Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Eighth Grade Sacramento Trip
Sacramento Trip 2011
Day 1:
After a harrowing morning packing 22 people’s belongings into 3 cars, we got on our way at 10:45 in the morning. We had one mishap. Lost an air mattress off the top of Tony’s car. 9ish hours later, we arrived safe and sound at the Ponderosa campsite. Much to the dismay of many of us, there was little to no cell service. It was dark and we couldn’t see much but we could hear a river roaring nearby. People were grumpy, tired and excited all at the same time. We settled into our campsites and called it a night around 11:00.
Day 2:
We woke up to a cool, cloudy day after a much needed rest. We decided today we would take it easy and get a lay of the land. We found ourselves out in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful river. The kids spent the morning exploring and wanting to jump into the freezing river fed by snow. I spent the time figuring out the best way to get all of the kids fed quickly and efficiently. After a successful breakfast and lunch, we drove a couple miles away from the campground for Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park. First stop, the museum where we learned about the history of the land we were on. We took a hike through the park, stopping to see a replica of Sutter’s Mill, the original site and the place where James Marshall first discovered gold. We continued on our hike along the river where Tony showed us his ninja rock skipping and tree climbing skills. We played for a while before taking a trip to civilization (Walmart) so everyone could call their moms for Mother’s Day, as well as replace the air mattress and stock up on supplies. (one gallon of milk = one breakfast for our crew). We came back to our campsite in time for dinner and barbequed burgers. I was surprised by a bouquet of roses and a Mother’s Day card signed by my class. We ended the day with a relaxing evening sitting around the fire, hanging out, joking and laughing.
Day 3: (Pictures coming tomorrow)
We had a great time today, as expected. We got up at seven and drove through the Sierra foothills to Moaning Cavern. It was like going down the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland. 300 steps down, we were tiny in comparison to the giant cavern and formations around us. It was exhilarating to climb into the earth. Some kids were claustrophobic at first and the height where we started the descent to the bottom of the cavern was a little scary. This cavern can hold the statue of liberty inside it. Much like you would look at clouds and see shapes, our guide pointed out rock formations that looked like ET, Mufasa, a child’s arm, Homer Simpsons head, Jaws, etc.
It was so eerie when the lights went out and we were all silent. All you could hear was water dripping and it was impossible to see anything in front of your face. (Unless you were sitting next to Ashley’s glow in the dark shirt) After the tour, Sage and Moen ziplined through the forest. Our next stop was Sutters Gold Mine. What started as a beautiful sunny day turned into a downpour as we got out of the cars to begin the tour in open trucks. Fortunately our hair didn’t get wet on the short ride to the opening of the mine shaft due to the fashionable hard hats we were required to wear. We toured the mine and learned about the history of gold mines and the geology of the land around us. We traveled back to the campground sighting cows, horses, wild turkeys and gorgeous rolling hills. There was just enough time before dinner for the kids to take a trip down to the river and jump in. Tony took most of them down while I got tacos prepared with the help of Hunter and Brittney. Just as we were finishing there was a sudden rush of girls cramming into any available hot shower. They came in purple, blue and red and laughing after having a great time in the freezing river. After dinner we had an awesome class council around the fire. We finished up by recalling one memory or good thing about the trip so far. Below is what each student said:
Ashley – Writing things I want to let go of on pieces of paper and tossing them in the fire.
AJ – Freezing while fishing in the river.
Brittney – Everyone bonding and getting closer.
JC – Being the first guy to go completely in the freezing river!
James – Besides the homesickness, it’s been fun!
Hunter – Tony getting me a free short stack at IHOP after taking a survey.
Chana – I just think that all of it’s great. I loved when we all came back from the river and just jumped in the shower!
EZ – Building the fire and having everyone around it.
Lorenzo – Sitting around the fire with my friends.
KT – Falling “up” a tree at Sutter’s Mill.
David – Singing “I’m a Little Tea Pot”.
Elena – Skipping stones with Tony and getting to the bottom of Moaning Caverns and seeing the characters formed by the rocks.
Moen – Playing with the Frisbee and watching KT fall “up” a tree and watching Brittney eat ketchup.
Jacqueline – Swimming in a freezing river and still having fun!
