It all started when a few days before summer break began last year when I overheard my step-dad and uncle talking about a hiking trip in Colorado that we were going to take sometime in the month of early July. So I just let it be and was going to see and find out if I was going to go along with them. long story short, I got a really, really early Christmas present from my mom and step-dad. A hiking trip to the Rocky Mountains!…
Climbing into the lime green car, my fear was over taking me. I was getting ready to ride the Titan, an adrenaline pumping roller coaster ride at Six Flags. It was easily the scariest ride at the park, in my opinion, with its enormous peaks, its deep descents, and double helix like turns was enough to make me sick. The ride began. Ascending up in the car on the canary yellow track, into the humidity filled, bright sky, the people observing from below resembled little army ants . The aerial view of Dallas was breathtaking, as I reached the peak of the ride and looked around. Passengers occupying the cars in front of me started falling off, like a cliff. I let out a high-pitched shrill, as we plummeted toward the Earth below. Traveling…
There I am sitting in my canoe, I close my eyes and just listen. I listen to the trees swaying in the breeze, the raindrops pitter-patting on my coat, the movement of the paddle as it dips into the water. I picture the beautiful autumn foliage that surrounds me as leaves gently fall from the tree onto the surface of the water and make a print on the water, even if it is only there for a second. As English writer William Hazlitt once said “We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.” This is how I felt out on the river during our trip, I felt like I could really understand and appreciate the beauty and serene peace of being one with nature. I also felt like I could appreciate the care that it takes to keep…
I have heard many people around me saying that you should go walk the Brooklyn Bridge at least once and I never have a chance to fulfill it. Through this opportunity, I called my friend up to accompany me to walk the Bridge for the first time. Based on the information from the history of the United States, the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 and considered as an engineering marvel for that time. It remains as one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. During mid-1800s, the ferries connected Manhattan and Brooklyn. Ferries was a major convenience transportation for us, the people of that day were used to oars and sails to ride boats. These faster, more reliable ferries helped Brooklyn grow until the bridge was build. When…
For a few summers after my daddy went to heaven, I found myself taking long walks into the woods, a far piece behind the back of my house. When I was young I’d play there every day and over time the trails grew wide. I knew those chaotic mazes as well as my own reflection in the Miner’s River. Sometimes I’d count the steps it took to reach a fork on a specific trail, having already decided which trail to take till I arrived.…
If I don’t have homework for 4-5 days. I think I will go Lake Tahoe and rent a cabin for these nights. I will bring my camera and go there to take some photos. At night, I will stay in the cabin and look through the photos I take to find some good or bad aspect for each photo to improve my photography skill. And I will bring some tea with me, so I can truly relax from the academic stress.…
Doing the dishes and vacuuming the house are simple everyday chores, but adult tasks are like stepping into a whole different world. I have had some experiences stepping up into the adult world, and it was not easy.…
In the wee hours of the morning my life is the embodiment of a living, breathing dichotomy. Awakening with a wry little smile on my face, I knew I had dreamed of the river, big brown trout, and sweet 3wt bamboo rods. My body screams – “Where’s the coffee”, while my brain questions the sanity of getting up this early on a Saturday. Oblivious to the cacophony, the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. Betraying logic, they forewarn that this pre-dawn moment was the premonition of a great day ahead.…
When the second week of February arrived, Kayla and I left Sioux Falls around six in the morning. Arriving in Brookings a hour later, we were driven to the campus and taken to a building with a large gathering room that held other schools whom had already arrived before us. We were assigned seats in specific sections—ranging from Bass, Tenor, Alto, or Soprano. Hours of practicing went by, and we had reached the last few hours of the day. Driven to a performance hall; we ran through all the songs once more before the final…
Ahhhh......nothing beats it. Almost every summer my family and I travel to Mt. Rainier National Park. It's a remarkable place, full of many natural wonders. From the dense, thick, old growth forests, to the high, windswept mountain slopes. It's all an outdoorsmen could ask for.…
5:45 a.m., Wednesday, Boxing Day, 2013. I was sleeping soundly in my bed when the phone rang. I could hear the sound of someone getting up to pick up the phone. Shortly afterwards, I could hear the sound of weeping. I heard my Mom tell my Dad that Oma had passed away. Two days ago we had received word that she had fallen on her back and suffered a concussion. The fall might have been caused by her struggle with Alzheimer’s.…
Every year, my family on my dad’s side goes rafting down the Truckee river. It has always been a tradition to go to tahoe over the summer, and go rafting one of those days. Over the years, we have had many fond memories, like water fights with water guns, and pushing people into the water. First, we go down to the place to rent the raft, they set up our family with two, and then we go down the river until there is a bend where they take you and your raft out. At the end of the place where you can raft, there is a little grill that we would go to for lunch.…
It all started when we left from the hotel around five o’clock, hoping to get to the CN Tower on time. We were on vacation in Toronto in mid July, we had just arrived here a day ago from Niagara Falls. When we left we would have never imagined that this would be one of the longest walks some of us have taken. Pleasantly, we left for the CN Tower, which we thought couldn’t be a great amount of distance from our hotel. We were wrong!…
I've never been an "outdoors" experience kind of person. Maybe, it's because I'm very sedentary and prefer to stay inside to read and enjoy tranquility. I avoid all types of chaos and crowded places. Nevertheless, my visit to the Camuy River Cave Park (back in 2004) was refreshing and enriching in knowledge, historically, scientifically and spiritually. That experience brought the best out of me, as a human being and a nature lover, by giving the chance of experiencing a whole new level of peace and tranquility.…
Take me back to the summer of 2015. You might just see normal ol' me, but I see a me that was genuinely happy. A mutal breakup over distance and arguments completely destroyed me and made me lose myself. At the time of the breakup I was living in a different town and I had no family nor friends around to comfort me. Being away from home and not having anyone by my side meant I spent a lot of time by myself. If you know me then you know that I'm not a social person and that I'm very shy. Shortly after I stopped eating, even if I did eat I'd get sick, I refused to leave my room, and I would go days without sleeping. After a couple days I was tired of the broken person I was becoming an decided to make a change. I didn't want that one person win…