The student body has returned from their respective spring break trips and brought with them many stories and photos from their different adventures.

Solos

Over Spring Break, a group of six Dragonfly students participated in a solo vision quest experience. Rush Creek in the Trinity Mountains of Northern California was the beautiful setting for this journey. These students prepared for several weeks beforehand, meeting each week as a group with Dragonfly mentors to develop and clarify their intention for the three-day solo wilderness experience.

Upon their arrival at Rush Creek the students spread out along the banks of the creek, they where invited to slow down and witness their environment while revisiting their purpose for their time there. The solo experience began the next morning with ceremony, followed by a guided hike and staff taking each student to their camping site.

At the end of the third day all returned to the main camp and shared their experiences; the highs and lows, the easeful moments and the times of struggle, their interactions with nature and the symbolism that spoke to them, and how they are going to carry these lessons forward.

Throughout the next two days the group spent time integrating their experiences and continued to process the deeper meanings through conversations, journaling and a sweat lodge ceremony. Each participant expressed gratitude to one another for the support they felt, for the land that held them, and for the staff that held the space for them.

Redwoods/SF/Beach

Dragonfly Transitions chose to visit San Francisco. We left early Saturday the 22^nd and spent much of the day on the road. To everyone’s delight, we stopped in Redding, CA to grab a lunch at the local In-and-Out Burger. It was a nice treat, but we had to press on to Vallejo. We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon, so many of the students decided to take a dip in the pool or sunbathe for a bit. That night, we ate some sushi, and then headed back to the rooms to get some much needed shut-eye.

On Sunday, we woke up, packed up, and left for Six Flags. We had a group that loved riding roller coasters, and they named themselves “The Veloci-Hampsters”. The Veloci-Hampsters rode The Superman, The Medusa, King-Kong, and other fun rides. There was also a group of people who preferred watching the animal shows, playing hacky-sack, and relaxing. They named themselves “The Corndog Crew” for their favorite place to hangout was the food court.

After Six Flags, the groups loaded into the vans and left for San Francisco. We arrived at our house for the week, picked rooms, unpacked, and then cooked some taco salad. Everyone was tuckered out from the day at the amusement park, so we all settled in for the night.

The next morning was really fun. We visited the California Academy of Science. There was so much to do in just a few hours, so we broke up into groups of three or four and set to it. Many of the students enjoyed the Reptile and Amphibian exhibits, where they had an albino crocodile, poison dart frogs, and a multitude of snakes.

The Aquarium was amazing. There were many different tanks, but the largest was the size of a building with an entire transparent wall for fish gazing. There were smaller exhibits where you could pet starfish or participate in a small chemistry experiment. One of the most interesting displays was a multilayer Tropical Rainforest Bio-Dome. Participants could walk through the different areas of the Dome and see all the wildlife that inhabits those zones. Seeing all of the butterflies in the Canopy zone was truly majestic.

After spending a couple of hours on the museum floor, our students headed to the Planetarium to view a showing of “Dark Universe”. It was an incredible journey through space and was voiced by Neil Degrasse Tyson, a leading persona in the field of Astronomy. Everyone learned so much and enjoyed the visual displays!

After lunch, we took a small hike to Land’s End Trail. It was absolutely beautiful, and while there we peered of the cliff’s edge at the Pacific Ocean, we saw a pod of dolphins hunting for their supper. What a sight! After visiting some caves and the old military bunker at Land’s End, we hiked a little further, and spent some time at the beach. We played in the ocean (it was cold), played some hacky-sack, and took photos of the beautiful sights.

That evening, everyone was winding down, so we watched some TV and cooked a delicious chicken stir-fry before falling asleep for the night.

The next morning, we visited the Japanese Tea Gardens for some serene meditation and reflection. The students tasted some steaming hot tea (Hojicha, Jasmine, Secha, and Green). The Tea Gardens had beautiful architecture and exotic plant-life. We left there to tour St. Ignatius’s Cathedral. The church is immense in scale and really awe inspiring. Prayers were witnessed; photos were taken, and then we were off again with so much left to do in our last night in the city!

After lunch, we visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. We  spent some time in the shopping center: bought hats, kites, local clam-chowder, and played at the puzzle shop. We even saw a cluster of sea lions near the dock!

Next on the to-do list was visiting the Height-Ashbury shopping district. That area was once home to rock star Jimmy Hendrix, Janice Joplin, and the Grateful Dead. There were some pretty neat stores where the students purchased books, clothes, and snacks.

