5.26.14
My Aunt Dorothy proved her sewing skills are second to none when she sent this cute 1920's "onsie" to Zephyr after he was born last year. He was finally big enough to model the enesemble today and just might have started a new retro 1920's trend in baby fashion.

5.26.14
Photos from spring break that I neglected to post earlier:
Ellen completed the SLO Half Marathon rather quickly, so she decided that we also needed to hike up Bishop Peak before we left SLO.

A fun, somewhat relaxing trip to South Lake Tahoe during Spring Break. It had been 70 degrees prior to our arrival, but the snow gods decided California needed a bit more moisture for the year while we were there.

3.27.14
GEOSCIENCE CLASSES CLICK HERE CLIMATE GRAPH LAB

2.17.14

Laura and I cannot believe that Zephyr has been with us for one year. So to celebrate such a cool kid’s birthday we went on a mini-vacation to Monterey and even PriceLine splurged for the Hyatt Regency for two nights (nice place, but thin walls). Upon our arrival we took a great stroll along Asilomar State Beach. Day two was a full day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We ended our vacation on day three with a lovely hike through Cypress Cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The photos say it all… Zephyr loves being outdoors and especially loves birds.

GEOSCIENCE CLASSES CLICK HERE FOR PLATE TECTONIC LABS!

1.28.14

With Laura and Zephyr staying home with Laura’s friends I was itching to get out of the house and take advantage of the nutty drought. The lack of snow in the Sierras and unseasonably warm weather drew our attention to Hetch Hetchy once again. The 2014 version of the Hetch Hetchy hike was surreal. The temp was in the low 70’s. The Rim Fire laid waste to the Evergreen Road corridor and a good portion of the trail between the tunnel and Wapama Falls.. We saw a bear ambling along the road when it should have been sound asleep. We saw one measly patch of snow along the South Fork Tuolumne River. I caught a huge brown trout while standing near the old dam top and road. And I missed sharing the experience with Z and Laura. But my parents were good hiking company and the day was absolutely, horrifyingly perfect for March… to bad it was the middle of January.

CLICK HERE FOR VIRTUAL EARTHQUAKE LAB!
San Francisco Area simulation is Required.
Complete the other simulations for extra credit.

12.31.13
Happy New Year! We visited Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite Valley yesterday after dropping-off a few wildlink calendars to our friends at NatureBridge in El Portal. It was Zephyr's first time in the "snow".

12.26.13

Zephyr's first Christmas Eve, First Christmas and first time staying up past 9:30pm. Mom and dad are pooped.

12.15.13

A quick photo compilation of Zephyr's first Christmas Parade of Lights in Turlock as well as his first Christmas tree hunt in Gushtine. He chose a great tree and even helped dad cut it.

By popular demand: Zephyr playing "Where's Zephyr". See it before it goes viral.

12.6.13
Thanksgiving Photos! Yay!

11.24.13

Zephyr, Grandma & Grandpa H and myself headed out to the Old La Grange bridge to check-up on the salmon run. The run was still going quite strong (20+ fish in an hour), and it was a nice way to spend several hours of the weekend while mom got to visit with her friends z-free for the first time in ages.

11.12.13

Eighteen awesome THS & PHS students used a perfect November day to get inspired... by hiking 2.77mi to Inspiration Point and back. The trailhead at Tunnel View is easy to find and the trail makes a great getaway from the valley traffic. We ended the afternoon with a hike in El Capitan Meadow to soak in some autumn reflections on the Merced River.

11.4.13

Laura, Zephyr and I made our way out the Tuolumne River at the old La Grange Bridge. We thought we might see a few salmon (a mere 2200 spawned last year) but were shocked to see more than 50 salmon in about an hourof viewing. Over 40,000 salmon spawned on the Tuolumne as recently as 1985. Perhaps restoration efforts are paying dividends!

10.31.13

Zephyr's first Halloween. No tricks, just giving our neighbors the treat of seeing Zephyr dressed as Dopey Dwarf.

10.28.13

Zephyr took mom, dad and Grandma & Grandpa Rowan to the Corn Maze in Turlock, just off Canal and Daubenberger Streets. He had a great drive driving tractors and eatng pumpkins. Hurray autumn!

10.24.13

I finally got around to posting our hike to Bell Meadow with Zephyr several weeks ago. Bell Meadow in the Stanislaus National Forest is known for its amazing summer wildflower bloom and the great fall colors that envelop the surrounding aspen trees (supposedly one of the largest stands in the Sierra). Laura, Zephy and I decided that a short hike in early October would be nice, so we gave it a shot. The colors were just OK, but stroll through the glaciated meadow with the family was awesome. Many of the trees had lost their leaves before they turned. I'm guessing it had to do with several years of drought since the trees along the riparian corridor all looked splendid. And yes, Zephyr loves the nature.
10.21.13

The 2013 edition of Modesto Junior College’s Geology of the Central Motherlode Class. Professor Garry Hayes led his students to an above-ground tour of the Kennedy Mine in Jackson, CA and into the depths of California Caverns near San Andreas, CA. The mine was at one time the deepest mine in the world (5,912ft) before getting shuttered during WWII and produced over 1.5 million ounces of gold. The caverns are cut out of marble created by metamorphosed coral reefs that once got scraped onto California 300 million years ago. Enjoy the photos.

