out of the ordinary...if it's not challenging, why do it?

memorial day weekend-i hope everyone had a chance to take the time to show appreciation for those who have given everything in order that we may live in the country that we do, in the way we do. truly appreciative.

as the weekend began, i got a text that suggested to: do something out of the ordinary. it's so much easier to fall into the routine. but it stuck with me when i woke up saturday morning. after having no 'takers' for climbing at the silos, i decided that it would be a great day to take a daytrip to go hiking. so i looked up texas state parks to see if there was something suitable, and settled on caprock canyon state park. having been a fourth grade teacher, i learned all about the various regions of tx, and i've not been to this region. i was excited to explore this area. 

texas boasts 11 different ecological regions, and i am wondering if it might be wise to get a year pass for the state parks-there are so many, it should be on my bucket list. i didn't realize the drive was going to be so long, but i should have expected that the state patrol would be out... thank goodness i took my trusty, little friend along!

saved me from at least 5 tickets!

the one thing i forgot to do, which in hindsight was foolish, was that i didn't let anyone know where i was going...oops. and on the way there i was thinking, at least i'm wearing my heartlight ring, and i have a custom tattoo on my foot which would be an identifier...

upon arrival, i wasn't sure exactly where to go, so i stopped at the visitor center and paid my $4, and got instructions. then i took off in search of my starting point...after about 3 wrong turns, i finally located the parking spot i was looking for. 

got my map and 'do not feed the bison' sign. 

 it was about .5 miles to the entrance of the trail i was looking for. i got a late start, so i had to take a shorter trail (about 2.29 mi), but it was the only one marked 'very challenging,' and if you're going on a hike, a normal hike would never do...especially if you drove almost 5 hours to get there! it was the john hayne's trail, and it was beautiful!

getting there

the loose rocks made the jog back a little treacherous, but i'm like a mountain goat (similarity being in the sure-footedness, thank you...)

and a bit of this to get to the top

friendly monument on the way

thankful for the markers, as not all that looks like trails are necessarily trails!

and the views...

i knew my limits, drank plenty of water and did not approach the bison...i failed to tell others where i'd be, and absolutely did not wear a helmet. next time i will get 4 out of 5, but you won't catch me with a helmet on.

the red trail-i didn't have time, but i wanted to go to the fern cave

i did jog a bit of the trail on the way back, and it was invigorating...i was only able to do so, because i kept drinking my water. they asked that we carry a gallon, and all i had were h2o bottles, so by the time i'd gotten to the top end of the trail, i'd drank quite a bit of it, and it made the carrying sack a bit lighter. when i got to the bottom end of the trail, i started jogging the .5 back toward the car, and i heard a girl at the foot of the trail (resting in the shade with her bf and dog) say, "it's almost 100 degrees out here." i think she was alluding to the fact that it was ridiculous to be running in the heat-

 it was a beautiful hike, and while i enjoyed the alone time, this type of hiking is much more enjoyable with friends-i certainly would've welcomed any of my former kampers, counselors and even friends who just wanted to get out and enjoy nature, but such was not the case this time-perhaps next time a planned trip, take the tent, have a campfire...an easy getaway. but i think next up may be caddo park, and kayaking among the mangroves. a different beautiful!

 the rest of the weekend was pretty normal-except for one other thing-but that's another post.

this week has flown by like a derailed train. too much going on.

we had a retirement party for two phenomenal staff ladies. Mrs. Pleasant and Mrs. Barrett. these two ladies have been such assets at cabell! they bring joy and passion! they will certainly be missed!

thank you for your commitment and dedication! it has been an honor!

 we've also had our awards ceremonies and such; i've been busy trying to work on some summer school curriculum/materials/planning and preparing so that our teachers who have so graciously agreed to work summer school are not overwhelmed by the district's less-than-impressive summer readiness 'curriculum'. i have spent way more time on this than is acceptable...and i cannot imagine the headache it would have been if it were left to the teachers to come up with everything on their own (printing, making copies, creating classes in the different tech software, etc). it doesn't help that we cannot be on our own campus, due to remodeling, and hence we don't have all of the pieces to the puzzle yet, but we start next monday. #wingingit

fortunately, the garden has started showing some blooms, and that makes my heart light:

passion fruit

 it has been so busy this week, in fact that it seems almost unreal that tomorrow will be the last time i say goodbye to our fifth graders on the cabell lawn-i'm sure there will be another post on that later, but i haven't had time to process that. even tomorrow, i will have to arrive to school early in order to get things done that i have overlooked and things that i didn't even realize needed to be done. with that, it will be a long day, so i will now get some sleep.

 julie