Junior Ranger Report Team – #2

Part two of the boys’ version of events as we travel around the western USA.

Ranger Scott

When we arrived in Boise we went to see our cousins Bernie & Dale. They have two dogs. There’s a cute little dog named Olivia, and a cute medium sized, tan dog named Sandy. Olivia loves me, but Sandy not so much. When I pick Olivia up she usually falls asleep on my lap, but this time she kicked me in the nuts – “OUCH!”.

When we arrived at the John Day Fossil Beds campsite we got set up and then went for a loooooooooooooong walk. The walk was 5km! After the walk we went to a visitor center to get our Junior Ranger booklets. When we went back to the campsite me and Josh tried to catch some Crawdaddy’s in a river.

At Mt Hood, we went to a restaurant and mum and dad were given a parking ticket because we were 6 minutes late. After that we went to the Timberline Lodge. Then, we drove up Mt. St. Helens. Isn’t it a bit concerning that my parents are taking me to lots of places with volcanoes?! Then we went to Seattle and we played in a big fountain. We went on a monorail to finally a decent playground. After that we went back to the fountain and got soaked.

After that we went to Mt Baker. Me and Josh made two tipis so Fluppy & Giraffe could have their first night away from the kids. Then we went to a lake and all got in using a rope swing – “SPLASH!”. After Mt Baker we went to Crater Lake and climbed Mt Scott – it was 8 km!! When we got back to the campground we had some sleep – “zzzzzzzzz”.

After that we went to Mt Shasta and as usual went to the campground and got set up – “sigh!”. We went to a river and went swimming and I nearly froze, it was cold – “brrrrr!”. Then we went back to the camper and had Cream Soda – “mmmmm, yum!”. Then we went to San Francisco.

We went on the Golden Gate Bridge (“ooh, cool gold!”), which actually isn’t gold (“What, no gold?!”). When we got off the bridge we went to find a parking space, and to go to Starbucks for lunch and the bathroom. After that we went on a cable car. I liked hanging off the side of the cable car – “wahoo!”.

Ranger Josh

John Day Fossil Beds & Seattle

We spent a few days in Boise and ran up a big sand hill. Then we went to the John Day Fossil Beds and became junior rangers. Then we went to the visitors center to get some info about the place and the oldest fossils are 80 million years old! After we were done with the visitors center we went on a trail that goes in an area that looks like a mini Badlands. Then we drove off to Seattle. At Seattle we went on the monorail train to the Seattle Center and saw the Space Needle skyscraper and a massive fountain. Then we went to a playground. Seattle has a big fish market where they throw fish that we went to. Who says fish can’t fly! The next day we went on a Boeing plane factory tour and saw some planes being made. It is the largest building in the world! Boeing made the Dream Lifter, the largest cargo plane in the world, it is used to carry parts of other planes! 

Crater Lake

When we arrived at Crater Lake we went to an overlook of Crater Lake and it has a volcano island. Then we went for a swim in the campground river and I don’t know what is stopping that water from freezing! Imagine what it’s like staying inside a fridge for an hour, now times that by a thousand. Now you’re starting to get an idea of how cold that water is. Then we went to climb Mount Scott (much to Scott’s enjoyment). At the top we got a really good view of Crater Lake. We decided to have lunch at the top and we got harrassed by some ground squirrels for our sandwiches again! Here’s what ground squirrels do: meet new and interesting people, steal their sandwiches and generally have a good time. We climbed down the mountain to the visitors center to do the Junior Rangers booklets and get some information about the place. Crater lake is 1,900 ft deep and it is made of melted snow.

San Francisc-oh-no!

Welcome to pigeonland. This place has about five hundred million pigeons around the city eating scraps of food everywhere!!! And FALSE ADVERTISING ALERT! We went on the Golden Gate Bridge which was not actually gold! It was covered in sea fog as we drove through and we saw glimpses of Alcatraz island, the prison. Alcatraz has had only one successful jailbreak out of fourteen attempts to escape. The roads in San Francisco are so steep that we could barely tow the camper through them! Then we went on the old cable car through town. I liked holding on to the poles while standing up and leaning out into the street.  The dock has this big water sculpture with lots of big square pipes that we ran through. That’s the end of our San Fran adventure. Goodbye from the Junior Ranger Report Team.