A Break Trip to Utah
Dartmouth makes dreams come true.
"Kalina, you couldn't start with a cheesier line, could you?"
You're probably rolling your eyes at me right now, but bear with me. What would you call it if you spent six days canoeing down the Green River in Utah, marveling at the most gorgeous of canyons, yapping* with the most hilarious of Dartmouth students? It's a dream come true. This dream is called a DOC break trip!
The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) runs many trips: hiking trips, surfing trips, skiing trips, birdwatching trips, and climbing trips. It runs trips during the academic terms and on the breaks between quarters. If you go back through my blog posts, you'll notice that I talk about the DOC a lot (my friends think that's the only thing I'm talking about). You'll also notice that I've never talked about canoeing or kayaking trips before. That is because I was just introduced to these outdoor activities through the DOC break trip with the Ledyard Canoe Club. You might be thinking: Aye-yai-yai! Ledyard? What about Flora and Fauna, Kalina?!
As of today, I've been to only one Ledyard meeting! Tomorrow, I'll go to my second meeting, fully immersing myself as a proud Ledyard member. I have to thank Ledyard for making this dream trip of mine come true.
I have found that break trips are the BEST way to spend a week of your break. I wish the trip was the length of the entire spring break.
On a break trip, you fly to a cool place like Utah (the DOC subsidizes your plane tickets). You fill two carts with food for ten people that's supposed to last for seven days—consequently, you have everybody in the store in Salt Lake City look at you as if you're crazy. Then you drive to Moab, Utah, and you take the last shower you'll take in the next six days. And then:
- Red rocks, sandy river banks, mallards, geese, and otters.
- Cards, canoes, paddles, and mud.
- Physics, tuna, tortillas, stars, sunsets, and campfires.
- Special moments, funny moments, deep moments, muddy moments, and precious moments.
The Dartmouth Outing Club made this dream trip of mine come true, but it was Ben and Dylan (our trip's leaders) who made this one come true. Thank you Fiona, Ari, Sylvie, Peter, Maggie, Noah, and Diana**! Can't wait for our next adventure.
NOTES:
- * Special thanks to Peter, who taught me what it means to yap, and special thanks to Dylan who taught me how to pump gas. (Both are very important life skills.)
- ** Diana is also a People Places Pines blogger! Check out her blog and what she's got to say about this trip!