The Huntsville State Park Event - So the big day finally came. I woke up early that morning, packed up my project & geocache materials, and headed for the State Park. Thankfully, Professor Littlejohn had passed out official university letters that excused us from other classes that day. Our entire class started off by putting up our project displays. My project partner Amanda and I had all our materials in place, but she forget to bring a stapler (Thanks for nothing, Amanda. j/k). Luckily, another classmate had an extra stapler, but it had no staples. So Jason & I hopped into his truck, and we drove to the front office to get some staples. The friendly lady at the front office was more than happy to lend some out. When we got back to the CCC Lodge, Jason, Patrick, and I decided to place the boxes for the race. Again, I took my car to where the hiding spots were, and we placed the coordinates and vouchers accordingly. We decided that the last box was in a bad spot, so we moved it a bit further up the trail & went back to make last-minute changes to the other coordinates.
Back at the lodge, I got my project stapled up with the help of some classmates. At this point, attendees had already begun to trickle into the lodge's main area to wait for the presentation. Outside in the lodge's patio, Amanda, Jacob, and others in the "Food & Cooking Committee" had already begun to cook up burgers and hotdogs using a grill brought by Professor Littlejohn. Then the students from the other history classes began pouring in by the truckloads. We set up the serving tables and brought out what meat had been cooked. But it wasn't enough to feed the hungry students, so a few of us had to make constant runs between the grill and the tables. Slowly but surely, all the students got a full plate of food and were seated in the lodge's main area. Right before the presentation began, I found Officer Crissy viewing my project display. I asked her if it was look different than the others, and she replied by stating that it was "very interesting!" So I guess my eye-catching strategy worked.
We also were supposed to have music from the Great Depression period playing, but the entire park lost electrical power. (My heart goes out to Lisa who spent hours putting together the sound track.) We opened all the doors and windows to allow for some ventilation, and luckily, it wasn't too hot that day. So the presentation began. An award was presented by different historical societies to the Huntsville State Park, and the recipient was none other than Officer Crissy. Afterwards, several classmates gave presentations about their projects. Out of nowhere, the power kicked back on, and we got the AC back before it got too hot in the large room. At the end of the presentations, the geocache race began. Many of the students in the audience had left at this point, but several of them stayed for the race. (I guess they really needed some extra credit points.) We split the group into 2 teams as planned and passed out the GPS units. I accompanied Team 1, and Jason and Patrick went with Team 2. The race was on!
My team had trouble with the GPS units at first, so Team 2 got a big head start. We finally got to our 1st box, but only after the other team was well on its way to their 2nd box. I left my team along the track to fetch my car so I could drive them back to the lodge after the race. While driving, I saw Jason & Patrick's team hot on the trail. But when I caught up to my team, they had already found their 2nd box and were (literally) running to the Final Box! After I parked my car and caught up with them, they were already passing out the Final Box's extra credit vouchers to each other. & Team 2 was nowhere in sight! I congratulated them and told them to wait for me at my car while i looked for the other team. But first, they decided to put the Final Box back where it was because Team 2 would still come looking for it. I caught up with Jason & Patrick deep in the trails and walked with Team 2 towards the Final Box, & there they found the empty canister. Although Team 2 didn't win, they were glad to get some extra credit points. The geocaching race was a win-win for everyone!
After driving the delighted students back to the lodge, it was cleanup time. But by the time we got back to the lodge, my other classmates had mostly cleaned up. So I took down my display, packed up some left-over food, said bye to the class, and went home with a smile. SJP
The Huntsville State Park Event - So the big day finally came. I woke up early that morning, packed up my project & geocache materials, and headed for the State Park. Thankfully, Professor Littlejohn had passed out official university letters that excused us from other classes that day. Our entire class started off by putting up our project displays. My project partner Amanda and I had all our materials in place, but she forget to bring a stapler (Thanks for nothing, Amanda. j/k). Luckily, another classmate had an extra stapler, but it had no staples. So Jason & I hopped into his truck, and we drove to the front office to get some staples. The friendly lady at the front office was more than happy to lend some out. When we got back to the CCC Lodge, Jason, Patrick, and I decided to place the boxes for the race. Again, I took my car to where the hiding spots were, and we placed the coordinates and vouchers accordingly. We decided that the last box was in a bad spot, so we moved it a bit further up the trail & went back to make last-minute changes to the other coordinates.
Back at the lodge, I got my project stapled up with the help of some classmates. At this point, attendees had already begun to trickle into the lodge's main area to wait for the presentation. Outside in the lodge's patio, Amanda, Jacob, and others in the "Food & Cooking Committee" had already begun to cook up burgers and hotdogs using a grill brought by Professor Littlejohn. Then the students from the other history classes began pouring in by the truckloads. We set up the serving tables and brought out what meat had been cooked. But it wasn't enough to feed the hungry students, so a few of us had to make constant runs between the grill and the tables. Slowly but surely, all the students got a full plate of food and were seated in the lodge's main area. Right before the presentation began, I found Officer Crissy viewing my project display. I asked her if it was look different than the others, and she replied by stating that it was "very interesting!" So I guess my eye-catching strategy worked.
We also were supposed to have music from the Great Depression period playing, but the entire park lost electrical power. (My heart goes out to Lisa who spent hours putting together the sound track.) We opened all the doors and windows to allow for some ventilation, and luckily, it wasn't too hot that day. So the presentation began. An award was presented by different historical societies to the Huntsville State Park, and the recipient was none other than Officer Crissy. Afterwards, several classmates gave presentations about their projects. Out of nowhere, the power kicked back on, and we got the AC back before it got too hot in the large room. At the end of the presentations, the geocache race began. Many of the students in the audience had left at this point, but several of them stayed for the race. (I guess they really needed some extra credit points.) We split the group into 2 teams as planned and passed out the GPS units. I accompanied Team 1, and Jason and Patrick went with Team 2. The race was on!
My team had trouble with the GPS units at first, so Team 2 got a big head start. We finally got to our 1st box, but only after the other team was well on its way to their 2nd box. I left my team along the track to fetch my car so I could drive them back to the lodge after the race. While driving, I saw Jason & Patrick's team hot on the trail. But when I caught up to my team, they had already found their 2nd box and were (literally) running to the Final Box! After I parked my car and caught up with them, they were already passing out the Final Box's extra credit vouchers to each other. & Team 2 was nowhere in sight! I congratulated them and told them to wait for me at my car while i looked for the other team. But first, they decided to put the Final Box back where it was because Team 2 would still come looking for it. I caught up with Jason & Patrick deep in the trails and walked with Team 2 towards the Final Box, & there they found the empty canister. Although Team 2 didn't win, they were glad to get some extra credit points. The geocaching race was a win-win for everyone!
After driving the delighted students back to the lodge, it was cleanup time. But by the time we got back to the lodge, my other classmates had mostly cleaned up. So I took down my display, packed up some left-over food, said bye to the class, and went home with a smile. SJP
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