Anza Borrego 

Before the Anza Borrego trip I felt good and ready to go camping, I was well prepared. The moments reading up to camp were thrilling because we had a small idea of what it looked like. 

The car ride there didn’t feel too long and it was good. I was on aux playing songs and taking suggestions from my math teacher, Mr.Omar. and my friend, Tyler. The student teacher Mr.Scott threw in a few suggestions too. When we began getting close, the roads had a lot of turns close to the edge of the cliff. And my good friend Kaylum wasn’t liking them. 

Once we arrived at the campsite I thought it looked nice and I liked the flat view of everything. When I got out of the car I needed to stretch, although the ride didn't feel long, my body was still stiff. Once everyone arrived, everybody was helping move tents to where people wanted to set up. 

I carried bags to the site and brought the waters over to the food station with Tyler, Kaylum, and Damian. Sebastian. My other 2 friends. Sebastian's dad was done building the tent by the time everyone got their things and my group went inside to set up. Sebastian brought water, gatorade, and pop for our group.

 I was sitting inside the tent until I went outside and walked around to Sebastian throwing the football around with our other friend, Diego and his friends. I was there for a while until me and my friends went to go climb the rocks together and stay up there for almost an hour. When we went back down it was noon, around 3-4pm. I went inside the tent again and chilled with my friends, we were eating some chips and talking. 

Eventually Damian, Tyler, and I went outside around 4pm to go to the bathroom. On our way back Sebastian and Diego were playing football with Diego’s friends. Sebastian was asking me to play football with them but I was hesitant because I didn’t really want to but I wasn’t doing anything else so I joined with Tyler. 

We were playing for a while and had some good runs until we stopped to get our bowls for dinner. 

I got my plastic bowl and went to get dinner, I got vegan pasta and garlic bread. It was hitting after a long day, it tasted just like the one my sister makes at home. We then went back to the station for s’mores. It was probably the best s’more I've ever had. 

Later, we went on a walk to look at all the stars when it got darker. Mr.Omar was using his camera to make cool pictures of glowing objects. I was using my laser to point at the sky with my friends. When we went back towards the campsite me and all my friends were outside walking around, ran to the bathroom with no flashlight.

My humanities teacher, Ms.Trisha announced it was time to go to our tents for the night,so we went to our tent. I was chilling with my friends and we were eating snacks. At midnight our friends came into our tent to chill and keep each other warm. Ms.Trisha next caught us so we went to sleep. 

The morning was not good, I felt dirty and tired. Which wasn't a good combo. We had an option to go on a morning hike or to stay at the campsite and clean up, so I cleaned up and gathered belongings. Once everyone was getting back from the hike, it was time to go. My group was the first to leave the campsite because we had to be back first for a reason I can't remember.

I was fighting sleep on the way back to school, so was everybody else except for the driver, Scott. Omar was slumped and I was ready to shower and go to sleep at home.

Anza Borrego was my most memorable camping trip, besides the high winds. I enjoyed almost every second of the trip.

February 24, we went camping for 2 days. During the trip I was listening to music with my friends and we were talking and looking out the window. During the car ride  I got 7 minutes closer to the camp. I started taking a lot of unexpected turns and feeling a headache coming in. 

Once we got to the camp the tent was good and stable but the next morning the tent was almost flipped over because of the wind but we were holding it down because me and my friends were inside and woke up to the tent almost flipping over. 

A few hours later when it got to midnight the students were cooking pasta for all to eat. We went on hikes and even went up mountains. While I was at camp I had fun because I was with friends but there also was no service so we couldn’t text or call. On the field trip we had to bring our own water bottles, had to bring our own tents or be in a friend's tent and bring our own cup and bowls, at camp it felt like a real camping day and night teachers brought water and food before going. On the second day at midnight we went with a teacher to go look at stars which was a cool activity but it was pretty cold.

The last day of camp we had to pack up everything and for me I woke up at 5am because the tent was almost flipped over and I had to help put the tent back up so it felt like a long day for me because I also didn’t get that much sleep. Once we finished packing we all had to help put the food and water in people’s cars so we don’t leave nothing behind. When we left I was ready to go home already and I wanted to shower and get a lot of sleep I didn’t sleep good for 2 days so I felt amazing once I got home and laid down, the camp would of have been better if their was showers, This 2 days of camping were fun but it made me feel dirty we did a lot of activities. I think you should go because it’s a lot of fun outside activities and the stars look cool at night!

When we first got picked up by Ethan's mom the car was packed really tight having to fit all 5 of us in. I had to sit in the middle seat and Devin got stuffed in the back. On the way there we got to stop for food and it was really nice. Once we started going up the mountain the turns got really windy and I started feeling very sick in my stomach but in the end I was ok.

Once we got to camp we were the last ones there and we had to find a spot to set up our tent. It took us a long time to set it up and we needed help from Scott and some others. Once we got it set up it was really hot and we were sitting in our tent feeling like we were being baked alive.

After a long time of waiting it became time for dinner. I was really hungry and I was happy to see there was pasta because that is one of my favorite foods.

 After eating it was time for bed. At the start I knew that I wasn't going to sleep that much but the night was worse than I ever thought. The winds were so strong that the whole tent collapsed and almost all of the poles snapped and the tent pretty much fell on us. 

Once the sun started to rise I woke up. It was really hot and we had to wait for a really long time in the sun for no reason and it took a long time for the ride back.

 Once we got in the car to get back we had to start the journey back again. There were a lot of dangerous drivers on the road that were speeding and going really fast. About halfway through we stopped in and out and met a famous person named Fousey and got to take pictures with them.

 Once we got back to school we unpacked and left. In the end some of the experience was fun but if I could choose I would not go back again.

Tuesday morning was the start of our Anza Borrego camping trip and it was a chaotic but unforgettable experience. The day of our Anza Borrego camping trip, I woke up late and missed a bus even though I packed everything I needed. I made it too late for school and still had to stop by Vons for pizza, chips, and Powerade. I paid for everything, got my pizza heated up at the deli, and made my way to school. I shared my pizza with all my friends and listened to Amilio tell us everything we need to make sure we have before we go, and then we started heading outside and taking everything we brought. 

After we got everything outside, we organized all of the water and bags while doing that while waiting for parents to show up, so we could load everything up. Everyone's parents arrived. Scott was doing an amazing job helping everyone out. It warmed my heart to witness Scott locked in, like always, doing his best. Anyways after everyone was loaded up and in the cars, ready to drive off, everyone was getting checked off by teachers, and eventually it was my car group, and we started driving. My car group was Sebastian and Vincent. It was a relaxed car ride towards the end. I did get a little car sick but nothing too crazy. My group was the first group to arrive. We thought we were gonna get first dibs on a spot, and we started setting up in a perfect spot. And everyone shortly after us started arriving one by one. People started setting up, and eventually Omar pulled up, locked in, ready to shut all of our hopes and dreams down, and told us we had to go the complete opposite side.

