March 4--Abbott

This morning started off chaotically, as those—Madie—that had not finished their packing scrambled to collect all their belongings and stuff them into their bags. Digging through all the cabinets in the RV, we frantically tried to clean out the vehicle. We then made our way to Las Vegas, where we were astounded by bluntness of the city. Within the first five minutes of entering Vegas we counted seven wedding chapels---we even saw the one from the movie What Happens In Vegas. After this, we finally arrived at our hotel. We were finally let free to roam the roads of Vegas, where we encountered many interesting beings. While walking, we were tempted with many offers that we were quick to deny. When we arrived back at the hotel, we were then surprised with a limo ride. During the ride, we listened to the same songs over and over and over again. They took us to a light show that spanned the length of a street and saw more interesting people, some standing and others on the ground. After a long tour of the city, we ended the ride at the Las Vegas sign, where we took a picture. Finally, we arrived back at the hotel, where we quickly tried to spit out an interesting blog. Thank Howard!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010--Anasazi (Abbott RV)

This morning started off early for me when I was woken up at 5:20 a.m. by my alarm I had set the night before. As I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cautiously made my way around the RV, I collected all of my shower essentials. I dragged myself to the showers, where I anxiously awaited the arrival of a Navajo employee, who kindly unlocked the shower door for me. After my shower, I then headed back to my cozy bed in the RV, where I slept until I was awoken by Mrs. Dickinson at 7:50. She asked me to come outside and informed me that my decision to shower early that morning had been catalysis for a series of events that lead to everyone accidently going into the wrong shower room: the employee showers. Though I was slightly confused as to how I had been the one who erroneously sent everyone to the employee showers, when the night before my RV as a whole was notified by a teacher where the showers were, I accepted the blame. After this, I attempted to return to my slumber, but even the thought of sleeping was fruitless as the entire RV was in a state of consciousness at this point. My RV then ate a hearty breakfast complete with sausage biscuits and healthy cereal that helped stimulate ourselves for the drive to the Grand Canyon. While on the way to the Canyon, I kept myself entertained by keeping up a conversation with Ms. Abbott about the Native American rap we were listening to on the radio. Our favorite song was Sounds of Reality, where a young man and a woman used their vocal chords to produce a strange new earthy genre. As soon as we arrived into the Canyon, we headed over to the visitors’ center to check out the sights and to see a historic watchtower where I bought a book on people dying in the Grand Canyon. After this excursion, we finally made our way into the RV Park where we were staying at for the night. There we were told that we had free time up until 7 pm, so we could take the shuttle and explore. I instantaneously made my way to the shuttle stop with Lilia, Emily, Lucy and Shelby so we could investigate the sights in the Grand Canyon and walk around the rim. Unfortunately though, it was biter cold on the rim and Lucy and Shelby soon left to return to the campground. After gazing at the humbling canyons for a while longer, we then determined that it was time to head back to the RV Park, where as we strolled, we caught a glimpse of the sunsets breathtaking beauty. This day, though not starting off too well, turned out to be strangely relaxing which I believe was contributed by the magnificence of the Grand Canyon. And so, it was a good day.

Mrs. Dickinson's RV

Our trip has come to an end! I'm sitting here in the Las Vegas Airport making use of the WiFi - the fastest I've had the whole trip. All in all, it was nice to feel more disconnected than usual from the real world for these past two weeks. Yesterday we woke up early, straightened up the RVs, and were on the road by 7:30. We stopped at a couple of gas stations and also the Route 66 Museum, a tribute to the hugely famous highway. It was pretty tourist-y but interesting to read all of the famous people who have made stops along the way and also how Route 66 came about. We had been planning to hike the Grand Canyon yesterday morning and also stop at the Hoover Dam, but both of those plans were thwarted by ice. The 19 students and a couple of teachers were dropped off at the Paris Las Vegas while the other teachers went to return the RVs. We all did our own thing until about 8:30 - showered, napped, went out on the town, went to dinner, saw the sights. At 8:30, we all piled into two stretch limos and went to see a light show featuring Don McLean's American Pie, and then drove all around Las Vegas while jamming out to obnoxiously loud music. Hopefully most people made it to bed by midnight, because we woke up at 4:30 this morning. Not fun.

This has really been a fantastic experience and I'm so glad that I chose to do this Minimester trip. I couldn't have asked for a better time! I'd like to say thank you to all of the chaperones and my fellow travelers for making this an unforgettable experience.

