Thank you for all of your support and prayers over the mission trip. We just got back (all of us!) to San Francisco, exhausted and joyful. We are eager to sleep in our own beds, eat significantly less sugar, and share our experiences with you, our beloved community.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Day Eight—Cia
Monday was our last full day in Eureka. At 10:30 we arrived at Food For People and set to work bagging produce for senior and children's programs in Humboldt County. The bags contained (variously) potatoes, oranges, apples, beets, squash, carrots, lettuce, and artichokes. We brought our speaker and had a blast singing along to the music, playing basketball with rotten fruit and the trash, and figuring out the quickest and most efficient way to bag. We ended up making over 750 bags, with an efficiency that our contact at the food bank (Julie) praised as being equal to the regular employees. We finished our work at 3:30 (with an hour lunch break at 12:30) and then drove to Ferndale, where we wandered around the historic town, got ice cream, and bought souvenirs in the quaint shops. Finally, we drove to the housing (stopping on the way for dinner at Joe's Green Barn). Once we were home we came together in our closing circle, where we reflected on the day, the trip as a whole, and the deep connections we had developed with each other over the course of the week.
This was an incredible trip. Though perhaps less grand than last year's trip to Kenya, it was not less important, and the work we did was equally meaningful. Though, as Jude said, we only made small drops in the bucket, our contribution was still felt in a real, human way. Because of our work the employees at Food For People get an extra weekend off, the parishioners at St. Francis have a beautiful garden, and many families have bags of food for the week to the month. On a personal level we are better acquainted with the problems of our own state, and are empowered to better solve them.
We also got know the natural beauty of our state. California is incredible. From towering Redwoods, to the majesty of the Trinity, to the rocky, misty shores along the coast, we are so fortunate to get an up close look and feel for wild wonder of the west coast. Being in the city, we are isolated from this nature, yet out here it is right up in your face, outside your door, crawling in your shower. It has a noticeable effect on the people living here. They have a different air about them than city folks. The children we met in particular seemed more mature, calmer, more at ease with themselves.
These mission trips are such a wonderful blessing. We are so lucky to get to go these beautiful places, do the service needed there, form connections with new places and (especially) with each other. In the space of a week we built a home and a family together, one I will miss intensely. This is my last mission trip, and I am so grateful I got to spend it in Eureka with Gloria, Knox, Caroline, Jude, Henry, Riley, and Mike.
This was an incredible trip. Though perhaps less grand than last year's trip to Kenya, it was not less important, and the work we did was equally meaningful. Though, as Jude said, we only made small drops in the bucket, our contribution was still felt in a real, human way. Because of our work the employees at Food For People get an extra weekend off, the parishioners at St. Francis have a beautiful garden, and many families have bags of food for the week to the month. On a personal level we are better acquainted with the problems of our own state, and are empowered to better solve them.
We also got know the natural beauty of our state. California is incredible. From towering Redwoods, to the majesty of the Trinity, to the rocky, misty shores along the coast, we are so fortunate to get an up close look and feel for wild wonder of the west coast. Being in the city, we are isolated from this nature, yet out here it is right up in your face, outside your door, crawling in your shower. It has a noticeable effect on the people living here. They have a different air about them than city folks. The children we met in particular seemed more mature, calmer, more at ease with themselves.
These mission trips are such a wonderful blessing. We are so lucky to get to go these beautiful places, do the service needed there, form connections with new places and (especially) with each other. In the space of a week we built a home and a family together, one I will miss intensely. This is my last mission trip, and I am so grateful I got to spend it in Eureka with Gloria, Knox, Caroline, Jude, Henry, Riley, and Mike.
Day Seven--Caroline & Knox
On Sunday it was Jude's birthday, so we woke him up with a round of happy birthday, and thoroughly startled Henry, who was still asleep and yelled. Then, we went to Christ Church Eureka. It was a very nice and cute church with pretty stain glass windows and cool architecture. We had a nice service, which was fairly familiar, but much longer. After church they had "coffee hour" which had coffee but also actual lunch, and lots of baked goods. They also had paintings of the 12 disciples, but if the 12 disciples were 50's Hollywood actors. The picture of Judas was especially strange. Then we left, and went to get bagels because even though there was a lot of food, we were still hungry. After we got bagels we decided to go for a hike in the redwoods, and it was very calm and pretty. Once we had gotten back from the hike, we split into two groups; one to distract Jude and get groceries, and one group to to make a surprise cake for Jude. We ate dinner, then surprised Jude with his cake and sang happy birthday to him. After a long but fun day, we went to bed.
