It’s been a whirlwind couple of days here in California. On day one we all arrived at the San Francisco airport, looking forward to an exciting summer on our High Sierra trip. The group quickly became fast friends at the airport and we soon felt like we had already been traveling together for multiple days. After lunch and games in the airport while awaiting everyone’s arrival, we headed to Half Moon Bay to set up camp.
Upon arrival at Half Moon Bay we set up a scenic camp on the beach. A little drizzle did not stop our group from having sunny attitudes. Kyle and Lauren have been constantly impressed by every students’ willingness to lend a helping hand and work together. For our first dinner together, Max, Nate and Bruce prepared a delicious spaghetti feast. Dinner was followed by a cozy campfire with s’mores as we continued getting to know each other, discussing goals for the trip, and playing games. We fell asleep lulled by the sound of waves crashing on the beach.
Day two began with a filling breakfast of “baggie omelettes” to fuel us for the day of surfing ahead. After picking up our wet suits, we headed to the beach to meet up with our surf instructors. Everyone had a fun time catching waves. After surfing, Nicky impressed us with his energy to run after a long day of activity. Ben, Shayna, and David cooked us a warm and filling meal of grilled paninis and tomato soup. Ben was master of the grill, Shayna chopped some beautiful tomatoes, and David sliced the mozzarella. Around the campfire, we started “life story” an activity wherein each night someone shares about themselves as we continue getting to know each other. As our leader of the day, Dario started off this activity. Ian had the idea to start a game of “assassin” which consists of silly tasks which must be performed. Nate also came up with a unique way to end our evening circles. We all contributed to the games, then fell asleep content and exhausted after an exhilarating first day of activity.
Day three began bright and early, as we were in the water surfing 8:00am. As our leader of the day, Cole oversaw breakfast and then off we went. We started off with a rousing game of waterball, a hybrid of football and soccer invented by our surf instructor, to get our blood pumping. Maya caught her first wave before most of us were even in the water. Another awesome day of surfing was followed by well-deserved hot showers. Now, we are off to shop for our backpacking section and start driving to the Trinity Alps. We’re all excited for our first backpacking section and spending some quality time in the beautiful outdoors.
