TWB Trip 2 2017 Experience: June 2017

Day 11: Highway 1

Hello America! Today was a day of reflection for the TWB gang. We spent the day driving up and down US Highway 1, looking out at the ocean, and singing countless songs as we went. We stopped just before lunch in Big Sur to look out over the Pacific, which was very picturesque to say the least.

TWB Counselors love the Pacific Ocean and these kiddos!

Now that we have hit the western-most point of the trip, we will unfortunately be known as “Teens Eastward Bound.” While the journey is halfway over, we were reminded that making the most of the time that we have left with each other is the best thing we can do for ourselves.

The boys!

The girls!

Our journey back won’t be a dull one either, as we head to San Francisco and back across the United States, we are growing closer and closer each and every day to both our peers and our counselors.

A special shoutout to Penny and Jerry for letting TWB stay at Lakeside Presbyterian Church these past 5 years! Penny, her husband, and that church are so helpful to TWB and without their friendship, TWB would have to sleep out in the San Fran Fog! After getting settled into Lakeside, we had to run across the street to take community showers at the YMCA! Interesting...

We are ready to explore San Fran tomorrow, including the Cliff House, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Lombard street, etc. This is the Sleepy group signing off on our daily blog. Till next time!

(More pictures to come later!)

Day 10: LA and Hollywood

June 28^th was started with a loud call from the one the only; Ms. V. Everyone was woken up at 6, with the goal being to leave for Hollywood at 7. This morning we had a traveling breakfast that consisted of large muffins, pudding, and Kool-Aid. Everyone had a little catnap at one time or another on the way to Hollywood up until everyone woke each other up after the Los Angeles skyline came into view.

Pointing to the Hollywood sign in the distance

Our first stop of the day was at the Hollywood bowl, where everyone struggled to get to the top of the stadium (because of how tired they were from walking so much the day before). Once we got to the top, there were pictures taken, research was shared, and there was a rehearsal for who should be the first people to start drawing mass attention to one of our fake “Hollywood Stars,” which was our very own counselor, Heather Welch!

Heather's bodyguards- Grant and Jake!

Auditions for who can be the loudest screamer to attract attention to our celebrity!!

The top of the bowl included: The dome-like stage of the Hollywood bowl, the Hollywood sign that was just to the top-right of the top of the stage, and the house of Robert Downey Jr. at the top left of the stage. Truly a sight to behold, but by the time people started to realize where they were, we were heading out and on our way to Hollywood Boulevard to see the Chinese Theatre and get the Hollywood experience.

Downtown Hollywood

Grant is doing a good job keeping all the crazies from Heather!

Chinese Theatre

Unfortunately, when we got to our parking spot, there was a premiere for the new Spiderman movie that blocked off the whole road that we were going to use to pull off our “Fake Hollywood Actress” prank, so it was cancelled. However, there were some actual Hollywood stars on the street including characters from the TV show Botched. These people were the epitome of what it looked like to have a full makeover with plastic surgery. We ended up getting right in front of the Chinese Theatre and seeing multiple stars on Hollywood Boulevard.

Afterwards we went to a megastore across the street where everyone felt the need to get postcards, stickers, apparel, food, etc. After this everyone regrouped and headed out to the buses to head to UCLA for lunch.

The drive from Hollywood Boulevard to UCLA was an eventful one to say the least. With countless Ferraris, Maserati’s, Rolls Royce’s you name it! We also made our way through Beverly Hills and saw some of the nicest houses of our lives. We arrived at UCLA to the sight of gigantic buildings and large quad areas. Everyone made their way over to the famed Bruin mascot before sitting down for some lunch in the quad.

UCLA

After lunch everyone was given time to walk around the campus and explore as much as they could before they had to be back at our starting point at 2:30. The most popular decision was to head over to the student store and either shop or Facetime parents with the available apple devices. Other students decided that the lunch made by the cooks would supplement the food court on campus. We are proud to admit that Li’Angelo Ball was spotted by Ben Harris, Landon Bisson, and Ian Faulkner (if you do not know him, he is the little brother of Lonzo Ball, 2^nd overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft). Li’Angelo will be attending UCLA on a basketball scholarship for the upcoming season. By this time, people started finishing up the conversations with their family members and everyone gathered at our meeting spot.

OMG TECHNOLOGY! Many participants enjoyed Face timing their families or friends!

Mr. Grant Deaton pulled a fast one on everyone and asked for each group to show their mascot, and when only the Sleepy group showed their mascot, they were the only group that did not have to sing the National Anthem on repeat at the top of their lungs while walking off campus. The bus ride to our campground was a relatively quiet one because everyone on the bus hit the “snooze button” at one time or another.

Later we arrived at El Capitan State Beach in California where we will rest tonight. After setting up our sleeping areas, a lot of us played soccer, football, took pictures of the beautiful coast, or walked down to the beach!

Vickie and Josh brought out the golfballs where the kids had the opportunity to swing away into the ocean The cooks made grilled cheese, chicken noodle and tomato soup, yum!