The church service was very long. The hike was quite nice and I had a good conversation about books. I am not Jude and was not aware of the cake plans until we got back from grocery shopping and ice cream. Overall it was a good, calm day.
Day Six—Cia & Gloria
On Saturday, our group woke up extra early to drive to the start of our rafting trip. I asked Mike to go straight to phase 3 for waking me up, which means that he came into my room really quietly and whacked me incredibly hard with a pillow, which immediately woke me up. On the way to the Trinity River, we did a lot of singing and the ride passed very quickly. When we arrived, everyone lathered up in sunscreen and the majority of the group pulled their wetsuits on because the water was freezing (the air was hot though, so the temperature balanced out fairly well). The two guides gave everyone an overview of how to paddle and how to get through the rapids and water safety and then we set off. We were split up into two boats and my boat's guide was a 14 year old, which was really interesting to me because I didn't know that you could even be a rafting guide at 14 years old. However he had lots of experience. My raft had a hard time rowing because our two people in the front had a hard time paddling at the same time but we made it work and got through all of the rapids safely. When we finished our rafting adventure, we all piled into the car and drove back to our house and picked up some fish tacos on the way. After such an exhausting day, all of us were incredibly tired and went to bed early.
This was an incredibly fun day. Rafting is a combination of excitement, stress, anticipation, and lazy floating. We'd have long stretches of easy river, during which we'd swim, play games spinning the boat, or pull the raft over to jump off rocks along the bank. Then, all of a sudden, our guide would tell us to rush to our station and paddle for our lives as we approached a new rapid. Some more notable instances include almost hitting a rock because we weren't paddling hard enough, Henry getting stuck on the wrong side of a rapid while swimming, and me lingering for 5 minutes on top of a tall rock working up the courage to jump off (Caroline saved me by holding my hand and jumping with me).
One thing that impressed me almost as much as the river herself was our guide. His name was Clayton. His father, Aaron, owned the company, and Clayton was spending his summer working on the river with him. Clayton was the best 14 year old I've ever met. I didn't think it was possible to have a young teenager so competent, personable, professional, friendly, and funny. Not only did he expertly guided the us along the river, he also chatted, joked, and interacted with us with more social awareness than many adults. He did the menial tasks (like lunch and raft prep) with his father, never complaining or showing signs of resentment. I do not know if it was the natural majesty of the river, the semi-rural area he lives in, the way his parents raised him, or just his natural personality that gave him this grace and maturity, but whatever the secret is, I'm sure many parents would kill to know it.
This was an incredibly fun day. Rafting is a combination of excitement, stress, anticipation, and lazy floating. We'd have long stretches of easy river, during which we'd swim, play games spinning the boat, or pull the raft over to jump off rocks along the bank. Then, all of a sudden, our guide would tell us to rush to our station and paddle for our lives as we approached a new rapid. Some more notable instances include almost hitting a rock because we weren't paddling hard enough, Henry getting stuck on the wrong side of a rapid while swimming, and me lingering for 5 minutes on top of a tall rock working up the courage to jump off (Caroline saved me by holding my hand and jumping with me).
One thing that impressed me almost as much as the river herself was our guide. His name was Clayton. His father, Aaron, owned the company, and Clayton was spending his summer working on the river with him. Clayton was the best 14 year old I've ever met. I didn't think it was possible to have a young teenager so competent, personable, professional, friendly, and funny. Not only did he expertly guided the us along the river, he also chatted, joked, and interacted with us with more social awareness than many adults. He did the menial tasks (like lunch and raft prep) with his father, never complaining or showing signs of resentment. I do not know if it was the natural majesty of the river, the semi-rural area he lives in, the way his parents raised him, or just his natural personality that gave him this grace and maturity, but whatever the secret is, I'm sure many parents would kill to know it.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Day Five—Henry
When we arrived at 10:00 at Food for People (a food bank) I wasn't sure of what to expect to see inside. When we went in it looked a grocery store. But it wasn't long before Julie, the volunteer coordinator, took us to the back, a magical place with tall ceilings, walk-in freezers, and blue and yellow shelves stacked with food all over the walls.