-Lucy Eckman '11

Cowgirls: day 9

Frebruary 2nd
By: Paloma Quintanal.

Today was a really tiring day. We woke up like at 8:30. We couldn't take a shower, so we all smelled bad. We went to take some pictures to different landscapes like the spider rock. We also went on a 3 miles hike. That was horrible, at the end everyone was sweating so bad. We were so tired. After that, we went to ride horses, that was a lot of fun. We rode them like two and a half hours, so a lot of the girls finished with their bodies aching. When we finished, we went to "Burger King" to eat dinner.Two hours later we arrived to the RV park, and we all went to sleep.

Cowgirls: Lilia, Paloma, Andrea, Shelbi, and Ale.

Today, our RV set out at about 9:00 AM for the petrified forest. At the Petrified forest we saw wood that was blended with minerals to make beautiful shining rocks. After watching a threatening video about stealing the rocks, we were allowed to wander freely around the park. While walking the scenic path we realized this trail practicly resembled scenes from the Lion King, which was enjoyed by all involved. After eating a tasty lunch of sandwhichs and diet coke, we set off on a mile hike through the painted desert. On this hike we got to experience a mountain side view which we will all never forget. Concluding the day with the Navaho Indian trading post, it ended up being an all together wonderful day.
- Shelbi

Sunday, February 28

This morning we woke up at about 8 and ate some breakfest. We started to drive for about 2 hours to go on a hike at a national park. The hike was very narrow and uphill. The sight was beautiful, it was a little cold outside but we all could handle it. We spilt in two groups and went on 2 seperate trails and then switched. When we finished we went back to the RV, and most RV's made lunch. We then headed off to the Meteor Crater, there we watched a movie and visited the crater. It was so interesting, we then headed to the RV park there we made dinner and went to sleep for another adventurious day.

Tuesday, March 2 (RV Abbott)

We survived the night and woke up peacefully to the thought of Howard no longer being in our presence. After we woke up and got ready we all headed over to the Visitors Center. We then split into two groups, and my group went on a hike around Canyon De Chelly first. The hike was very beautiful and at nearly every stop there were Indians who were selling jewelry or rocks that were painted on and had very special meanings. The hike took longer than we thought and we were late to get to the horse trail, but it was okay because they were not back yet. I was concidered a more experienced rider and was thinking to myself that I had no idea what I was doing. When we first started our ride we were going too slowly. I wanted to canter and not walk. Ana and I had to switch horses because she could not control her horse and she thought that I would be able to. I then rode on her horse and found that her horse was out of control. I then switched with some Indian man, but found that his horse was just as stubborn as Ana's. On the way back they guide in the back led Ana, Andy, Madie and I go on a different trail so that we could run the whole time. It was so wonderful to see the horses run so quickly. I then had to wait for the guide to catch up. While I was waiting my horse was so stubborn and would not stop; he had to be moving and walking forward. The only way I could get him to stop was to get off of him and I had to do that while he was walking. After I would get off him, he would get behind me and push me forward with his head because he knew that we were not supposed to be stopping. After we got to the end of the trail, Ms. Haney and our RV went to a trading post. We then went to a grocery store, where Ms. Abbott and Madie were getting very odd looks because they were the only non-Indians in sight. We drove for what seemed like forever and ended up at a RV camp where the showers do not open until 5:30 AM and we have to pay $1.50 to take a shower. Although tomorrow morning is not going to be that great because we have to start early and drive a lot, I am looking forward to every day to come! :)

Day 6

Saturday 27
By: Ale Perez
Today we went shopping to a mall in Phoenix. We spend like 4 hours and I had a lot of fun. After that we went to a rodeo. We waited 2 hours before the rodeo began we went to see gymnastics. There were really good boys and girls in gymnastics. Then, we went to watch the rodeo of horses. There were a lot of big and fast horses at the rodeo. It was amazing. After the cowgirls and cowboys finished riding the horses, they were hurting the animals. It was awful! Then we left the rodeo, we went to the RV Park.

Cowgirls: Cowgirls: Lilia Finch, Shelbi Sessoms, Paloma Quintanal, Andrea Campillo and Ale Perez.

Day 8!

