Day 13

Hey y’all this is the Sneezys coming back at you again!! We had a veeeeeerrry eventful day today, even though we drove for most of the day (shout out to Mr. G, he’s a trooper!!!)

We woke up bright and early today in San Francisco at 5:30am to Dallas making her car alarm noise!! We hurriedly got ready for the day and managed to cut our time down to 30 minutes (Matt was extremely proud of us.) We began our very long drive to Yosemite National Park, saying goodbye to the very beautiful San Francisco!

A lot of us were sleeping but some of us saw the amazing, rolling, golden hills!
After a lot of us caught up on sleep for a couple of hours, we were woken up by the very inviting prospect of Wal-Mart shopping (it was not a good idea to shop for snacks before we had breakfast because many of us spent too much money, sorry Mom!!) Once we got back to the bus and vans, the cooks served us a very delicious breakfast of donuts and fruit snacks for our vegan friend! The donuts had sprinkles and cream filling and glaze, it was almost like being back at Krispy Kreme! 

We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls for our first stop in Yosemite! It was AMAZING!


Dallas, Lillie Griffin, Camryn Bernhardt, Jordyn Burrell, Rylee Gaus, and Ashlee Hamrick!


Mackenzie Wright, Olivia Kafer, Leah Mosher, Dallas, Emma Parson, Cayla Gregory, and Callie Matthews!

Bridal Veil Falls!
A few more hours of driving a lot of motion sickness, and a very filling lunch of chicken Caesar wraps with Sunny D and pretzels, we reached the very scenic Yosemite National Park! WOOHOOO!!! The traffic was CRAZY at Yosemite; we drove around and around trying to find a place to park the bus and vans!After a lot of pictures and one big group photo (we didn’t know where Eugene and Miss America were so those people are not dead they just didn’t make the picture, we promise), we had the option to either go see the base of the waterfall or go straight to the gift shop!

Partial group picture in YOSEMITE!
The gift shop group accidentally made a wrong turn and ended up hiking on a trail instead of buying t-shirts, but we’re glad we got our steps in!! While we were lost, we ended up near stables and a lot of us saw the horses and mules! We did make it to the gift shop finally where we all bought tons of gifts for everyone back home! On top of getting lost, some of us were not dressed for the weather! We had been told it would be chilly, since Yosemite usually is but today it was quite warm, close to 80 degrees!!!





Then came the drive out of Yosemite! We got stuck in traffic that brought us to a dead stop. In the midst of our boredom the two Vans got into a small battle. A few bad trade deals led to a windshield smeared with Oatmeal crème pies and a gluten free tortilla stuck to the driver’s side window with peanut butter!! The radio was also used for a tense “trash talking” session. While it did take a long time, it was completely worth it. It was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve taken so far. Some were surprised to see snow on the ground right after we were walking in 80-degree weather! The pass we went through, Tioga Pass was just opened this morning, the day we are driving through it! How crazy! The snow pack on the pass had been around 7 FEET! There were beautiful lakes, towering mountains, and scary-steep cliffs. A few of us got very carsick! We went from about 10,000 feet to 8,000 feet in just a few minutes! It was breathtaking!!



Mr. G handled the bus on those steep mountain roads like a… G? We finally made it to our lovely campsite in Mono Vista RV Park in California! However, not 10 minutes after we arrived, the complaints started coming in. Apparently a group of 82 high school students is not what the residents like to fall asleep to L. The first complaints were about the bus and how loud it was because we were sure to be quiet all through the night!!

We had some people share research, Brogan Brown told us about Bridal Veil Falls, Caleb Mann shared a very interesting presentation about the Sequoia trees, and Liza McIntyre let us know about the famous Inspirational Point! 


Liza McIntyre telling us about Inspirational Point!

Caleb Mann giving his presentation on the Red Woods/Sequoias! 

Brogan Brown telling us about Bridal Veil Falls!

All of us being quiet as mice at the Mono Vista RV Park!
As we write this, we can smell dinner cooking, chicken noodle and tomato soup, grilled cheese, watermelon and cookies!!!!! The trailers are filled to the brim with over 300 parcels of mail!! Tomorrow night in Utah we get to see what you have sent us and we are all so excited!! This is a goodbye from the Sneezys and we can’t wait to report on tomorrow from Salt Lake City!!!

The cooks making a delicious dinner for all of us!

Yay cooks!!

SHHHHH!!! Don’t upset the locals! J


KA-CHOW -- Dab on ‘em!

Day 14

Hey! This is the Sneezy’s again!!! We finally have a group picture since we missed it the first two days we blogged!!!!

Jordan Carlson, Seth McCrachen, Ian Stines, Leah Mosher, Felipe Moda, Anderson Crowder, LaLa Parris, Ashley Weinstein, Sarah Whalen, Jenna Trantham, Nicole Fortin, Blessid Snow, Liza McIntyre, and Bailey Keller!!!

ACHHOOOOOOOO!!!