 So Sebastian and his dad all started setting up the tent and once the tent got to a semi-finished state, I just left and went to explore and see what everyone else was doing. I walked around and saw everyone who got there setting up their tents and I saw people start climbing up the mountain, and Arely and I wanted to go up as well and so we climbed up and stayed up there for about an hour and then came back down in the hardest climb down of my life. We walked back to get instructions and by that time the teachers took everyone on a hike and while everyone was gone my friends and I got up to do some mischievous activities climbing the mountain running to people's tents who were still there running to the bathroom and back to the tent. When the teachers got back everyone got settled in and a lot later dinner was being made. Once dinner was made there was pasta on the floor but everyone lined up with their dishware and utensils and got their food and went to their tent to eat. After eating, a big group of us ran around, messed around, laughed, and ran around. 

It eventually hit the time when its lights went out so everyone got in their tent and was supposed to go to sleep. We stayed up all night laughing, being loud, and getting reminded by Amilio. He can hear us across the camp and Ms.Trisha. Everyone in our tent and I wanted to go outside cause we heard people outside running around and being loud so we all started scoping it out and eventually ran out and went to hang out with the other people. We told them all to come back to our tent and we had like a lot of people in our tent. A lot of people left and some stayed but eventually it got shut down. I woke up at 7 am running off 3 hours of sleep and I saw Luis making breakfast but I was just personally too tired for that I wanted to sleep more and relax but I couldn't. And the rest of the day was getting ready to go home and sometime around after noon Sebastian's mom came to get us we loaded everything onto her car and started driving back I fell asleep the whole ride and when I got back we stopped by 7/11 I got hot fries and some nerds candy and then we went back to school. Back at school I was so tired and wanted to go home. I didnt even help unload all the stuff and I still had to get held back to call home about the incident. After calling home, I went to take the bus and went home. If you were to go to Anza Borrego I’d make sure to bring A LOT of water, I mean a lot enough for days you'll burn through, especially while it's hot out there. Watch out for rattle snakes, which are pretty common there.

 - The end

During the trip after we packed I got into Juan Salazar’s mom’s car because I was partnered with them. Juan’s mom was really nice and got me a McDonalds sausage sandwich for breakfast and fries. I wasn’t really that excited for camp but I was hoping it would be fun. During the car ride I was asleep the entire time until we got to camp. Once we arrived I set up my tent, chair and all and then just started walking around.

 There was this little cliff that we were allowed to climb so I climbed it to the top. It was really tiring but I made it up and back down.  Once I got down it was already time to eat so I ate the Torta that I brought to camp. I just stayed by myself for a while playing soccer because I was bored. Like an hour or 2 later there was this hike we could go to that was about the pictographs so I ended up going. Once we got to the trail though we realized it was the montero trail and not the pictograph trail. We still went with the trail though and I took some pictures. I mainly just stuck with Mr. Omar and I talked with him the entire trail. He even let me use his camera to take pictures for a while. 

We headed back and I just went to play soccer again and just walked around. For dinner we had pasta but I just ate my other Torta. I saw Mr. Scott and some other students were playing a card game and I decided to play with them. I even witnessed Mr. Scott crash out on Alex which was really funny.  Vincent was getting tired so he asked if he could crash in my tent for a while until 10p.m because that was when we had lights out so I told him he could. I just started walking for a while while waiting for Mr. Scott because he was gonna do a little night hike to go show us the stars. 

I went and the stars were so beautiful that I laid down on the floor a bit far away from everyone and just stared at the stars. We went back and I was walking with Julian, Constantine and we were talking and we saw a little light so we walked towards it and it was saxon, but he jumped out the bush and jumped scared Julian. Julian went running because of how scared he was that he almost tripped. It was like 8:40ish, 9, and I went to sleep for I wanna say 3 hours. Once I woke up I saw that Kaden, Vincent, and Constantine were also awake and we were talking for a while. We were talking for about 2 hours and I decided to make a little bed time story and sing my version of Creep by Radiohead and they liked it.

Kaden went back to his tent and Vincent, Constantine and I were about to go to sleep but Sebastian and his group were so loud and laughing that we couldn’t. But we also stayed up because the wind was so strong that our tents almost flew away with us in them. We were up till like 4 or 5a.m and we fell asleep. I woke up around 9. I don't know about them, they woke up and ate some of my fruit for breakfast. There was this morning trail and I went because why not. This time we actually went to the pictograph trail instead of the montero one.

I would highly recommend this trip for everyone especially if you’re going on a family trip or someone who is into either nature or stars. There are snakes but they rarely come out, the only thing to be careful with is weather and bringing enough water and food. I’d recommend this because it’s a fun and really interesting trip and the view is really beautiful, especially the night hike where you can see some constellations.

Anza Borrego State Park, home to jumping cactuses and rattle snakes. It was definitely quite the experience, especially for an overnight trip. So, join me in my one night adventure at the Anza-Borrego Desert.

Before the trip I was full of anxiety, I must confess. You see I had originally planned to travel in a group with my peers but that did not occur. I had a very annoying dentist appointment that day so I departed for the harsh desert a bit later than originally planned. This stressed me out originally because I felt that since I wasn’t with everyone else I could get lost or who knows. 

However, once I arrived I was relieved to see my group and the best part was my tent was set up for me. 

So after that I started getting settled in, getting comfortable in my tent. It honestly didn’t feel as hot as I thought it would be. However, as a precaution I did put on sunscreen and bug spray because bugs can be lurking anywhere. I personally didn’t notice lots of bugs but according to others they noticed some. 

After a small while we seeked out a short hike which was known to have pictographs from native american civilizations. At least I call it short but in reality it was not. The first part of the hike was pretty easy, but then it quickly turned into unofficial rock climbing. We were having to jump from rock to rock, and eventually half the group got lazy and decided to go back to main camp. I trekked onward jumping from several rocks and eventually we found the second part of the path. Then everything went to life or death. It started with a rattle. I looked down and saw a rattle snake mere inches away from me. I did not react as I stared it down for a minute before someone brought me back to reality and told me to fall back. Thus I backed away from the rattle snake, which is a very smart move in the unlikely event that you are to encounter one out in the world. I do want to take the time to mention that I am 2-0 with Rattle snakes since I’ve encountered them twice in the span of a single year, and I remain to be bitten by one.

After that encounter I marched on back to camp where I did nothing but hang around and be a lazy bum. Until food time of course, where I devoured all my portions because I am just like that. Of course I did leave enough for other people. I’m not some monster. 

Dinner thus concluded and we headed off on a small short walk. It was time to go see the stars. However something bright in the sky was obstructing our viewing experience. The bright moon decided to interrupt our cheerful viewing but alas. We still saw some good constellations during our time but it definitely wasn’t the same. After that experience it was time to “sleep”.

I won’t even lie to you all, we did not sleep at all that night. 

I personally brought an amazing challenge to myself. I decided to sleep out in the open with just my sleeping bag. I did this because I am the type to do dumb things. That night was cold but as the moonlight got blocked by mountains I got to see an array of constellations. It was beautiful. Especially as the wind blew over other peoples tents. At around two am I stopped sleeping and spent the rest of the night looking at the stars. 

The next morning I woke up with stomach issues and was chair ridden for the rest of the day. I felt very very sick. Most likely from lack of sleep. 

Overall I would say it was an amazing experience if you are willing to be a bit more physical and adventurous. Also be very aware of rattle snakes during your visit as they are everywhere. I hope you take a visit here one day. 

