Saint Margaret's School Goes West or "Travels with Scotties"

THE LAST POST

2008-03-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that i was given the chance to go on this trip. I feel like I learned much more than I ever thought a trip could teach me. It really has been fun getting to know people who I dont really hang out with much at school. The best part of the trip for me was going to the channel islands. It was so beautiful and clean out there! I loved it!! I never knew that one state could have so many different landscapes. We saw cities, mountains, deserts, valleys, rivers, the ocean, and so much more. This trip has taught me so much about me and the people all around me! Im very glad that I went.

Last Post

2008-03-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

This was an unforgettable minimester, i really had fun and experienced a lot. I was really amazed at the great views i saw. Especially those in the national parks. Besides those natural view, we also toured the cities. The two nights in Las Vegas were pretty fun. Also, the chinatown and fishermen's wharf in SF, together with the shopping in LA, was amazing. We got to see different views, people, and lifestyles. To me the most unforgettable part of this trip was the life in the RV. In the narrow space, every of us learned to live, talk and respect each other. Even though it was not convenient to make the meals, find the wireless, take shower, make the bed, it was really an unique life experience. I would also like to thank all the teacher who prepared and participated in the trip. Thank you for all the preparation and hours and hours of driving. It was a great time in California and learn something outside the school.
By Joan Ge

2008-03-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Like the others, first i want to say thank you so much to all of the teachers and my amazing friends for making this trip possible. It was great and i wouldn't have picked anywehre else! Second, i would like to say that i reccoment california. To anyone. Haha.
I got so much out of this trip. Not only did i learn how to keep an RV clean (most of the time) but i learned so much insight from Travels With Charlie and the amazing expieriences from everything we did. It was so great to be able to go see beautiful trees and mountains, and then a day later (after MUCH driving) get to go to incredible cities. Again, thank you to everyone who made this trip possible. All of my friends and family were suprised when i told them of all the things i'd seen. They loved the stories of the coyote, walking through a huge tree, a jumping into the pacific ocean! All in all this trip was such an incredible expirience and i loved sharing it with everyone who was on it, and i hoped you all got as much out of it as i did!

Last Post

2008-03-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! The first thing I can say is I am such a smart person to pick the minimester trip to California. I wouldn't want to spend it anywhere else but there. The experiences were once and a life time opportunities. For one I would like to thank all of the Teachers for making this trip possible.
When we got in the airplane and left Virginia I was kind of scared about the places I was going to see ahead of me. The plane ride was fun and exciting and I was just so anxious. I would have to say the hotels were nice and after all the time spent in an RV I will probably never ride in one again. I think the bumpy roads and long trips just gave me a headache. I loved the RV I was in but after awhile I think everyone starting going crazy from being so close.
The places I saw when I was on this trip were all so amazing they would take your breathe away with one glimse. The thought of following a book to places halfway across the world seems silly,but I think that after all of this it doesn't sound that silly anymore. I went into this trip thinking it was just a vacation from school and came out with life experiences that I will make sure never leave me while I step out into this world. I did things on this trip that I never thought I would do but it shows me that this place we call home is full of surprises.

Post California

2008-03-23T17:36:00.001-07:00

This trip was a new experience. I was not vey excitted to go at fist because I feared that if I had to high of hopes they would not be met and I would not have a great time. However I had an amazing time. I did not only learn more about myself and the way I enteract with others but also more about the west. I live in Montana so I am use to the mountains and everything but i was not use to the lifestlye there. For the most part everyone was very nice. We did have one run in with a lady who tried to blame us for her missing her doctors appointment. But then we had people help us find parking. I pushed myself to new limits which many people where surprised when i told them I jumped into the pacfic ocean. I think the girls in my RV was more surprised. But I could not let them have all of the fun! It was beautiful in California and I will never forget this trip out west. I will never forget all the views. The ocean, the animals, the HUGE trees, the lights of Vegas. This was an experience I hope everyone will be able to have one time in their life!

Last Post

2008-03-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ending Post!

Although mini-mester is over and we will soon all be returning to finish out the year, the California girls hold their heads high! Throughout our trip we have had so many life altering experiences, some of which i never thought i would experience. I consistently found myself saying throughout the trip, "well that is one thing i can check off my list of things to do before i die." It is truly amazing to know that throughout this trip we all lived life to the fullest extent. I mean honestly how many people can say that they jumped into the pacific ocean off Anacapa Island in Mid-March??? This trip was an eye opening experience, and had to be approached with the right attitude. Since i have been home i have frequently been asked.... "So was it hard living in an RV?" My answer has been the same everytime.... "well of course not because the girls and teachers were amazing!!!!" Not only did this trip offer amazing experiences, but it also offered opportunities to spend time with girls i barely see at school. Looking back on the first day we arrived in Las Vegas i realize how little i actually knew about the West side of America. As i snow shoed in sequoia, hiked up the trail to see the GREAT General Grant, or took pictures on the Ansel Adams tour in Yosemite i finally realized how amazing America is! The trip was perfectly balanced with the National Parks framing our schedule for the first days, and the large cities framing the schedule for the last few days. On the second to last day as i walked through LA, i decided once and for all that New York was overrated and LA is the place to be. Walking down Rodeo Drive looking at the fabulous shoes that i could definitely not pull off we actually saw Carmen Electra shooting a add!! This was definitely the highlight of that day. However, the next day we had to say good-bye to our home for the last 10 days and head back to Virginia. We were all in the dumps as we arrived back at the Westin (and lets just say i am not so sure they were excited to see us 20 girls with large suitcases.......) But the amazing chaperones of this trip surprised us!!!! How does one say good-bye to the wild west better than a night out in Las Vegas with an amazing group of friends and teachers........IN LIMOS!!!! This trip was sooo amazing and i have gotten to know my fellow students and teachers better. As i told one of my teachers... "I use to just ignore you because i was scared of you, but now i realize how cool you are!!" This was an amazing mini-mester and i will never forget the sights i saw, the memories created, or the friendships i made during it.