We had a very eventful day today…. on the bus and vans. We woke up in Yosemite to seagulls screaming at us!  Shout out to them for waking us up 15 minutes early… NOT. We quickly got ready and loaded the bus and vans and left by 7:30am. We were careful to be courteous and quiet so trip two is allowed to stay there behind us! Apparently people don’t like 82 teenagers in their RV park—no matter how quiet we are. We drove for an hour and stopped at Wal--actually Safeway, so that the cooks could get us breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Some of us were triggered because we couldn’t buy anything…. even though some did anyways.

After we got back on the road we were served a delicious breakfast including half a bagel (plain, blueberry, or cinnamon raison) with the option of peanut butter or cream cheese and a clementine (a.k.a.: a small orange).

After a few more hours of driving we stopped at a very suspicious “rest stop” where some of the stalls were closed off because they were toxic and John blew up one of the port-a-potty’s. We couldn’t even use the bathrooms, we all had to use the port-a-potty’s. All the guys stood equally spaced at the fence to relieve themselves so the girls could use the port-a-potty’s faster. Thanks boys!

The "rest stop!"



After we were on the bus for a few minutes, leftover food was passed out. Callie was the first volunteer to accept Atkins Milk Chocolate Delight, Ashley Weinstein unknowingly ate cookies from day two, and lastly Tanner ate an entire container of whipped cream cheese…. because he wanted to. No one asked him to, he just did. He then proceeded to take a spoonful of cream cheese and looked a different person in the eye until he finished all of it. Jordan followed him along with a barf bag and water!

Following that we enjoyed a well-planned lunch consisting of ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, cookies, and chips. We had the choices of mayo and mustard and even LETTUCE!!! Yay for vegetables!!

A few hours later people locked Tanner in the bathroom for 20 minutes as a punishment for peeing into an empty Powerade bottle sponsored by Blessid.  As we were driving for a while Eugene pointed out “wild horses,” however after further inspection we realized they were only shrubs. Lesson learned: We actually cannot trust any of our counselors!!

Tanner Hester eating his cream cheese on the bus!!
We licked the ground. Don’t worry it wasn’t bad… only smelled like dead puppies. It was a salt deposit! Guess what! Eugene got stuck in a watery salt deposit… HA HA HA!

Katie Greene, Brogan Brown, Cameron Thomas, and Callie Matthews!

Sarah Whalen, Lucas Bonomo, Camryn Bernhardt, Caleb Mann, Nate Craven, and Alicia Hutchins!!


Griffin Law getting up close and personal with the salt flat!


Anderson Crowder, Bennet Estes, Aubrie Miller, and Lillian Sumner licking the SALT!

After that we had dinner while listening to terrible jokes from Eugene and Jon. No one laughed except for them but that’s typical…  Dinner was quite a struggle, because we had to eat chicken caesar salads out of a plastic bag. The cooks ran out of chicken, more was found after dinner ended. Anyways, with the salads we had grapes and Kool-Aid and a pack of pudding!! A few people decided to chug Kool-Aid powder… without water. Dallas was very angry because Miss America’s grapes were eaten gradually all day and she didn’t get any. Unfortunately we were not able to get in the pool tonight, however tonight is MAIL NIGHT! Can’t wait to talk about our mail in tomorrow’s blog.

YAY MAIL FROM SARAH BASS!

DAB- ON- EM! WE OUT!

KA-CHOW!

Day 12

Hey ya’ll, this is the Sneezys!!!! We will be taking over the blog for a few days. Roll Call!!!!!: Blessid Snow, Ashley Weinstein, Nicole Fortin, Sarah Whalen, Seth McCachern, Liza McIntyre, Felipe Moda, Leah Mosher, Jenna Trantham, Ian Stines, Andersen Crowder, Bailee Keller, Jordan Carlson, and Lala Parris.

This morning we were supposed to wake up at 6:30am, but some how we all woke up before. Dallas was pretty upset because she didn’t get to wake anyone up and she didn’t get her bathroom time. We quickly shoved all of our stuff into the “Cricket Room”, without messing up pre-school artwork here at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in San Fran. We then loaded into Carolina Girl and the bus (Miss America was dropping off our laundry) and headed to the Cliffhouse!! On the way there, we realized that Miss America riders didn’t have breakfast, and there was too many banana nut muffins and not enough blueberry but everyone dealt with the issue and no one went hungry!

Once we got to the Cliffhouse we had to wait outside for 15 minutes in the freezing cold weather, while Miss America riders scarfed down muffins, but that’s what families do!!! While we waited, we huddled together and sang songs to keep warm!  Once we were allowed in, there was a warm breakfast prepared, that included made from scratch popovers and orange juice! We sat where many famous people have sat before us, including Nicholas Cage, Robin Williams and many others! SO COOL!!!

THE VERY FAMOUS CLIFF HOUSE!!!




Leah Mosher, Gia Lash, Sarah McCarty, Ashlee Hamrick, and Mikayla Wright at The Cliffhouse!

Tanner Hester, Cody Haigler, Jordan Carlson, Logan Mantooth, and Bennet Estes!

The view of the beach in front of The Cliffhouse!