Day 8: (Ms. Meyers RV)

This morning got started off the same as most of them have. Our RV was up a few hours before all the others, sitting and eating pancakes as the rest of the RV's were just rolling out of bed. We visited the painted mountains. They were outstanding. Susan was convinced that Dinosaurs were somewhere to be found and spent excessive amount of time searching for them. We scaled down the side of the mountains as an RV and hopped over baby canyons. Quite the envigorating experience. After, we stopped off at a gas station, where Isis bought more coffee then most normal people should have. We spent a good 20 minutes there before getting back on the road. Then, we met up with “Isis' people”, otherwise known as Navajo people. There we all ventured around one of the oldest Native American trading posts, coincedently this trading post sold beef jerk, which Emily nagged me for. Finally, after all of our exploring we ended up at this unique campsite. Although there are no showers, we now know what real camping is like.

Humma Humma! (Ms.Meyer's RV)

February 28 was a day to remember on our RV trip. It all started early this morning when it was raining. Susan woke up at 4:00, because she felt a wet spot on the mattress. Mind you she was sleeping on the upper level of the RV. She pushed the thought about the wet spot away from her mind.
Around 8:00 the whole RV woke up ready to take a shower. Ms Meyer told us that four bathrooms were reserved and that we should run so we would not have to wait in line. Of course when we got there was a line. The showers were beautiful. The water was perfect. It was with best bathrooms we had seen on this trip. After the showers we were fresh and ready to go to Wal-Mart.
As we drove we accelerated the speed. Then, out of nowhere water fell from the upper level of the RV. It was just like a waterfall, and I am not exaggerating. Where did the water come from? We had to work together and fix this water problem. So, we moved all the bags that were on the upper level and put them into the shower and in the bottom of the RV. Once all the bags were moved we put towels under the mattress. As we were putting towels under the mattress we notice some damaged wood. This was most likely the problem. We are very smart kids.
After solving our problem we tried our best to drive to Wal-Mart safely. As we drove we went from dry land to land covered with snow. We very thought hot Arizona could be a cold Arizona. We drove into Wal-Mart ready to shop for our up coming meals. Little did we know Wal-Mart was not a Super Wal-Mart. When then had to walk over to the Bashes’; which was close by.
Once we were ready to leave Wal-Mart we prepared ourselves for the wonderful hike at Walnut Canyon. We saw cliff dwellings and had a beautiful view at the canyon. At the end we cracked rocks to see what the insides looked like. It was so cool.
Later we went to see a meteor crater. We learned that meteors are made out of nickel and iron. We also learn that a meteor takes ten seconds of impact from the outside the atmosphere and it travels at hundreds and thousands miles an hour. The view of the meteor crater was remarkable.
The next stop was root 66. We stopped at the sign of root 66 and took pictures. It was so exciting. Later we drove to the corner of Winslow Arizona. This is where we took pictures.
Our last stop was at a stake house. We celebrated Ale’s birthday and had great food. The waitresses were kind to us and were very quick. It was a great way to end this day to remember.
- Isis Daniel

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert (Cupper's RV)

Hello all! Today we arrived in the Petrified Forest where the trees look as scary as can be! Actually that’s not true; the forest was fully equipped with a beautiful display of pieces of wood that have been covered in volcanic lava giving them a jewel like aura. It’s hard to believe that a volcano can do such a thing to a huge forest, but seeing is believing and I definitely believe it now. After the leaving the Petrified Forest, we headed towards the Painted Desert two words to describe that place…PRETTY AMAZING! After looking at gorgeous pieces of petrified wood all day you would think that the day would come to an end, but not true. We were supposed to go to Spider Rock Campground, but because of recent snowfall, Howard, the RV park owner was nice enough to place our RV’s at another location. This place was definitely not the Ritz Hotel but the overlook on Canyon DeChelly was well worth the uncomfortable stay. It was absolutely breathtaking! Not only was the view beautiful, I got the chance to experience the moon rising! This has to be the first time in my seventeen years of existent s to witness this! Tomorrow we will be heading down inside the canyon on horseback!!! I’ve never ridden a horse before, well not without assistance, so I am very excited about that! Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode!

Ify

Hummahummanukanukawakowaa( Ms. Meyer's RV)

Today is March 2. In Arizona we are so occupied having fun. This morning we split in 2 groups to ride horses and go hiking. Ms. Dickinson's RV and Ms. Meyer's RV(our RV)went first to ride horses, while Ms. Haney's and Ms. Abbott's RV went to visit the Spider Rock and went hiking in the Canyon Delly Shally. The ride was very fun, each of us had a horse depending on the size and experience. All the horse were pretty and we rode them for 4 hours. We visited the inside of the Canyon and all the pictures that the Navajos (people how lived there) drew. We also had a doggy folowing us all the ride, and it was very funny because it didn't belong to anyone, we found out that he was french because that was in the only language he looked back to us when we called him. After the horse ridding we had lunch at the RV and we went to visit the Spider Rock. After that we went hiking for 2 hours, it was amaizing! We hiked 2.5 miles down and up the hill. It was very hard but also so pretty so all the effort was succesful. On the way to the RV park we were all very tired because of the hike, at 8.30 we apeared in Utah! Right when we arrived at the RV park 10 people run to the showers and they were closed! We have to wait until tomorrow to take a shower! It was very funny the situation of seeing everybody running into the showers!Also we had a nice weather, it was a little chilly but also sunny, most of us got sun burn.
-Ines :D