8.25.13

Smokey Views on our drive from Turlock to our Twain Harte Laffin Cabin to gather a few family photos, just in case the Rim Fire decides to jump 108 while we're at work. So far TH looks safe, just very smokey and lots of small ash particles. Below are a few useful links for the fire.
Visible Satellite Image of Smoke: LINK
Google Earth MODIS Active Fire Layer: LINK
Images from Modest Bee: LINK

8.8.13

Laura and I were invited to attend a very special session of the NASA Triad project hosted by the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena in August of 2013. A mere 30 teachers were invited to attend this prestigious opportunity and Laura and I were the only teachers from California lucky enough to attend. We spent the first full day diving into the NextGen Science Standards and Common Core and how they will eventually shape science education. The larger purpose of the trip was to spend professional development time at JPL. We got the latest and greatest NASA-made lessons for the "Curiosity in Your Classroom" project along with the million dollar all-access tour of the Mars Yard. We were also very lucky to get four, one-hour presentations by actual Curiosity mission specialists who presented us with images and data that still hadn't hit publication. Their firsthand accounts of the scientific compromises (political, scientific, and monetary) needed to go from concept to reality in eight years were amazing. The following photos describe the details. Any teacher who desires information about how to get NASA materials in their classroom can contact me at ryhollister at sbcglobal dot net. A huge thanks to NASA Triad program facilitators Ann Benbow, Colin Mably, Steve Semken, Ian MacGregor, Bob Bernoff and Ed Robeck. Their diligent work will help us spread the latest and greatest info to both teachers and students alike.

7.30.13

The Germans are coming, the Germans are coming! Ellen, Helmut, Maja and Lena decided to visit with Me, Laura, Zephyr and Julie & Jill on their great California Adventure. What better place to do so than the High Sierra which is normally snowed-in during Ellen's spring visits. We base "camped" at the great 1849 Condos in Mammoth while visiting the Taft Point Fissures, Gaylor Lakes amd Devils Postpile Natl Monument. What a great trip!

7.19.13

The photos are now up from our three-day geology field class at Baker Station near Kennedy Meadows led by the awesome MJC Professor Noah Hughes. We journeyed up HWY 108 to piece together clues that told the story (in six chapters) of how the geology between Modesto and Sonora Pass came to be. Super Trip!

6.26.13

Half of our High School Eight group of friends were willing to attempt the short but exertion-filled Blue Canyon Lake hike off of HWY 108. The other four friends opted for less extreme forms of entertainment and a hearty breakfast. As far as the geology in the area, here is the brief version: Granites intruded 80+ million years ago. Surface weathering exposed granite rocks by 11 million years ago. Little Walker caldera spews huge amounts of ash, mudflows and lava 10ma, re-covering exposed granites. Glaciation over the past million years re-exposed the granites and carved out common glacial erosional features in remaining lava flows on high peaks. Enjoy the photo journal of one of the best, prettiest hikes in the Emigrant Wilderness.

6.20.13

Our first roadtrip with Zephyr. Destination: Albuquerque to visit Z's cousin Wyatt. There were some amazing stops along the way that we got to share with Curious Z, but I mostly managed snapshots working around the heat, sleep and feeding schedules of an infant. He was a trooper, enduring over 2000 miles of driving in 8 days. Places we visited that are depicted in the photojournal: Meteor Crater, National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument, El Morro National Monument, ABQ BioPark Zoo, Petrified Forest National Park. Not to mention lots of cute photos of Zephyr and Wyatt.

6.9.13
Judit, Jonathan, Shawn, Keri, Steve and myself participated in the first annual WildLink GradPacking trip to Kennedy Lake. The grueling trail paid-off huge by getting to see an amazing sunset, survive two thunderstorms and some quarter-sized hail, catching tons of fish and hearing the sounds of nature at every turn in the trail. Check out the hike's photojournal below.

WildLink GradPack information:
Gear List:
Insurance Info:

5.10.13

Zephyr went a small mother's day trip to Lyons Reservoir!

4.4.13

Zephyr just took his first trip to Yosemite! He loved seeing the forest and large rocks but wasn't all that phased by coyotes or squirrels. He also LOVED touching a small trickle of Cascade Creek (far away from any dangerous fast-flowing water).

4.2.13
I've updated the Zephyr Photos! Just click on the large photo of Zephyr below to open the past several week's-worth of photos.

4.1.13
I'm now famous for this April Fool's article I created for my classes.

2.17.13
He's here!!
Zephyr James Hollister meets the world! Born 2-15-13 at 5:20pm. The big boy blew in at 8lbs 3oz and 19.5 inches! Dad's biased, but Zephyr just might be the most handsome kid ever born.

1.21.13

With Baby Zephyr a mere four weeks away from joining our family, I convinced Laura to let me go snowshoeing to Dewey Point with Steve, Jonathan & Sean “one last time” before the baby was born. The trail starts at Badger Pass, follows Glacier Point Road and then peels off to the north at Summit Meadow. The four feet of snow was so compacted along the trail that Steve made it the entire way without snowshoes. Hopefully some new snow will fall soon! I last did this snowshoe in April 2006 and remember very few fellow hikers. Apparently an article in a national outdoor magazine a few years back changed all that and now the trail has become quite popular.

1.09.13
Trip up to Yosemtie Valley to see the snow... and fight the crowds for a mere hour and a half before seeking refuge at Happy Burger in Mariposa. The setting sun provided great light on the metamorphic foothills around Hornitos Road.

11.4.12
Photos from the Robert Fore Excellence in Science Teaching conference in Wawona. (AND A BEAR!

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