Daily Report for July 8

Science Committee's Report (Hide)

Morning

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Midday

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Evening

Location: Palmer
Latitudinal Coordinates: 61.35° N
Longitudinal Coordinates: 149.06° W
Altitude: 213 ft
Temperature: 52° F
Current Weather: Mostly Clear

Journalism Committee's Report (Hide)

Hiking and Fun by Chandler V

Today our AGLP group woke up and ran into the church’s basement kitchen to grab some delicious bagels! The church became silent as all of the drivers, junior leaders, and participants munched away on their breakfast. A little bit later, everyone started to walk around the church basement in search of the items necessary for an exciting second hike up the Butte! All rooms were busy with people filling water bottles, tying the lacing to their hiking boots, and stuffing backpacks with raincoats just in case the weather took a turn for the worst. After preparing for the hike, participants headed to the upstairs portion of the church and cleaned all the bathrooms and floors in preparation for the community church service that was to be held later in the morning. With the church clean, day bags packed, and Nalgenes full, a large bunch of excited hikers marched out to their designated vans and buckled up for a short ride.
After about fifteen to twenty minutes of driving, all of the vans arrived at the parking lot near the bottom of the Butte. Doors opened, kids filed out, and the walk to the trail entrance began. At the beginning of the trail was a gentle dirt slope that was fairly easy to walk on. All of the AGLP members were split in to three hiking groups and soon after each group started the air was filled with eccentric chatter and song. As each group neared some of the rougher hiking spots with slippery honey comb mats, cheers could be heard across the mountain as everyone supported one another up the steeper slopes.
As the third and final group neared the top of the Butte the entire group was clapping. There were high fives all around and everyone was extremely happy. People split up into their van groups to get pictures at the top with the even larger mountains in the background. The wind started to pick up and the dust began to fly into the eyes of the excited hikers so the trek back down the Butte began.
Though the hardest part of the hike was over, singing and cheering resumed the entire way down the mountain. Once at the bottom, groups headed towards the vans to line up for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A lot of participants were so hungry after the hike that they said a PB&J had never tasted that delicious ever! Clay Robinson was able to experience his first ever PB&J and enjoyed it very much! After everyone finished catching their breath and eating, the vans packed up and headed on an hour-long drive to Anchorage.
Once in Anchorage, the vans parked inside a large parking lot next to yet another parking lot. The other parking lot, though, was filled with large white tents that contained all of the unique crafts, clothing, and food that belonged to a farmer’s market! Kids found their friends and headed off with their money to see what creative things they could discover inside the market. Some found donuts, and shirts, and handcrafted jewelry. Other found an adorable paralyzed puppy in need of a lot of love which it the received when almost our entire group visited to pet and praise the young dog.
At about three o’clock the vans once again were packed with AGLP members and began to return to the church. As participants unloaded out of their vans they took with them their van bins and began to empty their belongings into their check in luggage. You could see that some people started to become disappointed with the fact that the trip was to soon be ending.
With vans clean and almost entirely empty, the kids hopped back in and we all started off to Emily’s house. Ishtar’s daughter was kind enough to invite all of us to join her family for a cook out in her home. As soon as the vans arrived, Emily’s son Boone ran out of the house to greet everyone. People began to enter the house and line up for some amazing looking hot dogs, homemade potato salad, watermelon, and Emily’s famous and delectable cookies! Everyone enjoyed the great meal quickly and then headed to the back yard to start a fast paced game of soccer. It was junior leaders versus the participants. The game got competitive fast and after about thirty minutes of playing the participants won 3-2.
Still riled up from the intense game of soccer, everyone loaded the vans for a last time to the church for an exciting dance party!! Kids got on their white t-shirts and pulled out their sharpies and began to write short, fun messages to one another on each other’s shirts. The music blared and everyone danced and shouted and had a great time. Once the party was over the participants brushed their teeth and got ready for hug time. After happy hugs had occurred all around, the kids tip toed into their sleeping bags and fell fast asleep after the long, busy, but fun filled day.