Eddie – Being around the campfire with everyone.
Sage – Fun with the fire.
Melanie – Having an awkward, but funny conversation with the girls.
Lynn – This is the first time I’ve gone camping and I like the whole thing.
Sorry no pictures today. When we get to “civilization” tomorrow, we will download them.
Day 4:
Yesterday, we woke up bright and early to head out to the Old Sacramento School House. We met our “teacher” who converted us into an authentic 1850’s class, with boys and girls separated and sitting on opposing sides of the room. Each of the students had a small chalkboard and practiced their cursive as the teacher had everyone point out differences between the old classroom and classrooms of today. Kids got a kick out of hearing the old school rules and the amount of lashes unlucky troublemakers would receive. We moved on to Sutter’s Fort after a brief lunch at Subway.
Everyone enjoyed touring the headquarters of John Sutter, California’s enterprising businessman who owned the land on which his partner, John Marshall, discovered gold. The kids got to explore the fort and take in what life might have been like during Sutter’s time as they observed merchants and farmers at work behind the two and a half foot thick, eighteen feet high walls.
Day 5:
This morning, we went on our way to the California State Capitol building in Sacramento, where the students got a tour from Senator Joel Anderson! He showed us both the senate and the assembly halls and students’ jaws dropped as they marveled at the ornate ceilings. As we left the building, we were quickly greeted by a small news crew doing a story about a bill that, if it were passed, would force manufactures to reveal the ingredients of hot dogs! The anchor interviewed us and most people had blank stares as they contemplated what a hotdog could be made of.
Next, we moved on to the Jelly Belly Factory, where we made the last factory tour. We got to walk above the factory floor and watch the workers and machines create the delightful little treats that we’ve known and loved our whole lives. At the end, our tour guide gave us free Jelly Bellies and released us into the gift shop where kids tried every flavor from strawberry to dog food!
We headed west for San Francisco and are now in a beautiful home, courtesy of Elena’s aunt, to continue our San Francisco leg of the trip.
Day 6:
We slept in because we were all so exhausted from the past few days which have been packed with activities and moving around. Once everybody was ready, we drove down to Danielle’s house to do a service project. When we first got there Danielle and her roommates explained the way they live in an “intentional community.” They explained how they practice things such as living in a community, recycling, and self growth. They basically try to live off of what they have. They recycle everything they can and have a compost pile, which is the start of what we did there.
We had three groups, one was planting seeds, one was planting plants, and one was turning the compost. The group planting seeds first had to prepare the dirt, which Danielle had dug up from her backyard. The dirt was clay-like, which made it hard to work with and required a lot of preparation. We had to break up the dirt was there was very little clumps and take out all the weeds and pieced of plants and stuff. Next, we mixed it with some fresh compost. Then, we added Alfalfa Meal, mixing it all together. Once the dirt was ready, we poured it into boxes where we would then plant the seeds. We planted a variety of flowers, but I’m not really sure how that helped them out. Haha.
The plant planting group poured fertilizer on the ground and got it ready for the plants. They then dug little holes in the ground that were just big enough to fit the plants that they had in them. They planted flowers, which kind, I’m not sure.
The compost group was by far the most interesting and exciting group. When they got to the compost pile, they pulled off the cover and a wave of bugs poured out. Most of the girls in the group screamed, if not all of them. The pile of old, broken-down food was alive with bugs. It was just once huge mound of wreathing dirt.
As soon as we finished with the service project (helping Danielle and her roommates with their gardening), we ate lunch. Lunch consisted of or sandwiches we made and packed this morning, some fresh apples, kumquats, strawberries, and chips. As soon as we were done eating, we hit the road.
Three students went with Lisa to go get the Wharf passes so we could go do a bunch of fun stuff in the area. The other group went to Blazing Saddles to rent bikes to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, but still had to wait for us to get there and give them the wharf passes.