Natalie Clark

GO Island Packers [or Jumpers??? :)]

Post Cali

2008-03-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Leaving California and Vegas was quit hard. So many new memories were created there with a lovely group of girls and faculty. I remember every bit of the trip and hope to remember for the years to come- from funny memories such as our wonderful RV conversations to more serious memories such as the knowledge we learned about the history of sites and people. Day one was tiring from traveling but once we reached Vegas, we all got a second wind and partied up the streets. When we first got the RVs we were all excited for our road rules adventure to begin. We all found things to do on the road and had random conversations and many nap times to pass the time by. Who knew what the next conversation would lead to...Anyways we had many great photo opportunities and great opportunities to appreciate the beauty of nature. While I enjoyed nature's beauty, my personal favorites of the trip were Vegas, San Fransisco, and LA. I like being in the city and wandering around town with the girls. I do have to admit Yosemite was gorgeous and is among my favorite sites as well. After our long road adventure we ended back at the hotel in Vegas. The girls went their separate ways to see what the streets of Vegas have to offer once again. We met at the hotel at night for a surprise- a limo ride. woo hoo! We partied it up in the limos before going to bed to leave the next morning. Thanks to this road trip, most car rides seem relatively short. On a more serious note thought, this trip seriously has taught me so much and allowed to me mature in a way to live with a group of girls and to accommodate to small living situations. It was nice to break away from the materialist world we live in today and only travel with so much and slow down to take in reality and what the world has to offer. I enjoyed this trip so much and could not have asked for a better time! Thank you to all the drivers who put up with us girls and driving us every which way, literally. Thanks to the girls for being so nice and fun. it was a good group and i enjoyed being with everyone!

Elise Bailey

The Island Packers

Final Thoughts

2008-03-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Since having been in California I had time to reflect on what the trip has meant to me. I learned that the people you see everyday but never get the chance to talk to can actually be really cool. I also learned that being on the east coast in Virginia is far different than living on the west coast. The Le-Jit's had a lot of laughs, and memories that will last a long time. We will never forget the drive to Yosemite as Mrs.Haney wanted to drive us off the cliff, or even to playing card games on the way to our destinations. I believe that the trip was a real learning experience but we had a lot of fun along the way. We will also never forget the SUV limo ride through the strip, or the time that we had no electricity or heat for one night. Its hard to say which day was my personal favorite because I found that each place was fun in its special way, even places that we were not pleased to go to in the first place. Overall, everyone got along great on the trip and its hard to picture a better minimester trip to go on. =)

Le-Jit's

~Emily Wilson

Final Post

2008-03-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Minimester was great. It was really nice to get a break from school, and spend it in California. After going to LA, we went back to Las Vegas. This time, we were able to go off on our own for a little while as long as we were back at 7:00 for a suprise. All of us were anxiously standing outside the hotel, when we found out we would be taking an SUV limo ride down the strip! On our way we stopped for ice cream. We rolled down the windows, played some music, and had lots of fun. The trip taught us a lot but we also were able to have a good time. I think everyone was satisfied with their minimester choice.
-Margaret Sargeant

The fountain at the Bellagio

2008-03-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Even More Pics

2008-03-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ms. Dickinson and Dr. Kahler trying to figure out how to get out of Chinatown.

Buying live frogs in Chinatown!

The girls walking toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

Pebble Beach

A mission on the El Camino Real between Monterey and Santa Barbara.

Los Angeles and my Alma Mater

2008-03-07T18:12:00.000-08:00

Thursday we travelled down the Pacific Coast Highway from Ventura to Los Angeles. It was a beautiful day. If it is always this nice I can see why people like to live here. We travelled Santa Monica Boulevard to Beverly Hills where we did some shopping on Rodeo Drive.

After the shopping half the group went with the Haney's to Grumman's Chinese Theater and the other half went with me, Ms. Dickinson and Ms. Jordan to see my alma mater, the California Institute of Technology, Caltech. I have not been back in the thirty-two years since I graduated and it was good to have a chance to see it again. We went to the house in which I had lived, Ruddock House, and met some of the current students. They let me in and I showed my SMS students through the house. It really had not changed very much. We walked through campus to the lecture hall where I had physics class and we posed with the bust of Robert Millikan.

I really enjoyed getting to share a little of my past with my current students and it was certainly one of the high points of the trip for me.

LA

2008-03-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

Today started off kind of slow because noone really wanted to get up but eventually it was better. We were at a very nice RV park where we had stayed two days in a row. It had a pool and a hot tub which we all enjoyed. Once we left the park we were not on the road for that long before we reached the beautiful beverly hills where we spent most of the day shopping. After we shopped for awhile we had the chioce of either going to where the stars are or to DK's collage. We choose to go to where the stars where. It was very cool to see where the famous people go. We also got to go to Jack in the Box burger. But before that we took pictures with mimes. On the way back Ivy and i stuck our heads out of the window and said helloooooo to pedestrains and drivers. All together today was a great day=]

-racetrack playaz

Yosemite

2008-03-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Yosemite National Park. First we stopped and saw the beautiful mountains and waterfalls. After that we met at the visitors center to see Sara. Sara taught us helpful photography hints to think about when we are taking pictures. She took us to some of the most famous photography sites to practice our photography skills. She also taught us some life facts about Ansel Adams. I thought it was interseting that he started off playing piano then he tried photography and fell in love with it and became famous. After she showed us an old fashioned styled camera she left us to play on the rocks under the waterfall. Most of us stayed and practiced our photography skills. After we got on the rv's and headed to Quinn's aunt's house in Stinson Beach.

