Today's blog is brought to you by Courtney, our fabulous Trip Director through TFT. Not only is she a great trip leader and van driver, she is also a wonderful writer! With that, I pass the baton to Courtney:
Travel is all about experiencing new things, finding new perspectives, and learning how to be flexible. Today ticked all of those boxes.
First we made our way to the Museum of Northern Arizona where we were led through on a tour discussing the indigenous cultures of Arizona and the greater Colorado Plateau. As we walked through the exhibits, we all found ourselves wanting more in depth conversation about what we were seeing, and left with many discussion points to go over (a discussion the group had later once back at the hotel).
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| Easily the coolest part of our museum tour: A guest demonstration of an atlatl (a prehistoric weapon). Fun fact: Valley of Fire State Park is home to annual atlatl competitions! |
For lunch the chaperones and counselors had a special surprise in store for the group: Denny’s! Maybe you’ve heard the excitement from your student about how there has been a Denny’s near every hotel and the jokes about a 2am Denny’s run. Well, we *really* wanted to make it happen for them! We trekked over to the nearest Denny’s, only to sadly be turned away due to not being able to accommodate such a large group. The next nearest Denny’s offered the same result. The group was heart-broken. Until we were able to be accommodated at one of Denny’s rival breakfast diners, IHOP - and from that point on the boycott of Denny’s began.
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| Post-lunch table games led by Mr. Thomas |
As we made our way to Sedona we observed the effects of the drastic rain that has been pummeling Flagstaff down the mountain towards lower elevations. Our winding drive took us alongside what once was a small stream, now raging with rapids. This incoming storm system and flood warning had us redirect to a more indoor day, spending more time enjoying each other’s company and focusing on group connection. We got to check out a vista point overlooking the city before checking into our new hotel.
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| Sedona vista point |
Tonight was our fancy final dinner, the last dinner of the last official night of the trip. We ate at Soundbites, an American-style eatery with beautiful views of the famous red rocks right out the window. Dessert was a must tonight, and most decided on the flourless chocolate cake, although some opted to devour the tiramisu or the ice cream. Finally, we went back to the hotel, very full and very eager to debrief the day.
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| More fancy dinner photos coming soon! |
The storm continued to rage on outside, but that didn’t stop these teens from one last hurrah of the day, opting for a little polar plunge into the non-heated outdoor pool! What’s a little rain if you’re already submerged, anyway? Don’t worry, it was all captured on video.
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| Impromptu pool plunge |
There are mixed emotions with our last day together being tomorrow! Here’s to hoping it ends even better than it started!
Many things today did not go according to plan, but I could not be more proud of our students. They focused on what was in their control and made the best of each situation. When Denny's didn't work out (twice), they rerouted to IHOP with genuine enthusiasm. When the incessant rain forced us to head back to the hotel early, they geared up for a hilarious polar bear plunge in the hotel's (unheated) pool. Most impressive of all was our students' response to the museum tour, which covered only a small fragment of the content that our students hoped to learn. Students remained fully engaged for the entire two hour tour, and they continued to ask our docent outstanding questions. In our subsequent debrief, students reflected on the tour with both a critical mind and a generous heart, which made for a cathartic and informative experience for the whole group. As writer Gretchen Rubin says about travel, "The things that go wrong often make the best memories."