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Hey guys,

It's Evie. Today we went on a three hour horse ride through Canyon de shelly. Then afterwards we drove around the rim of the canyon. It was very pretty! All of the horses were vey cooperative :) I will try to atach some pictures. It has not been woring to well for me.


xoxoxox,
Evie

March 1, 2010~A-Team (Ms. Abbott's RV)

Well today we woke up and headed out of Holbrook, which was a relief after last nights crappy dinner. Seeing that no one had directions we had to turn around where we saw the EL Camino and Madie Bolles sung a very obnoxious song about EL Caminoes. We drove to a petrified wood store. Ms. Abbott, Madie, and Ashley decided to take pictures with concrete dinosaurs. After gathering everyone up we drove about 28 miles to the Petrified Forest. Leaving there, we headed off to our RV park, but lost an RV, causing us to have to turn around. When we arrived to the RV park we met the owner an old Indian man named Howard. Ms. Abbott, being kind, decided it was a great idea to invite him over for our taco dinner. Looking at the time, everyone had finished eating, but we noticed that Howard was still sitting over on the other couch while Ms. Abbott was doing dishes. Trying to get him to leave, Ms. Abbott said I am about to go take pictures of the stars, but instead of leaving Howard decided to follow her. She turned and noticed that he was behind her, so she ran to talk to the other adults, but he still seemed to think it was okay to stand behind her. Finally, he gave her a hug for more than 2 minutes and left by saying I will try to come back in the morning. After Howard left, Lilia, not knowing what’s going on, knocked on our door and everyone screams. Mrs. Dickinson called to make sure we were okay.

-Deja

Mrs. Dickinson's RV

Today we were higher than the city of Denver. Our RV climbed to about 7000 feet as we drove to Walnut Canyon, a national monument with early Hopi Indian ruins. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. There were 278 steps down (Evie counted) plus some flat, very narrow trails. The Indian dwellings had been dug out of the canyon walls and some of them even had little windows. The bottom of the canyon used to be a sea bed millions of years ago and when we reached the bottom, it was almost perfectly quiet. This particular place in the canyon was considered sacred by the local Indian tribes and there were very strict rules about noise level and what you could/could not touch. The way down wasn't nearly as strenuous as the way back up - imagine climbing 185 vertical feet at such a high elevation. We were all huffing and puffing and felt incredibly out of shape. After we left Walnut Canyon, we drove to Meteor Crater - the most well-preserved and first proven meteor impact site in the United States. It's hard to describe the enormity of the crater. The diameter was equivalent to 20 football fields, and rocks on the other side that looked tiny were actually the size of your average house. There were 4 viewing platforms with telescopes to see various aspects of the crater like the raised strata, a drill hole, and many of the large rocks. This impact site has been crucial to discovering many of the secrets of our solar system. It was sort of eerie but awesome at the same time. After we left there we drove to Holbrook (stopping in Winslow, AZ to take a picture at the corner there ... it's in some old song with which I'm not familiar because I am only 17 after all) and had dinner at Butterfield Steakhouse. Now we're hooked up at the Holbrook KOA and tomorrow we're seeing the petrified forest. Good night!

-Lucy Eckman

Abbott-Day 6 (Feb. 27)

