The Charlotte Mason Institute's western conference takes place about a six-hours drive from me. Last year, I stayed home with a newborn, so I was happy to be able to go this year.
I drove down with a friend, through the Central Valley, halfway over the Grapevine, and then through the desert. Since I was passenger, I got to take a bunch of pictures from the road. You'll have to pardon the window glare, but I couldn't resist sharing some of these because the landscape is just so striking. We drove straight into a dust storm. We marveled over the joshua trees and yucca of Angeles Forest. (I love you, California.)
But. Did I mention it was 110 degrees?
Yeah.
It stayed over 100 for the whole conference, and the evenings dipped maybe into the high 70s...maybe. Thankfully the campus was beautiful, because we did a lot of very hot walking.
I presented workshops on exams and foreign language. (My exams talk was a version of the webinar I did for Learning How to Live last year, and the foreign language was a significant reworking of a talk from CM West two years ago.)
I went to several great presentations on a variety of topics, including math, upper-level science, masterly inactivity and more.
Even better were the chats at meals and breaks. Charlotte Mason mamas are wonderful.
Another highlight was nature journaling on the lawn on Friday night. It was shady and the temps had dipped down just enough to make it very pleasant.
But I have to say: probably my favorite part was the detour my friend and I took on the way home to the Getty in Los Angeles! LOL We spent about three hours wandering and enjoying and it was fabulous. Goodness, I love that place.
I found a couple Turners, our artist for this term. I made sure to snap photos to show the kids!
A few last looks at the view...
Sun was setting as we came back through Angeles National Forest and down into the Valley.
We were hoping to get home by midnight despite our long museum detour, but our GPS kept playing time estimate games with us and we didn't get home until well after.
Totally worth it!
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