Last weekend
Well, I guess I should get around to posting this. Last weekend I went to the West coast Noyce scholars conference. The Noyce scholarship is what is currently paying for me to get my math teaching certification, and also what is requiring me to do so. When we left Pullman Friday it was 15 degrees or so. When we got off the plane in Ontario, CA, it was about 55 degrees and we didn't have to wear a coat outside. I was under the impression that Southern California was one giant urban sprawl, and this may still be the case. We however were in Pomona, on the side of a hill, with hills all around us and areas that weren't completely overpopulated. We could even see a mountain with snow on it from where we were. Saturday was almost completely clear and the view was great.
When we checked in Friday, there was a marriage conference going on at the same time. The person at the desk asked if we were there for it. This seemed a bit strange, as our group consisted of 4 guys, one of which was significantly older than the rest. My first thought was "we're in California alright." The conference itself wasn't bad, and we got a bunch of free stuff. I managed to meet someone from the University of Arizona who grew up on Vashon Island and recognized Shannon's family.
Dave drove over from Azuza Pacific, and I got to have my very first Jamba Juice smoothie. It was actually pretty good. I'll never understand people who have one a day at $4 a piece. Hanging out with Dave was also a blast, as we drank our smoothies in the entryway of the Jamba Juice because it was raining and there weren't any chairs available inside.
On the flight back, our flight got delayed and I was a bit concerned if we were going to leave at all, given the snow that was supposed to be falling. It turned out that we had a tailwind all the way up and made up the 20 minutes that we were delayed, but lost it all again sitting on the runway in Spokane in the snow while the plane in our gate got de-iced. When we arrived, a look at the monitors revealed that a flight from Sacramento landing about the same time as ours was canceled, and another from Los Angeles about 30 minutes later was also canceled.
The drive home was rather uneventful, except for the car slowing everyone down when the roads weren't that bad.
Today, everyone is snowed in. Shannon just called me and told me it took her 20 minutes just go get out of our neighborhood onto Grand Ave. She and one doctor were the only people to make it to her work today.
When we checked in Friday, there was a marriage conference going on at the same time. The person at the desk asked if we were there for it. This seemed a bit strange, as our group consisted of 4 guys, one of which was significantly older than the rest. My first thought was "we're in California alright." The conference itself wasn't bad, and we got a bunch of free stuff. I managed to meet someone from the University of Arizona who grew up on Vashon Island and recognized Shannon's family.
Dave drove over from Azuza Pacific, and I got to have my very first Jamba Juice smoothie. It was actually pretty good. I'll never understand people who have one a day at $4 a piece. Hanging out with Dave was also a blast, as we drank our smoothies in the entryway of the Jamba Juice because it was raining and there weren't any chairs available inside.
On the flight back, our flight got delayed and I was a bit concerned if we were going to leave at all, given the snow that was supposed to be falling. It turned out that we had a tailwind all the way up and made up the 20 minutes that we were delayed, but lost it all again sitting on the runway in Spokane in the snow while the plane in our gate got de-iced. When we arrived, a look at the monitors revealed that a flight from Sacramento landing about the same time as ours was canceled, and another from Los Angeles about 30 minutes later was also canceled.
The drive home was rather uneventful, except for the car slowing everyone down when the roads weren't that bad.
Today, everyone is snowed in. Shannon just called me and told me it took her 20 minutes just go get out of our neighborhood onto Grand Ave. She and one doctor were the only people to make it to her work today.