I got to school around 8:40 or so, and carried my bags inside. After the debrief, Juan Salazar helped me carry said bags to Judith’s car. The ride wasn't bad, but I wouldn’t say it was anything great; it was pretty neutral in my opinion. When we arrived, it was SUPER hot. Emeli, Judith, and I stayed in our tent for like 30 minutes, and once we walked outside, we realised it was actually colder, which kinda made us feel stupid. We just hung out all day and painted each other with watercolor.

I didn’t really eat much for dinner and didn't want s’mores, but the night was very long; I couldn’t sleep, so Ilyas, Lars, and I walked to the bathroom and back twice, since we couldn’t sleep, then we all returned to our tents. Later that night, Ilyas’ tent fell over, so I proposed the idea of offering Lars, Alex, and Ilyas our tent (to which Emeli and Judith said would be okay), so that's what we did.

I woke up at 5 am with Emeli so I could have breakfast with her because she’s doing Ramadan. After which she fell back asleep, and I couldn’t. At around 7 am, I left the tent, and Mr. Omar took a photo of me. Once everyone was up, I immediately finished changing and packed up all of my belongings. Then all three of us packed up the tents.

On the drive back, I was eating gum (I had forgotten that eating gum on long drives makes me queasy), later, I felt quite unwell and nauseous but didn’t want to mention it as Emeli hates when people throw up or even the thought. Luckily, however, Judith’s mom took us to get slurpies, which surprisingly made me feel much better.

(I slept REALLY well the next day)

If you would like to go camping in Anza Borrego, keep in mind that there is very little moisture, lots of sun, and strong winds at night.

Before the trip, I wasn’t really expecting much. I was happy because I was going to be with Alana and Judith, but overall I thought the trip was going to be boring (it, in fact, was NOT boring). I did, however, expect it to be really hot and somewhat humid, which I was sort of right about.

On our way to camp, the car was full of laughs and smiles, which I absolutely loved. We were all having a good time, singing, talking, and gossiping. Around 16 minutes after we departed, I decided to take a nap since I was tired and we still had a long way to go. When I woke up, Alana and Judith told me I had snored a little, which made me feel a bit flustered, but we laughed about it in the end. 

Once we were about an hour in, we had made it to Julian, and all of us wanted some pie with ice cream, except for Alana, who only wanted ice cream. So we made a quick 7-minute pit stop to get 3 slices of pie and a small box of ice cream (the pie was absolutely delicious, btw). Afterwards, we got back on the road, and we continued for about another 30 minutes before reaching the campsite.

When we reached the campsite, we took a minute or two to decide where exactly we were going to put our tents (we had two tents). Once we finally settled on a spot, we set up our tents and used one as “storage.”

The rest of the day, we just had a bunch of fun, including me doing the boys’ hair. After doing their hair, Alana, Judith, and I went off to paint one another.

Towards the end of the day, during dinner, we all got our pasta with garlic bread before heading back to our tent, where we had placed a blanket outside to sit on. As we ate, we played truth or truth (dare wasn’t an option since we didn’t wanna get in trouble), and we were all having the time of our lives.

Soon bedtime came, and we had cleaned up by then, all snug inside our tent. We all talked and laughed together, trying our best not to be too loud since the teachers were trying to get some rest. However, as we talked, I was a bit grumpy, and I didn’t quite know why, so I just assumed it was because of the warmth of the night.

After all that laughing, Judith and I fell asleep, but Alana stayed awake. Later that night, at around 1 in the morning, I woke up to Alana talking with somebody outside the tent. So I got up, and when I stepped out of the tent, I saw that everybody was up, laughing and walking around. It was clear nobody could sleep. So, I talked to Alana, and we agreed to stay up for the rest of the night since I wasn’t tired anymore.

At some point, Judith joined us, and we were all having fun until 4 am. After that, Judith and I both fell asleep as Alana stayed up the rest of the day. At 9 am, we were forced to get up because we had to start packing. So, reluctantly, Judith and I got up and began to take everything out of the tent to fold it up.

It took us about 30 minutes to clean up everything, and around 2 hours for Judith’s mom to arrive. When she did, she helped us put everything in the car, and then we sat in the car with the AC on as we waited for the teachers to let us head back to school.

After another 30 minutes, we were finally on the road, laughing, smiling, and telling jokes. 30 minutes before we got to school, we stopped by for some slushies because of how hot it was. I think we deserved that cold treat.

Finally making it back to school, I saw my girlfriend, and I hugged her tightly. Before camp, she and I didn’t end on a very good note, and I wasn’t able to apologize to her once I had made it to camp because I had no signal. Luckily, she understood, and we forgave each other in the end.

I suggest that before you go out camping in the middle of nowhere, make sure you have a good phone plan, and beware of the rattlesnakes, coyotes, and extreme heat that come from the desert.

Camping, something I think most people have done. But have you ever done it alongside two whole classes worth of children? I did, and when getting ready for the trip, I was not excited. My week had already sucked and it only seemed like a way to make it worse. Camping just wasn’t really my thing. Luckily, it went a lot better than I thought.

The drive over to the campground in Anza Borrego was calm. Then I got to meet up with my friends at the campsite, and we debated over tent placement before slowly setting things up. The time after ended up being more fun than I expected. I read next to friends and ended up learning a few new games from one of my teachers, Mr. Amilio. It was also fun hearing Charlotte’s recounts of the hike, the hike I had chosen not to go on because the heat made it seem unbearable. Dinner, like everything else, was better than I expected too. Even better, before lights out we got to go on a night hike to see the stars. It was amazing. Scott, a student teacher, taught us a lot as we stared at the sky. I used my backpack as a pillow because of my jacket inside it.

The night, unfortunately, did not live up to the standards of the previous day. We all read a bit before going to sleep, only to be woken up around three hours later to the sounds of violent winds (sounded like a car) and shouts about a tent collapsing. We unzipped our tent door, allowing us to look out through the flyscreen and see what was going on as we heard teachers footsteps heading over. This ended up a recurring event, tents collapsing and us trying to see, only zipping up the screen when we knew a strong gust was coming. We truly did try and fall back asleep, but the incessant noise made it possible. So much so that Mr. Omar, a teacher, quite literally just said we were welcome to leave and look at the stars if we wanted to. We did. It was nice. We chatted with Red, a friend, and got to go see quite a few of the downed tents. 

Afterwards we went back into our tent to finally get more sleep. Or so we thought, because it turns out that our tent would be the next to collapse, and not just that, break. Part of the tent broke and it was falling on our faces, so we gave up, grabbed our mats and sleeping bags, and decided to join Omar’s sleeping area under the stars. We did not manage to fall back asleep, and mostly lied there, waiting for the time of the sunrise hike. When the time came, I did not wish to get up. I did anyway.

We trudged on over to the cooking area, ready to meet up for the hike after doing our best to secure our stuff. Charlotte and I were worried about it flying away, especially when Mr. Omar, who we thought would be watching for that kind of stuff, joined us in the car. There was nothing we could do about it at that point though. 

We made it to the hiking area and promptly started on the hike.The sunrise hike didn’t end up being much of a sunrise hike however, because by the time we finished climbing the rocks the sun had mostly risen. Even worse, what was there to see was blocked by a huge rock in the middle of my view. With all this in mind it wasn’t a huge surprise when everyone decided to head back instead of go on another hike. 

