Salt Lake City- Day two June 29

Camping was quite the experience. I usually do not camp, and this is one reason I think this trip will be an adventure. Waking up in the middle of the night to walk to the restrooms was sort of scary. It is so dark out and you can hear the animals. Our tents were right near the camels, so you can only imagine how I felt. However, I survived my first night of camping and so did my campers. I feel like I will get more used to it after doing it a few more times. After waking up, we ate chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. Then we hopped in the bus for an hour ride to the Alpine coaster, and along the way drove by Olympic Park, where some of the skiing slopes for this past winters Olympics games were located. The Alpine coaster is a rollercoaster where you go one or two to a person in a little car, and you control your own speed by handling the break. The track takes you up the mountain slowly, and you then make your way back down the curvy and fast track, back to the bottom where we began. At first I was extremely scared, but then I did it and had a blast. There are going to be many activities on the trip I am going to be nervous about doing but this is a once in a lifetime excursion so I am going to do it all! Immediately after we rode the fun rollercoaster, we went to the water park, where the kids got to relax in the lazy river and go on slides. After showering at the “clean” campground showers everyone got ready for a delicious dinner at Chili’s. Following dinner, we had a fun filled night of bowling. Everyone had fun, and no one kept score. Tonight is our last day in Utah and our last day of camping for a few days. As you can see, all of our days are filled with lots of things we do, but we keep energized with all the good food we are always eating!

June 28- Salt Lake City- Utah

When meeting all the kids at the airport you could see on their faces how excited they were to meet new friends and have an adventurous summer. After meeting each kid, I knew I wanted to try and get to know each one and make this a summer of a lifetime for them. Our first night of the trip was camping in Utah. Many of the kids were not thrilled that we had to camp. However, camping gives kids a chance to bond with one another. I bet by the end of the trip the kids will be glad we went camping, and also acquire many new skills. Each camper is divided into work groups that include a rotation of food preparation, doing the dishes, and cleaning up the campsite before we head out to our next destination. Arriving in Utah was an amazing experience. The scenery is breathtaking. The mountains are gorgeous. I felt like I was part of a spectacular painting. After going over the policies and playing some icebreaker games with the kids, we had an amazing dinner. This was not a normal camp dinner. We ate chicken, steak, salmon, asparagus and salad! Later on that night, we went to the local Lagoon Amusement Park where the children had the chance to ride roller coasters. (Half of them I wouldn’t even go on.) The kids seemed to have a blast and were already making new friends. I am excited to see what the rest of this trip brings. We have lots more to explore and do!

Starting a New Job

This post is from June 28th- the first day of my new summer trip. Each day I wrote about the new adventures I encountered. Today is a new journey for me. I am on my way to start a summer job that I have always wanted. The feeling I have is indescribable. It is 5 a.m. right now and I am sitting at Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for my plane flight to LaGuardia so I can pick up the kids to go to Utah. During the summer I will have the chance to experience seeing most of the United States and Canada and make an impact in children’s’ lives. Throughout my experiences each day, I will tell you funny excerpts that may happen, and different things I encounter each day. This job is the discovery to many new things and I am looking forward to it. I encourage every one of you to go for something you want!

Accomplishing my first dream job

This summer I went on a job I always wanted to do. Over the summer I was able to be a counselor for a teen traveling camp called westcoastconnection. I was able to fulfill two of my passions: working with children and traveling. We traveled all over the west coast of the United States and toured some places in Canada. This experience changed my view on life in general- I now appreciate the scenic beauty of the natural wonders of the world. Each tour leader gets assigned a different job that they are in charge of. I was in charge of researching different facts about each place we went to each day. By doing this I learned things I never knew about many different places. In addition, I programmed activities for the campers to participate in and confirmed all the reservations of each place we went to. I enjoyed all the tasks I had to do, working with the campers, and seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world. I wrote every night about the experience I had and the activities I endured. If you read on you will get to read about my experience and see pictures from this experience.