"There were 12 people on this trip, including Jupiter who was added to the trip the day we left!" recalls sophomore Zach Holtkamp. After a long day of traveling after school let out on Thursday, the group made it to their home for the weekend. "We left the school and finally got to where we were staying at 1 in the morning. We proceeded to wake up 6 hours later and most of us were not very excited about that."
Service
Despite the tired faces, the group set out Friday morning to do service in the DC area. "We went to the Capital Area Food Bank and helped out with packing food boxes. We did so well that the manager who was working with us ran out of things for us to do! We then went to Glen Echo Park to do some trail service. We raked leaves, dug up invasive plants, and planted some native species." After their hard work, the students and staff got a tour of the Clara Barton house and learned about Ms. Barton's journey towards starting the American Red Cross.
Food and Contra Dancing
Freshman Kaity Farthing said some of her favorite parts of the trip involved making our dinners. "Honestly, I really liked making dinner on the bus and eating things out of the cans." There was also a snafu with cooking rice in a plastic container that Kaity says was particularly memorable at Glen Echo. "Then we went contra dancing and we had a blast!" says Zach. Junior Brynne Wood agrees: "It was fun! Everybody there was confident. They explored different dancing moves and just went with it."
Sightseeing
The next day was filled with sightseeing as the group visited museums, monuments, and memorials. To take a break from the constant action, there was a nice long rest on the National Mall. "I was so tired - I just wanted to sleep!" says Brynne. She enjoyed the break time and participated in what the group fondly referred to as the "Cuddle Puddle" where everyone collapsed into a group pile to take a nap. It wasn't all about the naps, though. Brynne said her favorite stop that day was at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. "I loved all of the quotes." Sophomore Jupiter Frerer also found the quotes on the different monuments and memorials to be a highlight of the trip. "My favorite part of the trip was walking around to all of the monuments. The quotes were really powerful for me personally. They chose good ones and it was cool to see them in that format." After a night time stop outside the White House, they returned to the house they were staying at and enjoyed a campfire and s'mores.
An incredible journey
"On the final day," says Zach, "we went to see the Holocaust Museum." Students were given 2 hours to make their way through the museum and most were deeply impacted by what they saw. After debriefing their experiences, the Urban Expedition crew packed up their stuff and made their way back to Boone.
It was another incredible trip to Washington, DC.
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