Friday, October 09, 2009- Day 54
“If I can stop one heart from breaking I shall not live in vain, If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain; Or help one fainting Robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”-Emily Dickinson
Oh what joy to finally awake in a tent to the conditions of the outside. Yes the ground was harder, yes the breeze was colder but nothing beats sleeping in the outdoors under natures’ mercy. I missed greatly the aspect of emerging from the womb that is my sleeping bag and joining the rest of the group for the activities of a bon-a-fide ECOEE day.
Upon awakening we joined together for our first group cooked breakfast which was a welcome change from my usual two hotel pastries, two hotel sausage patties and bowl of Total. After this was finished we broke up and did the many cleaning duties required with breaking down a camp. Then Grand our FOD, recognizing the desire to explore the surroundings turned us loose, challenging us to find things around us that would use our five senses, well four if you weren’t okay with tasting random things on the ground. After finishing this we joined together to learn how to sow up our holy drying thingy and tape up our rips and tears we may encounter, which I have with my sleeping bag. Then we caught up on the readings of this here journal I am writing in and departed for California, another first state trip for me.
“There is no serenity so fair as that which is just established in the tearful eye.”-Henry David Thoreau
We stopped for lunch along a rest area of some sort and ate a good amount of recent meals’ leftovers and the usual choice of cold-cut sandwiches and P,B & J. After this was finished we hit the road again and truly began to feel the south western heat as we turned on the A/C when Matt needed the windows closed to make calls for his FOD day tomorrow.
Along this trip portion we rode along California highway 120 which was seemingly a roller coaster featuring an ample amount of hills to ride up and down. We eventually arrived at our campsite for atleast the night and began to do the usual jobs required to set up camp.
“Your disability is your opportunity.”-Kurt Hahn
Pete and his crew made a delicious dish and we had to break everything down completely to keep Smokey away. This is my first time in California and what a great introduction, first the hills and now sleeping by a waterfall!
-Shane Johnson