Today was an interesting day. Since it was a Saturday, Ms. Abbott allowed us to sleep in (actually according to Madie who was awake at the time, Ms. Abbott was in the shower, which is why there was a sleep-in). But anyways, it was longer than what was normally expected. Our sleep was interrupted though when Lexie came bursting in to ask for a blow dryer. Since her unexpected visit left us all wide awake, we decided to start getting ready for the mall. Nearly everyone from other RV's were already up, and we had to frantically get dressed for the mall. We were then reminded by Déjà that it was just a mall and we would never see these people again in our lives. Before we could go to the mall though, we had to stop by walmart to get money for people who ran out from the previous week. We then drove an hour to the mall and we were given two hours to shop. After this, we met back up, and it was agreed to shop for one more hour. The mall was big and expensive. The first store that I went into was forever 21. The store was as clean as I had ever seen it in my life. most forever 21s have clothes everywhere and you have to search for things that you would like to buy. We went to a lot of stores. We then headed back to the forever 21 to buy the things we put on hold. The next store that I went to was American eagle. While in the store someone who was standing out in the front of the store came in and stole a stack of denim shorts from the front of the store. After that, the shopping was normal. The next place we went to was the rodeo. The rodeo was great. The first exciting thing we did was taking turns riding the mechanical bull. Since we were under age, we had to have a guardian sign for us. Mrs. Dickinson wouldn’t sign unless she had confirmation from our parents. Once I had confirmation, I was able to ride the bull. Lexie and Madie were the ones to stay on the longest. While in the street while walking, Ashley and Aliviana were shot at with a fake gun (it was part of the show). It was scary as crap! To pass time, we all went to see the gymnastic competition that was taking place in a building near us. the gymnasts were amazing. We then went to the actual rodeo. It was pretty cool. We saw barrel racing, cattle lassoing, and steer wrestling. It was high school rodeo, and the contestants were really talented. We are now heading up to the north, where it should be snowing. Wish us luck.
-Ana and Aliviana

The RV park is incredibly nice!

- Madie

Ms. Dickinson's RV: February 28

Hello all. Today was another entertaining day is Ms. Dickinson and Stratton's RV. We began the day with a little shopping at mall just like any other mall in America. Everyone was happy with their purchases. After the successful shopping excursion, we went to a rodeo, which unlike the mall, is unique to this area. At the rodeo, Ify rode the mechanical bull... it was a sight to see (don't worry there are videos). I think she thought she was going to be really good but she wiped out soon after getting on. The rodeo itself was... interesting. Ms. Dickinson had to calm us all down because we were more concerned with the steer than the cowboy/girl. Then began the arduous journey to our camp ground. An 18 wheeler decided to test Ms. Dickinson's driving skills.. needless to say our lives flashed before our eyes.. well Maggie and Lucy's that is. Ify and Evie were passed out. Oh how we longed to pass that truck again and give them a piece of our mind. But I digress.. we finally made it to the camp ground after around 3 hours... the trip was only supposed to take 1 and a half. Technology is not always the best guide. Pictures will come tomorrow.

Ms. Meyer's RV aka. Humahumanukanukawapawa

Today, most of us woke up at 7:00. Susan, Emily, and I waited for the laundry room to open at 7:30 and took showers while our laundry cleaned. After everyone had gotten ready we had seperate breakfasts like bagels, poptarts, ect. Once we hit the road we headed to Chandler Fashion Square mall. At the mall we were alowed to shop for around three hours, and choose to eat lunch in the mall or in the RV after shopping. When we all met to leave the mall around 2:15 we traveled to a highschool rodeo, where teenagers competed. When we arrived at the rodeo we realized that we were early, so we all lined up to watch or ride the mechanical bull. At first I was nervous about riding the bull but after I rode it i felt acomplished even though I only stayed on for a short time. After riding the mechanical bull we all watched Mrs. Haney and Mrs. Dickinson ride it also. By the time the rodeo started everyone was in their seats ready to watch. The barrel racing was fun to watch but what really shocked some of the SMS girls was the steer wrestling.This is where the cowboys jumped off their horses at a gallop onto the steer, grabed its horns and wrestled it to the ground with all four legs in the air. After the steer wrestling there was the steer roping, and team roping. After the rodeo we hit the road to our campground for the night near Flagstaff. There our RV cooked hotdogs and corn for dinner. Today was my most favorite day of the trip so far.
- Lexie Bruzgul

