Our days seem progressively more ordinary as we sit here without moving. The adventures have been limited. Today, a haircut, some groceries, drop off a disc at Blockbuster, check out the local Thai restaurant, work, work, work … all very suburban and completely at odds with what we’ve done for the past year and half.
Eleanor has reminded me that it was only 11 days ago that we left Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Funny, it seems like weeks to me. And here I was thinking we needed to break out this weekend for a trip …
Normally after a cold front passes through I’m used to seeing clearer skies. It has been beautiful today but the dust from yesterday’s high winds is still visible against the backdrop of the mountains. In a few days it should be settled, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow, and if there’s a chance to break away from work we may take half a day to drive up to Mt Lemmon.
Sunset between the ocotillo
Another symptom of wanting to hit the road again is finding myself idly browsing the National Park Service website. Coming up on our list is Chiricahua Nationa Monument, not far southeast of here. Chiricahua is at higher altitude so we were waiting for the weather to warm a little more before going.
Today I noticed that the roads in the park and the park campground have a 29-foot trailer limit. Our trailer is called a 30 but in reality is 30 feet 10 inches long, so we can’t stay in the campground. But we can still visit the park. We’ll just have a few logistics to work out.
Eleanor has been reviewing schools and their schedules. Turns out that the 3-month summer vacation we remember as kids no longer exists. Now schools give a couple of weeks here and there, with school being in session nearly year-round.
Whose dumb idea was that? A schedule like that is going to cause us huge trouble, since I have a travel schedule (rallies, events, meetings) that will persist even after we stop full-timing. Will I have to go alone, thus taking us apart for weeks at a time? We’re not psyched. We’ve been together every day since Emma was born, with few exceptions, and we like it that way. This is going to take some serious consideration.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:39 am
May I suggest to you and Eleanor the book, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson. It is worth a read if you are considering extending your homeschool experience. It was written by a public school teacher who, along with his wife, homeschool their own children…he has a stake in both worlds. The New York Times called it, “An argument for putting the family at the center of a child’s education.”
March 29th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
One of our children were in ‘year-round’ school and the other was not! That makes planning even more interesting. I work in education (business computer side) and was told by a fellow business side district worker that ‘year-round’ school is the best ploy to get a bond passed!
Our last child will be out of high school this year so we no longer need to plan everything during the summer. We are looking forward to a fall trip in the southwest. It will be much nicer to plan things now.
March 29th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Emma is going to be happier, better adjusted and incredibly more educated (forget public schools of today)if her parents are content and aren’t “itchy”…itchy leads to bitchy…and that makes children unhappy…plus you probably aren’t going to like the friends she brings home anyway(once you have her in a nice normal neighborhood)..live the life you want to live (on the road) and you will give Emma the finest example by the life she sees you create…I don’t think Emma could have found better parents anywhere…and you can tell from the blog…Emma is already a star…