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Published: October 19th 2016
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#Week 5
This week has again been a week full of adventures and amazing moments! However, the week started a little less happy than hoped. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to almost all of my Sandia Creek Ranch (SCR) Family. Sara was the first one to leave for a trip trough the US, but fortunately she will be coming back in about two weeks! The next day Beth and Huw continued their American adventure by leaving for Las Vegas and Maria left for another internship in a hospital a few hours away. Two days later I had to say goodye to Ruby and Beth, who were also going to continue their adventure elsewhere. I have to say that I have had the most amazing time with all of these amazing people! It feels like we’re all part of one big happy family.
Now on to a little happier news! This week has been HOT. So we decided to all go swimming at Reese’s house, of course this was when at least half of our group was still present. We had a lovely day to cool off by the pool and get rid of our “farmers tan”. It was
so great to spend some chill time together before everyone leaves. It was the perfect time to do some reading and of course sharing funny stories with each other. Also, Reese’s house is between the hills nearby the ranch and it looks absolutely amazing! Whenever I think of an American home, this is what comes to my mind. It is a big light house with a lot of windows so a lot of light can come in. It has a big garage in the front and a beautiful small swimming pool in the backyard.
The next day we wanted to have a nice last day for Ruby and Beth, since they would be leaving the next day. Ron decided to take Ruby, Beth, Lara and me up to Palm Springs to see some more of the city and to do some hiking at Mount San Jacinto. At first I thought we would be driving to the mountain and hike further from the point we would be dropped off. I was so wrong. When we arrived at the mountain there was this huge tramstation! I would call this a big cable car by the way. It appears that the Tram
is the eight wonder of the world and one of the steepest ones all over the world. I have been in a lot of cable cars in my life but never one like this. The tram could fit a lot of people and the floor would rotate so that everybody could have the same view on the way to the top. When we reached the top I was super surprised about the incredible view I had and the temperature up there. As you might have read in an earlier blogpost, I have been to Yosemite national park a few weeks back, and at the Gleisjer it was not very cold in my opinion. On San Jacinto on the other hand, it was quite cold. This was probably because I was …. Ft above sea level. Since I am not much of a hiker it was quite the step for me to go hiking AGAIN. This was obviously the right decision because the view was absolutely incredible at the different viewpoints. The more we hiked, the better the sights were getting. At some points I was able to see the desert, mountains and even a sea! At the third checkpoint I
had a quiet moment for myself, where I did not take pictures for a moment, but just sat on top of a rock on the edge of the trail, being able to see the desert, the sea and mountains all at the same time. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. The thoughts running through my mind were sort of confusing, since they were both very happy and a little sad at the same time. Happy because I am given the opportunity to see and do all these amazing things in this great country and that I got to meet so many great people. On the other hand I felt kind of sad, since I was not able to share this beautiful moments with the people that I love. I thought about how amazing it would have been if my little sister would have been there, or my best friends. Luckily I can still send them all the pictures and tell them about my adventures. Part of me just wishes I could share this experience with them.
After hiking on San Jacinto we decided to have dinner at the typically American Diner Ruby’s. This time we did not sit inside where
everything is designed in a 50’s theme, but we chose to sit outside on the boulevard of Palm Springs, where it was nice and warm. Ron convinced me to get a vanilla malt, since this was so much better than a regular milkshake. I have to admit, it certainly was!
On our way back from Palm Springs, Ron really wanted to show me and the other girls the casino that was located just outside of Palm Springs. I can hear you thinking, isn’t gambling illegal in the state of California? Well, not if the casino is built on Indian property, of course then it is allowed. I had to be a little sneaky if I wanted to wander around and have a look at the casino, since I am under 21 and am not allowed to even stand by a gambling machine and watch someone else do it. It amazes me how people can sit behind this machine all night just pushing three different buttons and waiting till they win something. If I were old enough I would much rather play a cardgame and try to win some money with that, seems way more exciting to me than just
sitting by the noisy machine with way too many lights on it.
To end yet another amazing week, Kiersti and Gareth took me to a trampoline park in Temecula. Apparently we chose the perfect night to go, since there was barely anybody in the park. We had all of the trampolines to ourselves! There was a course with about 20+ trampolines and places you could jump on and off, a dodgeball field with the whole floor made out of trampolines, a basket to play some basketball and the best part, a huge foam pit you could jump in from a trampoline! I can’t even remember how many times I jumped into that pit, and of course struggled to get out of it. It was the perfect place to let off some steam and have a good trampoline-workout. And since I had probably burned a lot of calories by jumping so much that night, it would only be fair to treat myself with a nice big In-n-out burger!
This was yet another week full of work, fun and great new adventures! I hoped you enjoyed reading this week’s blog 😊
Love, Anouk
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