When we finally got to Blazing Saddles, we watched the bikers take off. As soon as they were gone we got back in the car and drove across the bridge just for fun and to see if we could see them. We got out of the other side and took pictures and looked out across the bay to the city and Alcatraz Island. When we got in the car and drove across the bridge, we looked all over for our class but we couldn’t see them, they weren’t that far yet. So we stopped at the famous Lombard street and drove down because we were finally in a car small enough (a Dodge journey, not the giant van) to drive down the windy, narrow path. When we got to the bottom we got out and took a picture. Then we went to the coolest music store ever, Amoeba Music. We searched through some music for a while then left to go back to Blazing Saddles.
When we got there, some kids were late, but everybody made it across the bridge and back. Yay! It was a long and tiring bike ride (two hours), but they made it! After that, everyone was hungry so we went to a pizza place in Fisherman’s Wharf, which was overly priced for the tiny pizzas. As soon as everyone was done eating, we decided to take advantage of our Wharf passes, so we went to the Wax Museum. On the way there, we passed by the Rainforest Café and went inside. We planned on getting dessert there but didn’t exactly have the time, considering we wanted to do as much as we could. So we looked around for a while and bought some stuff then continued on our way to the Wax Museum.
We got there and everybody went through at their own pace, taking pictures and admiring the great works of realistic art. When we got out of there, we kind of just wandered around. Some kids went into a Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum thing. At the end of the night, we got home late, and everybody was tired, but we still had packing to do considering we were planning on trying to get out of the house at 8:30 the next morning. After a long day, we finally all went to sleep, ready for the next morning.
Day 7:
We woke up early, having to pack and have everything ready within the next hour. We got packed and were ready to go at 8:40, only ten minutes behind schedule, which is a lot better than usual! Yay us! The first thing we did was drive to Chinatown. The way there, everybody in Lisa’s car was dead asleep, so by the time we got there, nobody wanted to get out. We decided we didn’t need to go, and left the other groups to get out for an hour and look around while we went to get our Alcatraz tickets. They went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, which was tiny and everything was handmade.
Lisa’s car went to get the Alcatraz tickets and waited around for a little bit for all the other kids. When they got there, we all got in line and waited to get on the boat. When we got to the island, we got to go inside and we got audio players which played directions of where to go and gave us some information on what we were looking at. They were basically recorded tour guides. We got to walk all the way through the prison and learned a lot about it. When we finally left and got back to San Fran, we got on a double-decker tour bus around the city. We drove in a complete circle, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and by a bunch of other tourist attractions, listening to facts about them along the way.
We got off the bus and went to Subway to eat lunch, it was late and not everyone got to eat breakfast due to our rushing. We ate and left, going back to our cars to leave San Francisco and head toward Big Sur.
(Day 6 and 7 written by Ashley on the way to Big Sur)
Day 8:
Last night we got to Big Sur after sunset and had to set up in the dark. Not fun. So we got all set up and went to sleep pretty early. This morning we woke up under gigantic Redwood trees, had pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast and left for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We all had a great time going through and seeing all the sea birds, fish, and other marine life. There were a bunch of cool touch pools and other interactive things.
On the way back to our campsite, we stopped to hike down a short trail to see Mc Way Falls, an 80 foot waterfall that poured right down onto a beach. The water was incredibly clear. It was beautiful. We even saw a proposal written in the sand, “Natalie, will you marry me?” It was really cute.
When we finally started going back to camp, we decided to stop at Pfeiffer Beach instead. After driving two miles down a bumpy, windy road, we got to this beautiful beach. We were virtually unprepared, considering we didn’t have time to go back to the camp and get bathing suits on and stuff. But either way, the kids went in the freezing water and had fun. Others climbed the rocks and explored.
We got back to camp and it was freezing so we started a fire and made dinner. Hunter’s dad and sister showed up on his motorcycle and joined us for the evening. After spaghetti and veggies, kids separated and played flashlight tag around the campground. That’s when the rain started. Because of the lush Redwood trees, there was some protection from the rain so we sat around the fire and made s’mores. Eventually it was time to call it quits and seek refuge from the rain inside our tents.
Day 9:
We woke up to sprinkling after a long night of pouring rain. Most tents were soaked and we were all cold. We packed as well as we could with everything wet and muddy and left Big Sur for our homes. Our cars smelled of wet dog, we were damp and tired, but we knew we were heading home after an awesome trip. Nearly everyone commented on how much fun we had. It was difficult to say goodbye but exciting to be back to family and the luxuries of home.