The drive was short and upon arrival back we decided to start packing up. Then we went and sat in our camping chairs. I updated my parents on what happened and spent a lot of time reading before eventually ending up playing a game again. I didn’t get to finish it though because I was leaving early.

The drive back was nice and we had some interesting conversations. I was nervous about my race though. I didn’t feel all that good about it with how little sleep I’d had, but oh well. We got back early and I signed out before racing out the door so that I could get to the track in time. The race went okay and the next day I felt exhausted because of the lack of sleep while camping, which wasn’t all that great since we had to start MAP testing. If you go, prepare for violent winds and make sure you don’t have plans after so you can actually rest.

Unamused fits best. Camping away from major civilizations didn’t sound too appealing to me. While waiting to be picked up I wasn’t really nervous or upset, let alone excited. I just wanted to get it over with already. On the way to the campsite there were ants in the car. They didn’t bite, but they were quite large. Martin flicked one off his hand and it made a comical arch, it was funny. 

Once at the campsite, deciding where to set up wasn’t hard. Setting up our tent and loading it with our stuff was pretty easy too. The first day we were there wasn’t eventful for me at all, thankfully. I was just discontent about how hot it was and how stagnant the air was. Ambiently hung out with Charlotte and Lila for a little while, but I got bored fast. Myself, Lila, Luis, and Mr. Amilio played card games together later in the day. Specifically “Monopoly card edition” and “Bang!”, it was quite fun. I also got to help prepare dinner with a couple others, which was entertaining. Lunch was fine, we ate some lasagna type of thing.

Once night fell I went on the night hike led by Scott. One of my friends, Red(Juan) was willing to help me walk in a straight line while I stared at the star, as I struggle with that. Where once we got to a location we laid down and observed the stars while Scott told us about them and pointed out constellations. It was my first time seeing the stars in full. It was really nice and in my opinion, the only thing that made the trip worth it. Afterwards, we returned to the campsite and hung out around the campfire for a bit. We were all in bed with lights out by roughly 10PM. At around 1AM the winds had grown violent enough to have woken me up most of the way, where I then woke up my tent-mates and we watched the other students outside try to keep their tents intact. 

As of 3:30ish our tent had gotten too damaged to sleep in easily. Red(Juan) helped us take our sleeping bags and mats outside. All the damage to them was caused by the wind being unable to flow through them, so being outside was actually much safer. 

I didn't actually fall back asleep. More like resting while looking at the stars, despite how cliché it seems. When the sun rose I went on the sunrise hike led by Mrs Trisha. Though I was more following along to see the mountains back-lit. I'm not a big fan of sunrises, I find them to be over-rated and a little plain. They make for a good backdrop in photos though. Especially when used to show silhouettes.

Afterwards it was just cleanup, which took my group about 20 minutes. Then it was waiting, under the midday sun, in the desert, with no shade… ew. Despite how little time we had until the parents came to pick us all up, Mr. Amilio offered another game of “Bang!”. It was fun, I got to play as one of 2 deputies(and later Scott, the sheriff, told me I played deputy well!).

Once Martin's dad arrived we (me, Martin, and Charlotte)packed up the car and started heading back. While passing by Julian, we spotted a motorcycle crash. So Martin’s dad pulled over to pull the guy out of the road and contacted emergency services. Afterwards we just kept driving. Nothing else of note happened on the way back, at least nothing I recall. 

Back at school, I helped return and organize borrowed camping equipment alongside Red(Juan) and Lila. When we got released, my mom was late to pick me up so I had to wait. I felt odd, like I didn’t have the energy to be properly tired. I just wanted to go home.

The next day I felt fine, normal, even. I kinda miss looking at the stars without light pollution. The air out there was really nice. Sure it was dry, but there was little to no air pollution. I really liked it for that. If you're ever far enough from light pollution, look up. Photos don’t matter, enjoy the moment rather than trying to preserve it. I thought this would be my most hated trip, it turned out as my favorite.

When I got woken up by my dad, I immediately felt like something was wrong. I had a headache that just wouldn't go away. 

I didn't bring up how I felt to my parents,s for I knew they would force me to stay home. This was the first time I actually had permission to be on an overnight field trip.

I  had a plan for the day. I would arrive early, drop off my suitcase at school, then bring a friend to accompany me to buy snacks at Vons, and then rush back to school.

I thought everything would go as planned, but then when I got into the car and was heading to school, traffic hit. 

I just sulked walking into the school building with no snacks in sight. 

When I got into Ms. In Trisha's classroom. While I was freezing, my friends were expressing how they felt hot and were wondering why I wasn't hot. Honestly, that should've been a sign.

While driving, Hannah told me that the seats had heating. I pressed a button, and I felt like I was in heaven. 

I slowly dozed off and fell asleep.

When we arrived at camp, I hopped out of the car. I still felt cold, which was so strange since we're literally in the middle of the desert. There was a cold breeze hitting my face, cooling me down, but the sun's radiation was heating me.

As time went on, I  took off my jacket, but then when the breeze hit me, it still sent a shiver down my spine. While I was dying, Adri was expressing how good the cool breeze felt on her body.

After the tent was set up, we put our bags in the tent and laid out the sleeping pads. I lay on a sleeping pad, and I could feel myself dozing off. The sleeping pad wasn't even comfortable.

Hannah told us that we should get going because the teachers were preparing lunch, which was peanut butter sandwiches, tangerines, chips, and granola bars.

We had gotten up, headed over to the table, the walk over was unbearable, I prepared myself a peanut butter jelly sandwich.

The peanut butter had melted, and as soon as I took a bite, I gagged. I didn't want to vomit. I hated vomiting.

I started pacing until I eventually swallowed the mushed peanut and butter sandwich. I just kept eating the tangerines.

I have probably been there for less than 20 minutes, yet I felt like I was going to die.

 At that moment, my friends convinced me to inform Mr Amilio that I don't feel well. He had asked if it was because of the sun sickness or the fever. I answered fever.

He had told me to stay 6 feet away from people, which I responded to by taking a side step away from my friends. 

He had asked if I wanted to stay overnight or if I wanted to go back to school because there were parents heading back to school. At first, I told him I wanted to stay because I felt a bit better after taking a bite of the sandwich, but I was mostly trying to convince myself.

Hannah eventually told me it's better if I go because she thought I would get worse than better if I stayed, so I sulked back to Mr Amilio and told him I decided to go home. 

I sulked the way back to the tent and grabbed my stuff with the help of Hannah and loaded my stuff into Judith's mom's car.

The car ride back to school made my headache worse because of the bumpy roads. I asked Judith's mom to drop me off at my mom’s work instead. We arrived after 2 hours. I informed my mom to call the front desk while dragging my stuff into her car trunk. 

I thanked Judith's mom and hopped in my mom's car, and started crying.

All of my emotions just started rushing. I felt so disappointed and devastated because I was so excited to see the stars and have fun with my friends at camp. I was so excited to stay somewhere overnight with my friends, watch scary movies Hannah downloaded on her computer, while eating snacks. 

After my mom’s shift, we went to pick up my siblings and got jack n’ a box, then we went home, where I took more medicine, ate chicken soup, and my 2 jack n’ box tacos, and slept until morning.

I suggest you bring sunscreen, plenty of water, and snacks to Anza Borrego.