-The Racetrack Playaz with Ivy

Los Angeles

2008-03-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

L.A. was another really great city. It had good shopping, even better food, and tons of stuff to do. We got to go to Rodeo Dr., look around, shop, and eat. For lunch we went to this cool sushi place "Lucky Fish." There were a lot of chain restaurants and stores, but also a lot of local places that were really neat. One store called "Envie" had blown up magazine covers that had mentioned them and the famous people that shop there. Besides the food and shopping the people there had great taste in fashion and cars. After walking around the city for a while, we went to Dr. Khaler's old college California Tech. It was really interesting and had a cool architectual design around campus. L.A. was basically just a fun place to be.

Welcome to Los Angeles!

2008-03-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Soakin up the sun in Stinson Beach

As soon as we arrived at Mrs. O’Connor’s house, we were welcomed inside for a little tour. Immediately we got changed and headed up to the beach. At the beach some of us went looking for sea glass and shells, I found a petrified sand dollar! We laid out for a while and played Frisbee. After a while we made our way back to the house where we enjoyed some snacks and spent a lot of time soaking in the hot tub. A few girls went kayaking on the lagoon. After some quality time with Quinn’s family and each other we had a nice pasta dinner. For desert we had ice cream sundaes and cookies with marshmallow fluff! While Mrs. Dickinson’s RV stayed up at the house for some shut eye the rest of us went down to the guest house where we used the amazing shower in there (FREE OF CHARGE). We then watched a movie, and one by one we all went out like light bulbs. We were thankful for one night under a roof. -LeJit’s Tory

The Channel Islands

Today was a fun day in the Channel Islands off the coast of Los Angeles. We first met up at Island Packers, a local cruise boat, to travel out to the island of Anacapa. There with our tour guide, Aaron, we all went on a hike to the other side of the island. Along our journey we had open discussions about the islands and the history. We also saw many beautiful and interesting sites along the island from the beautiful flowers, to the entertaining California sea lions and seals! The experience on the island for me personally brought to my attention how congested the cities of California were to our environment as you can see the smog on land in the atmosphere. Before we left we had some much needed sun from the cold damp temperatures of Virginia where many people got sun burned. A few dare devils of the group decided to jump into the Pacific Ocean as a final hoorah for the day. After we traveled back to shore on the boat we headed back to the RV park where we went to relax after our day in the hot tub. Tomorrow we head for some shopping in Los Angeles! We shall report on our journey tomorrow.

Welcome to Los Angeles

After a long day on the island of Anacapa we all traveled to the big city of Los Angeles the next day for some much needed relaxation from the RV’s and some shopping. As we arrived we parked in the neighborhood of Beverly Hills were we saw beautiful houses and some pretty green lawns. Many people decided to split up into different directions for some shopping along the famous Rodeo Drive and a few went down to Santa Monica. Some found Carmen Electra shopping along the streets and others went out for some Pinkberry ice cream and some good ole’ IHop. When we were through with our three hour excursion we then split up again as some headed for the RV park and the Le-Jit’s headed down to Hollywood Blvd where we got the opportunity to see the Kodak theatre and actually walk on the walk of fame. On the walk of fame we took pictures with impersonators of Marilyn Monroe, and Superman. To complete our day we went out to dinner at Jack in the Box and found that the RV park was closed as we arrived. As Dr. Kahler found the guy to let us in for the night, the Le-Jit’s reflected on our big day in Hollywood.

-Le-Jit’s
Emily

Driving Day

2008-03-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

It was a kind of disappointed today. Everyone was looking forward to go shopping in Santa Barbara. However, since we must get to the RV camp we are suppose to say for the night, we spent all the time driving, and we did not have time to visit Santa Barbara. It was tiring for Mr. Haney to drive the whole day, and it also became boring for us that everyone ended up sleeping. We did see something on the way. We took a photo walk on the beach when we were driving out of SF. Also, we stopped to see a church that was destroyed in an earthquake and a typical building in California that was built by the Mexicans. Tomorrow we are going to see the dolphins and whales and take the boat the Channel Island. We hope that we can have some fun.

Joan Ge
Race Track Playaz

Wonderful Day

2008-03-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

In the morning, we left Quinn's house to go to the town in San Francisco. When we were driving, we saw Golden Gate. It is the most famous thing in San Francisco. After we arrived, we enjoyed shopping in the town. In the afternoon, we went to the China Town by bus. I ate Chinese food, and it was really great!! My friends buy a lot of Asian food and they like it. I am very glad that my friends are interested in Asia. I hopw my friends come to visit Asia someday. We had wonderful day!!

Misa Kamichi

2008-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Today, the Island Packers woke up a bit late and had 30 minutes to get ready. Since that night we decided to park at a random RV park instead of driving all the way to near Santa Barbra, we had no showers and smelled delicious. We hit the road and drove to Monterery Pennisula. It was gorgeous with the blue ocean crashing against the rocks. We stopped at a small, sketchy, ghost like town, San Miguel, to stretch our legs. Then we saw a mission and adobe house which was quite fascinating and gained some historical knowledge. Oh and these were both closed by the way. Then we finally arrived at the RV park in Ventura. It was really nice, there was a reacreation center, hot tub/pool, and nice bathrooms that were better than Latane Dorms. We had a nice home cooked meal, spaghetti and brownies that Dr. Khaler made, however he burnt the second batch so the supply was limited. On the itinerary we were supposed to stop at Santa Barbra but we did not and some of the girls were upset but in the end we were satisfied with our new iteinerary. We finally went to sleep and awaited the adventure tomorrow brings since most of the girls slept on the long drive to Ventura.