Friday, February 26 2010 ABBOTT

This lovely morning, not unlike the others, came with slight confusion and chaos. The first signs of arousal came when the RV as a whole was woken up to Deja’s glorious alarm on her phone at 6 am. While everyone was trying to collect their thoughts and figure out why they were being woken up, we all unanimously (without consulting each other) decided that we would all remain in our beds and wait for another other than ourselves to turn off the alarm. In the end, it was Deja who saved us from the repetitive beeping, yet nearly killed us by having it in the first place. After that, the others in the RV peacefully returned to their slumber, while I lingered in limbo of consciousness, trying to return to the shores of sleep. While tossing and turning, I soon found out that in my sleep, Deja had pranked me by placing grapes in my bed (which I rolled over onto). I then patiently waited for everyone else to wake up and was relieved 30 minutes later when Emily knocked on the door so that I could unlock the bathroom for her and be able to stretch my legs. After doing so and refusing to go back to my bed, I decided the best idea was to take pictures of the mountains and stroll around outside. I was then hopeful after my outdoor excursion that at least one of my fellow RV members would be awake, so I soon made my way back to the RV. Alas, no one was awake though, so I returned to the outside to ponder what to do next. My next attempt for one to be awake was successful in my next round and I opened the door to see Ms. Abbott in the kitchen. This was a great relief and in that time I taught her how to receive text messages from Facebook about notifications. Soon the others woke up and it was time to make breakfast. This brings about the only unfortunate aspect about the cooking in our RV, which is Ms. Abbott’s need to cook everything with oil (any kind, vegetable or olive). After breakfast, the laundry was collected and quarters were round up to make a trip to the Laundromat (which was only a 4 second walk). Luckily, all of the washers were being used but one, so it was my job to try to stuff every article of dirty clothing we had into the single washer. With this time afterwards many dawdled, took showers, wrote in their journals, and in Ms. Meyers RV’s case: sanitize and clean their whole entire RV from top to bottom. Before long though it was time to put all the clean garments into a dryer, but unluckily it was found that all of the dryers were being used. This put a damper on our RV for it was about nearly time to go and Ms. Abbott was getting antsy about as to how we would dry our clothing. This problem was fixed though by the idea of hanging all of the attire from the inside of the RV to airdry. Following this, we went rapidly on our way to the historic town of Tombstone where the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral had taken place. We were let loose when we arrived and our RV decided to stay together for a short while and check out some stores. We then remained in Tombstone for several hours, but it seemed only a short while until we were all once back onto the road again. Thankfully, we stopped at a unique Monastery to enjoy some baked goods and take a look at the thrift store that was available. I can say happily that I bought some nice $5 roller blades. It was then quite a drive to Phoenix, but our RV was entertained by the guys trying to look cool on their motorcycles and by Ms. Abbott’s fascination with how huge the houses looked on the mountain. The arrival at the KOA Kampground was a huge reprieve from the slightly cramped vehicle and the word that there was a pool on the premises spread rapidly. Everyone then enjoyed their time on the RV park and relaxed. Dinner was also a great success in our RV with Ms. Abbott cooking the first hamburgers (on the stove) she has ever cooked. It was an enjoyable day.

-Madie

Friday the 26th

Hey guys,

Evie here :) it's my day to blog. Anyways this morning we woke up and stayed in Tombstone for a bit. Some people went panning for gold, others shoped for cool suvineers (Sorry if I spelled that wrong) There was suppose to be a live gun show..guess not. We left about 1PM. On our way to our next camp sight right out side of Pheonix we stopped at a monestary. Mrs. Dickenson was nice enough to buy us some fresh muffins for the morning!!!
I am going to post some cool pics I personally took so far :)
Hope you ejoy,
Love,
EVIE!!


O no, my pics did not upload.I will definatly upload them when I get a chance!!

Days 1, 2, 3, and 4

Monday February 22nd, 2010
By: Ale Perez
Today we woke up really early. We left Tappahannock at about 3:00 am. We drove to the Richmond Airport and we finally left on a plane to Las Vegas. We arrived and waited in Wal-Mart for about three hours. We were starving because we did not eat anything and it was already 4:00 pm. We were waiting for the RVs, and for the people that were buying the food for the RVs. We left from Wal- Mart at 5:30. Then we drove to the RV Park where we were going to sleep. The place was really pretty. It had a lake and it had swings and obviously bathrooms and showers.

Cowgirls: Lilia Finch, Shelbi Sessoms, Paloma Quintanal, Andrea Campillo and Ale Perez.

Tuesday February 23rd, 2010
By: Lilia Finch
This morning we woke up at about 7:00. It took us a while to get into action, but finally we all rolled out of our beds. It was so nice and warm outside. We opened the windows of our RV and were hanging out of them like little puppies. We rode for about two hours to get to the place where we had reservations for a boat ride on the Colorado River. While we were bonding in our RV we noticed that there were a lot of Mexicans who were working on fields and walking on the side of the road. Andrea started to yell out the window to them referring to them as her “Beautiful Mexican Friends”. We then got to our destination where they were waiting for us with a big boat. We were in the middle of California and Arizona. We did a lot of hiking up mountains, which our RV did not like very much. We returned to the RV where we found out our toilet had overflowed again. There was water overflowing out of the door of our bathroom. We decided to call it a day and head to our RV Park. It was so nice and the bathrooms were very clean. We hung out with friends for a little bit and then headed to our RV for another big day ahead of us.

