Saturday, July 21
Westchester County Airport, White Plains, NY: Here I am again in another airport. It's been about 18 hours since my last plane ride. This next flight will be my seventh plane in the last month! I have been a traveling maniac! I got home from visiting family in Florida last night at about 6 pm. The next few hours were a frenzy of unpacking and repacking and double checking travel memos.

My daughters have just about had it with my travels but they know they will get souvenirs so they will get through the next week. Besides, I know that what I am doing will benefit their future.

I spent a lot of the last two weeks researching and reading about Sylvia Earle and the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. Earle has led an amazing and inspiring life. She followed her dreams and made advances not only in marine science but for women in science as well. She is truly a pioneer! I feel so privileged to be working with her.

The National Geographic articles and the book, "The Most Important Fish in the Sea" really opened my eyes to the problems facing not only the Chesapeake, but all marine waters. With so many different "players" adding to the problems, it almost seems hopeless at times, especially when big business and politicians seem to have so much power and clout. But then I read about individuals - little people - who have done so much to open the eyes of the public. It will take a lot to restore the Chesapeake but it can be done! My parents have some friends who lived near the Bay for several years. They were thrilled to hear it was the focus for one of the missions. They expressed such sadness over the state of the Bay and how it is so far removed from what it used to be. Hopefully, we can help. This is going to be an amazing and rewarding experience!

Sunday, July 22
Ada got in with no problem. It was great to see her again! She came off the plane with the same bright smile and great attitude. I wasn't allowed to go through security to get Austin! They closed down before his flight got in. An officer had to escort him to us past the security. He was trying to joke around with him but Austin, of course, was not fazed at all. He was, as usual, ready to eat! Bevan was waiting for us at the hotel with his parents.

It was an eventful morning. Right after we left the hotel Austin got very sick. We spent quite a while on a grassy embankment on the side of I-95. We were all hoping that it was just something he ate and not a bug of some kind. But, after a long nap in the car and lots of water, he seemed fine. Traffic wasn't bad and we made it to Gloucester by about noon.

Things were looking up until we pulled into the Motel. The first thought that crossed my mind was the movie Psycho. Not a good sign. It was run-down and creepy. We kept an open mind and a positive attitude, however, as Jude went in to see about our rooms. Jude came out a long time later, gave us our room keys and said, "Don't touch your luggage. Just go in, look around and come back out."

Well, we did that and walked out thinking that we would rather sleep in the van than in that place! The smell was hideous. Everything was dirty and the numbers on the door had red paint splattered on it reminiscent of blood! I guess that's what happens when motels don't have websites! Luckily, JASON and National Geographic came through for us! Long story short, we ended up staying at the Comfort Inn and were very happy about it!

Tonight we all met up with Sylvia Earle. It was a bit intimidating at first. She herself wasn't intimidating. She seemed very soft spoken and gentle and kind. But it was hard to believe that I was talking with a woman who has done so many amazing things for the world! We all piled into the cars and went to a dive shop to get our snorkels and masks and then had a late dinner. Getting the masks and snorkels was hysterical. We had to have the masks "ripped" off of our faces to make sure they fit. It was a lot of fun!

It was nice to have some time to talk with Sylvia and get to know her before starting the filming. We went to VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) at about 9pm. Sylvia gave us an introduction to what we will be working on in the next couple days.

I don't even know where to begin. She is even more amazing than I realized. She started out by telling us that she gave a talk to the World Bank a few weeks ago. The World Bank! She has logged more than 6,000 diving hours! The 90 minutes she spoke made me realize two things. First, we are truly connected to every part of the Earth and every living and non-living thing provides a service and plays a role in our existence. Second, I realized that I have so much more to learn. But that's okay, being a life long learner is one of the things I enjoy most about being a teacher! We didn't get back until after 11pm. I packed for tomorrow's adventure and then passed out!

Monday, July 23

What a crazy day!

We were out on the water most of the day. The boats were great! They were motorboats and it was so fun. Just imagine…speeding over the water with the wind whipping through our hair and then realizing that Sylvia Earle was sitting next to me!

We went out twice and both times we saw incredible things. We saw so many ospreys! It was so wonderful to see so many of them in the wild. That is quite a success story!.We even saw a nest with three young chicks in it.

We did some snorkeling and got to see some of the animals and plants that are so important to the health of the Bay. The people who work for VIMS are great! They are fun and helpful and seem to really love what they do.

We had lunch with a group of curriculum heads from schools around VA. They were interested in hearing about what we were doing and what JASON does for schools. We went back out after lunch and spent more time talking with Dr. Earle. I have a picture of her that I think will be my favorite. She is sitting on the floor of the boat with her eyes closed and this wonderful smile on her face. It was so apparent that she was completely content just being out on the water. When asked her favorite marine place she replied, "The next one!"

Another thing I realized today is how happy I am that we had the week together at Boot Camp. I can't imagine doing this with kids and a crew that were strangers to me. Being able to bond with the kids and have the social time with them has allowed us to work together very well. I also think it would have been very difficult to do the filming without any previous experience. I feel pretty comfortable with the cameras in my face now but that's because I got used to it in Milwaukee. So much of the time here would be wasted if we hadn't had that time together in Milwaukee.

Tuesday, July 25
Yesterday was amazing but didn't leave much time for writing. We spent most of the day out in the Bay looking at oyster beds (and trying to find at least one live oyster) and then looking at the buoy systems that are being used to monitor the Bay. It was very cool to be able to see one up close. Of course, the waves were getting big and I started turning green. Austin kept hoping I would get sick but I disappointed him!

Although we don't actually leave for home until Saturday, this was our last day in the field. Dr. Reay spent a lot of the day with us just "playing" in the Bay outside VIMS. We put on our hip waders and did some seining! It was so much fun to just be able to hang out and explore. Dr. Reay made a really good point as we were about to leave. He said that he hopes that we don't just focus on the negatives aspects of the Bay. Yes, there are a lot of issues and it needs help. However, there is a lot here to be hopeful about. There are still of animals in the Bay. We saw many of them-including dolphins. It's not hopeless and there are a lot of people, including the scientists there at VIMS, who are working hard to make sure the Bay does get back to what it was.

Dr. Earle is leaving on another adventure. It's hard to even begin to express all the ways in which this experience has changed my life. I have learned a new way of thinking about water and my relationship to it and everything in it. We are truly connected to every living thing. If we destroy these beautiful places, we are destroying ourselves! Dr. Earle is so inspiring because she doesn't just preach this lesson…she lives it. She is a role model that we can look to when trying to figure out what we, as individuals, can do to have a positive impact on marine ecosystems. We need to educate ourselves on what issues are prominent in our own watersheds and communities. We need to teach others what we learn. We need to make decisions based on what is good for our planet and not just on what makes our life easier. We are a part of nature, but many of us tend to feel that it is there for us to use and dominate and that these resources will always be there for us. We now know that isn't the case. We need to learn and we need to care. As Dr. Sylvia Earle said to us so eloquently, "You can't do better until you know better!"