Basically Costco.
We worked on what can be considered an assembly line, we moved bags down a table, and filled them with food. Once the bags got to the end of the line we'd put two of them in a box. Once this was over they'd ship the boxes to vulnerable families across Humboldt County.
After an hour or 2 (with My Sweet Lord by George Harrison stuck in my head) we took a break to get lunch at what seemed to be a locally taken-over Whole Foods. Then it was back to work.
We finished working at 2:30 (14:30) and drove to Trinidad Beach. I climbed a pretty big rock and took some sweet photos with my digital camera, and after nearly (intentionally) leaving Jude behind, we took a scenic drive home.
I did some math, and we worked on, at a minimum, 500 bags! Quite a lot, of course that won't feed everyone, forever, but it still helps.
It felt really good to work at the food bank, helpin' people and all. And even though I was physically exhausted, I was pretty energized by it.
Basically Costco.
We worked on what can be considered an assembly line, we moved bags down a table, and filled them with food. Once the bags got to the end of the line we'd put two of them in a box. Once this was over they'd ship the boxes to vulnerable families across Humboldt County.
After an hour or 2 (with My Sweet Lord by George Harrison stuck in my head) we took a break to get lunch at what seemed to be a locally taken-over Whole Foods. Then it was back to work.
We finished working at 2:30 (14:30) and drove to Trinidad Beach. I climbed a pretty big rock and took some sweet photos with my digital camera, and after nearly (intentionally) leaving Jude behind, we took a scenic drive home.
I did some math, and we worked on, at a minimum, 500 bags! Quite a lot, of course that won't feed everyone, forever, but it still helps.
It felt really good to work at the food bank, helpin' people and all. And even though I was physically exhausted, I was pretty energized by it.
Friday, June 21, 2024
Day Four—Jude
Today we started off the day by making our selves a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and relaxing until about 10:00. Then we piled in to the van and started heading to Eureka, it took us about 30m to get there.
Instantly, we saw Carl's Car World and decided it was worth checking out, so we went inside and saw a bunch of beautiful models. Then we explored more of downtown. Afterwords we went to get some lunch at Los Bagels. After we filled up on bagels & cream cheese. It was so good, then we piled back in to the van, and went to the zoo.
It's called the Sequoia Park Zoo, and decided to do the Sky Walk; it's a place where you get a walk with the trees on wooden bridges really high up. It was so fun, we got to see the trees from so high.
Then we to Arcata to go thrifting, and I found a bow tie. Then we wandered over to get some ice cream, after that, we went back to the van and headed home for a nice time to relax.
As we went about the day, it was so fun seeing the zoo and going Thrifting that was really fun. And it so interesting to see a rural part of California, I finished the day super excited for the next one.
Instantly, we saw Carl's Car World and decided it was worth checking out, so we went inside and saw a bunch of beautiful models. Then we explored more of downtown. Afterwords we went to get some lunch at Los Bagels. After we filled up on bagels & cream cheese. It was so good, then we piled back in to the van, and went to the zoo.
It's called the Sequoia Park Zoo, and decided to do the Sky Walk; it's a place where you get a walk with the trees on wooden bridges really high up. It was so fun, we got to see the trees from so high.
Then we to Arcata to go thrifting, and I found a bow tie. Then we wandered over to get some ice cream, after that, we went back to the van and headed home for a nice time to relax.
As we went about the day, it was so fun seeing the zoo and going Thrifting that was really fun. And it so interesting to see a rural part of California, I finished the day super excited for the next one.
Day Three—Caroline
On Wednesday morning we ate a quick breakfast, then headed off to Shakefork farm, a small sustainable family run farm. We were given a thorough tour of the farm and were shown the many animal inhabitants that help the farm run. After our tour we headed off to their garden; a large space with plants of all varieties, including potatoes, strawberries, onions, and lettuces. Our particular service at the farm was weeding the onions, a fairly mild and easy task, but still fun. After about an hour of weeding, we went to lunch; a delicious burger with vegetables fresh from the farm. It was an interesting experience because we had lunch with the farm crew, and got to interact with them more than we had earlier. After lunch we were guided to a local swimming hole, a place in the nearby river (which is fairly shallow) where it is deep enough to swim. We swam for about couple hours in the river, and it was quite enjoyable; the water was refreshing but not too cold, and there was a rock that we could climb up onto and jump off into the river. After that we started to head home, got some ice cream on the way, and ate at a local fish food truck for dinner.
