Mount Vernon

Today we took a tour to Mount Vernon. George Washington's mansion and grounds were beautiful. There was an amazing museum that was very interesting. We learned a lot about George Washington's life that we didn't know before. We were really glad we went on the tour, even though we had to leave our hotel at about 7:15 to get to the tour bus stop!
We will be leaving tomorrow at around 6:15 to head to Union Station to take Amtrak to New York.

Day at Smithsonian and the capital building

Hi again from D.C. This morning we visited the capitol building, and got to go into the House Chambers and view the House and Senate wings of the capitol bldg. It was very cool.

We had lunch at Union Station, then went to a couple of the Smithsonian museums. This is a pic of Shawn in front of the Smithsonian Institution Building, which is also called "The Castle". We didn't actually go into that building, but we visited the American Museum of Natural History and the Portrait Gallery (several people had recommended the Portrait Gallery at the American Art Museum, and we were not disappointed!) My favorite exhibit at the Natural History museum was the Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology.

It is 6:17 p.m. right now, and we are getting ready to go to dinner. I'll write more tomorrow or Sunday! Hope everyone at home is doing well.

We're in DC!

We're in DC! Well I haven't written for a few days. The last two days of the conference were a blur. We were at the hotel for over 13 hours on Tuesday. Then on Wed. we left right after the conference ended at 3:30 and headed to the airport. I had a shuttle booked from Dulles to Reagan airport, where I was to meet Shawn. The shuttle company got the info messed up and I spent half an hour or more waiting in line in a non-air conditioned portion of the airport with a cranky customer service rep. I called the company three times and got disconnected, told incorrect information, and just generally treated poorly. I ended up biting the bullet and paying over $50 for a cab ride to the airport. I am going to get my money back from the shuttle company if it is the last thing I do!

Anyway, I finally was able to connect with Shawn at Reagan and we took the second shuttle I had reserved (same company, but they had my reservation this time) to our DC hotel. It is REALLY nice. It is new (only been open for 4 months), hip and furnished in a sort of retro futuristic look. That is the only way I can really describe it. There is a rooftop pool, which is not fancy, but nice. The staff is extremely friendly, and we have been very happy with everything.Last night after we got settled in our room we went out to find a place to eat. Everything was busy and pretty pricey. We finally settled for what we thought was a quaint little cafe. It actually turned out to be a French restaurant! It wasn't cheap, but the food was good. Shawn had sea scallops in some kind of orange sauce and I had a salad.

Today we went on a White House tour. You have to write in advance to get tickets, which we did in May when we booked this trip. It was a very short self-guided tour, but interesting. I left my purse at the hotel because we couldn't bring anything with us, but I left my ID in my purse! I almost didn't get in, and I was told that if I couldn't prove my identity they could put me in jail for up to three days. Shawn thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. He said, "Not a nice way to spend your vacation". Luckily, all he needed was for me to verify my birthdate and last 4 digits of my SSN. It was pretty cool just to be inside the white house. It was the East Wing, so you don't go through the front that you see in pictures and on TV, but you tour the red room, the blue room, green room, etc. and there are portraits of the presidents in the halls. One thing I thought was interesting is that there were fresh flowers (roses mostly) in all of the rooms. I asked about this and was told the White House employs three florists and they replace fresh flowers in each room throughout the White House every three to four days. Interesting use of tax payer $$$!

We also rode the Metro (subway) to a big mall in Pentagon City so that I could get some comfortable shoes. The DC subway system is really easy and fun to use. On the way back to the hotel, we got off at the station at Arlington Cemetery and saw Kennedy's grave, the eternal flame, etc. Then later on we went on a tour "Monuments in Moonlight". We drove by the Washington Monument, Jefferson Monument, Capitol Building, Federal Reserve Building, Smithsonian, and more while the driver gave us lots of info and history of everything. We stopped at the Roosevelt Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Lincoln Monument. It was a great tour. The Washington Monument and Reflection Pool were so beautiful at night.

Tomorrow we are going to try to get a tour of the capital arranged. Then we are planning to go to various Smithsonian museums. We are really having a great time!

First Day of WAVA Conference

Well today was a busy day! We left the hotel at 7:30 a.m. and started class at 8:00. I went to 6 different sessions and learned everything from how to communicate with parents online to diving in and looking at the curriculum that my students will be using in the program. We were shown how to find lessons, answer keys, access student progress online, and more. The day went by fairly quickly. After dinner tonight there was a group of people who went to DC on a tour of the monuments. I didn't go since Shawn and I will be doing that together in a few days. I skipped dinner at the conference hotel, went back to my hotel, got my bathing suit on and went to the pool to lay out in the sun for a while! Then I took a quick swim, went back to my room and ordered a sandwich from room service! My roommate is on the tour, so I have the room to myself and it is really nice to just relax after a day jam-packed with new information.



I'll write again tomorrow night.

Hello from Virginia!

Well, I made it! The WAVA group got into Virginia at 3:15pm Eastern time. We had to go directly to the conference hotel, which is not the hotel where we are staying. We registered at the conference, received our laptop computers, and had a 45 minute training on use and care of the computers, all within about an hour of when we got off the plane! Then there was a reception with hors d'oeuvres, and an open bar (!!!) We met over 600 other WAVA teachers from around the country. Dinner was a buffet, which was good. The dessert was wonderful...I had the chocolate raspberry cake! Then we took a shuttle to check in at our own hotel (about 15 min. away) and finally got to go up to our rooms! Our hotel is pretty nice; there are two pools (but not a lot of free time!



Anyway, tomorrow is a busy day and I need to get to bed!



-Kelli



PS I am already known in my small group of new friends as the "rule breaker". I told them that in my family I am the "rule follower" - they should meet my brothers and dad!