For this blog we will talk about 2 parks of the Big Five, Zion and Bryce. The first one is Zion. At Zion we did lot of hikes, overlooks and a lot more. One of the hikes we did was the River Trail. The River Trail was a path that you walk on pavement some of the way, the rest of the way you can walk in the river. We couldn’t walk in the river because it was too high for you to go in. Another hike we did was the Emerald Pools trail. At the Emerald Pools trail, we went to three pools. The lower pool had a waterfall dripping into it. The middle pool we couldn’t really see because the trail was closed. The upper pool was the largest out of the three. It also had a small waterfall. To the left of the pool there was a lot of boulders that I, Elsa, Josie and Lance climbed on. Right before you see the poll, there is a sign that says “Do not swim in the pool.” I thought, “Oh, this pool is unlike the others that are murky. This one is going to be clear.” No this one was so murky that you couldn’t see the bottom. I thought, “Who would want to swim in this!!” The second park we will talk about is Bryce. The first ranger program we did was bout prairie dogs. The man who did the ranger talk was a marine biologist, but he did a good talk though. In the talk, he used a coral reef to compare with prairie dogs. He showed that prairie dogs and sharks are keystone species. It means they feed on something else and help control it. Prairie dogs feed on grasses so it keeps the sage grass down. One hike we did at Bryce was Mossy Cave. Mossy Cave was a crevice on its side (basically). On the other side we were on, we were on the right side, there was a very small waterfall. Before you get to Mossy Caver there is a y in the road. Go left, you get to Mossy Cave, go right you get to a man made (or unnatural) waterfall. Another hike we did was called Hike the Hoodoos. On this hike we saw a lot of hoodoos. Hoodoos are rock formations that have eroded away so that they are big standing rock pillars. One of the hoodoos looked like two lions kissing. Another hoodoo looked like a snake was coming out of it. We called that one snake-a-mount.
At Zion and Bryce we had a lot of fun. If you ever go to Zion and Bryce, you should remember to always explore, learn, and protect these beautiful, natural areas of pure wilderness! By Lily
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We went to the Grand Canyon and the river that carved it was the Colorado River. We also visited Hoover Dam. The river that goes to the Hoover Dam is the Colorado River. Grand Canyon was really cool because there were a lot of rocks and it’s really deep. The Colorado River went down through it. If you do a ranger tlak, they will probably talk about DUDE. It is Deposition, Uplift, Downcutting, and Erosion. That’s how the Grand Canyon was built. Every year the Grand Canyon widens the size of a piece of paper. At Grand Canyon a lady was being a ding dong by feeding an elk. The Ranger said not to feed the animals. When I was there, I saw lizards, elk and deer. Don’t feed the animals! Hoover Dam was started in 1931 and was finished in 1936. It took five years to build Hoover Dam. The river to Hoover Dam is the Colorado River. Hoover Dam was really cool. I went on the inside the dam tour. It was really cool because you saw the stuff inside the dam that makes the energy and at the last point you could touch the dam wall.
I really liked Grand Canyon because it was super deep. I liked Hoover Dam because it was really big. You should visit both of them. By Lance At Tucson there is a lot to do! The second thing we did was go to the Sonora Arizona Museum. My favorite thing we did at the museum was go to the last raptor flight show of the year. They had lots of birds come out. Some were: a great horned owl, two ravens and the 1st one they did was a family of Harris Hawks. There was also a ton of animals at the museum. My favorite animal that they had was a mountain lion. They also had coyotes, a black bear and lots of prairie dogs. We also went to Sabino Canyon. At Sabino Canyon, we got our first official forest junior ranger badge! We got off the shuttle at shuttle stop #8 and there was a swimming hole with 2 waterfalls. Elsa and I walked through the water and climbed on the rocks. We walked up stream a little bit but it was very rocky and it got deep at a spot, so we had to turn around and go back. Sabino Canyon is a place for everyone; grandparents, parents, and children, everyone of all ages will have fun.
So, if you are ever in Tucson, go to one place or the other and you should remember to always explore! By Lily We went to Sedona in Arizona! Wait, that rhymes! Hahaha My cousins live in Clarkdale next to Sedona. They are named Eli and Finn and I had a really good time with them. I did a lot of historic stuff as in Tuzigoot. Wait, what? Tuzigoot. What the heck does that mean? My mom says it’s a Native American name. Anyway, it was a national monument. The Tuzigoot people were farmers. They grew corn. The upstairs was hotter and the downstairs was cooler. Ok we also went to Montezuma’s Castle. It is a fort. They built it on the mountain because they wanted protection. I think they built it on the mountain because they liked to bungee jump all day. Red Rocks was red. Correction, the rocks were red. We walked through the river and it was really cold. Cross the river at a good spot. If you see a little place with a lot of trees, DON’T do it there!!! Cross at a good spot with lots of flat rocks.
