Pika Meets Laramie - Preview

So...This is NOT the Final Product...

But here are some clips of TheChristyBel in the Pika Outfit in Laramie, WY.

Enjoy.

Stay Tuned For the Final Product!

Xoxo,

TheChristyBel

Fall Teaching Practicum Week Three - Laramie

For our third week on the Outreach Team, we traveled about 6 hours to Laramie.  This is where I was able to teach 4th grade and Kindergarten (for the third week in a row).  4th grade was a pretty challenging class: they had a difficult time retaining some concepts and had a hard time keeping their respect level in check.  Not to mention the teacher was a little controlling and pressured to make sure they were fully grasping what we were teaching and what they were learning.  But it was definitely an experience to have under our belts, because it teaches you about the bigger picture of working with individuals that are not exactly on your wavelength and to have a class that is not the best behaved or controlled.  Definitely a learning experience.

Evidence of Beaver at Vedauwoo State Park.  The one on the Left Looks like a Widow Maker!

Took our 4th graders to Vedauwoo Park outside Laramie for an outdoor field trip that focused on Meteorological Tools and Concepts.  The students learned how to use their hand-made barometers, anemometers, wind vanes, thermometers, and cloud charts.  It was really cool seeing their hand-made creations work outdoors!

An Awesome Nature Find - The Tree Sees You!

On Wednesday, some of the grads were able to finish early and able to explore Laramie and the University of Wyoming Campus.  This was a great opportunity for Christy the Pika to come out and strut her stuff!  I definitely brought some entertainment to the campus!  Able to go around and do some Pika twerking and dancing around campus.  EmJ, a fellow graduate, was able to get these moments on film.  A video is sure to come soon!  So stay tuned!

Christy The Pika Meets Laramie

That night, we got to eat at the Alpine Pub and we were able to draw on the tables!  So, I made EmJ a Thank You Drawing!

Drew EmJ a Picture at Dinner!

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I worked with Joe in the Kindergarten classes.  They were phenomenal: we adopted a tree, named Barky, explored their senses at school and at La Bonte Park, played seasonal Bingo, and read some awesome books!  I really do enjoy working with Kinders.  However, I do feel this may be a way too comfortable comfort zone, it is always a challenge!

Joe and My Kindergartener's Adopted Tree, Barky!

So Proud of Joe: His Wonderful Well-Drawn Path Map

He May Not Like The Little Ones, But they Sure Love Him!

Exploration of Their Senses - Fun With Kindergarteners

Seeing & Touch What is Under the Conifer Tree!

Watching children explore and get outside is such a valuable memory and thing.  Seeing them make connections, realizing things, and the excitement explode from within them is truly inspiring and makes every moment of being a teacher/educator worth it.

Cat-Tail Fluff Party!

The Kinders Joe and I had were awesome.  So excited!  We even got them pumped with throwing some or should I say a lot of Cat-Tail Fluff into the air for a Party!  Probably not the best thing when it got caught in our mouths and everywhere!

Exploration of Senses - Continued

It seems like every week so far, there is a high and low that I have experienced through teaching.  Whether it is how to manage a crazy class, how to handle a crazy teacher, or having some wonderful memories with an awesome group of children.  It really helps me realize and understand, that this is life.  You will not always be given the perfect class and that there will be times of struggle, deep-breathing, patience, and pushing forward.

Onto a Week Off From Teaching & a Week of Community Ecology!

Best,
TheChristyBel

Yellowstone Adventures with Mandy

So Mandy and I went to Yellowstone National Park on Saturday morning.  This was awesome!  The weather again, was absolutely wonderful: a little chilly, but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky!

Escaping Campus with Mandy to Yellowstone, Over the Continental Divide!

Drove about 2 hours north of the Grand Teton National Park to Yellowstone, driving over the Continental Divide to see some of the most well-known geysers in the country.

Arrived Just In Time for The Show!

Such great timing when we arrived: 1.) there were practically NO TOURISTS!  I remember visiting here in late-July, early-August with Sean and Nate, and this place was jam-packed full of people!  Today, there was practically NO ONE!  So cool!  2.) as soon as we pull into the visitor center area, Old Faithful goes off and we had a great welcoming to the park, practically!