Elise bailey
Island Packers

Its Been A Wonderful Trip

2008-03-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

Hello Lejits, Preservationists and Island Packers:

Even though I actually haven't ventured too far from my laptop, I feel like I have spent the last two weeks between Vegas and LA. Travelling with you girls have been a real treat and fun to boot. While I managed to sleep comfortably in my bed at night and have regular access to the shower, hot meals and the other comforts of home, I know that nothing that I experienced over this time could even come close to your actual experience of "being there."

You all are completing an opportunity of a lifetime with memories that you will share for a lifetime. I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch the sun rise or set in Death Valley. What a treat it must have been to experience Lake Isabella (I still don't know how it got its name) and spend the night in Yosemite. Pacific Coast Highway must have offered some beautiful and picturesque landscapes to see.

The Chinatown experience sounds like a teeny bit of immersion. Just enough to wet an appetite to learn and unserstand more about the Chinese culture (maybe with the exception of the rats floating in a jar). But sparking enough curiosity to want to know why and for what purpose.

The Channel Islands whale watching sounds like amazing fun and doing the town in LA sounds like "my kinda way to spend the day." I hope that each of you have made the best of this experience and have positively impacted the lives of those that you touched while traveling.

I hope that you have fun on the return journey and know that us (your parents) are anxiously excited about our time with you during spring break. Signing off now. The mom of 'one very dedicated Lejit.' See you soon Imani!

Greetings from San Francisco!

2008-03-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

After a nice night in a real house we made our way to the city of San Francisco. On the way into the city we had the opportunity to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. When we arrived at Fishermans Warf, we had about an hour before lunch. We all split up for lunch and shopping until around 2:00. Many had their first experience at the "IN N' OUT BURGER". To our surprise, the quality of the wood was far from over rated. When we all met up after our tummies were full and our wallets were not, we took a cable car up to china town.

China town was a favorite for many reasons. We were suprised to find that china town wasn't just a bunch of little shops and it wasn't necessarily set up for tourists. There were hundreds of honest to god chinese people. This was their culture, created on the opposite end of the world they originated from. They were speaking fluently, buying groceries, making crafts and living their lives together in one small, crowded space. We tried a lot of different drinks and foods that were cheap and were found every 10 steps. A few of us were fortunate enough to enter a fortune cookie making factory. We sampled flat fortune cookies and even managed to get a picture of the place. The real hilight of the day was probably being the odd man out for once. There were a couple caucasians, no african americans or mexicans. The few of us girls stood out like a sore thumb in this little mini culture filled with Chinese people. They were quite welcoming and were excited to share their culture with us, although they are obviously very used to it being a part of one of the most famous cities in the U.S. What was so different about my experience in china town was that not only did they speak their language comfortably and openly, but they also did not know much english themselves. They were courteous enough to know enough to communicate salestalk but few could hold a true conversation. I know this because when i tried to make conversation, they just smiled and nodded, or just laughed. There was also some culture SHOCK (as many of our SMS international students would know about). We saw some things we weren't too curious about such as dead rats floating in jars and shredded squid being sold out of unprotected barrels, but they seemed to be happy with the way things were. Overall it was a fun day and we are excited for the adventures to come!

~Le-jit's
Tory & Emily :-)

Stinson beach, San Francisco, and the Channel Islands

2008-03-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

In Stinson beach, Quinn's Aunt's beach house was a great relief from the RVs. We really enjoyed the house's unique structure, quality, and sleeping in real beds. Her aunt was a great cook and made all of us feel at home. Although the water was freezing we all still enjoyed each others' company...and the hot tub.
San Francisco was an unusual yet unforgettable experience. We got to walk around fisherman's wharf for a couple hours, eat at the famous In-N-Out Burger, and take the cable car to Chinatown. In Chinatown, we traveled around all the different shops trying new foods and getting a taste of their exotic lifestyle. After we left the city, we hit, as The Preservationsists call it, "the whale restaurant" and met some new interesting people. Amoung those people are a softball coach and a couple surfer dudes. It was a pretty fun experience.
Today we went to the Channel Islands, which should sound familiar if you've read the book Island of the Blue Dolphins. We had an amazing tour guide named Aaron. He really inspired us to make the most of this trip amd life in general. Also he made us want to finish Travels With Charley. Aaron told us about how he got where he was, the book he is writing, and how he's going to sail around the world soon. If Aaron is reading this, everyone on this trip says thanks for what you taught us, including the fact that we're never done learning. On the boat ride we saw over a thousand dolphins, fierce sea lions, and cute seals. It was quite a day.
Signing out,
The Preservationists

Channel Islands

2008-03-05T18:48:00.001-08:00

Today we traveled to Ventura harbor where we took a cruise to Anacapa island in the Channel Islands National Park. We saw a pod of dolphin, about 1500 of them, on the way. On the island, our guide, Aaron, gave a very worthwhile tour of the island. We saw about a million seagulls, who seem to be the dominant inhabitants. There were a lot of pelicans and some sea lions. Some of the girls finished the tour with an invigorating leap into the ocean.

Monterey

2008-03-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

After San Francisco we stayed the night in a campground near Santa Cruz. It was beautiful as the sun came up. We cruised on to Monterey and enjoyed the beach there.

San Francisco

2008-03-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

On March 3 we left Stinson Beach to check out San Francisco. We had great weather and everyone enjoyed Fisherman's Wharf, the cable car, Chinatown, and the fun ride back to the rv's on the city bus.

