Author: rcragun
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dinosaurs at the zoo
The local zoo had a dinosaur exhibit recently. We took Toren a couple of times, but he didn’t really seem to like it (despite liking Dinosaur Train); he was scared. Here’s a picture of him by one of the dinosaurs: I, of course, had to get a picture of me taunting a dinosaur, since I’m…
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chocolate lover
While Toren still eats veggies (he loves corn, broccoli, carrots, and green beans), he has found his sweet tooth. I made a chocolate dessert one night and let Toren and Debi lick the bowl. This was the result:
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Easter
We spent most of Easter at the house of some friends where we had a delicious brunch and then went swimming (Toren’s favorite part, of course). Our friends took a few pictures. Here I am getting Toren dressed after swimming: And here’s Toren kissing their dog, Chloe:
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 7
This was our last day in the Park. We got up quite early, broke camp, then headed up to the trailhead of Angel’s Landing, which is one of the more famous hikes in the park. It’s famous because it runs along a razorback for about 1/2 a mile to the top. To help secure hikers,…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 6
I think our volunteer coordinator, Jessica, felt bad after the previous day’s project as our project this day was quite lite – cleaning up tent caterpillars from the Visitor’s Center. Tent caterpillars (which become brown moths) are particularly pervasive in the park this year. The also are messy. They spread their webbing everywhere, particularly on…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 5
The project we were supposed to do on Monday that was scrubbed because of the rain was moved to Thursday. Near the Nature Center in the park are several vegetation “islands” (surrounded by concrete curbs) that the rangers wanted to reclaim from the invasive plant species that had taken them over and replant with native…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 4
I was very impressed with our volunteer coordinator, Jessica, for choosing this volunteer opportunity. While Zion National Park gets lots of people offering to volunteer every year (Jessica said about 450), smaller parks and monuments don’t get as many offers from people wanting to volunteer. Since there are other National Parks around the Zion area,…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 3
The first few nights in Zion were very, very cold. With the rain falling, the temperatures dropped to the low 40s. A few students were cold at night, but once it was explained to them that the easiest solution was to layer on clothes, most slept okay. Even so, getting up in the morning before…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 2
Monday was our first day of volunteering. The day dawned wet and cold, which scuttled the original plan (though we ended up doing it a few days later) and instead headed to the east side of the park to pick up trash at various turnouts. We spent the morning picking up trash, wrapping up around…
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Zion Volunteering Trip – Day 1
I just returned from a week of volunteering (and hiking) in Zion National Park. The trip was arranged through the University of Tampa’s PEACE office. Eleven students, one staff member, and myself made up our group (13 total). Here’s a rundown of what we did. Our first day began before “bright and early” – we…