Amanda O. Latz, Ed.D.

At first I thought I would drive my car (a 2003 Toyota Corolla with 131k miles) from Muncie, IN to Walla Walla, WA. There were two impetuses. One. In the summer of 2000, a college teammate and I drove 11k miles in 28 days–a big loop around the US–and I loved it. I wanted a repeat. Two. I “teach with” this video in my EDCC 640 course every semester, and I LOVE IT. So I wanted to visit Walla Walla Community College. Badly.

Loved ones said, “Please don’t drive.” (I’m going alone.) Being one to love back, I said, “Alright.” So the original plan changed. A little. Tomorrow, I’m flying to Portland. I’ll be in Oregon and Washington for about a week, tooling around.

I booked my flight the weekend before my final EDCC 698 class session of the summer. Being giddy about it (and because it’s kind of related), I told the students about the trip (I like telling stories, and I think they like hearing them). In doing so, I referred to it as a pedagogical vacation. Yes, a pedagogical vacation. And I was made fun of (albiet lovingly) for the remainder of the session. So in true pedagogical vacation fashion (whatever that means), I plan to document/blog this trip. I’ll do so here and in the journal on the right (I like to think it’s photovoice inspired).

My tentative plan is to spend three days in Walla Walla (visiting wineries and meeting with Tim Donahue and Wendy Samitore), a weekend in Seattle (hanging out with abovementioned teammate), and two days in Portland (checking out the University of Portland and visiting SAAHE alumni). I will also be visiting Voodoo Doughnuts (so pedagogical!) and Powell’s Books while in Portland. I’ll keep you posted as I go.

Stay tuned.