Tea Kettle Spring

There were so many geysers and springs to look at!  Some were really tiny, some were bulging out of the Earth, some were pretty active: gurgling and bubbling or even erupting!  Some were just simmering with steam.  Either way, they were awesome to look at!  The colors were really cool too, from the bacterial mats and sulfur deposits.  The only thing that definitely got to me a little was the rotten-egg smell...headachy!

Geologic Mess!

The bacterial mats were really pretty!  I am not going to lie, I wanted to touch one!  Such a child!  Don't worry, I did NOT!

Bacterial Plumes

Being Tourists for the Day...Just Let Us!

Beach Spring!

Tri-Geysers

We also saw some wildlife as well: besides some of the fattest and hugest ravens ever, we saw some bison hanging in the fields.  Very cool!  I love the bison out here.  They are just sooooo cute!  I just want to snuggle one!  Or at least ride on one!  Just let me!

Bison 'Cooling' Off in the River Near Geysers

During lunch, we ate on the boardwalk path around the geysers.  Just in time, again, for Old Faithful to go off!  It was really cool seeing her erupt from the back, since from the front it was mostly steam.  So to actually see the water shoot up was really cool!

Old Faithful  (From the Back) During Lunch

On our way back to the car, totally looked down on the gravel around the wooded-boardwalk path, and guess what we found immersed through the bison tracks: a bear track!  Totally identified it!  Since I saw the four-toes (no claw marks) and the paw print.  Plus it was the size of my hand, so I knew it was not a canine.  Crazy and so exciting!

May Have Found a Bear Track!  Possibly Black Bear!

Not Going to Lie....Really Wanted to Go Swimming in These! haha.

Turtle Shell Geyser?

On our way back to Kelly, totally stopped by an area that looked like it had been dried up.  I cannot remember this exact places name, but it is in one of our text books.  I'll find it and write it back in later.

Being Tourists!

Then we stopped at Lewis Lake.  This was a nice little relaxing moment to lay on the shore of the lake, and look at the rocks that covered the shore!  So pretty!

Rock Samples from Lewis Lake...Shhhhh!

Being a Tourist!

Escaping to Yellowstone was absolutely fun with Mandy!  Great excuse to get off campus and a great way to celebrate such a beautiful day by heading to a beautiful place (especially since it closes next week for the winter season).

Until next time,
TheChristyBel

A New Fish Friend

Let me back track: so for a few weeks now, Joe and I have been talking about how I really want a pet for my cabin.  Obviously, I am not allowed to have my one true wish, a cat...so a fish may be the next best thing.

So, for years now, people have come to the Kelly Warm Springs and have dumped their aquarium fish in this warm spring.  The environment is perfect for them: warm temperature water, plenty of food (so much bacteria live in this water), and it is a huge spring.

TheChristyBel Risking Her Life in the Fecal Infested Warm Spring!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, Fellow TSS Graduate Student

Joe had this great idea that if I found a container to keep it in, we would go to the warm spring and get one! Done!

So I bought a fish bowl, gravel, and some food at the Walmart in Laramie and when we got back...well, it was just up to me to pick out a fish!

Let me tell you first off about this warm spring!  It is soooooo gross!  It is not a hot spring, where things and bacteria can be killed off due to high temperatures, so bacteria will thrive here.  Meaning, it is not the best spring to go swimming in...but people do anyway!  So nasty!  Apparently there is high amounts of E-coli and Fecal bacteria in it...not surprised!

But anyways, so after dinner on Friday night a whole group of us went to the warm spring after dinner and tried to catch Christy a fish!

Heather, Documenting this Moment
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, Fellow TSS Graduate Student

It was a big party: Leah, Em-J, Joe, Charlie, Hazel, Heather, and I all piled into a car and drove to the warm spring.  Joe and Charlie were determined to catch the fish with a fishing rod.  I on the other hand, grabbed my Muk Boots, my extremely little net, and went into the warm spring.  It smelled soooooo bad - like poop!

Joe, Ready to Catch a Big One for My Fish Bowl!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, Fellow TSS Graduate Student

A Little Scary that 'Green' is the True Color of the Kelly Warm Spring.
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, Fellow TSS Graduate Student

After an hour of trying to catch with a net or with a rod, the person who caught the fish, was Christy, herself, by just placing the bowl in the water and scooting the fish into the bowl!  So funny!