Having Fun in the Sun

2008-03-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

When I first thought of the Roadrules trip to California I thought of soaking up the sun on beaches...however for the past few days we have been driving down very long and curvy roads that lead to beautiful landscapes...however i did not feel like we were truley in California. Today however we went to Stinson because Quinn's family so nicely invited all 25 of us to stay the night. The drive here was breath taking. It was wonderful to see the beach! Once we got to Quinn's aunts we went down to the beach. It was windy and the water was chilly so we went back to her aunts house and soaked up some sun on the dock and in the hot tub. Quinn's brother Will brought along some of his friends that are on the Crew team for Burkley so the girls loved soaking up the male presence. We had a wonderful lasagana, ceaser salad and roll dinner. For dessert we had ice cream and cookies. Quinn's family treated us all like princess and princes! While sitting on the chairs soaking up the sun and looking over the water i was amazed at how different life can be. It has to be super nice to get up most days and have the warm sun! It was so peaceful and I almost felt like i was away from normal society. Everything seemed to be very slow here. People were out riding bikes, others were flying Kites. It was just wonderful to lay back and get to soak in a slower way of life.
Thank you Mrs. O'Conner and family for having us all to your wonderful house. It was very kind of you!!!!

Stinson Beach

2008-03-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

Sunday afternoon we arrived at Stinson Beach, where we stayed the night at Quinn's aunt's house. Photos courtesy of Mrs. Haney.

How many St. Margaret's students does it take to fill a hot tub?

Yosemite Photo Walk and Waterfall

2008-03-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Sarah, who works for the Ansel Adams Gallery, took us on a very informative photo walk. Along with some great tips to improve our photos, she told us all about Ansel Adams and his photographs.

Sarah showed us how to set up a view camera and let us get under the hood to view an image on the ground glass screen.

We finished the walk exploring around this waterfall.

Snowshoe Hike

2008-03-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

At King's Canyon we went on a snowshoe hike together. Here are some of Mrs. Dickinson's photos.

Very Dedicated to Lejits!

2008-03-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well. Looks like I do know my daughter (Imani) A bit of competition is what it takes to get you going. The thought of the Preservationists and the Island Packers blogging more than your group really got you going. Glad you started sharing. So how did Death Valley and Lake Isabella get their names?

Yea, I can't imagine that it was easy to get around in those tennis racket shoe thingys-but a great experience nonetheless, no doubt. Oh so, some of your peers have a similar sense of humor throwing snowballs, huh? Sounds like fun.

The trees really looked huge. How old are they? They must be a gazillion years old to be so big. The coyote was cute. Yea, sad though that he is now depending on humans to feed him. I wonder if he is missing some grand opportunities to eat some other living animals around him or is he just eating plants and stuff.?

A 2-hour trip becoming 6-1/2 hours-wow! That's a loooooooooooonnnnngggg drive. Definitely bonding time. I hope the drivers switched off. Skilled drivers though. That construction looked like quite a challenge to navigate a RV through.

Imani, granny is loving all the pictures. She said that all of you are very lucky to have such a wonderful experience. She said that you should be journaling so as not to ever forget this opportunity.

I shared the blog address with Ms. Donna and Mr. Rodney and Aunt Patti so that we could all share in this experience. This looks like a definite re-do. We'll have to plan a family trip.

I'm already looking forward to reading all about San Francisco, the street cars, shopping in Santa Barbara and Ventura Beach. WOW! I wish I could be there.

Bye for now! Mom

Some more missing pieces

2008-03-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Ladies, no one has said anything about the time when we actually got to pass a car, what we learned about lichens and snowfall, the friendly pup Sara Bear that was waiting for this morning, or the alpacas at Yosemite Pines (among many other things)! We need to help our readers out! We also never got to answer the person who was curious about how Death Valley and Lake Isabella got their names!

Wacky Hijinks

2008-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

The gift shop at Hoover Dam provided an opportunity for Heather and Kirsten to enjoy some wackiness.

Heather took this video of the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

CALIIIII:]]]]]]]

2008-03-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

Photos by: Rachael Glenn Spivey
:]]]

Yosemite

2008-03-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Yosemite National Park. As we were driving in we saw a coyote. He was searching for people to give him food. It was really sad that a wild animal like that had become so tame. After taking many pictures of the coyote we went on to do an Ansael Adams photo hike. The mountains and waterfalls were beautiful. It was really intresting to be looking at a photo taken by Ansal Adams and then to look up and see the same scene. Everything in the park was so beautiful that it seemed unreal. After the photo hike we drove back to the campsite and began making dinner. We had chicken and s'mores tonight. It was delicious!

Anne Harden Watjen
Island Packers

SEQUOIA/KINGS CANYON AND YOSEMITE

2008-03-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (2/29/08), we had a very long drive up to sequoia park for our snow shoe hike. I am a very dedicated member to the LE-JITS RV and we had a good day. It was a very long drive and we spent our time listening to music, eating junk food, being crazy, laughing and Mrs. Haney and sleeping. When we got to the park, we were able to go on a snow shoe hike. IT WAS MY FIRST TIME DOING A SNOW SHOE HIKE (YAY!!!). I put on my fluffy hat, and my aviators, and then i was ready for fun. I had a....hmmmmm how should we put this, DIFFICULT TIME trying to navigate those darned tennis racket-shoe-thingies. I FELL DOWN in the snow (deep snow mind you...) numerous times and then proceeded to be pushed over by my fellow peers. Even though they thought it was hilarious... I DID NOT. Lucia also thought it would be fun to poke fun at me by throwing snowballs at my dome. NOT FUNNY The hike turned out to be a lot shorter than i thought it would be, but that was okay because i was cold. After the hike, we went on to see these amazing trees. I forgot what they were called but they were HUGE!!! Then after this we left the park and headed to the yosemite campgrounds. Although we only expected a two hour drive, it ended up to be 6 and a half hour expedition. Everybody bega. to get restless (in other words: CRAZY). This is when the real bonding happened.
Today was a different story. We went to yosemite national park and saw some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. We got to do and exclusive photography tour and see some of the most famous spots in yosemite. I really enjoyed the tour, and i learned some tips about how to take good pictures. Being able to see some of these things is almost like being in a movie. It is literally like seeing the stuff you see on TV; you know, you never think you will see it in real life, but if you do, it absolutely AMAZING.
Well, i am having a great time so far on the trip, and enjoying bonding with the LE-JITS.

