By Jahniece Blackmon
During our trip to Acadia on May 4-6th (or ACAD) we bonded and grew our camping skills. Acadia is a small town in Maine. It has beaches and forests. First, we had to drive 5 ½ hours from Boston to Acadia, along the way we listened to Sophia’s awesome car tunes and stopped to get food at Five Guys (the burgers were good but the fries not so much).
After making it to our destination, at around 12 am we snuggled in our beds and went to bed. The next morning, we woke up, showered then hurried to cook breakfast. Sahil was on scrambled egg duty, while Benafshay and I made blueberry pancakes! We listened to music, talked and enjoyed the beautiful morning.
After eating breakfast, we cleaned up. Kristina told us to pack lunches because we would be going on a brief hike before heading to the campsite.
Next, we headed outside and headed on our hike. The hike had breathtaking views of the ocean and rocks. It was nice to sit and reflect on one of our lasts hikes together as group.
We then went back to the car and drove to the beach. We sat in the warm sand, that felt like gold while eating our lunch.
Afterwards, we went to a place called “Thunderclap” it’s called this because when the waves crash against the side of the rocks, it makes a large thunder like noise. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to hear it because of the low tide.
After we went on a very strenuous hike. The guys enjoyed a lot (especially Sahil who breezed through the whole thing with not wanting to stop)
We then drove to our campsite. We broke into groups and began to pitch our tents. We were done, it was time to do our final projects. We all chose a spot were we felt at peace (and were the was bomb lighting) and began to think about our time as place fellows. Next was dinner time, we grilled some burgers that really good. We also had some cuscus which is like rice. Then it was bedtime.
The next morning, we woke up at 3:55 am so we could see the sun rise. We drove to a mountain like place where the sun rose perfectly at. We chose a spot, sat, drank hot cocoa, and watched the pink, orange, reddish colors fade into the darkness that was once night. It was absolutely mesmerizing.
Once the sun was officially up we went back to the campsite and ate breakfast. Kristina and Sophia had a gift for us as we ate breakfast and it was a key chain of the park service symbol. It looked hand- carved and it was so beautiful!
Later, we cleaned and packed everything. We then drove to another hiking place were went hiked to a big, huge rock called “bubble rock”. This rock was MASSIVE. It was right on the edge of a cliff that looked like about a 2,000 foot drop! We took a lot pictures because it was our last hike as place fellows.
We went back to the car were I took what felt like the longest stop of the century. We drove and drove and drove, then we finally stopped for pizza. Me and Khalil split a taco pizza while Sahil, Benafshay and Caitlyn split a half onion half tomato pizza.
Then the next thing I knew we were in Boston! We gathered outside the car were we talked about how what we enjoyed and how we felt about our experience at fellowship. We then unloaded our stuff and said our goodbyes.
I had a great and unforgettable experience at place fellowship. I’ll never forget what we learned over the course of those weekends. I’ll also never forget the bonds I made at the fellowship. It was such an out-of-box experience. I did things I said I would never do, or never had done before. The skills I acquired at fellowship will always be with me. I blossomed with my knowledge of the park service. I will forever be thankful for what Kristina, Sophia and everyone we visited taught me.