For our last dinner in San Francisco, we chose to eat at ROAM Artisan Burgers, and we are glad that we did! They had some savory burgers made with your choice of beef, elk, bison, ostrich, or veggies. They also had some great Kombucha and tasty milkshakes provided by the local Strauss Family Dairy Company. The community-styled seating added the perfect atmosphere for us all enjoy the meal as a family.

Wednesday morning, we packed up the house, at some breakfast, and headed out for the Redwood National Forest. We drove for a few hours and then set up camp at Burlington campsite and took photos of some very large, very old trees.

After striking camp the following day, we headed north to Fern Canyon, our last stop before heading back to Klamath Falls. Fern Canyon was gorgeous with fallen trees; moss covered stones, and a crystal clear stream running through it. We hiked, climbed, and explored the area thoroughly, and even got in a final game of hacky-sack before heading back to Dragonfly Transitions.

The Homestead Trip

The homestead group woke up and took off onto I-5 south bound straight to the Jelly Belly factory. Some of us went on a tour and some just tasted the jellybeans.

Full of candy, the group rounded up and set off to our hotel in outer San Francisco.

The next morning they awoke with enthusiasm to go to six flags Discovery Kingdom. As the hours passed the energy was drained from the group and as we hit our last ride on the boomerang we decided our time there was coming to an end. We packed up the vans and set off to the destination of inner city San Francisco!!!

Upon arrival we unpacked, found rooms and started the delicious dinner of ground beef, avocado, cheese, beans, and tortillas, that’s right we had taco’s! After wrapping up dinner, we circled up around the TV and relaxed until the staff called a house meeting about some news about the upcoming couple of days!! So, the journey is two days in, the energy is rising and the days are coming fast.

Quotes of the day:

“Ride the Medusa!” – Staff Chrystal

“First time on roller coasters, and you couldn’t keep me off them” – Elias

On Monday, we started off the day by visiting the California Academy of Science. When I was young and lived in SF, my mom would bring me to the Academy on rainy days, and I would just wander through in awe of all that was there.

Today, there is still awe, but a different kind. Now, the awe of the incomprehensible has been replaced by the awe of that which is known. To see all the collective knowledge compiled in the museum was truly incredible; traveling through the jungle biosphere and seeing all the different levels of the rainforest, as well as all the denizens inside, walking the path inside the below-ground aquarium and seeing all natures of aquatic life, and their relevant environments, watching the planetarium show and learning of the birth and continued life of the universe, to see all this scientific wealth gathered in one place and presented was truly mind-expanding.

In the afternoon we pursued wealth of a different flavor. We visited the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and walked past shops and stores of all different natures. We frequently stopped at a choice store mostly to browse, but occasionally to purchase some trinket, book, or article of clothing. Seeing a sample of some of the city life was very interesting and enjoyable.

Lastly, we returned home for a lazy afternoon, to play hacky sack, to read new books, and to plan the next day’s activities.

On Tuesday, plans had to be shuffled. We started off the day by touring Le Cordon Bleu, a college of culinary arts. We had planned to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, but a small rainstorm forced us to abandon that idea. In lieu of that idea, we decided to spend more time exploring San Francisco, this time by visiting Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf.

We all got lunch at Pier 39, and then spent some time looking through all the different shops. Mentor Crystal got an entire bag of saltwater taffy, and spent the next 24 hours eating all of it. When we visited Fisherman’s Wharf, we went by the Ghirardelli chocolate factory. It was right next to the beach, and while we were there, we saw some people swimming in the cold water. We went back to the house soon after that.

On one of our last trip days we headed to Land’s End Lookout to explore the enchantment of the ruins of the Sutro Baths. The Baths were constructed in 1894 by millionaire Alfred Sutro, who dreamed of providing a healthy, recreational and inexpensive swimming facility for the people of San Francisco. Filled by the salt water of the Pacific Ocean at high tide, the Baths stretched across 3 acres of beachfront property, and could accommodate 10,000 people at a time. People would rent appropriate swimsuits and towels from the property.

Although very successful around the turn of the 20th century, the Baths were nearly abandoned during the Great Depression, due to the cost of public transportation to get to the Baths. Never regaining their original popularity, the years took their toll on the baths, until a fire eventually destroyed them. Concrete ruins are all that remain of the once joyous, fun-filled property that was used by hundreds of thousands of people.