My head is throbbing and we barely slept, but we are ready to go. Our house looks like a tornado spiraled through and there's no time to tidy up.
Two kids had new meds this morning. Over and over, I repeated, "Are your water bottles full? Go fill them now, you won't have access to your packs till we arrive. Don't leave your boots here, take them with you. Pack up the tent parts, you don't want to lose them."
The weather forecast has improved steadily so that now there is only a small chance of rain today and no thunderstorms. The temps will be in the 70's. Fantastic.
The total for the expedition is constantly fluctuating and depends on the day. 64 eighth graders now are expected to complete the trip.
Pictures will follow on Sunday.
Wish us luck!
Arriving at Cockaigne
Mike trying to persuade his wife to let him keep little "Questy"
Rest stop at the Olmstead Farm
Questy Dibble, resting before she goes home to the Parker-Bobseines house
Everything went very smoothly from loading the truck to setting up at Cockaigne. It was a gorgeous, warm and sunny day. The kids were upbeat and excited.
At the very first rest stop, we realized that Mike's group was missing, but that was not unusual. I gave him a call and found that they had taken a right turn rather than a left at the Y on the trail. When they finally arrived, the adults were standing at the head of the trail when a little Yorkie trotted out of the woods right into Jackie's arms. Adorable! We kept expecting hikers to appear, but no one came. The kids were immediately drawn to her. When it was time to depart, the little dog wanted to follow us. Rick intervened with a dish of water and a leash that he happened to have in the trailer. He decided to investigate and determine if the owner was near by.
The trip up the south side of Cockaigne was especially tough. Maybe we weren't warmed up yet. Steve's hips were troubling him and I was already overheating. It took a long time, but we finally made it. He was very discouraged and considered going out to get the car. He thought it was going to be a repeat of last year. But, he went to bed early and was much better in the morning.
Chris suggested that we change our campsite to the base of the bunny hill. He reasoned that none of the adults could tolerate going up and down Cockaigne repeatedly any more. He was absolutely right. The new tenting area helped us keep track of the kids much better.
When we arrived at Cockaigne, Rick was there with the little dog. He had found the owner who had basically abandoned the dog and gave Rick the kennel and bed. Then Rick went to a store and bought some food because the dog was so thin. He wanted to keep her, but he already has three dogs. Jackie also offered to keep her and then Michael chimed in that he wanted her. Throughout dinner, there was a lot of discussion among them and finally Mike won. He immediately decided to call her Questy Dibble and sent her home to Susan.
Most of the kids decided to swim since it was so warm. One water shoe was lost to the mud and we never found it. We had a peaceful night, but of course, we did not sleep.