Day 1:
After a harrowing morning packing 22 people’s belongings into 3 cars, we got on our way at 10:45 in the morning. We had one mishap. Lost an air mattress off the top of Tony’s car. 9ish hours later, we arrived safe and sound at the Ponderosa campsite. Much to the dismay of many of us, there was little to no cell service. It was dark and we couldn’t see much but we could hear a river roaring nearby. People were grumpy, tired and excited all at the same time. We settled into our campsites and called it a night around 11:00.
Day 2:
We woke up to a cool, cloudy day after a much needed rest. We decided today we would take it easy and get a lay of the land. We found ourselves out in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful river. The kids spent the morning exploring and wanting to jump into the freezing river fed by snow. I spent the time figuring out the best way to get all of the kids fed quickly and efficiently. After a successful breakfast and lunch, we drove a couple miles away from the campground for Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park. First stop, the museum where we learned about the history of the land we were on. We took a hike through the park, stopping to see a replica of Sutter’s Mill, the original site and the place where James Marshall first discovered gold. We continued on our hike along the river where Tony showed us his ninja rock skipping and tree climbing skills. We played for a while before taking a trip to civilization (Walmart) so everyone could call their moms for Mother’s Day, as well as replace the air mattress and stock up on supplies. (one gallon of milk = one breakfast for our crew). We came back to our campsite in time for dinner and barbequed burgers. I was surprised by a bouquet of roses and a Mother’s Day card signed by my class. We ended the day with a relaxing evening sitting around the fire, hanging out, joking and laughing.
Day 3: (Pictures coming tomorrow)
We had a great time today, as expected. We got up at seven and drove through the Sierra foothills to Moaning Cavern. It was like going down the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland. 300 steps down, we were tiny in comparison to the giant cavern and formations around us. It was exhilarating to climb into the earth. Some kids were claustrophobic at first and the height where we started the descent to the bottom of the cavern was a little scary. This cavern can hold the statue of liberty inside it. Much like you would look at clouds and see shapes, our guide pointed out rock formations that looked like ET, Mufasa, a child’s arm, Homer Simpsons head, Jaws, etc.
It was so eerie when the lights went out and we were all silent. All you could hear was water dripping and it was impossible to see anything in front of your face. (Unless you were sitting next to Ashley’s glow in the dark shirt) After the tour, Sage and Moen ziplined through the forest. Our next stop was Sutters Gold Mine. What started as a beautiful sunny day turned into a downpour as we got out of the cars to begin the tour in open trucks. Fortunately our hair didn’t get wet on the short ride to the opening of the mine shaft due to the fashionable hard hats we were required to wear. We toured the mine and learned about the history of gold mines and the geology of the land around us. We traveled back to the campground sighting cows, horses, wild turkeys and gorgeous rolling hills. There was just enough time before dinner for the kids to take a trip down to the river and jump in. Tony took most of them down while I got tacos prepared with the help of Hunter and Brittney. Just as we were finishing there was a sudden rush of girls cramming into any available hot shower. They came in purple, blue and red and laughing after having a great time in the freezing river. After dinner we had an awesome class council around the fire. We finished up by recalling one memory or good thing about the trip so far. Below is what each student said:
Ashley – Writing things I want to let go of on pieces of paper and tossing them in the fire.
AJ – Freezing while fishing in the river.
Brittney – Everyone bonding and getting closer.
JC – Being the first guy to go completely in the freezing river!
James – Besides the homesickness, it’s been fun!
Hunter – Tony getting me a free short stack at IHOP after taking a survey.
Chana – I just think that all of it’s great. I loved when we all came back from the river and just jumped in the shower!
EZ – Building the fire and having everyone around it.
Lorenzo – Sitting around the fire with my friends.
KT – Falling “up” a tree at Sutter’s Mill.
David – Singing “I’m a Little Tea Pot”.
Elena – Skipping stones with Tony and getting to the bottom of Moaning Caverns and seeing the characters formed by the rocks.
Moen – Playing with the Frisbee and watching KT fall “up” a tree and watching Brittney eat ketchup.
Jacqueline – Swimming in a freezing river and still having fun!