Logan Mantooth, Leah Mosher, and Isaac Allison!

Abby Copeland, Nick Richard, and Kacie Barrett!









After Cliffhouse we travelled to Fisherman’s Warf. We then, took many pictures outside in front of the famous Fisherman’s Warf sign and on Pier 39! We walked over to the gigantic sign, and took a big group picture. While we were there, we saw many cute seals!! There was one seal in particular that was too fat to hang out with the rest. We decided to affectionately name him Gerald from Finding Dory. Cameron Thomas, Griffin Law, and Gia Lash did research today at the pier.


Group picture at the Fisherman's Warf!









After that, we were turned loose in the great big city of San Francisco with nothing but a paper map that was wrong in one part (thanks, Grant). A lot of us tried clam chowder and most went to In-N-Out (some of us did both). We spent our day shopping and wandering around the city! Many of us went to the Apple store to talk to our loved ones- some of us were kicked out because of excessive FaceTiming—for over two hours. While some of us were shopping, a car blew their horn for over 45 seconds! Hello road rage!! That was a bit excessive in our opinion!


Ashley Weinstein and Jordyn Burrell!!
While in San Fran, there are hills upon hills! Too many hills!! Crazy hills!!! So of course it makes sense for a lot of us to rent bikes to bike around the city! That worked for a good while until we realized that we would have to bike up the hills… that was, as Felipe would say, “No bueno.” Because of this, a lot of us took the trolleys. Liza McIntyre and Cam Ray got a free trolley ride thanks to one of the conductors!


We finally made our way to China Town, which a lot of us realized isn’t exactly like real China. A lot of the “Bros” were very excited to cop a fake MBA jersey just to realize that not all China Towns were the same and there were no jersey shops. The only shops in sight were serene and peaceful shops with jewelry and nice music.

Nick Richard, Kacie Barrett, and Rylee Gaus!!

Lillie Griffin and her dragonfruit!
Yesterday, a lot of us were shocked to see Jon’s toes. They were moldy, black, crusty, and probably had some fungi growing from the toenails. He was getting quite the hate. Apparently his feelings were hurt so much that him, Eugene, and Dallas got pedicures. Not just pedicures, but they got their toes got painted red, white and blue as well. Their brand new toes were debuted right before dinner!!!

Jon and Eugene's patriotic toes!

We had to wait for dinner outside for an extra few minutes or so. Some friends and family members showed up to say hi to everyone, which was pretty cool!! We had a nice dinner of Chinese food. A few people did research--  Cole Frederick, Natalie Tillis, Logan Mantooth, and Lucas Bonomo.

Natalie Tillis!

Cole Frederick!

Lucas Bonomo!

On the way out from dinner, we heard a noise that sounded like a crash and saw a lady booking it down the street. Turns out she punched through a café window and there was glass all over the place. We aren’t sure if they caught her, but we hope they can repair the damages.

After dinner, some of us bought some red, white and blue leggings with stars and stripes! We shortly after, realized that the ladies selling the pants overcharged a few people once they realized how many people wanted them. We then drove to the Golden Gate Bridge!!! A few of us (mostly Gaston county boys) decided to participate in the Polar Bear challenge which is when we took off our shirts and ran the full length of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is a lot longer than you think it is!! The wind was freezing cold as the sun started to set, but we all made it through. As the runners and even walkers came to the end of the bridge, we cheered them on and took pictures together.



Counselors!




ALL OF THE SELLERS!!!! Tyler Sellers, Kristina Sellers, and Timothy Sellers!


Jordan Carlson and Abby Copeland!

Alex Mariscovetere and Rylee Roller!

Nicole Fortin, Alex Mariscovetere, Sarah Royster, and Mary Helen Alford!

Erin Sherrill, Lillian Sumner, Aubrie Miller, Hannah, Jordyn Burrell, Carly Kurtiak, Cam Ray, and Alicia Hutchins!


Kacie Barrett and Nick Richard!

b
Rylee Gaus, Kacie Barrett, Lillie Griffin, Abby Copeland, Kristina Sellers, Brogan Brown and Liza McIntyre!

Abby Copeland, Brogan Brown, and Kacie Barrett!

John Gray Blount, Nick Richard, Ian Stines, and Caleb Mann!
Sarah Whalen and Leah Mosher were the first two girls to complete the run right behind a few of the boys!! We sang some patriotic songs together while huddling together to keep warm and received some onlookers who enjoyed watching. We even got a baby to participate in our songs as her dad held her up in the air! We then got back on the bus and drove back to the church where we can finally take some showers and get back our clean laundry!!

Happy Birthday to Sarah Bass!!!! We had a wonderful day at San Francisco and a fun time for our first blogging day! We will continue our journey tomorrow at Yosemite National Park. We’ll be checking back in later!

Sneezys! Sneezys! Sneezys! Sneezys! SNEEZYS! AAAAAAAAH-CHOOOOOOO

“Ka-Chow”- Felipe


**There will be very limited service in Yosemite, so the blog may be delayed!**