I was lucky enough to join in on a six grade field trip yesterday to the Big Meadows Visitors Center in the Shenandoah National Park. The forecast was for a beautiful fall day; it was foggy, overcast, and rained.
I was so impressed with these kids though, that a little bad weather did not dampen their spirits!
We started with a literal "field" trip to learn about the Civilian Conservation Corp. During the Depression, the CCC was established to create jobs and help build what we are now enjoying as the Shenandoah National Park. We toured the field where one camp was located and read about the CCC on many plaques. We ran around a field enjoying a scavenger hunt and learning. Our feet and pants and heads were wet, but we had fun. And sadly, I have to admit that this was the first time I had heard of the CCC, so I enjoyed it a lot!
Next we walked with the ranger out into the meadow and ran into this fella. He was one of many we saw, and one time we were privileged to hang out and watch four bucks at one time.
We get to see deer on almost a daily basis; still seeing them in their natural habitat on such a beautiful foggy day was a real treat.
Our last stop was a hike. Here's where it got really fun! Just before we started this part of the day for our group, I ran into a few moms that said "good luck!" and "wow...it's really, really steep" and "you're going to break a sweat". I was getting nervous.
Off we went down the Dark Hollow Falls trail (I know, sounds awesome, right?). And by down, I mean every step took us down a trail for a total of 440' feet in a half mile. Just trust me: it was steep. It was like walking down a staircase. Every step down was felt in my knees, and honestly, I started to get more and more nervous. Every step down meant the return trip was going to be straight up. I decided to just not turn around, stay positive and focused. But I was scared. The Ranger said they do have to rescue people, and I did not want to be "that old mom" that had to be rescued on the field trip. I can just hear it now: "Remember that field trip in 6th grade where the mom had to be rescued by the Rangers?"
We got to the bottom of the trail and oh my, it was beautiful. It was well worth the trip down. And as soon as we got there and enjoyed it a bit, we found out that we were really behind schedule to get back to school on time. It took us 20 minutes to get down, and we had 25 minutes to get back up. The teacher I was with asked if we could make it and I shook my head....no. No way. Not gonna happen.
She took the front of the group and I happily brought up the rear. And by rear, I mean last man up. But I wasn't alone, and enjoyed the company of these awesome kids on the way back up. It was not easy, in fact, it was the most strenuous thing I've done in a long time. About 1/2 way back, my last two buddies were really starting to complain, getting light-headed (we breathed together) and I realized I just needed to distract us all to make it to the top.
So I just started talking about random things. All kinds of random things and I can't even remember what most of them were. But at one point, I shouted out
"Hey, how much older than you do you think I am?"
And this is where I fell in love. My group of two grew to a group of 8, all curious as to this lady just throwing out this age question at random, and I was so tickled at how energetic they became! I expected to hear 60 or 89, but instead they guessed 25, 31, 40. And I kept them guessing for a long time as it was really entertaining us all. I finally fessed up and told them my fabulous age. They did not believe me. They all but accused me of being a liar. One kid said even if I pulled out my driver's license, he would know it was a fake. The final consensus was that I was not a day over 31.
So for one day, I learned, laughed, got wet and made it up the hill without having to call out the search and rescue team.
And I was not a day over 31.
