This picture is of my mom and me (to the left) at the Montgomery Airport. Dad took a picture of my whole group. (below) After saying goodbye I loaded.

This picture is of my mom and me (to the left) at the Montgomery Airport. Dad took a picture of my whole group. (below) After saying goodbye I loaded the plane and took off to California.

Or day one

Once my plane reached California we waited a while for the rest of the group to arrive. This was my delegation leader Mrs. Leah. (to the left) Once everyone was there we went to California Pizza Kitchen and ate supper.

Or day one continued

After we ate supper we headed to the dorms, where we stayed the first three days and later, the last two days.

On this day we started by going to the Marine Headlands. There we learned that the way kelp floats is that it has an air bubble at the bottom of it. (below, right) Then we headed to hike to the light house. On the way I took a pretty picture off the side of the hill. (below middle) When we were almost there we came to a tunnel. (left) It was dug so they could take the $1,000 bulb to the light house without breaking it. Before we could get to the lighthouse, we had to cross a bridge. (above left) Only two people could cross at a time! After the light house we went to Muir Woods. It is the home of the Banana Slug, and I got to kiss one! (above right) Muir Woods is were we found the Redwood trees. You can see me standing in a hollowed Redwood. (bellow right) Day two was very exciting. I had a ton of fun!!!!!!!

Today we went to the state capitol. The first thing I noticed was the painting on the top of the dome. (top left) I also saw a statue (top right) that caught my eye. We got to explore the capitol building which doubled as a museum. I saw an old newspaper from when the earthquake hit San Francisco. It was fascinating. I also saw rooms that looked like they had come from the 1800s! Then we headed to a conference room. There we met some people who worked for Governor Schwarzenegger. It was very interesting.

On day four we left San Francisco and went to our first campground. It was very exciting there. We got to set up our own tents! It was awesome! That night we told ghost stories and roasted marsh-mallows. When bed time came we slept under the stars! It was peaceful, and a beautiful sight to fall asleep to.

On day five we went to the Hetch Hetchy Dam. On the way we saw a beautiful waterfall. (right) Once we reached the dam we walked half way across and I saw the lake (below) and a rainbow.(left) They were amazing, quite a sight to see. After we left we went to see the sequoias. We walked the two mile round trip to the tunnel tree. On the way we saw a tree wide enough for a car to go through. (below right) on the bottom left you can see me leaning against the tunnel tree.

Today we did the most challenging thing of all. A seven mile round trip to the top of the Vernal falls. It was quite a challenge. We started the day by driving to the heart of Yosemite National Park. Then we walked to the mountain and started hiking. About a mile into our hike we stopped to eat the bag lunches we had brought with us. The leaders let us wade in the river until we started moving again. We hiked for about another two hours or so and we had finally reached the top. When we were at the top they let wade in the river again. As I waded in the river, I slipped into a hole and got soaked! Then we started our descent. It was a slippery trip down. When we were finally off the mountain the leaders let us go to the gift shop. Then they ordered pizza. We got an ice-cream cone for dessert, a rare treat.

On day seven we went to Mono Lake. We started the day by packing up our camping things and driving away from Yosemite. Once we were at Mono Lake we met a guide who took us on a trail around the lake. She told us about the brine shrimp that live in the lake. She also told us that Mono Lake has three times more salt than the ocean. The guide let us know about something called tufa. Tufa is the large white towers of rock seen all around Mono. It formed years ago when Mono Lake was much higher than it is now. Another cool trait to Mono is the alkaline fly. It lays it pupa on the bottom of the rocks in Mono Lake, and we got to eat one of the pupa! They tasted like very salty chicken.

On day eight we went to Bodie, the ghost town. It was very interesting. We started at the front entrance. There were two large things that looked like elevators there and the guide told us they were used in the gold rush to send miners down into the mine shafts. We then headed to the jail. They sent us into the jail in groups of five. I was in the first group to go into the jail. It was very interesting inside. I saw the different jail cells and the many rooms. The guide told us about a group of vigilantes called 601.Six feet, zero jury, one rope. Then we broke up into smaller groups and headed in different directions. My group went to the graveyard. Then we looked at all the different houses. They were very fascinating. After that we went to the museum. Then we met up with the rest of the group and ate lunch. When we were eating, I got scared by a seagull who wanted my sandwhich.

On day nine we were at Kirkwood and we got to climb a rock wall. I’m was in the group that got to climb the rock wall first. It was fun. I was the first girl to reach the top of two of the hardest walls they had. After that we went and ate lunch. We waited about 30 minutes then we went horseback riding. I was the least experienced rider there so I got the horse that was easiest to ride, Cody. He was old and calm and he knew the trail so all I had to do was ride him and kick him to make him move. That day was very fun.

On day ten we went to Lake Tahoe. It was very exciting and fun. One of our leaders said whoever could dunk him would get a free ice-cream, so everyone tried to dunk him but no one was able to. The water in the lake was just the right temperature. I played in the sand with my friend Savanna. We made a sand castle. I dug a small hole with a trench leading to the water so it would fill up. I called it Lake Tiny. After playing in the water all day, we went to Charo’s for supper. We then went to the gift shop. After shopping a while we went home to Kirkwood.

On day eleven we head back to San Francisco. On the way back to the dorms were we will be staying, we stop at the Exploratorium. As we headed in, we saw a wedding in progess on the beautiful explorsaturium grounds. There I partnered up with Savanna and we explored the giant building. We stopped at the gift shop before leaving. They had many exciting things there.

On day twelve we started by riding a ferry of to Alcatraz. While still on the boat I took two pictures of the city. (below right, right middle) The main building on the island was very large. (below middle) We then did an audio tour of the prison. Then we headed to the fisherman’s wharf. We did a lot of shopping and ate lunch. Afterwards we rode the cable car to the cable car museum. While riding the cable car, I took a picture off the side of it. (top right) After exploring the cable car museum we walked to the fortune cookie factory. It was fascinating. Then we went to a Chinese restaurant and ate supper. After that we went and did a lot of shopping. We had to walk back to the vans. On the way I took a picture of the sunset over the golden gate bridge. (bottom right)

On day thirteen we went to Stinson Beach. There I started my day surfing. My group fitted ourselves into wetsuits and headed to the beach. The director went over the rules with us, then we went into the water. Every time I tried I fell off, then the last time I stayed on all the way, with a LITTLE help from the director!! Then we started to boogie board. It was easier than surfing. One time I completely jumped over another kid! Then we got to play on the beach. I dug two holes and with the help of my friends we dug them so deep I could stand in them and you could only see me from my chest up! We had a tunnel connecting the two. Soon we collapsed the tunnel and I laid in the two holes and they buried me so you could only see my face. To the left you can see my friend, Sheily. I had a blast at Stinson Beach.

It’s time to go home. The trip to Houston was long , but I watched the movie they played and it helped with the time. Then while waiting in the Houston airport, since our plane was delayed, a boy accidentally set of the fire alarm! That woke us up. We then rode the hour long plane ride to Montgomery! There I was the first person to walk through the gate and had a joyous reunion with my family.