YOUR TRULY,
IMANI*********emo*******

Yosemite

2008-03-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

We had a great day in Yosemite. This has been my favorite national park since I first visited it as a freshman in college, thirty-five years ago. I am excited to have been able to share this wonderful place with our students.

2008-03-01T20:59:00.001-08:00

Some construction in Yosemite made it mighty hard for our RVs to pass!

A shot of our RVs in Yosemite.

Our coyote friend.

Half Dome

Yosemite Falls!

Splash Waterfalls

2008-03-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

hello all
after getting to yosimetie at 12 last night and almost Mrs. Haney driving us off a cliff we made it safely. although we didnt go to sleep until around 3. the ride was horrible. everybody went insane...tory kept singing...imani was about to kill everybody and she kept saying "ba-ta ta taaa taaa" [[it was quite amusing]]...julia was falling asleep, emily was just chilling trying to get cell phone service, and i was just annoyed. so it was a beautiful sight when we pulled into our plug in slot. after an interesting conversation about children and adoption we all called it a night. we awoke to the early morning to mr. & mrs. haney making noise in the [[what you could call a kitchen]] which woke me up and everybody else...so we decided to go and refresh ourselves with a morning shower. little did we know that there was no hot water!!! so i shaved my legs in the sink and imani and julia as well as mrs. haney suffered through a cold shower...after a cold shower...we made our morning oatmeal with the much needed coffee and started for yosimetie national park. it was a 2 hour drive and all of us tired from the night before wanted to sleep although mrs. haney kept asking us to take pictures for her...and asking us if we saw every little thing that seemed appealing. when we finally got there...we were surrounded by waterfalls and snow....which should not be in california!!!! we took a photography tour of the park and learn perspective. our tour guide was very passionate about photography so that made it fun to be around. after our tour we got to walk around the park and i met some new animal friends, like 3 deer and earlier a coyote [[who was 15ft away from our rv]] it was cool. we headed back to the rv and headed back to the rv camp. once we got here people were sneeking cell phone calls getting into fights with boyfriends and making dinner. i made noodle and they were yummy! dinner tonight was yummy too we had chicken, pork, noodles, and veggies for desert we made smores. imani was so nice because she brought me a smore to make me feel better because i was sad. =/ but now everything is good. now for the rest of the night we are going to bond as an rv [ [ lejit ] ] and watch some movies [ [if we can decide on one] ] good night loves!
blog you soon! p.s. mom call ALI! love you!
love always the best rv ever
THE LE-JITS!

Pahrump

2008-03-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

After Hoover Dam we spent the night in Pahrump, Nevada. Here are a couple of pictures.

Playing Catch Up!

2008-03-01T19:41:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to tell you about some of the things we have been doing that the girls have been leaving out. On day two we drove through Death Valley and got to see some really interesting things, but with 3.4 million acres, it would have taken us ages to get to do it all! In the visitor’s center we learned that there is actually an animal called a pack rat and there is an animal called a Chuckwalla that can live its entire life without drinking water. Out here there are grates on the road to try to keep the cattle from crossing because they like to be on the pavement at night because it is so warm. When we were in Death Valley, we met a tour bus of people from Australia, Germany, and Belgium. They were very nice and very interesting. While in Death Valley we saw the actual place where 20 Mule Team Borax originally came from. We wanted to see Artist’s Palette, but our RV was too long. The girls have learning all sorts of things like how to live in cramped quarters together, how to make food for themselves, and most importantly how to live without cell phone service sometimes!

Yesterday (day 3) we drove a lot, but we saw a lot of interesting things too...including: functioning oil wells, sheep, goats, horses, llamas, herford cattle, angus cattle, dairy cattle, longhorn (you should have seen their horns) cattle, pine nuts growing, almond trees in bloom, orange groves, a couple grapefruit trees, lemon groves, a field of mustard, olive groves, lots of grapevines, a field of poppies, wheat field, and beehives!

Today in Yosemite we learned a lot about Ansel Adams and even more about photographic composition! I’ll let the girl continue to fill you in about how much we learned about photography and the great sites today!

yosemite

2008-03-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

hellooo. today was pretty exciting. we went to yosemite national park and we learned some helpful tips on photography. BUT first we saw the cutessssssttttt wittle coyote ever. but anyways, we met sara at the visitor center and she took us for a walk to the most famous places in yosemite to photograph. she taught us some things to think about when were taking a picture, and i thought it was very helpful considering i take photography classes. after our lesson she left us at the lower falls and played on the rocks.

this is the racetrack playaz

-ivy=]

The Second Day

2008-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

We went to the death valley on the second day of this trip. When we arrived there, the weather was really hot. It was like summer. Then we walked a few minutes to go to the higher place to see the death valley. The view of Death Valley was amazing!! It looked like desert. Some of my friends tried to climb the valley. Some of my friends took a lot of pictures. Everyone enjoyed to stay at the death valley. We love that place.

Misa Kamichi
Racetrack Playaz

Sequoia and King's Canyon

2008-03-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

On the road again! We had a lot of driving today. We were supposed to go snow shoe hiking. However, we didn't see any snow even untill the afternoon. In stead the weather was pretty warm. Mr. Haney was talking about what if the park closed which made us a little worried. As we climbing up the mountain, the snow showed up. How excited! We went snow shoe hiking in King's Canyon, it was pretty cool to walk in a pair of snow shoes. After that, we went to see the gaint tree. Everything we saw and experinenced really worth the long driving. We arrived in the camping place in Yosanmite at 11:30. We really appreciated Mr. Haney for driving such a long time during the day and night. Looking forward to Yosanmite tomorrow. By Joan Ge.