Joe and Charlie were pretty disappointed they did not catch the fish.  But I think Joe and Charlie want to try and catch me a goldfish to have my little black stripey a friend!

Can We Talk About How Christy Caught the Fish With a FishBowl
While Joe & Charlie Had Fishing Rods and Didn't Catch Anything....Wow!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, Fellow TSS Graduate Student

Hopefully I'll have a fishy friend for my fishy friend soon!  Until then, enjoy some videos and photos of my fish adventure!

Xoxo,

TheChristyBel

Meet My New Cabin Friend: My Kelly Warm Springs Fish!

Escaping Off Campus: Two Ocean Hike

So, this morning, I really needed to escape campus and do something outside.  Maybe it was a feeling of 'cabin fever,' but I think I needed to just venture out on my own.  So I texted my friend Chris (a friend of a friend from EMS who lives also in the park), and told him we should go on a hike.  He suggested Two Ocean Lake since it was still in the park, far enough away from Kelly, and had some great views.

Two Ocean Lake was roughly a 6.0-mile round trip.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous!  It was definitely shore-sleeved weather!  I couldn't believe it!  But we just strolled along the trails, chatted, and just had a great time outside.

Overlooking the Grand Range!

It was nice hiking with someone new that was not associated with the grad program.  I think there comes a point where you just need to go do things on your own, at your own pace.  Mainly I think space was needed, at least for me.

Two Ocean Lake

We had a little snack-lunch thing in the tall grasses of the Two Ocean Lake.  It was absolutely beautiful there.  There were no clouds in the sky, it was warm, and just an overall great day to be in the park on a Friday-Day-Off!

The Golden Brown Willows

Such a great day!  Next entries, you will hear about a new fishy-friend that now lives in my cabin and my trip to Yellowstone with Mandy!

Until then,
TheChristyBel

Jackson Peak & Wildlife

So after a week of Place-Based Education, Mandy, Dani, and I had Friday off and decided to escape campus and do some hiking! Plus, it was also time to celebrate the parks reopening.

However, dogs are not allowed on National Park land so we decided to go into the Bridger-Teton National Forest instead and take Geo on a hike!  Geo is Dani's adorable border collie.

We knew it was going to be snowy but I did not realize how snowy it would be. I wore some of my hiking boots with gaiters. Next time, insulated boots! The snow was a dry snow unlike home where your gear gets so wet so quickly. So I was dry but kind of cold.

We decided to try and hike Jackson Peak. We all had not really hiked a whole lot since the beginning of the semester so if we made it to the top, great. If not, next time.

I was just a little excited and nervous about some of my first snowy hiking adventures!

Our View On the Trail Towards Jackson Peak

The hike up was gorgeous. The views here are beyond spectacular and I cannot get bored of them!

Dani's Dog, Geo, Loves Hanging Out with the TSS Grads!
Most Importantly, Loves to Have Sticks Thrown For Him.

Geo is such a hoot! He loves to play and loves people. He always wants to play fetch. If you do not give him a stick, he will go off trail and try to pull one for you. Even if that means a stick way beyond his mouth size!

Such an Amazing View and Hike...Even With Snow

We stopped at a clearly on a ridge for lunch. Again, with a beauitful view.

Geo Waits Patiently...With a Serious Face for Someone to Play With Him

The entire time, Geo trying to get our attention. If we did not have a stick to throw, we would throw him snowballs. It was so funny. He would chomp down on it, practically spit it out, and wait for the next one to be thrown. Silly dog!

We mostly chatted the entire time and did not make it to the top. Next time!  On our way down, I could not help but examine the snow! It looked so different from the snow back home in Delaware.

The Snow Up Here is SOOOOOO Different From Back Home

The crystals were so well defined, bigger, and prettier! Not to mention this snow is uber dry! Not very good snowball material!

Look at the Crystals of the Snow Flakes!
Nerding-Out!

On our way home back into non-snow territory: we ran into a traffic jam of bison hanging in the middle of the Gros Ventre Road. It still amazes me about living and driving through this national park with so much wildlife everywhere. And I do not think I can ever get tired of seeing them!

Bison In the Road - Preventing Us From Getting Home

Back on the Homeland...a Beautiful View!

After passing the bison traffic jam, we got back just in time for a PHENOMENAL sunset over the Tetons.  Again, the colors and the views were unbelievable.  Little did we know we had another surprise waiting for us back in the Grad Circle.

