The Trip
By Vy Dang
Introduction
The fifth graders went to Camp Jewel on September 27th, 2006. We stayed there for three days and two nights. During these three days, we did different activities. The counselors taught us funny songs, with dances too. But that was not everything that we did…
On that early morning, my mom woke up early to pack belongings into a black suitcase. When I arrived to school parking lot, kids were screaming,”We are going to Colebrook!!” My friend’s dad took a picture of us. I rolled my suitcase and my sleeping bag onto the soggy green grass. I stood next to my mom until I heard a direction that had to be followed.
We went into our classrooms. Once my class settled down, Mr. Swale began counting all of my classmates to see if everyone was there. We talked about some of the things that were going to happen at Colebrook. Some people asked about the games that we will play. Others asked weird questions such as, “Will the cabins be dirty?” or “Will we ride on a coach bus?”
Finally the bus came!! Some people were confused. They thought that we were going to ride a coach bus, not a school bus. My friends and I were jumping with happiness. We just could not wait!! Everybody in my classroom danced like crazy!
It was time to go onto the bus. The teachers let us say one last goodbye to our parents. I hugged my mom for a very long time. I was going to miss my family. I sat in a seat with my friend Abby. We sang “99 bottles of beer on top of the wall” until the end!! (Instead of beer, we sang coke!!) We were laughing really hard at the end.
Mr. Swale showed the place he used to live in the town, Canton. The bus went buy a lot of stores and houses. Abby and I played hand games along the way. We talked about weird things. (They were funny too!) My other friends, Victoria and Dorothy, sat in the seat in front of us, so we could to each other.
Suddenly, all of the kids in the bus were yelling! I closed my ears and eyes very tightly. When I turned my head, I saw a sign that said, Camp Jewel, Hide away Ranch” We were finally here! I could not stop wondering about all of the activities that were waiting to be played!
As we stepped out of the bus, the belonging was coming out of the third bus. While I waited, huge bags were coming out. Wow! Why did people need so many things? My suitcase came out last.
While I was waiting for the directions, Mr. Dicks told us to carry or roll our bags up the hills so we could get into our cabins! Everyone said O my god, to Mr. Dicks! We did not know that the hill was so high! We were pulling our things on top of rocks. It was very bumpy!
Finally we stomped our feet onto the highest point of the hill! The girls followed the counselor that led us to the Girls Cabin. As we got to our cabin, every girl, and I mean EVERY GIRL was running like a slob of babies to look for empty rooms. I found a room that had no in it. The people that stayed with me were Victoria, Kim, Joanne, Christy and Ashley.
We all took our sneakers of and placed them on top of the coat rack in our room and started to unpack.
I put my sheet across the blue mattress. Then I unrolled my sleeping bag and put it on top of the sheet. There was a spot that nothing covered it. So I put my suitcase there. I opened my suitcase to get my teddy bear out. After I was done, I helped my other friends unpack.
Just then, Mrs. Dicks told us to go outside. I wondered what we were going to do! As I stepped outside, everybody was going to form into a circle. I ran to get a spot next to Hannah. When one of the counselors stood in the middle of the circle, I was ready to listen.
First all of the staff members introduced them self. All of these people were from different states! There was a woman named, Kath. She was from Australia. She also was caring for a baby kangaroo! Then we introduced ourselves.
After that, we played a game with playground ball. We passed the ball around the circle until the whistle blew twice. When the whistle blew once, the ball had to be passed the opposite direction. That was very confusing for the person who was running as the whistle blew once because you would have to run the other way! I had a fun time playing that game!
Suddenly one of the counselors yelled,”Get into line,” “It is time for lunch!” I was so glad that it was time for lunch. I was starving! As I got my lunch, I looked at all of the food choices. It all looked delicious. I got a hamburger, with chips on the side. I walked down the stairs to get a seat next to my friends. When I bit into the hamburger, I felt like spitting it out. I realized that the burger was brunt! So I went up the stairs again and went to get myself a hotdog. Now this tasted way better. After lunch, we went onto the field to hear what activity each class does. My class did rock climbing on Mt. Mogeto!! As my class sat on a bench, the counselor that was with us told the directions.
There were a lot of things that had to be put on. I watched my classmates as they climbed up, up, up to the top. Some of them could not get to the top so they went back down again. Some people could not even do it, but they tried their best.
