My Random Keys

I'm waking up numb.

No, it's not because I was out all night drinking. (I really wasn't!) It's not because the bed was too short or because the sheets just don't know how to stay on the mattress. It's not because I have much to do before I go back to work on Monday. I'm numb not because I have logged more walking miles this week or lugged my Discovery tote around for several days.

My brain is buzzing from all of the mental pictures that are popping around inside like atoms in a reactor.  I try to focus on one idea and four more come screaming through the door.

It's Thursday, the last full day of DENSI2015 in Washington, DC.  I've met so many awesome people!  I'm around a large group of people and have met first-timers walk around and own DENSI as well as the veteran attendees. I've seen some of the quietest empower themselves with an awesome, booming digital voice online.  I've seen collaborative note-taking spaces remain sparse because all the fingers of participants were too busy trying new things, using multiple devices to capture or voices were too busy connecting shared ideas into new realities.

How can this week have gone by so quickly?  I will endeavor to focus not on the impending feelings of separation and loss tomorrow, but instead on my continued ADD nightmare.  I already have so much to capture and yet I'm going to sit through another day of being flooded by ideas and future realities that will impact students back home.

I'm waking up numb.  But it's my own fault.  I bought a ticket for the lotto that only has one ball, DENSI2015, and I won.  Now how will I ever spend all of this experience?

Onward.

We got up extra early in Williamsburg and hit the road for Atlanta Georgia. We had big ideas about seeing the Coke exhibit and covering a lot of ground. Mission accomplished!

Yesterday we had a fun time hiking around Gatlinburg, Tennessee and going to the top of Clingman's Dome, where we watched the sun set. M1/spiderman 


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It was decided that Jamestown, or James-Towne, held a higher priority for us, so we started out there.  Seeing the archeological digs, the artifacts, the buildings, glass blower and hearing the stories was great!  ...for me. ;)  Road-weary kids liked it, but to a much-lesser degree. 

Willie Nelson's On The Road Again, not that other stuff he does in the tour bus. Today was a travel day. A long travel day. Looking back at the day, I didn't even take one photo. 

The park has strict rules about no bringing in your own firewood and keeping all containers (that have ever had any food in them) locked inside the cars. Ranger Rick said that there have been more bears in the park this year and "they can smell food inside the package over a mile away."

One of our planned destinations was Grotto Falls.  It was a great, short hike. The worst part really was just finding a place to park on the narrow, parking-challenged motor tour road. There were a lot of friendly people on the trail and many opportunities to take photos of the mountain, streams and waterfalls.  Grotto falls actually allows you to get being the waterfall for your photos.  It was pretty crowded down there, but worth the hike.

My crew took some time back at camp to relax and then we went off for a drive up to Clingman's Dome.  It is the 3rd highest peak east of the Mississippi and provided substantial opportunities for fantastic views.  We, and about 50 close friends, stayed for the sunset over the Appalachians.  We knew it was going to get colder, but the upper 40 degrees in the wind made for very numb fingers as the sun went down.


Day 6: Summer 2015

We left Corinth with our first planned stop squarely in our sights.  Cinderella wanted to go to Subzero Ice Cream before we ever left Texas. The staff wasn't the most friendly, but the novelty of having your cream and toppings quick-frozen with nitrogen was a unique experience.

Wish fulfilled!

Nitrogen tanks provided a desert novelty

Appropriately taken in front of Ripley's.