Santa Monica High School

Big Creek

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Today was a lot of fun. At 6:30 am bright and early we were met at Samohi by the Edison Team and the giant tour bus. We loaded up our bags and hopped on the bus with donuts in our hands. Heading up to Big Creek we picked up the girls from Sycamore Canyon Middle School. With everyone in the bus we began our journey. After a very long bus ride narrated by Planet Earth, we arrived at our first destination AGTAC. There we were met with a sandwich buffet and a tour of their water system. After learning about how air conditioners work we got to experiment with electricity. We learned all about Thomas Edison and some of his early work including how the company became Southern California Edison. We got to play with static electricity by touching an orb that made our hair stand up on end. The guide had a lot of fun zapping us with metal prongs. It was really interesting working with magnets and using jolts of electricity to shoot metal rings into the air. Afterwards, we got back on the bus and a DVD taught us all about the history of Big Creek and how the hydroelectric plant was constructed. When we finally reached Big Creek we hopped off the bus and clambered into three vans that took us up the windy road to the guest house. When we got to the house we were all ecstatic to see how well we would be living for the next few days. There was chocolate, fruit, nuts and even a fridge stocked with soda. But that was just the beginning…dinner was the best! We had prime rib, asparagus, fresh baked bread, and apple pie for dessert. After dinner both the schools got to give a short presentation on their project. It was really inspiring to see what Sycamore Canyon did. Then we learned all about the area and how the water is transferred between lakes. We are now heading off to bed excited for tomorrow…and breakfast!

Wednesday, May 27

Today we had a wake up call of 6:15 A.M. and were extremely tired from the previous day. We had a wonderful breakfast at 7 A.M. which included waffles, fruit, bacon and more. Right after we took our tour of Big Creek and got to explore the water systems, dams, and a mini presentation of how the Indians crush their food. Then we went over to Camp Edison for a wildlife presentation and where we met Steve who then took us to the Controlled burn Area. This was definitely the best part of the trip as we got to observe a controlled burn. Followed by this was our picnic by the lake with delicious BBQ and freshly squeezed lemonade. Then, we had our entomology lesson and got to classify different insects and bugs. Right after this we arrived at the Eastwood Power Station and got to go 1,000 feet underground!!!! But of course it was really cold. Then we arrived back at Camp Edison and concluded with our owl pellet dissection where we got to see all the bones of animals the owl ate – it was really cool! And of course we ended our day with an amazing meal and returned to the guesthouse.

Thursday, May 29

Today, we had yet again another early wake up call, but it was made up for with another fantastic breakfast of eggs in a basket with Pico De Gallo. After breakfast, we went to the lake where we met Steve who took us out fishing on a pontoon boat, we used crickets to fish for small mouth bass. When the bass were caught we weighed them, measured them, and then tagged them with a number. Shirin, Megan and Rene caught their first fish ever, while savvy fisherman Benjamin and apprentice Andrew caught many more. After we arrived back at the deck, we had a lunch of delicious fried chicken, potato salad and vegetarian pasta. After lunch the itinerary said “scavenger hunt” but we were tired so Andrew, Megan and Shirin took naps while Benjamin went fishing. After are brief respite, we then departed for the Shaver Stables where we went horse back riding. We rode horses named Jake, OC, Tombstone, and Streak; it was a relaxing ride but it left our knees and behinds sore. Finally we departed back to the dorms where we had our “Last Edison Supper” of tacos, and vegetarian lasagna.