The previous two stories had a serious tone so it is time to return to the fun. When I was teaching at Montview I had the good fortune to help write the science curriculum for the district. I was a part of the first and second-grade team. It was a joy to work with some of the best people in our district. One of the opportunities we had was to go to the NSTA (National Science Teaching Association) Conference in Las Vegas. The good news is that I will share several stories about the trip. I wanted to start with a couple of little ones and save the bigger and funnier ones for later. If you have ever been to Las Vegas, the strip is a hefty walk even on a good day. I had the notion that it didn’t look that long when we were flying into the airport. A great friend, Mark Rodie, was a pleasure to be around and one of the best teachers I have ever met. We decided to start at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and walk to the older part of downtown on the strip. This is mistake number one. It made the Bataan Death March look like a stroll in the park. It was hot and we were wearing nice clothes and dress shoes which is mistake number two. We are so focused on getting downtown that we did not even take a lot of time going into the hotels and casinos which is now mistake number three. It didn’t occur to us to take a taxi or bus because that would be shortcutting the whole activity. We are now up to mistake number four but you can bet that we rack up a few more mistakes.
On the way back we decide to stop in and visit the Stratosphere for something to drink. Mistake number five is now in the books. Mistake number six becomes frightening. Some who may be reading this know that I am afraid of heights and others may know that there is a rollercoaster on top of the Stratosphere tower. Some of you are jumping ahead to mistake number seven. You would be wrong. That will be mistake number eight. The answer to mistake number seven is three margaritas. That is how many is required to get me on the roller coaster. That leads to mistake number eight which is riding the roller coaster. By far the biggest mistake is number nine when I decided to open my eyes and look at the scenery. I am uncertain that I kissed the ground when I got back to street level but I know I was never more relieved. So that we do not end on an odd number, number ten and the final mistake was still walking back to our hotel. I have had many wonderful trips to Las Vegas since ranging from other conferences to family vacations but as they say, I will never forget my first. I have now violated the cardinal rule of Las Vegas and told what happened in Vegas!