The Native American Trip

On Saturday, the 27th of September, my class and I met at Union Station to go on our Native American trip. Since the beginning of school we have been in the Native American block and this trip finishes it off. It is the trip that classes always talk about, at 12th grade graduation there are many that say this was their favorite trip.
At a quarter to five pm my dad and I arrived at Union Station. I was very excited for this trip and I was looking forward to bonding with our class. We boarded the train and headed off for Gaullp New Mexico. At first I was excited to take a twelve hour train ride with my class, for I thought it sounded like fun, and in the beginning, it was fun. I sat next to My, we laughed, drew, I played cards with Armand and Ventana and overall had a good time. But when everyone besides My and I began to fall asleep, my happiness began to fade. Trains are uncomfortable to sleep on, at least to me. I could never seem to find a good place to rest my head with out hurting my neck. In the end, I got about three hours sleep, but that was all. Others didn't get much either, but when morning came, I was feeling pretty bad. The train pulled into Gaullp at about 8:15. We got all and waited for our bus to pick us up, then we got on the bus for another five hours. Buses are another story I feel asleep easily and slept for another hour.
After a couple hours of hangman and taking pictures we arrived at the Baptist Christian camp in Hespurus Colorado. This was where we would be staying that night and the last night of the trip as well. It was very beautiful there. The trees were turning bright yellow, orange and deep red. In fact, it was one of the most beautiful places I have been to. After unloading all our luggage into the house I decided to take a walk around with My and Claudia. Even though I was feeling sick, I couldn't help but enjoy my surroundings. Dinner was another matter. The food was, well, not great. My chicken was raw on one side and over cooked on the other. It was not my best meal on the trip. After a good nights sleep we packed up and loaded back onto the bus. We drove a beautiful drive for an hour and arrived at the canyon tribal park.
Our camp was a mile or so in so some of us walked and the others rode horses. Upon There was also Josh and Copper who were there to help us on the trails. Since it was such a hot dayarriving at our camp we meet our "hosts" the cooks, Perry and Lynn the typical cowboy and cowgirl. we headed down to the river which was cold and clear. The cold water did good for everyone and even though Alison got attacked by bees while we were there, I think we all had a great time. On returning to camp we played cards and ate our first meal outdoors. The food was much better than at the Baptist camp and I found myself feeling like a real live cowgirl. I decided to sleep under the stars with the rest of the class that night. It was cold, but the stars were so amazing that I couldn't help but want to stair at them all night long. Halfway through the night I was woken by a cold and shivering Ventana who wanted to know if I would sleep in the tent with her. I was went with her, my body freezing as the cold winds whipped past us. The only problem with the tent was the fact that it didn't zip closed so the whole night the wind whipped the door flaps making a huge amount of noise. Morning dawned bringing intense cold. I wore two hats, a shirt, a sweater, a jacket and gloves and I was still cold. We ate breakfast, biscuits and gravy, which was actually quite good, if not a little rich.
Then we loaded into cars which drove us to the foot of the mountain we were to climb. The climb began hard, and got worse. My legs hurt in the first few minutes and I couldn't help but wonder if I would make it to the top. We reached an ancient dwelling called two story which was amazing to see. We got to climb up and look through the windows and see into what was once a home. It took at least two hours to make it to the top of the mesa. It was worth it when we did for it felt as though we were on top of the entire world. We could see everything. There was a small pile of rocks on the ground and our teachers told us that every student from our school who had been here before placed a stone in that pile. I wonder what that pile will look like in years to come. Will people wonder who my rock belonged to?
We ate lunch and then walked across the top of the mesa. By this time we were all low on water and dreamed of strawberry lemonade with lots of ice. Quatro, our teacher stopped us and pointed to the edge of the cliff. He said that if we went down there we would come to one of the coolest ruins he had seen. Of course there would be a rope for us to hold, but I was terrified. I finally built up the courage to climb down. We were shone an amazing sight. Under the cliff was a cavern with a stone pillar that stretched to the ceiling. There were little rooms and we ever found a large arrow head.
The walk back down the mountain wasn't as hard. In fact I rather enjoyed it. We came home to camp and flopped down on the ground exhausted.
The next day we took another all day hike, this time up a different mountain. I'd have to say that as hard as the first hike was, this was harder. Our guild took us the wrong way up the mountain because he couldn't find the trail thus we had to climb over rocks that were sometimes far from sturdy. One good thing was I had my friends around me to talk to, if not for them, I would have stopped halfway up the mountain. We finally reached the cliff ruin we had been climbing to. We eat lunch next to ruins, looking out at the beautiful mountains. It was absolutely stunning. For this hike we had two Indian guilds, one told us the story of the bear dance and the other sung us the songs to the dances. It was one of the most amazing parts of the whole trip. Looking out over the canyon and hearing the songs of the natives. I could almost see them crossing the land below me. I will not forget that quickly, that's for sure.
Upon arriving back to camp we played cards skipped rocks on the river and had another American meal. For dessert we were able to make fry bead which was delicious. What you do is you take a round ball of dough stretch it out nice and flat and drop it into a pan of boiling oil. You take it out, sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon, or honey or sugar and you have the most wonderful treat. It was so good!
The next morning we packed our bags and took down the tents. It was very sad for I felt as though this place was my home. I would miss all the people and their dogs I had lived with for the past few days. We said goodbye and began our walk out of the canyon.
Upon arriving at the Baptist Camp the one thing on everyone's mind was "showers!" It felt so nice to wash the dirt off. I put on clean clothes and realized how nice it felt to be clean and dust free. My, Joey G, Armand and I decided to take a walk around the beautiful land. We went to a lovely place on top of a hill with trees and lots of neat plants. We found ourselves racing leaves down the river, and taken many pictures of ourselves using the plants around us. While walking back to the house we decided to scare Ventana while coming out of the bathroom. I went by the window a growled like a bear next thing I knew I saw a flash of golden hair speeding away.
We decided our next victim would be the new boy, Joey Weitz . Over the trip we had grown good friends and I had learned he was terrified of bears. Once he was in the bathroom, Armand growled at the window and when he came out, My, Ventana and I growled and rustled the grass. On the count of three we burst from our hiding place to see Joey yell, through the flashlight into the air and bolt towards the bathroom door. It was hilarious. Luckily Joey laughed about it and wasn't mad at us. It was extremely fun.
The next day we loaded up and drove to the town of Durango for a couple hours of eating, shopping and being tourists. My and I went on a quest for moccasins which we found. We ate and discovered a chocolate place which we visited several times. We also found some very neat hats that we are hoping to make in the future. It was quite fun and nice to have a day to transition back to normal life, cars and buildings.
We got back on the bus and drove to the Gaullp train station where we waited for three hours for our train. Luckily Ventana brought cards so that the wait wasn't to boring. On the train, we talked, listen to music and fell asleep. I awoke and looked outside to see buildings that looked rather like home. It was nice to get off the train at nine that morning and see our parents waiting there for us. Even though I'd had so much fun, I was glad to go home.
In the end, it was an amazing trip and I had a ton of fun. I made some great friends and got closer to a lot of my class. I miss the mountains and the freshness of Colorado. I'll also miss the fun adventures I had with my class. I had such a great time and I'll remember it forever. To my class, I love you all.