Finally it was my turn. I hooked myself to the hook on the thick piece of string. Before I climbed, I had to call out some commands. I climbed and climbed, trying to get to the top. There was a rock that was loose, so I had to climb around it. I made it to the top!! My hands were hurting and I could not feel my arms or legs!
When everybody in my class had a turn, we walked back to the field. Everybody lay down on their backs. We were so tired! The sun was gleaming down at us.
As we stood up on our feet, we had to follow the counselors down a long path. We walked through the woods and walked over bridges. It took so long to get there. By the time we arrived at the place, we all looked at each other in amazement.
There were basketball hoops and an 80 ft. slide in front of us! Everybody wanted to go on the long slide. Some people threw a Frisbee with Mr. Mayo and Mr. Hugh. As I walked up the stairs to get to the slide, I saw a small chipmunk crawling through the rocks. Some people called him Chippy.
When it was finally my turn, I sat down onto my bottom and slid down. I was so FUN! I went on the slide many times with my friends. It went very fast. Some kids even screamed and it made an echo come through the green slide.
After I finished going onto the slide, Victoria, Kim and I went to the rock climbing wall. We had to climb around the circle until the wall came to a stop. We fell most of the time, so we had to start all over again.
I went to the playground where most of the kids were playing at. A boy named Do, started to throw woodchips at me. I got so fired up that I almost took a handful of woodchips and used it to throw it at him. I climbed the ladder, but suddenly the boys loosened my grip and made me fall down. It hurt a lot. That got me at least three bruises.
We got back into a group and then walked back to the field. My legs hurt and also my arms, so I started to limp. On the way back, I talked to Victoria about the day so far. I was so tired that I almost fell down! As I saw two cabins, I knew that we were finally back!
Mrs. Gluck told the fifth graders to get into the class lines. When all of us went into line, Mrs. Burdick told us the teacher and the table number we were going to sit at. I was waiting to get called. I sat at table three with Mr. Hugh and six other kids.
As we sat down, one of the counselors called for the waiters from each table to get the trays of food. At table three, Christy was our waiter. I was so hungry I could have eaten a horse! While we waited, a counselor showed us the salad bar and the “Ort Graph” Finally the waiters came out of the kitchen door…
Christy settled the tray of food onto the table. The food was making me drool. I took my plate and took a piece of chicken. As I sinked my teeth into the cooked bird, it reminded me the food my mom does not usually cook. I stood up to get a carton of apple juice. At the end of dinner, I was full. For a dessert, they gave each of us a bar of rice krispys. Everybody filled out the “Ort Chart.” The bar turned out to be really high!
When all of the kids strolled out of the cafeteria, we all went to our cabins to get settled before the other games started. As I went into my room, my bunkmates had made a huge mess everywhere! I had to clean up EVERYTHING! It took a long time to finish cleaning up the room. They were screaming in my ear, so I was about to scream back at them!
As I stepped outside, different kinks of balls were scattered across the field. There were footballs, tennis balls, baseballs and a big bouncy ball. I played with the big bouncy ball with Victoria. We threw it back and forth. One time it missed my hand so it bounced in different places. I ran all around just to try to get the pink ball. When I caught the ball, I was either on my stomach or in an odd shape. I was so tired from running all around. I just hoped that they let us get some sleep.
Finally the teachers let us go into our cabins. When I went into my room, I got my towel and clothes to the bathroom. There was a long line of girls, waiting to take a shower. Did I really have to wait in line? Well The answer was yes.
It took forever for some girls to take a shower. I almost screamed! After the long line had gotten shorter, it was finally my turn. For some reason, one of my friends yelled, “Someone used up all the hot water!” O my god! I had to take a shower in cold water! I was going to freeze!
When I finished taking a shower, I was shivering. I put on my clothes and went back to my room. I took my toothbrush and toothpaste back into the bathroom. For the second time, I had to stay in line just to wait for one of the sinks to be open. I felt like leaving to go to another bathroom in the cabin. After waiting for a long time, it was finally my turn.
I plummeted onto my bed staring at the bunk above me. My bunkmates and I stood up and partied like crazy! We were dancing and laughing at the same time. Victoria made us laugh until we fell down. The room became very wild! Suddenly there was a knock on the door…
We settled down and opened the door. Mrs. Gluck stepped into our room and told us to get into bed. She turned of the lights and left the room. When Mrs. Gluck was nowhere in sight, we opened the small lights beside us and just sat up in our beds and said goodnight. I and finally closed my eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, everyone was asleep while was awake! There was no clock in the room so I did not know what time it was. I got out of my sleeping bag and opened the shades. I took my book out of my suitcase and started to read. I read my book until I heard people running around the cabin. I stood up and went to Hannah’s room.