I was packing for my camping trip the night before. I was just thinking and hoping that this would be as fun as Catalina with all my friends. Because I have been camping before and in 8th grade I went to Catalina which I know is different but I don't think it would be that different because it's still overnight and I get to be with all my friends. We got inside the car on our way to the camp and the car ride was the worst part of the trip already, my head was hurting the whole time.

We got there and started to set up, setting up was frustrating because me and my friends were all arguing and it took a long time to finish setting up the tent. We finally finished setting up our tent and put our stuff in our tent and got to play football. I enjoyed playing football with my friends, we were playing one on ones at first it was fun facing against my friends smack talking the whole time, when we played teams it was better cause it made it more competitive and the teams were equal so it was a close game when its close game its more fun cause it makes it more intense and puts the pressure on. 

Hanging out at night was one of the best parts of the trip because me and my friends all got together and were just chasing eachother hiding from eachother and laughing at each other fall, which a lot of people fell. Anthony stepped in a puddle which was super funny because I was telling him not to step in the mud and the next second John touched him on his shoulder and he stepped into the mud and got so mad. Dinner was good. I wasn't thinking it was going to be a crazy meal because based on our lunches we just had PB and J. I just thought it was going to be like a simple meal, but it was a whole like gourmet meal that was really good that I got to enjoy in my tent and watch a movie with. Night time was one of the funnest parts of camping because me and my friends snuck out of our tents to go to our other friends' tents to hang out. Hanging out was cool at first cause it was calm we were just chilling, but then I heard other people come out and started being super loud. I knew it was late but i didnt know what time it was but I was so tired, I was dozing off in the chair. I woke up to Mrs Trisha yelling at everybody to go back to their tent and go to sleep, so I woke up. I woke up and Anthony was like sleep talking which was super funny idk if it was because I was tired but that was really funny. Waking up was so tiring I did not want to get up and it was hot so I didn't want to do anything. I didn't pack my stuff up much because I was out of the tent just skipping rocks with John. Thankfully Anthony packed up all of our stuff. The drive back to school was chill because I was asleep most of the car ride because I was super tired. After the hike I did not want to do anything. I just wanted to chill and go to sleep, and didn't want to go to school the next day. I recommend going because there are a lot of fun hikes and at night you get to see the stars.

Sleeping overnight in the desert with all your friends is the funnest thing ever. If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out on an adventure that’s totally different from anything else. The thought of camping with your own chosen group, far away from the city, is something that sticks with you forever. Before our trip, I was feeling extremely excited because I’d been camping before, but never like this camping overnight in a tent in the middle of nowhere, with my best friends right beside me. The excitement kept growing as I packed my stuff, and I’d be making memories with all my friends.

During the trip, we did lots of stuff. We hiked up a kind of tall, kind of tiny mountain. We played football with Ethan, Diego, and a whole bunch of other kids, and we played on the big field with a huge group, which was very exciting. All of this made me feel very happy, and I had a lot of joy. I was feeling the sun bake me alive, but it was perfect because I was staying active and doing a lot. The energy from everyone made it even better, and the laughter and fun of my friends made the desert feel like the best free place ever.

They also had lots of great food and snacks that they brought. I was also feeling the rocks under my tent and the cuts I got from how many times I fell or went splat on the ground. At night,t it was even better because it was really dark and you could barely see, which was really fun to be out in the dark. There’s something about the desert at night that feels mysterious and exciting, and it made the whole time there even more special.

In the night, we technically did all the same things. We were in a big group and were playing and running around. We even went on a night hike, which was super cool to see the sky and to see Scott teach us about how if you crunch on a Life Saver it makes sparks in your mouth. And John brought s’mores, and we even ate s’mores and Nutella sandwiches, and it was all a blast. The night felt as if it was never gonna end, and every moment was filled with fun and laughter.

At Anza Borrego, you’re gonna see rattlesnakes, get dirty, sleep in tents, and it will be really windy, but it will still be one of the best memories because you’re experiencing a different nature and making many memories like me.

If you’re thinking about visiting the desert for a camping trip with your friends, I really recommend it. Just be ready for anything,g bring extra snacks, lots of water, and be ready for the wind and the rattlesnakes. But most of all, come with your best friends. The memories you’ll make will last forever, and you’ll get to experience nature in a way you never have before.

When you need to get away from city life in San Diego, the place to go is Anza Borrego. It has an incredible night sky, far from light pollution and out in the open desert. The stars are crystal clear as they twinkle high overhead and the velvety darkness swallows you into another world…

We arrived at midday. After setting up the tent aided by my tentmates, Lila and Vivienne, I got lunch and then sought respite from the afternoon sun. I read for a while, enraptured in a tale of adventure, and when the time came I decided to go on the first hike.

I piled into a car with some of my classmates and teachers: Hannah, Adri, Ms. Anna, and Mr. Omar. We passed a landscape so breathtakingly beautiful that I stared out the window in awe. It was near the Superbloom and Anza Borrego was draped in a green blanket of grass – and it was so flat! The ground stretched out to distant mountains without hills or hollows in sight. 

As we started the hike I couldn’t help but notice the many flowers in bloom, it was a sight to behold. We stopped once when we came across monteros, Kumeyaay grinding pits deepened by thousands of years of use, and a short while later we came upon some Kumeyaay pictographs. The dark strokes contrasted the pale rock they were on. We traveled further without incident – until the trail disappeared. 

More than half of us went back, but Red, Saxon, Ms. Anna, Carlos (a parent chaperone), and I forged ahead. We clambered over rocks, found the trail, and followed it for far longer than was intended. “We’ll just go on for a couple more minutes,” we kept saying, because the natural beauty of the hike was utterly magnificent.

We couldn’t bear to turn back – until I happened upon a rattlesnake. It was curled up, hiding in a bush, hissing and rattling. I heard my name called distantly, as though I were underwater, or maybe it was in my head. I stumbled back, not minding the thorny bushes that pulled at me, until I was on a rock beside Carlos: my legs trembling, my heart racing, my brain scrambling to process what had just happened. 

After that we made our way back, and I endured rattlesnake jokes in the car ride from Red and Saxon – though I was sure to inform Lila and Vivienne immediately. In my words, “It was too big a thing not to tell!”

After dinner I decided to go on the night hike, which was totally worth it. I lay on my back feeling the cold earth beneath me as I gazed into the starry depths of the cosmos, listening to Mr. Scott as he told tales of constellations and stars. 

My tentmates and I got into bed at lights-out, 10:00 PM. Sleep came quickly and wrapped me in its warmth, but all too soon I woke from my slumber. The wind raged outside, it sounded like a car driving. It slammed into our tents as if to punch us; sleep was an empty wish. 

Near 1:00 AM we heard voices. We deciphered that the first tent had fallen and listened attentively as Mr. Amilio went to check what had occurred. In our tent we talked animatedly, a distraction that I gladly accepted.

At roughly 3:00 AM we were able to ask Red what had happened. He told us the big tents were falling and that he and Mr. Omar (who had both been sleeping outside) were the “First Responders" of the “Disaster Zone”. 