YAYYYY

2008-03-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

March 1, 2008

Hello there family friends and teachers! Today was fun! We got to sleep in a little bit late which was nice. We drove about an hour to the Yosemite National Park in the morning and it was really pretty driving up. There were these huge cliffs of stone and a waterfall. We were all looking out the window in amazement! Haha. Anyways, when we got to the park, we kind of hung around and took pictures. We saw a coyote when we were eating lunch. It was really cute. We then took this photo tour. It was AWESOMEE. This woman taught us all of these helpful components of taking photos and we saw some really beautiful scenery. It really actually helped when we saw the waterfall and started taking pictures of it. We also got to look through this really cool camera. It showed me how lucky i was to be able to just upload my pictures onto our computer instead of lugging around all of the negative sheets. After she was done giving us the little run-down, we got to climb all over the rocks around the waterfall. It was so much fun! It was really cool to be able to be so upclose and everything. Now we're hanging out in the RV Park about to make dinner. That's all for now! Until tomorrow,

-The Preservationists.

Sequoia National Park

2008-03-01T00:40:00.001-08:00

A couple explorers next to a fallen Sequoia.

One of many giant trees we saw on Friday!

The scottie makes a road trip appearance.

A shot of the lovely flowers at death valley.

Outside the visitor's center at Death Valley.

A long day

2008-03-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

Indeed, this was a long day. The drive to Yosemite proved to be considerably longer than anticipated. We weren't really lost, but it was a long drive in the dark. I think everyone had fun on the snowshoe hike at Sequoia National Park. We will sleep in a little tomorrow since we drove so much today and then go in to Yosemite for a photo hike. I am attaching some of my pictures from yesterday and today.

We stopped at this drive-in in Trona, California, after visiting Death Valley. I particularly enjoyed the root beer float.

Sunrise at Lake Isabella

We had fun in the snow on our snowshoe hike.

We saw the Sequoia, General Grant.

2008-03-01T00:18:00.001-08:00

Here is our group at The Hoover Dam

Here we are heading into Death Valley
One of the many incredible pics from Death Valley
Here we are with one of the owners of "My Place" a restaurant in Lake Isabella. Not only do they offer American dishes, but also Vietnamese specialties and very exotic cylone flavors!

Snowshoeing and driving.

2008-02-29T23:55:00.000-08:00

Today was a loonggg day. First we got up early and drove a while to Sequoia National Park and went snowshoe hiking. It was actually really fun, but people kept falling. We also saw what were probably some racoon tracks. The best part about snowshoe hiking was being in the snow, but it was still kind of warm outside. Afterwards, we went to go see the huge sequoias like General Grant. Then we set off on what was supposed to be about a three hour drive to Yosemite, but we sort of got lost. All of us were napping, but when we woke up we still weren't there. The lonesome road was somewhat scary, so we told ghost stories. Finally, we arrived and were welcomed with free internet.
-The Preservationists

2008-02-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Lejits!

I am reading the blogs from the Preservationists and the Island Packers. Is anybody blogging for you guys or are you just thinking of having fun for yourselves? Tell us what's happening from your groups perspective. Surely there are some details that you can blog about and keep us interested folk updated. I'll be checking again later this evening. Wanting to hear all about Sequoia/Kings Canyon, the giant trees and Yosemite.

2008-02-28T20:09:00.001-08:00

A shot outside the plane window as we approached Las Vegas

The City of Las Vegas from the Stratosphere Tower.

Everyone outside the hotel awaiting the arrival of the RVs.

Hoover Dam Intake Side

CALIFONIA ROAD RULES:]]]

2008-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

hey everyone.
CA is going really well. We have all had A BUNCH of funnnn:]]]] we started out in Vegas and then went to hover dam and that was our first day on the road in our RV's the night was very cold because we forgot to crank the heater but we seamed to manage. then we woke up at about 7:00 and hit the road to death valley which was really hot but fun. "The Preservationist" plus julia walked a trail down into the valley then we had to walk all the way back up the BIGGGGGG mountains. Then we stopped and had lunch and hit the road again. After riding for about 100000 hours we finally ended up in lake isabella. Now we are at a little place called "My Place" where we stopped to eat. we will post again tomorrow.

from "The Preservationist"

Lucia's Thoughts on a Wild Ride

2008-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

heyy everybody[[daddy and mommy]]
today was a fun filled day...we were in the RV almost all day today. we started our journey this morning at an early awakening at 7 am. we tried to make breakfast, which was a task within itself. Mrs. Haney our driver tried to make oatmeal in a cup for the first time this morning which ended up all over the microwave spinning thing. then the battle for coffee came about which in the end our RV won. it was beautiful. after our morning venture, we then started our drive to death valley california. although no one knew we were in CA until later this afternoon. death valley was filled with depressing sand..and large cliffs with a sweet little pile of black sand that looked like little foot in "A Land Before Time." after that we headed towards well really nowhere. we had no idea of where we were going and we just followed mrs. dickinson. which we all thought she was leading us down in the garden path.... i fell asleep and missed the desert that was continuous for the past 4762985759876059 hours. so i dont think i missed much. then we ended in a town in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service. which killed some people. after we got some icecream which i couldnt taste, because of my sicklyness, we headed towards lake isabella. which is a huge lake. hahaha. anyway we are finally eating dinner after sitting on our butts all day...until next time..love you and miss you.
lucia

HOOVER DAM

2008-02-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

Today we woke up very early in our hotel. Sadly Ivy and Suzy overslept and were late meeting the crew. Once we got there the RV's arrived and we got our RV's ready to roll. Next was an adventure. When i heard the phrase "everything is better in vegas" i did not really believe it. But as usual i was wrong. Even the wal-mart is better.