On my way to her room, Mrs. Glaser told me to get dressed because I was one of the waiters. When I dressed into my clothes, I went outside and headed to the cafeteria. The other waiters and I setted up the tables and brought the jug of water out as well. It was a ton of work until…
Kids charged through the front doors of the café just to get to their seat. Still they came just in time for breakfast. I sat down in my chair and so did the others. We had to wait until everybody else settled down. The consolers called for the waiters to get the tray of food for their table. For breakfast they had Home fries, potatoes and scrambled eggs.
When I sat in my chair, I instantly filled my plate up with food. Everything was delicious! I got out of my chair to get myself a bowl of cereal and a carton of milk. At the end of breakfast, everyone was full. (I think everybody was full.)
Before we went out of the café, the consolers filled out the “Ort Chart.” The bar was high, but it was not as high as the one before.
We strolled out of the café. It was an awesome day to play activities outside! Mr. Swale’s class activity today was going on a hike with Mr. Hugh and Mr. Mayo. We had to walk 2 and half miles! We also looked at plants that we had never seen before. The Bluebird plant smelled like root beer! The Grandfather Rock was colossal! We were going to push the rock back to its ordinary spot, but it was extremely heavy. We also saw a Grandmother Tree! The branches were like a long piece of string, tied together in a tight knot.
It felt like eternity to get back to the camp. The blazing sun was making us all become sweaty. I felt like I was going to faint! We were walking beside a road to get back to the camp. Suddenly a truck passed by, which made me run as fast as I could.
When we got back, it was time for lunch. We all rushed into the cafeteria because we were starving! Today for lunch, the kitchen served us potato chips, cornbread and other things as well. I was so hungry, that I almost took two plates!
At the end of lunch, we filled out the “Ort Chart.” One of the consolers brought out the bucket of ort. (The bucket was filled with trash!) The disgusting part of the guy bringing out the bucket was that, he actually took out a bitten sandwich from the Ort bucket and ate it! Everybody laughing out load!
As we trudged out of the café, we went to our station. My class’s station was with Mrs. Gluck. We looked at the trees around us and we each took a leaf from the plant. When all had leaves, Mrs. Gluck gave us all a piece of cloth and a plate of paint. We made bandanas by placing a leaf under the white cloth and rolling paint over the leaf. When we were done, we hung our bandanas on a clothes line.
We finally got a chance to get back into our cabins. My bunkmates were playing “Ding Dong Ditch” I did not want to play with them because I did not want to get into trouble. Ashley tiptoed to our neighbors and knocked on their doors and ran back, almost running me over.
I quietly went out of my room, and went to the room that Ashley knocked on. I told them all about it. They knew I didn’t do it. (Because I am so nice)
The teachers went into our room and told us to go outside. We all wondered what we were going to do outside. When got out there, Games were settled on the ground. My class played games with Kath. The first game that we played was to find the stick that Kath hid. Robert and I were the last ones to find it.
It was finally time for dinner. We all got into our seats, and waited until the waiters came out with the trays of food. Finally, the doors to the kitchen opened! The waiters walked out and settled the food onto the table. We finally got a chance to eat!
I was still hungry, so I took a bowl of salad. There were a lot of ingredients that I could put into my salad. Since there not munch time to eat, I made myself a small bowl of salad. When I finished eating, it was time to clean up. At the end of dinner, we finally received our dessert.
Before we charged out of the café, Dr. K reminded us that today he will tell us a scary story. Suddenly, the cafeteria was full of people talking about the scary story. We walked out of the café, being totally excited!
When we got into our cabins to have a rest before the scary story, I wandered around the girl’s cabin or just sit in a comfortable couch.
The teachers called for the people who wanted to go to the scary story, to go right at that time. I didn’t feel like going, but everyone in my room told me to go.
I brought a flashlight with me incase I needed it. Before Dr. K started the story, Mrs. Gluck told us that if we did not want to go, we could follow her. Hannah, Anna and I followed her. We went into Hannah’s room and talked about things. Suddenly, we heard a crowd of people laughing…
As we walked out of the room, we all saw a crowd of girls (with teachers) singing the campfire songs that we sang with the consolers. Everybody was singing and dancing! Hannah, Anna and I did not actually join with the group. We just stood there watching them making so much noise.
