Sleeting in Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg is a lovely city blended from both German and French

Dockside in Strasbourg

cultures, and I was anxious to walk through its old section with Dave since he hadn’t seen any of it. Even better, we were going to have a tour then time to wander, shop, grab a bite to eat, and finally make our way back to the ship. It’s a lovely place with pretty houses, nice gardens, and picturesque canals. The last time I’d been here it had been sunny, warm, and entirely delightful; this time, not so much.

Georgetown Geography

Cynthia with a new friend

We’ve driven through Georgetown many times on our way to the southern part of the state. From the highway you can see parts of the city, including some of the domed buildings. This time we actually stopped and played in this lovely old town. If you’re planning a visit, check the sports schedules for Georgetown University and for the University of Texas; these activities have a rather negative impact on being able to find places to stay, eat, and visit.

Berkeley Byways

When Teri was a young child living in Texas she told her parents she wanted to go live in

View of San Francisco Bay from Lawrence Hall of Science

Berkeley. Twenty years ago she made this dream come true. She and John live in a pretty house that is often visited by opossums and skunks raiding the cat food dish on the back deck. And the wild turkeys still get the right-of-way on the hilly streets. Whatever I expected the Berkeley area to be, a home to wild animals wasn’t in the picture. Looking up into the hills you see houses surrounded by lush vegetation, while in the other direction there is a wonderful view of the bay. Perched nearly at the top of a hill is an iconic institute: Lawrence Hall of Science. Out of this organization come the underpinnings of innovative science education programs that have been adopted around the country. Before I left academia I was privileged to participate in the distribution of one of these programs, FOSS. I still believe that the best method for teaching science and for getting students intellectually involved is through experimentation; FOSS develops both intellectual involvement and curiosity to support life-long learning. Teri has one of the best jobs on the planet; she writes and tests the curriculum for the FOSS modules.

Riding around Rio Vista

Nolan River

If you are an old-time Texan you know the name of this town is Rye-o Vista not Ree-o Vista! It’s not unusual that Texans pronounce the names of town a little differently than what one would expect, although during some trips I have believed that Waco (Wandering in Waco) should be pronounced Wacko. But I digress…It’s time for the Fort Worth Stock Show and the weather is always iffy, so it didn’t disappoint us when it was a rainy and nasty day. Our drive took us out through what is still cattle and ranch country. It was in this area that cattle were raised to feed the soldiers in both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. The beef was then shipped by rail lines to both sides. The tiny town of Rio Vista hasn’t changed much since then, and there are still only about 650 people in residence.