Cowgirls: Lilia Finch, Shelbi Sessoms, Paloma Quintanal, Andrea Campillo and Ale Perez.

Wednesday February 24th, 2010
By: Shelbi Sessoms
Today we woke up at about 7:00 am to go explore through a field of cacti. The road trip took us approximately four hours which our RV did not mind because that meant we had four hours of sleep to catch up on. When we arrived to our destination we walked around the gift shop and watched a movie on cacti. Afterwards we hiked up a mountain; the view was great but our legs were really tired. When we finished our sight-seeing, we drove to a Mexican restaurant called La Fuente. Everyone enjoyed the food, except for the Mexicans which claim that actual food from Mexico is much better. After that we took our showers and went straight to bed to prepare ourselves for the next day.

Cowgirls: Lilia Finch, Shelbi Sessoms, Paloma Quintanal, Andrea Campillo and Ale Perez.

Thursday February 25th, 2010
By: Paloma Quintanal
Today was a great day, we woke up at 8:00 and like every day we clean everything up and then we left. We went to a museum, but it had a lot of animals so it was kind of like a zoo. It was so cool; we saw a lot of animal like cats, wolves, birds, reptiles, and more. We also saw a big bear, we think that was kind of scary, but at the same time awesome. We took a lot of pictures. After that, we went to Wal-mart, but we only had 20 dollars to spend for our RV, that was horrible, because we couldn’t buy junk food. We also ate McDonalds. When we finished, we went to the RV Park, and we hung out for about an hour. Then some of us went to eat dinner to a town called Tomb Stone. Later, we came back, we took showers, and then we went to sleep.

Cowgirls: Lilia Finch, Shelbi Sessoms, Paloma Quintanal, Andrea Campillo and Ale Perez.

Day 5

By Andrea Campillo
Today was a great day, We woke up at 8:00 am, and everybody was exhausted, after we woke up we cleaned and some girls had to take a shower, after those girls took a shower we ate "lucky charms", we then headed off to Tombstone, which is a small town about a mile away from the RV park we stayed at. The town was filled with little small shops and a bunch of cowboys. We stayed there for a little more than 3 hours. We headed off to Phoenix and on the way there we slept, we also were planning to give massages to each other, that was so much fun. after we arrived on the RV park, some girls went to the pool and everyone else was making dinner and my RV prepared chicken nuggets and corn on the cob, which Lilia and I made. After we ate most of the girls in our RV took a shower. After that Ms.dickinson tried to help me to get on this blog but we couldn't et on it, so now I;m writing on Emily's computer and I'm about to sleep!!!!!! bye bye
Andrea Campillo

Ms.Abbott A-Team

Today we woke at 7:00 am cooked breakfast and cleaned up the RV. Finally leaving the the RV park we went off to a wild life museum in Tucson., Arizona . I saw lots of animals that I have never seen before up close such as Bob cats, snakes and much more. We had lunch in the parking lot but everyone seemed to noticed that they had ran out of food so we went to the nearest walmart. After we arrived at our our rv park in tombstone a group of people went into the local town and shopped and ate dinner. After getting back to the RV everyone just sat around laughing and looked at pictures.

Day 3, 4, and 5

February 24, 2010

(Ms. Meyer's RV By: Emily and Susan). (Emily Lindsey) We crawled out of bed nearly an hour before the sun peeped over the horizon. With only an hour to prepare ourselves for the day we decided on pop-tarts as opposed to anything gourmet. A four hour drive, filled with music, the wind through our hair, and dreadfully awful jokes told to us by Ms. Meyer, took us to Organ Pipe National Monument. There we saw a huge assortment of Cacti. I believe it's one thing to look at nature, and another to become one with it, so-to-speak. Many of the Cacti had a sign in front of them giving us information about them such as their names and what they are used for/what may be taken from them. (Susan Donges) After venturing through the Organ Pipe National Monument, we made our way over to the mountains to go on a beautiful, yet tiring hike. The hike took 30 minutes for some, while other stragglers took anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile back at the RV's others attempted to tan, and take pictures for their facebook profiles. After a day filled with fun, and many cacti, we made our way to a restraunt called La Fuente. There we enjoyed a delicious traditional mexican me, also we experimented with jalapeno pepper. To some such as Ashley and I, they made our mouth fire and sent us running for water. Unlike people who Emily who barely flinched. As the day grew to an end our singing abilities came out in our own versions of the Venite and Sanctuary. We had Isis as our own personal beat box, and Emily who led us with her unique vocal skills. Finally, exhausted from our long day of travel we jumped in the pool for a nice relaxing swim. By the end of the day, were all exhausted and ready for sleep, but excited to see what the day ahead holds.

