First set of blogs from FLOW 2011
Luke’s Blog Entry
On the morning of June 19, the Alzar School departed Idaho bound for Oregon and eventually California. With anticipation speeding our efforts, we quickly packed up camp and drove off in the early morning sun, leaving behind our generous camp host Steve (believed by many to be Sasquatch). The school drove through rolling hills pockmarked with caves and 20 foot cliffs, passed silver and blue lakes, and snow-capped mountains.
The drive to Oregon was supposed to be six and a half hours. However, thanks to a few cleverly disguised highway turnoffs, we arrived at the lake near our campsite a couple of hours late. There, some students just paddled around and some achieved their esteemed “15 rolls.”. A burst of luxury arose when Wilson busted out his “Dr. Brauhner’s” shampoo and multiple students and teachers washed their hair for the first time on the trip.
After paddling, the school traveled to our campsite, where we were promptly attacked by hordes of mosquitoes. While we waited for our dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, we engaged in a fierce battle with those mosquitoes. Eventually they retreated, and we fell asleep covered in itchy bites, but satisfied with our victory.
– Luke Schwarz
Big Foot, by Katie
Yesterday, we saw Bigfoot. Some may know the creature by the name of Sasquatch, Yeti, or the Abdominal Snowman, but either way… We saw the creature. In fact, I actually touched him and am still living to tell the story. Although this sounds extremely hard core, if you have not already guessed, Bigfoot was only a statue.
This was just one experience that we had while touring around Happy Camp. Also, many of us were starting to become noticeably odiferous (and it has not been a pleasant scent). Thus, we enjoyed the luxury of taking a shower and washing our clothes – just for the record, all of us did our own laundry, which was a great preparation for college and none of us can skirt our responsibility to do our own laundry at home. I also have not been to an old school laundromat before. This laundromat took quarters for everything. The quarters worked great for the washer and dryers, but $2 worth of quarters got me a shower that lasted six minutes. Needless to say, after six minutes I was all rinsed off except for my conditioner… With no quarters left, my Nalgene, full of water, finished off my shower by being poured on top of my head. Many others also experienced a shower that was cut short.
Today we are running Klamath. With a little bit of luck, I might be fortunate enough to raft it with Kat, who speaks in broken Spanish as part of the cultural aspect of our journey in Idaho and Northern California. Hasta luego!
– Katie Thompson