Around 4:00 AM Mr. Omar came over to our tent to tell us that we could get some fresh air. I clambered out of the tent, and gazed upward. The stars painted the night, sprinkling it with pinpricks of light. They spread across the vast stretch of space and all I wanted to do was tilt my head back and look. The beauty was beyond words… 

I went with Mr. Omar and Red to evaluate the tent situation. It was far worse than I had expected, multiple tents had collapsed and lay strewn on the ground. Later, the tent I had been in broke, so Lila, Vivienne, and I ended up sleeping outdoors.

The rest of the night was mostly uneventful. More tents were blown over but all I could hear was the roar of the wind in my ears. I got up early for a sunrise hike and then packed for our departure; I was ready to leave. 

Anza Borrego was an eventful trip but also a ton of fun. I would advise avoiding the wilder patches of nature, sleeping in a sturdy tent – or sleeping outside, it’s actually pretty fun!

Anza Borrego is a huge expanse of desert, being one of California's largest state parks located in southern California. Turns out, we were going. This was going to be such a fun trip. We were going to camp, which was the first time I was doing that with so many of my classmates and friends. Hoping to make memories that will stick with me forever, while getting even closer to the people around me. Now I knew something would go wrong; there is always something I forget or don't account for. I still had some questions about what would happen at camp. But overall, I was excited, happy, hyper, ecstatic, and before we started the trip. Turns out I was right, and all these things happened. 

After two hours of driving, I made it to the campsite. The campsite looked awesome, very picturesque in some spots; the bathroom looked foul, and the landscape in general was very pretty or awe-inspiring. We debated where we would set up our tent and chose a little knook by the large hill (climbing + fun exploring) and a bush (bathroom), so we could have quick access to both of those amenities. Then we took out our tent and quickly set it up, chucking all our stuff in with almost zero thought.

One of the first things I did was climb the hill right next to us with Saxon, Alex, Lars, and Martin. This was a little sketchy. In the end, it was worth it; we got to see all of camp, get an incredible view, and finally get some breeze after being in some very uncomfortable desert heat. I climbed the hill multiple times throughout the day, and every time it never got old. 

Later, we went on the pictograph trail. We only saw one pictograph, but we saw a ton of cool mortar pits, carved into stone. It was really cool seeing a small part of how Kumeyaay lived, and I liked imagining what they were doing here. I also got to climb boulders and go spelunking. Not to mention the incredible scenery, with blooming flowers, huge boulders, and a view of the lower end of the desert. Seeing the diverse life opened up my eyes. 

On the way back, I got to see Mr. Omar, Scott, Lars, and Alex had to cram into a three-person row in the middle of Mike's car, this was one of the funniest moments on the trip for me, because Alex was being a literal brick, and we were literally roasting him. This was definitely something I won't forget. After this, I explored camp a little more, played some games, and talked with friends throughout the rest of the day. 

After the long day, we had dinner, which was great, and s'mores to top it off. We talked some more, and played a game with Scott called Mafia, a social manipulation game where you find the murderer. We went stargazing with Scott after this, and I got to take some nighttime photography with Mr. Omar.

During the night, our tent group tried to sleep, but we failed; our tent collapsed on us, and the inside was trashed, but I got to gaze at one of the clearest night skies I've seen in a while. I went to bed at 2:00 AM and had to borrow Alana, Emely, and Judith's spare tent to get some rest. I actually slept like a baby for five hours straight, till 7:00 AM. In the morning, we just relaxed, ate breakfast, and didn't do anything crazy. We packed up our bags, and when the chaperones arrived, we put our stuff away. We then got cleared to go, and I fell fast asleep, thinking about how this is all just a memory now… A great one.

Soooo, before you camp at or just travel to Anza Borrego Blair Valley campground, make sure to remember, there are rattlesnakes, other wildlife that may or may not be able to harm you! It's hot depending on the time of year, so bring water and good food to keep you going throughout the day - prep for the occasion. As always, bring people who you are comfortable with, who you trust; those people will be the ones who make those special moments, and be there when you need them most, like when your tent falls in the middle of the night. Also, try new things,  push yourself, and see what you're capable of. Remember, no matter what you end up doing, playing board games, being with friends, climbing that hill like a caveman, silly moments driving in the car, you are the one who makes it fun, you are the one who makes those memories. You will find a way to have fun no matter what. 

The wind raged through the campsite, taking tents out one by one. The wind struck our tent with a massive force. Lars and I rush out of the tent to stop it from collapsing in on itself. When I arrived at school, I could sense the excitement in the air. Everybody was really excited to head up. The car ride up wasn't that exciting, but the view was breathtaking. The oak trees and the mountainsides reminded me of when our family went to Yosemite. When my group got to the camping site, I immediately started staking out where we would put our tent. We found a really good spot and set up the tent. It was so hot that I had to change into my shorts because my clothes looked like I had been in the pool. We had put our stuff right next to a rocky mountain, so Saxon and I were the first to climb up to the top. 

The view was stunning; it was even better than when we were driving. While Saxon and I were on the mountain, we saw an F-35 fighter jet soar through the valley. Its power shook the mountain; it was one of the coolest experiences ever. Later that day, we went hiking to find pictographs on rocks. The hike had a bunch of rocks that we could climb on. Kaden and I started hopping from rock to rock like gazelles.

 Dinner was waiting for us when we got back. It was the most delicious cheesy pasta with garlic bread I had ever had( compliments to Mark). That night, I didn't get much sleep because of the wind. Every 5 minutes or so, a gust of wind would rip through the campsite. Our tent collapsed about 5 times before we gave up and slept in Alana’s spare tent.

 The next morning, I felt like I was going to pass out. I had gotten no sleep, and I was overheating. On the ride home, we saw a motorcycle crash straight into a wall. We got out and helped, and thankfully, he was ok. When I got back to my house, I immediately got into bed and took a nap. The nap felt like heaven after the sleepless night and cold conditions. Even though it was really windy at night, it was still a fun experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I had to wake up bright and early to get ready to go camping at Anza Borrego. I arrived at school at around 9 am, and we started to drive up to Anza Borrego at around 9:30 to 10:00. I was in a car where my mom was driving. The other kids driving in my car were Ilyas and Alex. We had lots of interesting conversations on the car ride up to Anza Borrego, which made the 2-hour drive feel like 45 minutes.

 Once we arrived at Anza Borrego, we started to set up our tent. Before the trip happened, I thought that the weather would be very dry and hot during the day and super cold at night 2. After we got our tent set up, I went on a hike to look at cave paintings. During the hike, we only ended up seeing 1 cave painting, but we saw a lot of grinding holes. The drive back from the hike was very funny because Alex, Mr.Omar, and Mr.Scott were all cramped in the back seat.

 After that hike, I hung out with my friends for a little bit. Once dinner was ready, I sat down by the campfire and ate my pasta while talking with Martin. After dinner, I played maughia with Scott and some other kids. We played Maughia till about 8:30. At 8:30, that is when we started our night hike to go look at the stars.

 After the night hike, I went to bed. I woke up around midnight from the wind. The stakes that were holding our tent down were not put in improperly so I had to stay outside the tent and hold it up for about 1 hour until more people woke up and we put the stakes back in. Around 3 a.m., the tent collapsed completely. I had nowhere to sleep, but luckily, Alana, Emili, and Judith had a spare tent, so I was able to spend the rest of the night in their spare tent

.