February 25, 2010

This morning we took off and headed for the Sonorah Desert Museum. There we watched a short introduction film about the wildlife in Arizona. Then, we were "set free," to explore and learn more about the animals and plants found in the desert. There we saw Coyotes, Wolves, Prairie dogs, Racoons and various kinds of birds. It was a wonderful experience. In addition, the view from the Museums paths were remarkable, as they seem to wherever we are here in Arizona. Arizona has not yet seized to amaze and astound us with its breathtaking beautiful landscapes. Once we arrived in Tombstone at our Campsite for the evening we were once again "set free" to explore the town of Tombstone and brief ourselves on where we'd like to visit the following morning to shop

February 26, 2010

Yes! Sleep in! Today began wonderfully as a result of the extra hours we were given to sleep in. Although it didn't make a very large difference in my RV (Seeing the majority of us go running, and the only one who does not is an early bird!). However, it was a nice thought to have those few extra hours! Anyways, once we'd woken up and gotten ourselves together we took off for the quaint time of Tombstone. The men and woman were clothed in the attire you would have seen them wearing during their time. We visited the O.K. Corral, and other historical sites. The majority of the girls took advantage of the shopping opportunity. After we'd finished shopping we hit the road again for Phoenix. The trips to the next stop are always great fun. I tried to catch up on a little bit of sleep and awoke the my "RV Mates" tying my shoes together, and blowing up a pool raft in the center of our RV. Don't ask me why, I haven't got an answer for you. All I can say is I'm having a wonderful time, and feel blessed to be given the chance to spend this time and share this experience with students at St. Margaret's, that have become friends of mine.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (CupCake's RV Day 4)

Howdy! I've always wanted to say that and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity :). So after a long, hot, and rather entertaining hike through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, it was nice to dedicate a day to looking at animals. I saw everything from owls, to snakes, and even bears and coyotes! I not going to lie it was INTENSE! Deja, Aliviana, and I ended up watching this really cool “Bird in Flight” show. It happened to be more interactive than I expected. These birds were flying everywhere; over your heads, landing on your shoulders and hands, and behind your backs. For those who haven’t seen it, I really recommend that you do so. The animals are unlike anything I’ve ever seen! The funniest part of it all is that this 7 years old girl seemed to know more about these birds than I did! I was truly considering bringing her along on the trip as my personal tour guide because she was beyond genius! After leaving the museum, we headed towards Tombstone, Arizona. This place should be known as the creepiest place on earth! It looks like something straight out of an old western movie. I know my Uncle Les and Cousin Preston would appreciate it because I surely did! It was really cool to head into town during the night. It made you feel like you headed into a ghost town. For those of you with weak stomachs, I do not suggest that you take this tour alone :). Tomorrow we will be heading into town during the day to do some shopping and watch reenactments of western shootouts. I’m super excited about this! Who would have ever thought that a city girl like me would end up in Arizona? Best experience yet <3

Having So Much Fun,

Ify

(Pictures from day 2 Riverboat tour)

Well, I just wrote the best blog ever, but it just got deleated so if I miss anything I am

sorry. This morning we had to race against the time when we woke up at 6:50 and were supposed to leave at 7. Although we were the last to rise we were one of the first to be ready to leave. We drove for miles on end, just to stop at a sign and take a picture, or so we thought. We then went to a cactus farm to look at things that we have seen over a billion times. :) We went on a 1.5 mile hike which by the way, was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Boarder control pulled us over and thought we were trying to smuggle in Mexicans. None of them had anything to prove that they were allowed to be in the united states. We also found out that we could have running water while driving.When driving we played the ABC game and Madie said Asphalt but Aliviana wrote down A-hole. Haha.We then arrived at Tucson. At the end of the day Ms. Dickinson paid for all of us to go out to this nice resturante. When we got back, we went swimming and had a nice time. Oh, just incase you guys wanted to know, I am writing this blog with the beautiful aroma of pickles caressing my nose, thanks to Ms. Abbotts driving. :) We are now a happy family cuddled up in bed. :) Good night.