My Renewal Grant adventure this summer of 2024 had many magical chapters that will enrich my life and work at Burke’s school for years to come! It is with great pleasure that I share these experiences here in this professional reflection.
The Trip’s Beginning: Mt Shasta
My husband Joro and I set out on our roadtrip adventure on July 8th. Traveling by truck with a shell, we did not hold back in bringing everything we needed! I know there are some light travelers out there, but I was not one of them. I brought enough clothes to not do laundry for two weeks!
Our first destination was Mt. Shasta. We filled up our water bottles at the head of the Sacramento river with the drinkable melted waters of the mountain. We swam in the beautiful, clear waters of Castle Lake. We participated in a sound bath healing. We raided thrift stores and spiritual booty boutiques. On our last day we arose at dawn to watch the sunrise on Mount Shasta and as we drank our coffee in silence, a mother deer and her little fawn passed us just arm lengths away.
This was the absolutely inspirational connection to nature part of the trip and was a restorative first chapter of our adventure. We then set out for Seattle!
Tacoma/Puget Sound and the National Storytelling Conference
The mountains continued as a watchful presence on our trip as we drove by Mt. Hood in Oregon, signs for Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in Washington. We settled into our lodging in Tacoma, located at the Elks Temple Lodge, a renovated old building now turned McMenamins hotel.
The McMenamins historic hotels purchase cool old buildings and turn them into fantastic artistic and atmospheric wonderlands! Elks Temple Lodge paintings for every room and in all the hallways dedicated to its past as an Elks Lodge. There are bars on every level including a tiki bar at its bottom exquisitely decorated with fire and water features, not to mention elaborate cocktails! I had to order the mermaid themed one of course, called The Mermaid Spit.
While staying at our first McMenamins, I attended the National Storytelling Conference, where I was also a workshop presenter. The conference was held in the beautiful Dumas Bay Center in the Puget Sound, with stunning views of the water.
I am absolutely in heaven at the Storytelling conference! I am surrounded by big-hearted, open-minded folks who listen deeply and share their stories with gusto! I am a member of their YES (Youth Educators and Storytellers) interest group as well as their ECO Environmental Storytelling group. From the workshops I took away many insights that will carry over into my storytelling work with students both in our after school program and as part of the sustainability curriculum council.
By listening deeply to stories - either true or folkloric - it opens windows into greater human and environmental understanding. During the ice breaker session I met storyteller and educator Aelicia Dongjoo Bang from South Korea who has a dream of one day owning a Story Mansion where people from all around the world can share their stories. Count me in!
My presentation “Weaving Wiles: Writing your own Trickster Tales” went wonderfully. Many excited and engaged storytellers used my father’s billion year-old stones to see images and create amazing trickster stories! I was also able to showcase my new release of Story Through Stone Reflection Cards in the bookstore to bring story stone inspiration to people beyond the conference. The conference launched on July 11th, the day my father died 22 years ago, so to feature and work with his stones in this way was immensely meaningful.
Each night I would return from the conference to the dream-like Elks Temple Lodge where entertainment was featured nightly in the Spanish Ballroom.
Synchronistically, on the first night of the conference, there was a comedy show featuring teachers! Five hilarious comedians shared their experiences as instructors of children and high schoolers. One comedian joked, “I’ve been a bartender, teacher and comedian, and find them to be relatively the same job!”
It was a wonderful surprise to learn that July is PRIDE month for Tacoma. I am often swept up with events, birthdays and summer camps in June so we finally got to fully celebrate the LGBTQ+ community! Elks Temple featured a PRIDE burlesque show with a femme theme, celebrating ALL expressions of the feminine expressed by different performers. Needless to say, it was dazzling, vulnerable and inspirational for appreciating EVERY BODY.