Cannot Ever Get Tired of The Colors

The Yard in the Grad Circle was Graced with Moose!

I love having the moose on campus!  So many of the reasons why I chose this place.  This family that has been hanging out on campus really makes themselves at home. After surviving the bison traffic jam, we come to find the moose family nestled down in the yard of the Grad Circle. It was really cool. One of the grads, Leah, was able to sit on her porch step of her cabin and watch them. Luckily she had a place to resort to if the moose got a little territorial or nervous.

An A-Moose-Ment Park!

Such an eventful day of nature, snow, bison, and moose! Hopefully every other day will be as excitingly jam-packed as today's was!

Into Snowier Days to Come,

TheChristyBel

First Snow Hike - Accomplished and Survived!

Moose on the Loose on Campus

Look Who Showed Up to Breakfast This Morning?

This blog entry is for you, Luke.  You would have loved today here on the Kelly Campus.  Your favorite animal of all time came to visit us today!  So I hope you can live these moments through these next photos and videos!  All I know is, that this just means, you have to come back and visit so you can experience this for yourself!

Anyways, you would think that today was going to be an ordinary Sunday back on the Kelly Campus.  It's nice being on the Outreach Team and travel everywhere, but when you are gone all week, it is nice to wake up in your own bed, in your own cabin, and enjoy what you have in your own backyard.  This morning, Mandy, Joe, Dani, and I met very early (around 7:30am) to work on our Community Ecology's Research Project Proposal.  Sitting in the conference room all working on the proposal in Google Docs, Joe was trying to explain our methods to the rest of us, and was interrupted mid-sentence to a female beauty walking in front of the main lodge!

Momma Cow Moose and Her Baby!

All of a sudden we hear, "Oh, look! A Moose!"  And of course I spring up to the window!  Low and behold we come to see a cow moose and her young trotting a morning stroll in front of the dining and main lodges.  We quietly go onto the porch to observe the momma stopping, literally in front of us at some of the trees on the front side of the dining lodge.

Breakfast Time!

Seeing her browse on the willows and shrubs was really cool to see up close!  She can literally strip off all the leaves of a branch in seconds!  What a great 30-minute distraction from our morning work-session!

She was so beautiful!

Her baby was a little skiddish.  I accidentally laughed a little too loud, and of course, the baby went running away.  But Momma Moose just kept eating the vegetation.  So after realizing there was no danger, the young came back and had some breakfast with mom.  Adorable!

Family Breakfast Time!

Seeing the moose eat was really cool to watch!  I am still amazed on how fast they can strip off leaves!

You Know...Just Eating all the Leaves on this Tree. NBD.

Enjoy the video of Momma Moose Browsing and Nipping the Tip of the Branches!

Joe Got Some One-On-One Time with Momma Moose!

After we got our proposal finished and turned in, I decided to go back to my cabin for some relaxing time before I got back into homework mode...and before I knew it, I had a visitor!

TheChristyBel Can't Come Out of Her Cabin...There's a Moose at Her Door!
Photo Credit to Mandy Redpath, fellow TSS Graduate Student.

And well, even though there is no one stopping me from breaking NPS regulations, I can assure you, I was abiding the rules and decided to stay in my cabin and wait for the beautiful creature to leave.  I mean, she was very cute and all, and OF COURSE ALL I WANT TO DO IS NUZZLE HER FACE!  But to go up against a several hundred pound moose with her young in the area...that is a 'No Go' on cuddling!

...'Come to My Window!'...

It was such a treat to sit at my desk and see her just eating and browsing at the Wild Rose!  It really freaked me out how big she really is, as well!  Her hoof alone is the size of my hand, if not bigger!  Not to mention her head is probably the size of my upper body to some extent!

Just Chowing Down at the Vegetation!

She Left No Trace...Except These!

Her Hooves Were the Size of My Hand!

What a Day...Full of Moose Visits!  My Life is Now Complete! ... Well, I mean, once I can pet one, then my life is complete.  But it's a great start!  Haha.  Enjoy all the photos and videos.  Believe me, I have more, but I had to limit myself to under 20 for this blog entry...bah!

Next Blog Update: Outreach Team - Week Two: Casper!

Moose!
TheChristyBel

My Life it Complete...Up Close and Personal With Moose!