1

My Class Trip to Oregon

We started with a stop at Cabela’s, my favourite outdoors store! I wore my Canadian plaid shirt and toque in honour of the occasion.  I was expecting some panic when certain classmates realized that the taxidermy animals weren’t just fake stuffed animals, but I was pleasantly surprised by how calm they were. Some of them even tried game meat for lunch.  The first night went better than expected as no one was in tears over being homesick.  The surprises kept coming when we went zip lining the next day.  Everyone was calm yet excited to try it despite the fact that several of them were afraid of heights. People were more adventurous than I thought as they swung out and went no hands, backbends, and doubles with twirling.  The Sasquatch jump scare surprised and frightened some people, others didn’t even flinch.

As we continued on the trip through exciting places like Fort Stevens, the Coast Guard visit and Columbia River Maritime Museum, the Aquarium wet lab, and the Estuary boat trip, it became clear that my classmates were not afraid to ask questions. Previously, I’ve been the only one in a school group asking questions and interested in learning more in-depth about the places I’ve visited.  This trip I wasn’t the only one with my hand up. When I got home from the trip and my parents asked how it went, I was able to answer that I actually had a really great time, not just because of all the cool things we saw and amazing places we went, but also because I really enjoy my classmates for the most part. While anyone can have moments where someone annoys them when you spend all your waking hours for a week together, we had more times when we got along really well.  One example is where we played an intense, thrilling and heart wrenching game of “keepy-uppy” in the KOA pool for an hour.  Our teachers kept saying that we do this trip so early in the school year in Grade 8 to get everyone to know each other better and work better as a team. There is method to their madness as this is exactly what happened.

In addition to a bonding experience, the Oregon trip was also educational. At Fort Stevens, a historical fort built in 1865 and used as a working fort until the end of World War II, we learned that there were only 2 rotating guns ever built. The only one still in existence is at Fort Stevens.  We got a behind the scenes look at the underground tunnels added to the Fort during WW II. Our teachers got us a lot of special access experiences on the trip. We got a personalized presentation at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and even got an impromptu visit with the Coast Guard. Did you know that the leaf and snowflake stickers on the ship show how many bust they’ve made for marijuana and cocaine? On Day 4 we also got to play in the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s wet lab (did you know that male crabs are faster than female crabs), and the next day we built ROV’s (Remote Operating Vehicles) and searched for ghost shrimp at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. A fun fact about ghost shrimp (which we got to splash around on the mud flats in our boots to find) is male ghost shrimp have one claw bigger than the other.  Which is useless except to attract a mate. As we were bottom trawling on our boat trip on Day 5, we had a lot of familiar things brought up, like a bunch of  crabs and a baby squid, as well as something we didn’t expect to see. A group of eggs that were clear so you could see the creatures inside. They felt like hard plastic. Despite being able to see the creatures, even the marine scientists didn’t know what they were!

All that bonding and education sure worked up an appetite! Good thing the food was amazing too. The first place we stopped to get food was Cabela’s. I got a buffalo burger and it was delicious. Other people got elk burgers. They said it tasted a lot different than a regular burger and despite its unique taste everyone liked it. We visited a lot of buffets, something we don’t have much in Canada. The buffet I really enjoyed was where I got to fill my plate with meat! At the Ferry Slip Cafe, I had some of the best fish and chips I have ever had. My favourite restaurant, which I also got to do an advertisement for, was Nisa’s Thai Kitchen. One of the plates of food that they brought to the table was on fire! Literally! The picture of the chicken dish I featured in my ad (see my blog post on Oregon Advertising for the photo) was the best chicken I have ever tasted.

Overall the Oregon trip was a ton of fun. I got to know my classmates a lot better and I am so glad that I have them in my class.  I am also really grateful for the teachers that I have and I am looking forward to our next adventure.

​​