Yellowstone adventure Field trip of dreams

There are field trips, and then there are FIELD TRIPS.

Twenty-one kids from South Sound Boys & Girls Clubs branches know well about excursions so bold they belong in capital letters.

They spent five days in August on an adventure to Yellowstone National Park. Anonymous donors funded the all-expenses paid trip for kids who might not otherwise get to make such a trip, said Boys & Girls Clubs spokeswoman Carissa Batka in a news release.

The students picked for the trip showed outstanding behavior over the last year and are regular Boys & Girls Clubs members. Some had never been on an airplane before.

At Yellowstone, they spent they watched wildlife through binoculars, attended classes and took excursions to geothermal features such as Old Faithful and other wondrous natural features.

They drew pictures of what they saw and kept journals about what was important to them.

Andrea Garcia, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Jason Lee Middle School in Tacoma, loved the stories she heard about how Yellowstone formed, “how people got lost in Yellowstone and the fires and stuff,” she said.

Her most important lesson learned: “They told us never to pick anything up, because if we picked up everything that we saw that was pretty or beautiful then nobody else could get to see it.”

Andrea used watercolors to depict one of Yellowstone’s waterfalls.

“It was actually a big one,” she said. “And I liked how everybody who saw it said it was as if it was the first one they ever saw” because it was so beautiful, she added.

Here are some of the kids’ journal entries:

“My favorite Yellowstone memory is Old Faithful. Old Faithful is my favorite because I like how it erupts. It’s also the only geyser I’ve ever seen. It looks really beautiful when it erupts. It’s also a great photo opportunity. It makes you really excited when you’re about to see it.” “My Yellowstone memory is when we saw the hot spring and pool. The hot springs were so cool because the water is hot and shoots out water. Pools are cool because they change color. On that day we also see a waterfall. Also on that day we saw a cool herd of bison.” “As I sit in the tall grass and look out at the scene, I wonder if I’m dreaming; will someone please pinch me. I think I see a bison. Is it real? Is it true? Sometimes I can’t imagine how it’s all so beautiful.” “Night when owl in the air, searching the ground. But to us we hear nothing. But we can hear if we listen. … We can hear wolves in the grass and bears in their dens. … All we have to do is look and listen.” “My favorite Yellowstone memory or experience. I like to see the sights. Wildlife … is one thing I like about Yellowstone. Native American tale: A wolf was walking but a different pack attacks him but he wasn’t dead. I guess God was looking after him or something.” “All of the beautiful colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring are actually living creatures that are microscopic. Together they make pools of vibrant color in the water. That is enjoyed by many people from all over. I have seen so many awesome things here like Old Faithful, hot springs that blow steam into your faces and so much wildlife. The bison are huge and the elk are big too. I was lucky to see wolves and grizzly bears in the valley. We are having a great time in Yellowstone.”