Eddie – Being around the campfire with everyone.
Sage – Fun with the fire.
Melanie – Having an awkward, but funny conversation with the girls.
Lynn – This is the first time I’ve gone camping and I like the whole thing.
Sorry no pictures today. When we get to “civilization” tomorrow, we will download them.
Day 4:
Yesterday, we woke up bright and early to head out to the Old Sacramento School House. We met our “teacher” who converted us into an authentic 1850’s class, with boys and girls separated and sitting on opposing sides of the room. Each of the students had a small chalkboard and practiced their cursive as the teacher had everyone point out differences between the old classroom and classrooms of today. Kids got a kick out of hearing the old school rules and the amount of lashes unlucky troublemakers would receive. We moved on to Sutter’s Fort after a brief lunch at Subway.
Everyone enjoyed touring the headquarters of John Sutter, California’s enterprising businessman who owned the land on which his partner, John Marshall, discovered gold. The kids got to explore the fort and take in what life might have been like during Sutter’s time as they observed merchants and farmers at work behind the two and a half foot thick, eighteen feet high walls.
Day 5:
This morning, we went on our way to the California State Capitol building in Sacramento, where the students got a tour from Senator Joel Anderson! He showed us both the senate and the assembly halls and students’ jaws dropped as they marveled at the ornate ceilings. As we left the building, we were quickly greeted by a small news crew doing a story about a bill that, if it were passed, would force manufactures to reveal the ingredients of hot dogs! The anchor interviewed us and most people had blank stares as they contemplated what a hotdog could be made of.
Next, we moved on to the Jelly Belly Factory, where we made the last factory tour. We got to walk above the factory floor and watch the workers and machines create the delightful little treats that we’ve known and loved our whole lives. At the end, our tour guide gave us free Jelly Bellies and released us into the gift shop where kids tried every flavor from strawberry to dog food!
We headed west for San Francisco and are now in a beautiful home, courtesy of Elena’s aunt, to continue our San Francisco leg of the trip.
Day 6:
We slept in because we were all so exhausted from the past few days which have been packed with activities and moving around. Once everybody was ready, we drove down to Danielle’s house to do a service project. When we first got there Danielle and her roommates explained the way they live in an “intentional community.” They explained how they practice things such as living in a community, recycling, and self growth. They basically try to live off of what they have. They recycle everything they can and have a compost pile, which is the start of what we did there.
We had three groups, one was planting seeds, one was planting plants, and one was turning the compost. The group planting seeds first had to prepare the dirt, which Danielle had dug up from her backyard. The dirt was clay-like, which made it hard to work with and required a lot of preparation. We had to break up the dirt was there was very little clumps and take out all the weeds and pieced of plants and stuff. Next, we mixed it with some fresh compost. Then, we added Alfalfa Meal, mixing it all together. Once the dirt was ready, we poured it into boxes where we would then plant the seeds. We planted a variety of flowers, but I’m not really sure how that helped them out. Haha.
The plant planting group poured fertilizer on the ground and got it ready for the plants. They then dug little holes in the ground that were just big enough to fit the plants that they had in them. They planted flowers, which kind, I’m not sure.
The compost group was by far the most interesting and exciting group. When they got to the compost pile, they pulled off the cover and a wave of bugs poured out. Most of the girls in the group screamed, if not all of them. The pile of old, broken-down food was alive with bugs. It was just once huge mound of wreathing dirt.
As soon as we finished with the service project (helping Danielle and her roommates with their gardening), we ate lunch. Lunch consisted of or sandwiches we made and packed this morning, some fresh apples, kumquats, strawberries, and chips. As soon as we were done eating, we hit the road.
Three students went with Lisa to go get the Wharf passes so we could go do a bunch of fun stuff in the area. The other group went to Blazing Saddles to rent bikes to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, but still had to wait for us to get there and give them the wharf passes.
When we finally got to Blazing Saddles, we watched the bikers take off. As soon as they were gone we got back in the car and drove across the bridge just for fun and to see if we could see them. We got out of the other side and took pictures and looked out across the bay to the city and Alcatraz Island. When we got in the car and drove across the bridge, we looked all over for our class but we couldn’t see them, they weren’t that far yet. So we stopped at the famous Lombard street and drove down because we were finally in a car small enough (a Dodge journey, not the giant van) to drive down the windy, narrow path. When we got to the bottom we got out and took a picture. Then we went to the coolest music store ever, Amoeba Music. We searched through some music for a while then left to go back to Blazing Saddles.