Sedona…dundundun….You should visit because I visited! By Lance Carlsbad Caverns is really cool because it is a really BIG cave. It has lots of different rooms. When I say rooms, I don’t mean rooms like in a house, these rooms are big areas that are called rooms. One room is called the big room because it’s HUGE. The tallest spot in the big room is about 225 feet tall. In the big room they have a hole in it called the Bottomless Pit because it is like 972 feet deep. We saw this column that looked like a wizard. A column is when a stalactite and stalagmite touch. A stalactite is something that comes off the top of the cave; a stalagmite is something that comes out of the ground. Another thing that we saw was an old ladder. My dad asked if I wanted to go down, I said no because it looked really shaky! If you really like what I said, then you should really go to Carlsbad Caverns. It is a very unique place and I don't think you can go anywhere else like it in the country. Even though there are a lot of other caves, Carlsbad Caverns is probably my most favorite I've been to out of all the caves. By Lily White Sands is in New Mexico. It is a national monument because it is the largest gypsum dunes. Gypsum was a rock that breaks easily and the wind broke it down and pushed it everywhere to make the dunes. If you go to White Sands, you have to sled. If you go to the visitor center there is a hallway that goes outside to a little area then you go in the other door and ask for a sled. You rent the sled or you can buy it. The sled is a circle sled. You can go sledding wherever you want. We went to the end of the road. They said that’s the best sledding. I wanted to find a tall and steep hill. We kind of found one. I really had a lot of fun sledding with my friends. When you drive to where you go sledding, all the sand looks like snow. About 2 inches deep it is really cold. That part of the sand never hits the sun even though it gets moved around a lot. There is water a foot down under the sand so it makes it colder. The top of the sand is warmer but you could still walk on it. I liked it better than beach sand because it didn’t stick to you. The first lizards that came to White Sands were all dark colored, so they got eaten. The ones who survived, survived because they were a lighter color and blended into the sand. Now the lizards are white and light brown so they don’t get eaten because they are camouflaged. I think that is really cool. White Sands was one of my favorite National Mounuments because you can go sledding. I think you should try and make it there, especially if you have kids.
By Lance Big Bend National Park is in Texas. It is where the big bend is in the Rio Grande River between Mexico and Texas. There were lots of things we did in Big Bend including the Hot Springs, the Window Hike, going in the river, and going to Mexico. We went across the river to Mexico. You would expect a big town but it was just a small town. The town was called Boquillas. We had lunch and the tacos were good. Lily thought they were awesome. We walked around and saw trinkets that we could buy. People should go and see the town. We sat in the river three times. We went there because we wanted to cool off. We also went to the hot springs. There were little rapids that you could jump in. They were really fast but it was shallow at the end so you could hit the bottom and stand up. We did four hikes. My favorite was the Window hike. You got to the end of the hike and you could see past everywhere but it was kind of fuzzy. The stuff in the air, they thought was from Mexico so they were mad at Mexico. But then they tested the air and it was actually from the Ohio Valley. The hike was cool because of the view. In Big Bend we hiked, we went to Mexico, and we went to some cool hot springs. When you go you have to do the Window Hike because that was my favorite thing in Big Bend.
By Lance Animal Kingdom was different than most zoos because it had roller coasters and some animals. It also had lots of educational stuff about the animals. At Animal Kingdom, the first ride we went on was called Dinosaur. It was like you went back in time and had to bring back a certain dinosaur. It was a lot of fun. The second ride was called Everest. In the beginning the tracks look like they are broken. You go backwards for a little bit then you do a big U drop. It’s fun! We went on a safari and saw lots of animals. We did it twice, one in the daytime and one at night. During the nighttime one we saw a female lion awake. After everything, I liked Animal Kingdom a lot. If you’re an animal lover like me and also like roller coasters, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the place for you!
By Lily So, you are wondering who Frank is…he is a donkey. A silly donkey. He only likes being pet under his neck. He is really small. Frank was everywhere. He ate hay when he was in the barn. He barely went into the pasture with the horses. In the pasture there were about 30 horses. In the barn there could only be 14 horses. In one stall there was a horse named Destiny. She was really mellow. People who have never rode before or haven’t rode for a long time get to ride Destiny. Lily was going to ride her but ended up riding Carlina because a woman had to ride Destiny because she hadn’t rode since she was like 14. A horse they just got the night before we left was Sweetie. She is a pregnant mare who is having her baby in April. When they got her she was all dirty. Her tail was all tangled up so they had to use a razor knife to undo it. I think she is going to have a chestnut colt with a blond mane. Arnett’s Trailrides and Stables was really cool. The horses were cool. The donkey was silly. By Lance PS The donkey wakes you up in the morning. Hello again. I went to Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. It was my favorite park because there was the Rockin’ Rollercoaster from Aerosmith and The Tower of Terror. Those are my favorite rides in the whole Walt Disney World. Rockin’ Rollercoaster goes upside down three times. On a regular roller coaster is goes from a complete stop to faster and faster and faster, but this one goes from complete stop to super fast. Then you go and do some turns and you go upside down once. Then you do more turns and then go upside down again. Then you go straight and kinda go up and down, more turns then upside down again. Then you slow down, stop and get off and it leaves to pick up the next people. I rode it 2 times, one with my dad and the second time with dad and Aunt Julie. The Tower of Terror, you think it goes up then drops you all the way down but it actually goes up then down partly then up then down then up and down. Sometimes it goes all the way down and sometimes just a little bit, then a lot, then a little bit. It was awesome because you go up and down in the dark. I went with dad, just once because the line was too long.
It was my favorite park because it had the most roller coasters that were fun. I want to go back one day and do the Rockin’ Rollercoaster again. By Lance Mom note: None of these pictures are from his favorite rides because I didn't think about it! |
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Lily: I am looking forward to learning about US History and seeing Yellowstone and the Lincoln Memorial. I really want to meet new friends and family! Archives
May 2017
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