Hopefully these posts will not be few and far between but I make no promises. ;)
September 11-15, 2013
On Wednesday, September 11, Oliver and I, along with 4 other Thunderbird Adventist Academy staff, took 21 of the 22 seniors to the Grand Canyon for the annual senior survival trip. Rondi Aastrup, one of the senior class sponsors, led the group through a number of activities throughout the 5 days we were there. Girls' Dean Linda Kline, a former school employee of the Grand Canyon, was able to schedule a visit to one of the research museums at the canyon as well as have a couple of color pencil sketching lessons along the south rim by a professional artist. Another highlight from the trip included watching the sunrise on Sabbath morning as a small group led by Paul and Tammy Turk, the new science and PE teachers respectively, hiked 9 miles on the Bright Angel trail to Indian Garden and back. Some of the students even trekked to Plateau Point, bringing their miles hiked to a total of 12. If I ever hike that path again (and hopefully continue on to Phantom Ranch and eventually rim to rim), I will definitely need to exercise regularly and be in better shape!
Other tidbits from the trip:
- Hot chocolate from the El Tovar Hotel :)
- Visiting the Desert View Watchtower and Tusayan Ruins (Side note: The cashier we met at the Tusayan Ruins is the manager of both the Ruins and the Desert Watchtower. He had been working on his Masters or PhD while at Yellowstone National Park and designed some of their exhibits and brochures (?) previous to coming to the Grand Canyon two years ago.)
- Watching Abel do a handstand next to the edge of the canyon (no pictures available; too scary to see him start walking with his hands because he was losing his balance... all students came back to school safe and sound)
- Nature walk through the woods to the Kaibab Trail and watching a male elk almost charge our group because his little one had wandered a little too close to us
Visit to the research center
Attempting to sketch the Grand Canyon with color pencils
Morning worship activity
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