The next day we headed north of Seattle to stay in our next McMenamins in Bothell, Washington. Anderson School used to be a middle school and was purchased by McMenamins to become a family-friendly hotel. This location had beautiful gardens and a restaurant patio. Each room is dedicated to a historic educator from the area. When we arrived (hauling our way- too-many belongings into our room) we were greeted with Irish folk music and later watched the American soccer/football final in the sports bar. We met friendly fellow McMenamins enthusiasts and received tips from other guests on how to complete this location’s scavenger hunt mystery. McMenamins has a passport where you receive stamps for each site you visit. You receive a prize if you get all your stamps! We completed three pages on our trip and received a prize in every location. Did I mention their tiki bar also extended to contain a pool? I was able to do my first of many mermaid swims this summer :)
It was great that we were able to settle in this relaxing location as quite a big job lay before us. My brother Jemma lives in Seattle. He is 9 years older than me and was a huge influence for me as a kid. He steered me from mainstream influences and introduced me to meaningful music and literature including James Baldwin, Federico Garcia Lorca and the Bronte sisters to name a few. My brother has also suffered from severe mental illness throughout his life. Though he maintains his independence in Seattle, he suffered a crisis a couple years ago that precipitated a hasty move of his things into storage. I was finally able to close this loop on this trip by helping to move these things into his new apartment located just blocks away from the Space Needle! Though the elevator to the 4th floor of the Plymouth Housing Complex (a facility for the unhoused) was broken, with the life-saving help of my husband we accomplished this exhausting move. I was also able to rescue numerous tapes from my brother’s history that details the music and poetry performances from our youth in the desert, Joshua Tree. This will foster a meaningful, ongoing connection between us.
Seeing my brother was wonderful as he is doing so much better, but I still struggle emotionally every time after a visit. I was in pretty bad shape as we battled traffic trying to leave the Seattle area. Thankfully my husband was able to drive during this time and I could surrender in the deep dark feelings, a sort of “dark night of the soul” of the trip. I couldn’t be more grateful to Burke’s for funding the fun and restorative parts of this adventure that were like honey around these hard realities.
Restoration came again when we arrived in Portland, Oregon to the beautiful and peaceful arts district near Alberta Street.
Here we stayed in our third McMenamins location, a renovated elementary school built in the early 20th century. It’s almost as old as Burke’s itself and the paintings and pictures in the hallways revealed many similar traditions, including a maypole! This location was super cool because it kept the feel of a school while being a hotel. Original chalkboards you can write on. A “detention room” where you can order a drink. A “Boiler Room” bar that could only be imagined in a Harry Potter movie (and actually hosts a Harry Potter weekend each year, costumes and all). I truly got to relax and recover here after the conference and my brother’s move. I slept in our literature-themed room and brushed up on Shakespeare plays. I got a mani pedi, with a hot stone and shoulder massage. I soaked in their saltwater pool. We watched “Fall Guy” in their resident theatre. McMenamins food and drink offerings are the same in every location so we ate out in the Alberta Arts district and met many friendly locals.
Fully restored, we continued on to our last leg of the trip - Ashland, OR to see the Shakespeare plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival!
When purchasing tickets to three plays (thank you Burke’s!) I was astounded to find that two front row seats were left in every production! I snagged them and we were awarded with front row, center, up close and personal performances! They were out of this world.
We first saw Macbeth, the “Scottish Play” that provided deep reflections on the quest for power that we are currently witnessing on the political stage (during our trip we learned of the assassination attempt on Trump and Biden’s stepping down from the race). It got me inspired to read Shakespeare again as so many quotes felt relevant to themes we are constantly facing in political leadership. It was very timely.
Second, we saw Jane Eyre, a Charlotte Bronte novel adapted to the stage. I learned that many of these plays are shown before they hit Broadway in New York. I hope Jane Eyre does, it was magnificent!
Lastly, we saw Much Ado About Nothing that was absolutely our favorite. The energy of the actors, the costumes and themes were beyond inspiring. I am currently exploring the potential to run a Burke’s sleep-away summer camp to see the Shakespeare plays. I am in contact with the Summer Camp director at Hamlin to get details about how it is done. This may be a possible collaboration with some Upper School instructors that are interested in helping to chaperone and incorporate learning with these incredible plays that bring literature to life.
After our last play my husband and I walked out into the balmy summer evening where a full moon greeted us. What an incredible closing to a transformative, restorative and adventurous road trip to the Northwest. A million thanks to Burke’s for making this trip possible.
Links:
Slideshow of images from the trip:
Cyndera's Renewal Grant Adventure 2024
Trailers of each of the Shakespeare Festival Plays:
JANE EYRE | Official Trailer | OSF 2024
MACBETH | Official Trailer | OSF 2024
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING | Official Trailer | OSF 2024
About McMenamins:
Construction of McMenamins Anderson School
McMenamins Kennedy School Transformation: 25th Anniversary Version + Interview with Mike McMenamin
Inside Tacoma's McMenamins Elks Temple - KING 5 Evening