Just then, the doors to the cabin opened. Everybody who went to listen to the scary story came back. As they stumped into the cabin, they kept on saying that the scary story was BORING, and everybody that did not go, (not including me) kept on saying that we had a party!
As I went into my room, my bunkmates were all talking about the scary story. They were so loud, that they could not hear me. Since I had nothing to do, I went to take a shower and brush my teeth. There wasn’t a big of a line that I had to wait in.
Went I finished taking a shower, there was a mob of people waiting to take a shower. It was really hard to get through the massive group. When I finally get out, I went to my room. I could not get into my room because, my roommates left it closed only if you knew the secret knock. I did not know the secret knock so I knocked rapidly until they let me in. I put down my dirty clothes and left to go to my friend’s room.
When I went into Hannah’s room, her friend’s and I had a singing contest. More of her friends came into her room and played the game with us. Soon, the room was filled with girls singing and dancing. It was strange seeing people singing and dancing weirdly, but it was still fun.
Soon after, everybody strolled out of the room and so did I. I just went into my room without even knocking on the door. Just like all of the other days, Victoria started of the conversation by asking me, “Why do always leave us and go to your friend’s rooms?” Then my other bunkmates say the same thing, like they are trying to scare me. I just did not feel like answering that question. In my head, I was already giving the answer. I always go to a different room because my bunkmates don’t really talk to me that much. They sometimes think that I am invisible. I did not say it out load.
They soon noticed that I had a sad face on. They knew what I was thinking about. We danced all around the cabin. Soon after, we were lying on our beds, being really tired. We were sweating from all of that dancing.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. I stood and went to open it. It was Mrs. Dicks. She came in to tell us to get into be and sleep. She closed the lights and left.
After that, we talked about what happened that day. When we were done talking, everybody went to sleep.
“Wake up you smelly girls” was what I heard when I woke up. That actually woke up everybody in the girl’s cabin. We all looked through the window to see who was singing that. As I looked out, I saw Mr. Hugh playing his guitar, and other teaches hitting drums. (I think I saw some people were still wearing their pajamas!)
It was raining outside. Everybody wasn’t that happy about that. No one was happy about that today was the last day being at Camp Jewel. We all got dressed and waited in our rooms for directions. Mrs. Dicks told us to pack up and bring everything out to the deck.
When everything was on the deck, we all headed to the café for breakfast. I took a bowl and some food on the table. I ate until I could not even take another bite. At the end of the breakfast, the consolers filled out the “Ort Chart.” It was still very high.
After everything was cleaned up, we all headed to the boys cabin. When we were all settled down, Dr. K announced what we were going to do on a rainy day. We were going to play “The Wisdom Cup.” Every class was going to compete against each other class, with their wisdom.
The four judges were Mr. Dicks, (who gave me the nickname 2½) Mr. Mayo, Mr. Hugh and Mrs. Glasier. The score keeper was Mrs. Dicks. Each class got a turn to do the game.
Soon it was my group’s turn. We did not have anything done, so Dr. K let us plan outside. Everybody had good ideas. The principal called us in. We preformed and got a score from each judge.
At the end of the game, my class tied up and also lost. The class that won was Mrs. Dicks’s class. The game was awesome.
After the game, we headed to our last trip to the café. For some reason, some people (mostly girls) brought stuffed animals with them. The waiters stood up and went to get the trays for their table. I could smell the food from the kitchen. It smelled wonderful. As Thalia put the tray onto the table, everybody started grabbing food from the plates.
When we filled out the “Ort Chart,” everybody was surprised. Our last bar was the lowest of all of the rest. Every person in the cafeteria clapped with joy.
As we all strolled out of the café, the consoler told us to stand in front of the café so he could take a picture. After all of the pictures that he had token, he told us that he would send everybody a copy.
It was time to get onto the bus. Everybody said goodbye and left to get a seat on the bus. The bus started and left Camp Jewel. I sat in a seat with Abby. We talked to Mr. Swale and some other friends. We talked about our trip to Camp Jewel.
The bus suddenly came to a stop. Everybody started screaming. We were back! Everybody started to get off. I ran straight to my mom and hugged her. After that, my mom and I went to get my luggage and left. I would never forget the best field trip I had ever had in Wolcott School!