 The next morning, I pretty much spent the day packing up my stuff from camping. There was a hike the next day, but I was super tired, so I skipped it. Once I got picked up I was a little bit sad because I had a lot of fun at camp, but I was also ready to go home because I was super tired. I spent the whole car ride home sleeping, and once I got home, I took one of the best showers in my whole life.

 A piece of advice I have for people who are going to camp at Anza Borrego is to bring lots of water and make sure you strap your tent to the ground very well because it gets very windy. 

The day started off like any other field trip. Arrive at school by 8:40. Take attendance and get into car groups. I arrived at school anxious and already drained, nervous for what the day ahead would bring. I kept reminding myself that my dad was driving and would be there if I needed him, which brought me some comfort. But didn’t take away all of the negative fears. The actual packing of cars was chaotic and anxiety inducing. Once the cars were all packed, we set off. The drive in theory was supposed to be calming and relaxing - it was, to an extent. It was so nice to get out of San Diego and drive through beautiful mountains. I had a really interesting conversation with my dad about indigenous constellations. The topic relaxed me slightly, I love learning about constellations.

When the drive was over, I was met with teenagers who are not used to being in the desert. It was a sight. Knotts settled in my stomach. My new reality crashing over me like an unannounced wave. I pushed aside the looming dread in my body to find a place to set up my tent. Soon after we went on a hike to find Montreros. It was a beautiful, short hike if you ignored the teenage boys yelling and climbing rocks. They were very difficult to ignore, and I failed miserably. The rest of the afternoon was very uneventful. Dinner was delicious, baked ziti and garlic bread made by my dad and students. 

After I ate, I saw Omar playing with his camera and decided to investigate. I was intrigued and ended up helping Omar and Ezekiel to create fun light photography. It was a really fun experience. I decided to go on the night hike, not my best move. Boys were running and yelling, and no information was learned. I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen. The night was even worse. It was very windy, some people slept outside. A tent collapsed around 2 in the morning, which caused a lot of commotion. People were talking all night. Not a good night of sleep. I didn’t even need an alarm to wake up for the sunrise hike.

It was slightly cold the next morning when I finally got out of my tent. The hike to where we watched the sunrise was very short and easy. The sunrise was pretty and my surroundings were very calm, which was a VERY nice change. Most people were still asleep when we got back. It was a mostly quiet, slow morning. I slowly packed up the tent and waited for a small group to get ready for yet another hike. This hike was to pictographs. The hike was longer than the previous 2. It was definitely warm while we walked but the pictographs were very worth it. When we got back to camp, Adri and I waited in the trunk of my car while everyone else packed up and got ready to leave. It was a long wait. On the drive back to school, I fell asleep and it almost felt like a fever dream. The drive went by in the blink of an eye. 

If you choose to go to Anza Borrego, beware of jumping cacti and rattle snakes. Bring lots of water, it gets pretty hot during the day and cools off at night. DO NOT go with a large group unless you are chill with everyone. 

Usually when people visit a beautiful desert, like Anza Borrego, they’re thrilled to be outside hiking mountains, sleeping outside with bugs, and exploring nature. I was not one of those people. My prior experiences with camping weren't horrible, I actually liked camping. Except, instead of camping with a tent, I had cabins. I enjoyed the cozy, spacious cabins that felt like a warm hug on a winter day.  The ones with showers, bunk beds, and a common area with couches, not tents. 

The morning of the camping trip, I met up with all my friends in the fishbowl to calm my nerves. One of my friends familiar with camping assured me that I would have fun and her words heightened my expectations. When my friends and I arrived at the campsite, we searched for Arely so we could start setting up. Arely had already chosen a sleep spot for our group on a semi uphill ground, close to the mountain and kitchen station.  I had a pop-up tent so it was convenient and fairly easy to set up. After arranging my sleeping bag, blankets, and bags in my tent I felt exhausted. I was going to take a nap until I heard people yelling loudly outside. “You’re doing it wrong!” a high pitched voice shouted. “I’ve done this before, I know what I'm doing!” another shrieked. Zzzzzzip! I peeked out of my tent to see my friends arguing about the tent they were sharing. Apparently, it was falling apart due to a mistake with the tent rods. They were bickering back and forth so I attempted to help and unfortunately failed miserably.

The first few hours of the trip felt like I was fake and disconnected from the world. I was extremely bored and weary while everyone around me acted like wild animals. A bunch of people, including Arely, climbed the mountain during our free time. Later, the teachers were gathering up all the students around the fire pit for an announcement. They gave us two options, go on a hike or stay at the camp. Despite being bored out of my mind,  I decided to stay at the camp because I felt terribly sore. 

When the hiking group left I begged Arely to climb the mountain with me at around 3pm. I wasn’t too keen on climbing a mountain but Arely had mentioned there being service at the top. Arely agreed to climb but only halfway since she had been climbing it all day. I didn’t wanna go alone so I asked my friend Mani to go with me. Thankfully she agreed and so on we went to climb the mountain. We were almost at the top till April saw a snake and naturally everyone freaked out. We climbed down the mountain as fast as we could. When we reached the ground we hung out in our tent area. About an hour passed and the hiking group eventually came back. 

The teachers announced dinner would be soon. Arely and I volunteered to help out in the kitchen along with a couple of our other classmates. We served  pasta, salad, and bread. After dinner we had some s’mores before the teachers gathered us around the campfire again to announce a night hike to go look at stars. I decided to go since it wasn’t really a hike but I ended up regretting it because I was super tired and there was nowhere comfortable to lay.

When I was in my tent I thought I would blow away with the strong wind. I was able to fall asleep despite the loud noises of my tent and the wind clashing. I slept like a baby but when I woke up my tent had collapsed on top of me. I’d recommend to anyone camping at Anza Borrego to bring a strong tent. 

I always enjoy quiet long rides to places. I mostly just listened to music in the front seat of my mom’s car, while my friend Lila was relaxing in the back. Then, we finally reached our destination, Blair Valley. A giant canyon pit just out of reach of civilization. The set up process for the tent was a bit of trouble though. Me and my mom spent maybe an hour or so trying to hold up the metal pipes holding the thing together and trying to understand where the steaks go. It doesn’t help that the sun was agonizingly hot over in the desert (who would’ve guessed). 

After some struggling, we did indeed set up the tent. After that my mom went to the hotel she booked in Julian just so she could head over to me in case there was an accident, and I continued to stay in my tent. Unlike everyone else who was bunking with somebody else in their tent, I requested a solo tent for myself. It was mostly for medical concerns since I have an insulin pump and whenever it runs out of insulin it starts emitting an ear splitting screech and I didn’t want anyone waking up to that. That, and I just like being alone. I then did some heat checks for one of the assignments one of our teachers Mr. Amilio gave us, and continued lazing about.

I didn’t go on any of the hikes because if they were anything like Kwaay Paay, I didn’t feel like going. The afternoon came and went with little to no fanfare. Although it was around that time that I went to use the bathroom they had there for the first time. It was a stall with a vaguely toilet shaped structure that led to a hole with no flushing. I did my business and left, telling anyone else that was gonna use it one rule, just don’t look down.