The wal-mart is better. They had a hair salon, nail salon, and an airbrush store. Also in the food section they had their own section for asian food. Next we were off to the long RV ride to hoover dam. Hoover dam was very amazing. It was so big and so high and fantastical. We then went to the gift shop and took a million pictures and toured the dam. Next we were on the road again to the RV camp.

We parked and had dinner. The Racetrack Playaz (our RV) had special bonding time by watching blades of glory. it was definitely a fun filled day!

Death Valley- Day 3

2008-02-28T19:29:00.000-08:00

California here we come!
Today we headed to Death Valley. It was a windy and bumpy ride but we made it in one piece. The girls took their seperate ways to explore the wonders Death Valley has to offer. Many of the girls journeyed to the very bottom of the valley while some preferred to stay on top and observe. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone enjoyed every minute of the stay. It was a long hike to the bottom and back up. The Island Packers ran out of water and were dehydrated from their intense wild adventure in the hot desert sand of Death Valley and passed out as soon as the RV started rolling. We then took some "scenic routes" to our next destination. We traveled through some small towns and stopped at a local ice cream parlor and cafe in California. This was a great treat to perk us up. We continued our road adventure heading towards Lake Isabella as the sun set and ate dinner at "My Place." Finally we drove to our campsite and prepared for a good night's rest. I know most of the girls in the Islad Packers RV are looking forward to a nice warm shower and a good night sleep. We are excited for our next adventure that awaits us tomorrow!

Written by Elise Bailey
The Island Packers

Las Vegas/ Hoover Dam

2008-02-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hey guys its the Island Packers! I am blogging for yesterday! Yeste

rday we woke up early and went to breakfast, as soon as week walked outside we say the busy city of Las Vegas. Although the previous night we had toured the city it is so much different in day light. The RV's soon arrived and everyone was excited!! We quickly packed our suitcases into each one and headed to the loved Wallmart. After we stocked up on food and supplies we made our ways out into the unknown. Although the start of the trip was a little confusing, with a "detour" that ended up not being a detour! However, when we arrived at Hoover Dam we were all amazed! (Pictures will soon follow) Although many people can say well yes this is a very large dam located near Las Vegas the true size is unimaginable until you see it with your own eyes. After our trip to Hoover Dam, we ate lunch and piled back into the RV in order to go to Death Valley. When camped out on the outskirts of Death Valley, and our RV sadly came to find the RV park was more of a ghost town. However, we bonded with each other in our RV's and cooked hamburgers and hotdogs. Overall, it was the perfectg first day for our travels in the west! Written by: Natalie Clark from the Island Packers YEAH GO PACKERS!!! ;)

WoW! Nice Pics

2008-02-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

The pictures are really nice. All of you look like you're having such a good time! Now, that's the way to travel. How was death Valley? I bet it's beautiful! Why is it called "Death Valley?" Did you guys take pictures there as well? You've got to keep us parents abreast of every teeny weeny detail. Some of us are living vicariously through each of you. Well may be not all of us, but I am. So humor me and tell me everything. What about Lake Isabella? Where'd it get its name? Don't forget-I'm checking the blog and expecting updates. LOL

2008-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Rachel Spivey sends you her greetings and these photos.

Hoover Dam

2008-02-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

We picked up the rv's today. They are really nice inside but they are really long (30 feet) and hard to back up.

Kirsten says they are really cool. Margaret likes the fuzzy seats.

Hoover Dam is one of the engineering wonders of the world. Everyone was very impressed. It was scary and dizzying to look over the edge. Heather says it was amazing the way the water is directed and controlled.

The weather today was great. I hear it was cold in Tappahannock.

Dinner is on. I have to go.

We're here in Las Vegas

2008-02-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

Made if safely to the Westin Hotel in Las Vegas. Had a smooth plane ride with no problems. All the luggage made it.

The rooms are great.

Here are a few pictures. More to follow.

2008-02-26T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hey The Lejits! I hope u guys were welcomed to a beautiful day in Nevada. Its been a gray day here in Baltimore. Imani, enjoy every ounce of this experience. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Have fun and laugh alot. Notice the sun rise and the sunset. Granny sends her love and so do I. I can't wait to hear all about the trip every step of the way. From the RV to the desert trails. Love ya! Mom

Ready to Go!

2008-02-25T12:52:00.001-08:00

The weeks of waiting are over. We leave tomorrow on our adventure of discovery. Eighteen students in four rv's. We are ready to go! California here we come. The four groups are:

The Preservationists
Heather Chastain
Kirsten Pfister
Margaret Sargeant
Rachel Spivey

Racetrack Playaz

Ivy Turner
Suzy Farmar
Misa Kamichi
Joan Ge

Le-Jit
Imani Yasin
Julia Squire
Tory Sterling
Lucia Pulchine
Emily Wilson

The Island Packers
Anne-Harden Watjen
Elise Bailey
Michelle Martin
Natalie Clark
Quinn Kolbe

Travels with Scotties

2008-02-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

The title, Travels with Scotties, comes from the book, Travels with Charley, by John Steinbeck. Please see the interesting wikipedia article .

I hope that we will use this trip to discover for ourselves what the America of today is all about. Please take time to think about the places you see and the people you meet in this context and post your observations and feelings to our blog.

Excitedly looking forward to our trip,
Dr. K

Another map of our trip

2008-02-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

I used the AAA Triptik site to create a map of our trip.

2008-02-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is a test upload posted using tethered cellphone

2008-01-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

A map showing the places we will visit:

2007-12-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

As one of our minimester classes, a group of students and teachers will be exploring the western United States by rv. Check out the brochure SMSGoesWest