When we got there, some kids were late, but everybody made it across the bridge and back. Yay! It was a long and tiring bike ride (two hours), but they made it! After that, everyone was hungry so we went to a pizza place in Fisherman’s Wharf, which was overly priced for the tiny pizzas. As soon as everyone was done eating, we decided to take advantage of our Wharf passes, so we went to the Wax Museum. On the way there, we passed by the Rainforest Café and went inside. We planned on getting dessert there but didn’t exactly have the time, considering we wanted to do as much as we could. So we looked around for a while and bought some stuff then continued on our way to the Wax Museum.
We got there and everybody went through at their own pace, taking pictures and admiring the great works of realistic art. When we got out of there, we kind of just wandered around. Some kids went into a Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum thing. At the end of the night, we got home late, and everybody was tired, but we still had packing to do considering we were planning on trying to get out of the house at 8:30 the next morning. After a long day, we finally all went to sleep, ready for the next morning.
Day 7:
We woke up early, having to pack and have everything ready within the next hour. We got packed and were ready to go at 8:40, only ten minutes behind schedule, which is a lot better than usual! Yay us! The first thing we did was drive to Chinatown. The way there, everybody in Lisa’s car was dead asleep, so by the time we got there, nobody wanted to get out. We decided we didn’t need to go, and left the other groups to get out for an hour and look around while we went to get our Alcatraz tickets. They went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, which was tiny and everything was handmade.
Lisa’s car went to get the Alcatraz tickets and waited around for a little bit for all the other kids. When they got there, we all got in line and waited to get on the boat. When we got to the island, we got to go inside and we got audio players which played directions of where to go and gave us some information on what we were looking at. They were basically recorded tour guides. We got to walk all the way through the prison and learned a lot about it. When we finally left and got back to San Fran, we got on a double-decker tour bus around the city. We drove in a complete circle, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and by a bunch of other tourist attractions, listening to facts about them along the way.
We got off the bus and went to Subway to eat lunch, it was late and not everyone got to eat breakfast due to our rushing. We ate and left, going back to our cars to leave San Francisco and head toward Big Sur.
(Day 6 and 7 written by Ashley on the way to Big Sur)
Day 8:
Last night we got to Big Sur after sunset and had to set up in the dark. Not fun. So we got all set up and went to sleep pretty early. This morning we woke up under gigantic Redwood trees, had pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast and left for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We all had a great time going through and seeing all the sea birds, fish, and other marine life. There were a bunch of cool touch pools and other interactive things.
On the way back to our campsite, we stopped to hike down a short trail to see Mc Way Falls, an 80 foot waterfall that poured right down onto a beach. The water was incredibly clear. It was beautiful. We even saw a proposal written in the sand, “Natalie, will you marry me?” It was really cute.
When we finally started going back to camp, we decided to stop at Pfeiffer Beach instead. After driving two miles down a bumpy, windy road, we got to this beautiful beach. We were virtually unprepared, considering we didn’t have time to go back to the camp and get bathing suits on and stuff. But either way, the kids went in the freezing water and had fun. Others climbed the rocks and explored.
We got back to camp and it was freezing so we started a fire and made dinner. Hunter’s dad and sister showed up on his motorcycle and joined us for the evening. After spaghetti and veggies, kids separated and played flashlight tag around the campground. That’s when the rain started. Because of the lush Redwood trees, there was some protection from the rain so we sat around the fire and made s’mores. Eventually it was time to call it quits and seek refuge from the rain inside our tents.
Day 9:
We woke up to sprinkling after a long night of pouring rain. Most tents were soaked and we were all cold. We packed as well as we could with everything wet and muddy and left Big Sur for our homes. Our cars smelled of wet dog, we were damp and tired, but we knew we were heading home after an awesome trip. Nearly everyone commented on how much fun we had. It was difficult to say goodbye but exciting to be back to family and the luxuries of home.
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