We had just been at Grand Canyon National Park which was insanely crowded, so we were very happy to come to Petrified Forest National Park for some much smaller crowds. Petrified Forest is one of the smaller national parks in he United States. Most people overlook it, but it was actually way cooler than I thought it was going to be. This national park is a must see because of its uniqueness and factor of surprise. Because of its size, you can do the whole park in less than two days and still see everything the park has to offer. What’s really cool is that the park has two very different sides to it; the petrified side and painted desert side.
6th Grade Sly Park Trip
Where to start! The 6th grade trip to Sly Park was amazing! My Sly Park buddy for the week was my friend Jayla — we had a blast!
When we got to Sly Park we had lunch and the food was awesome! Every night before bed we all got a cookie. One night it was chocolate chip, then snicker doodle, and finally, on the last night we had chocolate chip oatmeal cookies — YUM! It was way better than regular cafe food at school.
Each morning, Raven, our Sly Park teacher, met us to begin our adventures and beautiful hikes through the forest.
- One hike featured an old wooden teepe. On another, we all got to pick blackberries, which were delicious, and were taught how to build shelters. The shelters took a lot of work, but when we were finished it turned out great. I could actually go in the shelter and lay down.
- The Park Creek hike was kind of scary because we went down steep steps and hills, but it was a beautiful hike with amazing scenery. When we got to the creek, Raven taught us how to use rocks to make face paint (so cool)!
- Another adventure was to the animal room, where my friends and I got to hold real snakes! They didn’t feel slimy or wet, but more smooth and silky. One snake was very active and one snake just stayed in one spot and sort of swung there. There was also a really cool lizard and a turtle that tried to escape!
Cal Poly Architecture Graveyard
When my almost-cousin Melanie left for college and Cal Poly, I was so sad. But we got to see her a lot of our week-long vacation to Pismo Beach!
In addition to hanging out and touring Hearst Castle together, we all walked around San Louis Obispo and explored the shops! We also visited Melanie at Cal Poly and she took us for an awesome hike through the Cal Poly Architecture Graveyard.
We were all so exited to see it and once we arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes because it was fantastic! There were all kinds of weird structures, buildings, forts, and sculpture-ish things spread out in what feels like the middle of nowhere!
The first piece was a dome shaped tunnel that looked like a house, but you could go all the way through it! My brother Carter and I had a blast exploring the buildings. Then …
Is it a bird or is it a plane? Nope its a… pirate ship!
Okay, maybe it wasn’t a pirate ship, but it sure looked like it. It looked like it was a ship wreck that happened a long time ago! Carter and I climbed aboard the ship and pretended we were on a pirate quest!
The next building was what we called “the batman lookout” — we both climbed up the stairs and from the tower we could see the whole graveyard and it was an amazing and slightly creepy and weird view.
As we were looking out over the open space, we saw a giant dome! I thought they might be big tinker toys, but the pieces were metal and that creation was just an awesome fort — or it could be with some giant sheets!)
Our last stop was a stone spiral staircase! It was really fun to climb up the stairs!