Day 14 -- July 22, 2017

Travel Home: Couer D’Alene Reservation, ID to Toppenish, WA

Things to remember when preparing for next year’s trip:

• You will get cold at night. This means if you insist on not using your sleeping bag (because sleeping bags trap you and are the worst), you need to bring an extra quilt.
• And sweat pants. Yoga pants are not the same as sweat pants. And an extra sweat shirt. One for a two-week trip gets gross.
• If you keep snacks easily accessible, students will eat them. Hide your Cliff Bars.
• You do not need to bring three books along, I don’t care how much you think you’ll read. It won’t happen.
• Keep better track of what students are helping with meal prep and clean up. That way you can know for sure who is and isn’t pulling their weight around camp.
• Take time for yourself. Yes, you are responsible for a bunch of teenagers in the wild, but there are other people around who can keep an eye on them for an hour while you destress. No one needs an emotional wreck on the verge of a meltdown on day 12.
• Download a wide variety of music, podcasts, and audiobooks to listen to on the drive. You will spend a lot of time in the van, and the radio doesn’t cut it. And you probably don’t want to get stuck listening to student’s music, at least not all the time.
• Remember an extra car charger, preferably one that multiple USB charging cords can plug into.
• The earlier the curfew for students, the better. At least get them in tents early, then you can go to your tent and pretend like they are going to fall asleep soon.
• Keep on top of students and their blogging. Do not let them fall behind, it sucks for all involved.
• Remember that this is an amazing opportunity for your students, it’s all for them. Stay open and loving and accepting of flaws. Give them the best experience possible.

They all look like serious models, I look a fool. About sums up the trip. Goodness, I love these kiddos. 

Day 13 -- July 21, 2017

Couer D’Alene Reservation, ID and Pullman, WA

Highlights from the last day in the field:

• I got to finish listening to my audio book on the drive to and from Pullman. It’s the only ‘reading’ I’ve been able to do this trip. Not nearly as much down time as I expected, and what time I did have, I wrote instead. Three books came on the trip and stayed in my book bag the whole time. Ah well, that’s how it goes.

Nice View. The top of the (not really a) mountain that we climbed
in Pullman. Nice, lots of farmland. 

• We went on a very steep hike. It almost killed me. And then I wanted to kill everyone. Especially since the hike ended on top of a very tall hill that just overlooked farm land. Super anti-climactic, and it was especially bad because we knew exactly what the view would look like before we started.

Not a hiker. The red, sweaty face of someone who climbed a large, steep hill.

• Monet (a fellow leader from Heritage) fell off a log on the top of the steep hiking hill. It was very funny, though she did hurt herself a little bit, so I feel bad about that.

• Julyamuch Powwow. Indian tacos. New earrings. Watching the grand entry. Very cool.

• Breakfast for late dinner. It was after 9:00 when we got back to camp, but the Clinton, Pedro, and I made pancakes, eggs, and sausages, enjoyed by White Swan students and fellow leaders. It was excellent, and we started a new tradition, if I have anything to do with it.

Day 12 -- July 20, 2017

Couer D’Alene Reservation, ID

This morning a few of us chose to witness the Couer D’Alene Tribe’s canoe race launch. This is a tradition that they are bringing back into their July celebrations. It was a really beautiful thing to watch, seeing a group of people gather around a tradition that had been lost for a period of time, working together to return it to the forefront of their minds.

Entire families went out on the boats together, prepared for an all-day canoe trip with supplies and water. There were relief people who sailed alongside in order to swap out rowers when needed. As the boats pushed off shore, war cries and drums sounded out to send off the warriors. It was such a unique experience, I’m glad I was present for it.

The rest of the day went along fairly easy. I got to take a nap, that was awesome. I listened to the students make homemade mouse traps out of 5 gallon buckets while lying in my tent, quite entertaining. Beyond that, it was a low key day, which was super nice.

Day 11 -- July 19, 2017

Travel Day: Wellpinit, WA to Couer d’Alene, ID

We are getting to the point in the journey where we are starting to have ‘lasts’. Last stop, last reservation, last time setting up my tent (which I am finally getting good at).

Our last stay is at the Coure d’Alene Reservation, right on time for their ____ feast. We rolled in and set up camp in time to join a small group of them for their elk and salmon feast alongside the lake. At the end of the feast, they gathered around a handmade canoe made by a tribal family, which they blessed in prayer and put in the water for the first time. Tomorrow they have a canoe race that launches from the lake we are camping alongside.

As lovely as my day is ending after a great feast and a quick swim (with no students to watch), today was a bit rough for me. Being about seventy-five percent of the way through the trip, my patience was low and tension was high. It is really exhausting being responsible for six teenagers 24 hours a day for two weeks, even with the help of other adults and college students to keep an eye on them. The lack of sleep is catching up with me, the lack of interaction outside of these 20 people is getting to me, and the large amount of driving is getting really hard.

Lakeside. Before the feast, we had a bit of time to enjoy the dock alongside the river. Only the Heritage Students would actually look at the camera. Those silly White Swan kids...

But being able to sit more than 100 yards from the water and hear the laughter rolling in from the dock only makes me smile. Because as difficult as today was, that laughter, those students having fun and bonding together totally makes it worth it.

 

Phone thief. I should know better than to leave my phone on the
table when Judy is around. I apparently need to put a lock on my
phone's camera. But then I would miss out on the awesome pictures I
can post on the internet, so it's really a toss up. 

We are having so much fun on this trip, and I find myself feeling a little nostalgic for all the ‘lasts’ that are going to be happening over the next few days. Don’t get me wrong, I am REALLY excited for my modern conveniences. But I have to say that I’ve enjoyed my time camping with these weirdos a lot more than I thought I would.

But here I am, writing a blog like it’s my final day. Still two more adventure days and a day driving home. We aren’t done yet.