One of the very Interesting things on the farm was that everything has a purpose, and nothing goes to waste. They have animals like chickens, cows, and oxen, each for a specific purpose; some chickens for laying eggs and others are for meat. They also have both dairy cows and steers. They also try to make everything as local as possible, and sell at farmers markets. It was a really cool experience to swim in the Van Duzen River, which was shallow and cold, but also really refreshing and fun to swim in. I found that jumping off the rocks above the river was very enjoyable, but so was sitting on the shallow rocks in the river, and swimming around a log sticking out the riverbed. I ended the day exhausted from all the service and swimming, but very glad that I had such a good day.
One of the very Interesting things on the farm was that everything has a purpose, and nothing goes to waste. They have animals like chickens, cows, and oxen, each for a specific purpose; some chickens for laying eggs and others are for meat. They also have both dairy cows and steers. They also try to make everything as local as possible, and sell at farmers markets. It was a really cool experience to swim in the Van Duzen River, which was shallow and cold, but also really refreshing and fun to swim in. I found that jumping off the rocks above the river was very enjoyable, but so was sitting on the shallow rocks in the river, and swimming around a log sticking out the riverbed. I ended the day exhausted from all the service and swimming, but very glad that I had such a good day.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Day 2–Knox
Yesterday we went to St. Francis Episcopal Church in Fortuna and weeded the garden. We all got up and out of bed before Mike had to start phase one of the wake up. We got to St. Francis and they treated us to a lovely church service before putting us to work. The majority of the congregation of St. Francis are in their seventies and are not physically able to get on their hands and knees and work on the garden. It's a small congregation with not a lot of funding and the community was hit with a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in 2022. We weeded for about 2 hours before they gave us sandwiches and home baked goods. After lunch we continued weeding for about another hour or so whilst waiting for Henry and Jude to arrive.
I helped an adult volunteer gut the rose garden of weeds and that experience turned my limbs into linguine from how many little cuts there are. I found the experience very satisfying and relaxing. The adult volunteer I worked with let me talk about history with her and I greatly enjoyed it. It was overall a great experience for me.
I helped an adult volunteer gut the rose garden of weeds and that experience turned my limbs into linguine from how many little cuts there are. I found the experience very satisfying and relaxing. The adult volunteer I worked with let me talk about history with her and I greatly enjoyed it. It was overall a great experience for me.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Day One—Gloria
Yesterday we started our journey. We were all told to meet at the church at 9, and of course I showed up at 9:10, fashionably late. We made it across the bridge in good time, and from then on made frequent stops about every hour. Our first stop was at a Starbucks, where most of us purchased delicious and sugary drinks. We then kept driving up the 101 and stopped for lunch at Loose Caboose, or as we have named it, Moose Caboose. Promptly after our food arrived, Caroline proceeded to knock all of the contents of their salad into their lap. After a couple more hours of driving, we arrived at what we call Gruncle Stan's mystery shack, as seen in Gravity Falls. There were many quirky Knick knacks and also a giant Bigfoot wood carving. Driving through the redwoods was a truly awe inspiring experience, and was definitely the highlight of the ride for me. We arrived at the house at around 5:30 and after settling in set out to find dinner, deciding on a restaurant in the shape of a green barn.
The road trip that we took together was a great way to start off the mission trip . It turns out that being stuck in a car with a group of people for over four hours can really kick start the bonding. I really enjoyed all of the fun music that we listened to on the drive and it was also great to take a break from electronics for a road trip and really interact with the other people in the car. As my second mission trip gets underway, I'm excited to get to know new people and also get to know people better. I have already had so many fascinating conversations and I look forward to many more.
Sent from my iPhone
The road trip that we took together was a great way to start off the mission trip . It turns out that being stuck in a car with a group of people for over four hours can really kick start the bonding. I really enjoyed all of the fun music that we listened to on the drive and it was also great to take a break from electronics for a road trip and really interact with the other people in the car. As my second mission trip gets underway, I'm excited to get to know new people and also get to know people better. I have already had so many fascinating conversations and I look forward to many more.
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, June 17, 2024
Safe arrival
We arrived safely to McKinleyville this evening, and are settling in. A beautiful spot, and a beautiful drive all the way here!
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