3 Days over the International Date Line!!

We spent 3 days in Western Samoa, on the island of Upolu, while Mr. Runyon had some Coast Guard work! These islands do not belong to the U.S., so that means another stamp in my passport! Also, even though it is a 30 minute flight, we jumped ahead 24 hours!! Pretty crazy! The pictures below show us at the beach in a traditional Samoan "Fale", pronounced "fall-ay", we snorkeled and saw some amazing fish and coral, we checked out some serious waterfalls, went swimming in an ancient, giant, blow hole, went to the home/museum of Robert Louis Stevenson (where he wrote his most famous works "Treasure Island" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and is buried there, too), and a happy birthday toast to Mr. Runyon, who got to celebrate his birthday two days in a row because we were hopping over the International Date Line! Enjoy the pictures!

A Day at Two Dollar Beach!

A Samoan Boat Ride!!

I hope you all enjoy this post.. it was an amazing opportunity, one that is never usually given to non-samoans!

My Visit with a NOAA Scientist

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of spending a day at the NOAA Observatory, which is only one of four observatories in the world that studies the atmosphere for carbon dioxide levels, ozone levels, and types of greenhouse gases present based on radiation amounts. 
To view the video, you'll have to click the following link to Youtube as this was too large to upload to this blog. 
Runyonfun with NOAA on Youtube click here

This video runs about 14 minutes, so grab a drink, sit back, and I hope you enjoy!

Beauty and Reality

This post speaks for itself...

How to Post Comments, In case you feel like it!

Hello everyone! Although I have been getting great comments from a lot of you, it has been brought to my attention that maybe this isn't as obvious to all about how to post on this website. So here's a play-by-play:
First, click on the link below the post that says "No comments:" (or comments, if someone has left some). Next, inside the box that says "Post a comment", type your comment. You can sign your name with your comment, if you wish, whatever floats your boat. Third, under the comment box is a drop down menu that says "Comment as". Scroll down the list and select "anonymous". Finally, click "Publish". It will then go to me for approval, and once I do, it will show up on the site! Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! Hope that helps!

Hiking in American Samoa

Hi all! Here is my first attempt to use iMovie to create my own little movie trailer about a beautiful hike Mr. Runyon and I took last week. Along the route of our hike were 7 waterfalls, each leading into the other, but we were only able to hike to the first three. I learned a lot about video taping and using iMovie, so my next movie should be vastly improved. Still, I enjoyed the process, and look forward to using this in the classroom!! I hope you enjoy!