Mendocino Woodlands
June 4, 2012
Today, we woke up at 6:50am. The excruciating pain of waking
up early. But it was all worth it. We ate breakfast quickly so that we could
arrive at the tide pool caves as quickly as possible so that we wouldn’t miss
the tide. When we got out of the car it was freezing. The whole day so far it
had been raining. And yet we could still enjoy the scenery. After the tide pool
caves we went to a place called “Catch a Canoe”. Todd had told us that we
weren’t going to get too wet except for the rain that was pouring on us. He was
COMPLETELY wrong. James had pointed out that we could not splash each other
until the end of the canoeing. But Todd being Todd, he was the one who started
the splashing. After that everyone had joined in the fight. At some point the
canoe started filling up with water from the splashing. Then James’s canoe
caught up to us and passed us. While we were trying to catch up Shannon went
into the water and Justin came on to Todd’s side of the boat. Suddenly Todd’s
side of the boat started to sink and Justin ran to the other side to try to
balance us but it was too late. Todd was already in the water and his part of
the canoe under water. After that the part of the canoe we were in lifted up
and we were in the air, we jumped off and watched our canoe sink with all of
our stuff. I was like the Titanic!!
After that the other boats came to the rescue and brought us to shore.
We were all soaked and cold. Then we lifted our boat right side up and started
taking all the water out. Eventually we were able to go back in. But, it was
such a cold, rainy, and windy ride back. In all at least we got some hot
chocolate at the end and got to sing along to our favorite music by One
Direction on the car ride back.
~ Gaby & Justin
The first two days were amazing. We went on two hikes, went to the beach, and gone on
canoes. I love this trip and not
knowing what is coming next.
~ Johnny
Today is my birthday!! Yesterday Shannon and I arrived later
on in the afternoon after we had to make a bit of a detour to get here! This
morning we had to wake up early and make breakfast! Then we went on a walk on
the beach and walked in the freezing cold water. That was a fun experience.
Then after hot chocolate we went to the Big River that goes through Mendocino.
It was raining really hard and we where freezing but it was so much fun! One
canoe tipped over and a few kids took a bit of a swim! Now after showering we
are hanging out in the dinning hall and just having fun! This has turned out to
be an amazing birthday!
~ Stella
Today was a water
filled day of fun, we went tide pooling and out-rigger canoeing. When we were
tide pooling we saw lots of sea life. While we were canoeing one of the boats
flipped, I called it (only our school could manage to flip an out-rigger). Btw
moms, I found my ipod.
~ Elias
Today was a crazy and exciting day for me. My cooking team had to wake
up earlier then the rest of the teams because we were making breakfast. We had
to eat breakfast very quickly so that we could go to the tide pool caves to watch
the tide. When we got to the tide
pool caves we went down this slippery hill, and all the girls were really cold
because we were wearing shorts. After when we started walking it was very
slippery, I had probably slipped 10 times and every time I did slip you would
hear me scream. When we were walking Gaby was right in front of me and I
slipped, luckily she put her hand out and I grabbed it. I said to Gaby “ I almost died”. Later that day we went in canoes. So after a while being in the canoe, we
started racing with another group. We were head for a while. Soon later the
other group had past us, so we started going really fast to beat them. After a
while we had stopped trying to catch up.
So we were sitting there and Shannon is sitting in the middle of this
arch that separates the two boats.
So Shannon says, “ I wish we had a motor boat” so she lies on the arch
and puts her feet out to start kicking. Justin thought that Shannon was falling
of so he tries to get her up and he is also sitting on the arch. Then we see
Todd and he is saying, “ the boat is sinking!!!!!” the next thing we know were
in the FREEZING water and the boat is flipped over!! Shannon, Gabby and I were
laughing so much, I had said “ 8th grade memories” while I was still
in the FREEZING water. It was very funny!!!! I would do it all over again if I
could.
~ Chelsea
This trip has already started as an adventure. Given the past two days,
who knows what will happen next! We arrived and went on a long hike to BIG TREE
and it was pretty and then came back and had a great dinner! We went to bed and
woke up at 6:30. We had breakfast and left at around 8. We went to the tide pools
and caves and it was so cool! I touched so many weird things in the pools and I
tried touching a big anemone, and it started squirting water at me! I thought
it was poison at first and started screaming! Then we went straight to the
canoes at the big river that goes through Mendocino. This trip was definitely
more exciting than expected. First of all, it started raining the second we got
on the boats and it was windy and cold the whole time. One boat (of course our
class was the first that this happened to) capsized and broke their rudder, and
we had to go help them flip their boat and bail. The trip back was against the
current, twice as cold, and it felt like 10 times longer. When I got off the
boat I literally couldn’t feel my feet and I couldn’t walk because my knees
were clenched and numb. It was solo nice to get into the warm car, and come
back and shower, even though my water did turn cold and stayed that way. Now we
are all hanging out before dinner in the dining hall place, and its really fun.
I’ve been playing guitar, singing, playing cards, chatting… etc. its really
nice to have some down time. We’re having chili tonight. I hope its good! So
the trip has definitely gotten to a good start, and I’m really excited for Trinity
(especially because here we are sleeping in tents that leak and have no
lights…)!
~ Helen
Shopping of any kind has always been my idea of torture. Sharing a
morning of shopping with the class of 2012 at Fairfax’s Good Earth may have
changed this for me. Students were so determined to shop and live sustainably!
Their quibbling over purchases of foods with the absolute lowest food miles
made the experience engaging and even stimulating. Teams had done their
research, devised detailed budgets, and were eager to see how closely their
budget projections came to actual in store costs! Students found local meats
grown two miles from Fairfax and cheeses produced down the road in neighboring San
Rafael California. It was a pleasure seeing these PHS students take on a significant
level responsibility for their trip and do it with an infectious enthusiasm.
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