Seattle, by train!

Tonight, I'm in a room on the 11th floor of the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Seattle. I'm here because I'm attending a conference put on by the OSPI (that's the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to you). Two whole days of classes and seminars about... well, educationy stuff. To tell the truth, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here. I mean to say, I know why I'm here - I'm the only language arts/social studies member of my 8th grade team who isn't a) retiring in June or b) doing double duty on the 7th grade team as well. As Khrista, my boss, put it, "somebody has to volunteer to go. Somebody. Somebody."

"Do you mean me, Khrista?"

(pregnant pause) "No-o, not necessarily..." (insert meaningful-looking nod in my direction.

"Okay, I'll go."

Actually, I will be learning all about the new classroom-based assessments (CBA's to me) that are going to REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY WE TEACH SOCIAL STUDIES!!!!!!!!! Yeah. We'll see.

Still, I get a truckload of clock hours (Washington teachers need 150 educational training hours every five years; my certificate just rolled over this school year, so I have to earn 30 for '06-'07 to stay on track. I've currently got something like 15 or so, and the next couple days could very well be worth another 20. Woo-hoo! Ahead of the curve!)

Anyway, there's a big ol' group of us here from my district - a bunch of math and science teachers got here yesterday (I'm rooming with my buddy from the 7th grade team, Brett. He's snoring right now). We got all together at one teacher's house, and piled into the van under sunny skies. We decided to stop by the local coffee shop for a mocha and a bagel to tide us over until we got up to Seattle and were able to get dinner.

By the time we got out of Brewed Awakenings, it was snowing.

By the time we were on Highway 14, it was coming down hard.

Halfway to I-5, we took a vote, and decided to ditch the whole "taking your life into your own hands driving on a slick interstate highway for four plus hours" and head over to the Amtrak station.

For 34 bucks, we each got a ticket on the Coast Starlight. Double decker, observation car, dining car, recliner seats with integrated leg- and foot rests, and about the nicest staff you've ever seen.

About Kelso (maybe 25 miles up), the ground turned pure white. I sat, mesmerized at the beauty of it all. At the stop in Tacoma, I took a photo with my phone of this fir tree all covered in snow. I'll download it from my phone when I get home and post it here.

All in all, a pretty magical trip.

The only way it could've been better would be if my wife and girls were with me to share the magic. I miss all four of them terribly.

Sigh. Friday's only two days away.