Sean Markey |

For the next few days I’ll be in Sevier County, Utah. (Or Richfield, specifically). I’ll be teaching chemistry to the 5th graders at area elementary schools.

This is my first trip to this part of Utah (southern-central), so I’m excited to see the sights during the day, as I arrived at night. It was a harrowing ride through the snow coming down thick, and the icy buildup on the roads, but my little rental car held up well, and I arrived safely.

Super exhausted, though, so I’m heading to bed. Pics of Sevier will be up tomorrow, hopefully.

Also, I guess I should post a little bit more about what it is a do, since I haven’t really said much.

Later, surely.

One thing (of many) I love about my new job is the cool places get to visit. Today I went to a little town called Eden. It was about an hour north, then east across some very scary and snowy mountain passes.

But oh my, there were some gorgeous sights to see. This is a picture from along the canyon road, somewhere along Cache Valley forest road… or something. It was too lovely to pay attention to the name.

On the way to San Jose, CA for the World Fantasy Convention, sometimes a state can surprise.  Nevada looked more like Wyoming than the Nevada I expected to see.  (Hey NV, that’s a compliment).  There were mountains, rolling hills, weathered rocks, and of course, Forty Mile Desert.  I think we saw some natural hot springs (of the highly acidic kind?), but I’m not sure.  If so, that would be a first.

By a road-construction coincidence, the scariest part of the day was Donner Pass, near the NV/CA border.  No, we weren’t shut down at the pass by a blizzard, and we did not hike with snow shoes for 100 miles to a “nearby” fort.  We did not stop for any snacks, either.

The lane was squeezed on both sides by temporary concrete walls.  It was like driving through the center of a boa constrictor’s hold, or that scene in every action movie where they’re stuck in the trash compactor scene and the walls are crushing together (I’m glaring at you, Wall-E).

Beth was at the wheel for the crossing of the treacherous Donner Pass, and she did great, and many many hours later we arrived at our hotel THE END?? And also we get free parking here because we drive a HYBRID.  But don’t worry, I’ve seen that South Park episode, and our smug levels are a a non-lethal level.

And now I’m off to explore downtown San Jose and FIND SALT BAGELS (FOR THE GIRL), because OMG THEY HAVE SALT BAGELS HERE.  Salt Lake City fails so hard on this account.  Yay for the little luxuries of travel.

Beth and I are back in Salt Lake City.  The Orlando airport was extremely crowded, and the flight home was long and uncomfortable, with moderate turbulence, but, here we are.

I don’t really miss the humidity of the southeast, but we spent a lot of time at the beach, playing in the water during the day, and watching the ghost crabs scurry around at night (not to mention the milky, starry sky found over such unlit areas).

We saw a turtle nest (the turtle comes out of the water, digs a hole, lays eggs, and then it’s back in the ocean.  The nests are federally protected and the government will totally prosecute your ass if you mess with them, but they are roped off, and very visible); we saw shrimp boats, and got to experience a little heavy surf from an off-shore tropical wave.

It was nice to visit the family and introduce them to Beth.  Much mutual liking was achieved, and now it is time to get the house clean and the office organized, because I start teaching in about 1 week (!!!!).

Ghost Crab! (They’re fast and semi translucent at night.  Ghosts)

(Photo - not mine)