patrick.net

cajun,

I'm certainly not looking for horticulture classes for a college credit, it's more a matter of personal interest and maybe branching back into a career area that I'm really passionate about.

SQT,

Coming from the land of private colleges and $20K+ state U tuitions (Virginia and MD), even the UC system is a bargain. I took a couple Berkeley summer classes one summer as an out of state student and still found them remarkably affordable.

One thing I'd think about, if I had kids, is to move to Georgia when my kids get close to college age. They offer a full ride for in state students and their university system is pretty good.

SQT,

I go back and forth. I think it's actually far more likely that I'd move to Canada or Australia if I planned to have children. (Provided my strike it rich and send my kids to Exeter doesn't quite work out). It's not just the education costs, it's also the medical costs and the general culture of American public schools and the closemindedness I see all around this society. I've spent all the years of my life in China and US, two countries so big that they pretend like the rest of the World doesn't exist. I want a bit more intimate and globally aware society for my kids.

SQT,

I think your kids will grow up terrific and globally aware even if they don't travel too much. There's just so much out there on the internet, in books, and in classes. Those things all fine tune awareness and sensitivity to new experiences. You show that awareness when you talk about your time in Japan Nope, I don't think your kids will turn into the sort of ugly Americans that DS has generalized about.

One thing I'd highly recommend, especially while your kids are young, is to travel to see more of the national parks. Newsfreak seems to have really enjoyed travelling with her family to see the parks and I too have enjoyed the national parks, especially on the Colorado Plateau. The scenery is just so amazing and I've learnt so much just by talking to people I meet and by hiking the trails.

PS - I finally went through editing my pictures, here's some highlights

http://tinyurl.com/enlle

Wow - great photos!

Yosemite, Bryce, Zion and Arches?

North AZ/South UT is one of the most amazing landscapes I've ever seen. I could go back there every year and never get bored.

speedingpullet,

The set is pulled from all my digital pictures. So there's some pictures from Yosemite, Lassen, China, Death Valley, Columbia River Gorge, and Berkeley pictures too.

Here's a longer but slightly better labelled album

http://tinyurl.com/gln2v

SQT,

It would be terrific. If you do plan to go. My rec would be to avoid July and August, they're hot and are the primary flash flood season.

Also, check out these four sites for more pictures and info.

http://www.zionnational-park.com/

http://terragalleria.com/

(pictures from all over, with lots of pictures from all US national parks)

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/zion/

(mostly technical canyons but some info on family style hikes and general info)

http://www.climb-utah.com/

Check the nps.gov site for details. November is probably fine most of the Colorado Plateau except Grand Canyon North Rim, Cedar Breaks, and a couple other high altitude places.

It's even better if you can drive there in your SUV. There's a lot of unpaved roads in the area, many are fine with low clearance 2wd, but 4wd tend to take you to the most interesting places.