Name: Josh

Date: Friday, November 25, 2011

Teacher: Ms. Babb

          Have you ever wanted to go to an extraordinary, amazing, and adventurous place? A place where the activities are endless and so is the fun. Where the animals roam and the weather is almost as magnificent as the staff. If you have wondered of a place this incredible then I think you found your match. Teen Ranch. Well what's so good about Teen Ranch?  Teen Ranch is a Gr.7 overnight trip where you can do so many activities like horseback riding, rock climbing, and even skating. You also learn a lot like how to set tables, living in a cabin, and most importantly we learn about God. Teen Ranch is one of the best experiences I've had in my life.

           

Not only were the activities great but so was the food. The food at Teen Ranch was so exquisite that I wish I could eat there everyday. The place we ate at had a huge amount of stairs leading to the dining hall and the dining hall was as big and as fancy as a restaurant. Each meal was very filling and was served in wide varieties. The types of food varied from Italian to Chinese which was great because I got to try many different types of food. One of my favourite part of the meals were the sugary desserts since everyday we had something new. Everyday a group of children would be on setup/cleanup duty and my group got it on the second day. It was a lot of hard work but it paid off. I also made new friendships by sitting beside new people everyday which was a really good thing for me and others. It turns out that you can have fun at Teen Ranch inside to.

Teen Ranch is all about learning and doing new things. I got to experience living in a cabin for the first time. My cabin mates were Shawn, Nicholas, Ryan, Tyler, and Joseph. I was excited about my cabin mates because most of them were my friends but I got to make new friends by being in a cabin with them. I have to say that I was impressed with how the cabins looked. I imagined them to be filled with dirt, the beds as hard as metal, the washroom on the verge of flooding, and the floor completely wooden with nails sticking out. Once I opened the door I was surprised to see carpeted floors, soft beds, furnished rooms, and squeaky clean washrooms. The first night seemed like nobody wanted to go to sleep. Everyone was moving, making a ton of noise, and knocking on the walls. I thought that every night was going to be the same but the next two nights were quiet and bearable. Even though Teen Ranch was great, there was one problem every group had to face. Organization. By the second day of Teen Ranch our cabin looked like a pigsty. Even though I thought we wouldn't be able to clean up our cabin on time but we ended up cleaning up in a flash. I think everyone had the urge to go outside and enjoy our free time. Sharing a cabin with others has its ups and downs but it turns out being an incredible experience.

Horseback riding was the best part about Teen Ranch. Most people who went to Teen Ranch were nervous at the task. I took horseback riding as a positive experience considering I probably wasn't going to go horseback riding ever again. Picking my horse was the tough part. There are at least 40 horses at Teen Ranch (probably more) and I had to pick just one. I ended up picking a huge horse named Tilly. Tilly was one of the biggest horses there and she seemed really calm when I met her. As we made our way to the trail Tilly was walking slow and steady which I enjoyed. Near the end the instructors told us we were going to start trotting. I was not really sure what trotting was. Trotting is basically the horse jogging so you could probably imagine going up and down through the trail. Even though I was soar at the end of the day I wished I could horseback ride every day of my life because it was amazing.

You might ask yourself Teen Ranch seems fun in the day but what do you at night? Our teachers have put together an idea called night time activities. Every night at Teen Ranch we would meet downstairs under the dining hall at a place called the Teen lounge. The first night we met at the lounge for our movie night. We saw the movie the Karate kid. I've seen this movie like a million times and wasn't looking forward to it but watching it with my friends made it better than usual. The next night was our dance off party which I also wasn't really looking forward to. I ended up having a really great time with all my friends and I even one once. The 3^rd night was our bonfire/dance. First we went into the wilderness and started telling ghost stories then roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. Later we headed to the lounge for our dance. It was pretty much a girl V.S boys dance but everyone had a blast on the dance floor. All these activities wrapped together made Teen Ranch even more unforgettable.

            Teen Ranch has been amazing. It has its ups and downs but it ends up being the most amazing trip ever. It was fun learning how to rock climbing, horseback riding, and many more spectacular activities. Everyone who went could tell you they will never forget it. I feel that all Gr.7 students should go to Teen Ranch. It was amazing!