this is dedication...

Know why I'm blogging? Because I've been neglecting everyone. So, I finally decided to type through the pain and tell you all what's going on. Aren't I amazing? ;)

Okeydokey, here's the run down of the first day of the Southern Utah Trip:

Thursday:
Got up at about 4:30 in the a.m. and showered. Beautiful showers-best thing ever invented, I swear. Dad drove me to the school with my gear, which consisted of my backpack, my sleeping bag, a pillow with a coat stuffed inside, and the tent. The other kids in my class and I through everything onto the bus, had our last orientation in the classroom, recieved our flashlights and fieldbooks, boarded the bus, and took off. I sat next to Cami the whole three days. It was awesome; I love that girl. She's so fun!

Time of departure from MVHS-6:00 a.m.

It was a very long drive to Nephi. All of about 30 minutes. We stopped on the Three-Point Line where one thing meets one thing and another thing to form a single line. Yes, I paid so much attention. It was 6:30 in the morning, people. Deal with me, okay? ;)

Next came the Oak Canyon Rest Stop, where Meri, Ashley, and I spent a jolly ten minutes trying to identify trees. It was hard.

Drive, drive, drive for a very long time until we reach Capitol Reef National Monument. It isn't really an old reef. It's just a bunch of rocks/mountain that looks like a reef. I spent two hours in the Visitor's Center while the rest of my class went on a hike up one of the trails. I couldn't go because of my stupid arm. Instead, I bought a coloring book and some crayons and had a lovely time coloring bears and seals. It was so much fun. The movie that I watched about the park was boring. I was glad I could color instead.

Lunchtime! We had our sack lunches from home in this little park. It was great fun, except for the copious amounts of caterpillars that kept dropping on us from the trees. Yick. I don't like bugs. Which is why I don't like camping very much. I did get to sit by my friend for a minute (you should know who I'm talking about. :) ). That was nice. And eating lunch with Mr. Clark was interesting. He's a cool guy. Totally different than when he's teaching.

Driving....at least you can sleep on a bus, right? I did for quite awhile. We drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. I think that we drove so long that I forgot where we stopped next-I'm so caught up in the driving memories. Hm......let me check on my camera....

checking.................checking............................robin pictures......nope......ah ha!

I was right. We drove and drove and drove and drove until we reached Goblin Valley. Talk about cool. I'd never been there before, and it was an amazing experience. Even though down in the actual valley it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Ick. That part was awful. Then I got a scare when Tony took off on his own. He was acting funny the whole day, kind of depressed and sad. When he walked away from the group, I was seriously afraid he might try something. Turned out I was wrong, and being wrong made me relieved and happy. Dang it, I wish I could figure out how to help him be happier. He's my friend, after all. I hate seeing my friends sad and not knowing what to do.

Anyway, the Valley of the Goblins was so cool. I hope to go back someday. After that, we set up camp in the Goblin Valley Group Campsite. Meri was my tent buddy, and she picked the tent site. She will never do that again. The middle of the tent was perched on a small mound of dirt, with the two sides draping down. It was horrible to sleep on, but more about that later.

Mr. Clark made spaghetti for dinner. It was good, and I made a new friend. Her name is Pam, and she's super nice. I like her a lot. The food was good, and coloring in my book was super fun. Yes, I used it almost the whole trip. More on that later as well.

I had an interesting conversation with a man from (I think Texas) outside the state while waiting in line for the showers. Yes, there were showers. Hallelujah! He started asking me questions about the Utah culture, starting out with education and politics, religion and education, and eventually winding up at polygamy. It was interesting that the last subject came up, because I'd just spent half an hour on the bus explaining to the people sitting next to me what polygamists in Utah believe in (yes, they live here, but they don't belong to the LDS faith, just to clear that up). It was cool to talk to someone who didn't think I was a loser because I thought differently than he did.

We went our separate ways when it was my turn for the shower. YES! I decided to test it out before I actually got in. Good thing too, because I could not get it to turn on! I got so frustrated with turning the knob back and forth and having nothing happen that I finally looked at the sky and said, "All right. I cannot figure this out. I may be a total idiot, but I need help." As I was looking up, I noticed a round silver thing above the shower head. I poked it out of frustration and was immediately soaked through my clothes with freezing cold water. Happy day. It worked. And the water got warmer, eventually, as I figured out how to change the settings.

Awkward moment: being in your pajamas with soaking wet hair, opening the door, and running into your Multimedia teacher. Mr. Brown and I were both surprised to see one another. So weird.

I got back all clean and happy. Tony did make fun of me because I'd showered earlier in the day, but I replied "I don't care. I will use my resources. Natural or otherwise." That got a laugh. Don't know why. Soon, pretty much everyone in my class and most of the chaperons walked back down to the goblins to play Capture the Flag. I stayed behind so I wouldn't hurt my arm any further. Pam and I hung out while I colored. I did an opossum and lots of shrews. Then I went to bed. Or tried.

9:45ish rolled around and everyone came tromping back, loud as ever. I ended up getting out of the tent because I couldn't find a comfortable spot to lie anyway, due to the strange hump in the ground and the rocks that fit perfectly in between my ribs. I nearly fell asleep on the table when Tony came and sat across from me. We got into a discussion on sleeping pills, and I hope he believes me when I say I'm going to try and get off of them this summer. I really am. Once school is out, I'll start working on it. :D

I got into bed before Meri got back, and when she arrived I told her that I was going to pick tomorrow's tent spot. She laughed, and we slept with our heads facing the back of the tent instead of the opening. Before we fell asleep, though, I came up with "I hate camping! I hate it so much. I hate it. It's the stupidest thing ever! It must have been invented by a man because it's so completely brainless!" I don't remember saying that very well.

So that was Thursday. And my arm kills. So I'm done.