It was night by then, and everyone was winding down from the day. One of the people along for the trip named Hannah also came with her dad Mark, who brought us homemade pasta (specifically the kind that looks like a bunch of beige cylinders) for dinner. Though I’m not a big fan of mushy foods, it was pretty good. I ate it inside my tent using a flashlight because it was so incredibly dark by then. It was also by then that the stars were starting to come out, and it was beautiful. They were so bright that they were lighting up the clouds next to them. It was a wonderful way to end the night.

Unfortunately I was not able to end my night so easily. Firstly, the noise of everyone around me. It was not the best, but I’ve slept through worse. It's not entirely a night ruiner. However the second thing definitely was. The wind started to pick up, and by around 1 ‘o clock in the morning it was starting to push around my tent. I was not able to sleep for the rest of the night. I just kept shutting my eyes in some vain attempt to go to sleep. 

I woke up on the second day feeling extremely tired. It was still really early so I just tried getting extra z’s but the winds were still howling, so I just went on my phone and used what little internet we had to watch youtube.

Once everyone was up after not being able to sleep for the majority of the night, we had to pack up our tents and stuff for leaving. For the rest of the time I was there I was busy putting away my tent (with the help of one of the teachers Ms. Tricia), and just standing around for the rest of the time talking with friends.

After maybe an extra hour and a half of waiting, my mom appeared to pick me up. We then drove over to a small town nearby our campsite named Julian for lunch, then headed home.

Overall, even though the scenery is very pretty, I wouldn't come again. But Julian is fun.

If you want a nice looking camping spot and don't mind wind, heat, or possibilities of snakes, then I’d recommend this place.

Anza Borrego state park, I was expecting the camp to be very dry, deadly hot and at night it would get to zero celsius.

During the car drive I felt sick to my stomach because there the road twisted like an agitated shape. But when we got there I was half asleep. First we had to set up tent, so me and my peer set up the tent quickly so we could put our stuff in. Then we went to the middle part of the camp where the teachers were so we could eat something, then I felt like joining some friends in a hike up the small mountain, which was packed with cactuses. When I got to the top I took some pictures and then made my way back down. Later we got to choose if we wanted to go hiking or stay to play board games and prepare dinner, I stayed. I played a fun game called BANG.

I helped prepare dinner by making lasagna. It was very easy thanks to Mark, then we put the lasagna to cook. While they were cooking, Mr.Amilio showed us how to cut wood properly. With his help I was able to chop a log in half. Dinner was delicious, and made s'mores. Then we joined Omar to take pictures with lights which was super cool. When we got back I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep due to the noise of tents getting destroyed by the wind. Felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane, when I woke up I walked to the huge mountains that circled around us and took a picture of the sunrise. Later I went to the campfire to help make mini pancakes for those who wanted some. Next we packed up to go back to school, but before we did I took pictures of mountains and bugs.

We got to Amilio’s car and drove to school. I was bummed that it was only one night but it was still very fun to be outdoors. I fell asleep in the car and when I woke up I was in school. I turned in my assignment and left. 

I would go camping again due to the nice view and open space. If you are planning to go to Anza Borrego to camp don’t bring 5 pairs of clothes If you're going camping for two weeks. Two pairs of clothes are enough.

I’ve never been to Anza Borrego before but from what I can tell it sounds kind of hot and a little deserty if you ask me. Before we started the trip I was feeling a little nervous about hypothermia and heat stroke and whatever. In the car ride I was getting hot just thinking about it even with the A/C on. 

When we got to the site I was feeling kind of tipsy because I was really hungry and since I didn’t move my limbs for a long time I had some trouble getting around. Me and Luis set up our tent in no time thanks to Charlotte lending us her spare, and afterwards I saw Lars & Ilyas on a small mountain above so I started climbing. In about 5-7 minutes I reached them at the top and we all looked down at all the ant people below us.

 The view was amazing and you could really see how much of a dessert Anza Borrego really is. Just a little higher than us were a few other surrounding mountains in the distance that sadly we did not climb, but regardless it was getting a little too breezy so we trekked back down the mountain to engage in other activities with friends.

 We went on hikes, saw the artifacts & stone carved remains from native people long ago, and when we got back I aided in the creation of our fire. Amilio was teaching people how to cut fire wood and after a brief introduction, he handed me the axe and I prepared thyself. 

Putting all of my energy into my arms, I brought the axe down in front of me and split the wood in half. Repeated this process a few more times before passing it to Luis to spark the fire. We ate pasta around the fire and I was ambushed by Omar who signalled everyone to sing happy birthday to me. 

After it died down, I played mafia with Scott and a few others, and we all went on a night hike to draw with oversized glowsticks. The night died down as the curfew approached and as most of us tried to stay quiet, if anyone complains about me in particular, I'm just going to say “it must have been the wind”. 

I swear the wind did everything but let me sleep. It ravaged the tents and collapsed some. It blew so hard there wasn’t a time I couldn’t hear it, and it made my tent constantly flap so I could never really fall asleep. If you’re going to plan a trip to Anza Borrego, bring lots of water to stay hydrated, make sure you have a strong tent to withstand the wind, and bring layers for the night.

*Fictional* 

The story begins with me in the car. My sister had to use the bathroom so we had to stop so we ran a little late. I get a call from Ari that I have to hurry up and leave. I kept lying to Arianna that I'd be there in 10 minutes. It wasn't 10 minutes but it for sure felt like it.

 I had many bags, a stray frog and to my left a Juicy couture bag. I got to the school and I saw Arianna and her stunning Mom (Shawna) waiting for me. Her car is warming and ready to leave. Arianna helps me with my bags and we get it in the car and play Midnight Sun Zara Larson, we have a debate on Zara Lawson cause I truly believe she is not a basic white girl and she has the flavor and the shimmer very different from bland. Arianna on the other hand strongly disagrees. 

Her very intelligent mom agrees with Arianna so I changed my mind because Shawna is always right. I feel the breeze on my scalp and tilt my head to the window and the wind feels like a real fresh breath. 20 minutes of the smell of mint gum and Arianna Mcnally chewing drove me insane so I gave her a shove because she was right in my ear and turned up the volume on the radio. Playing was “Die on this hill” by Siena Spiro. I went nutz and started singing my heart out for a good 40 minutes to pass the time because a 1hour and 30 minute drive sounds like not that long though.

 The next 20 mins we sat eating goldfish and we played Kiss, Marry, Kill… Code names: Matcha Queen, Loud Mouth, and Curly fries. Finally we arrived at the campsite and we met up with Gia. I slowly walked and worked my way over because my back hurt from being in the same position for 40 minutes straight. We went up on a hill to set up our tent near a huge rock. I was too tired to set up so Arianna setted up for me. I put my stuff in the tent after she finished settling stuff and she helped me set up.We participated in a game of freeze tag to kill some time and Ari kept getting frozen and the game would easily end. 

It was just us two playing I tagged her six rounds later she put her hands on her knees and did an exaggerated squat and said to what if we are burning so much energy might as well do it on the hike so decided to go on the hike and walking back to our tent to take a break and our trip was very refreshing and nostalgic.

The car ride to camp was quite fun. I played music and let people pick songs from what I had downloaded, and Mr.Amilio and I sang " Basket Case " together, and eventually, on another song Saxon joined in. Before we got to the Laguna roads, Saxon, Mr.Amilio, and I talked about the autopilot systems in airplanes and if pilots fly the entire time.

Setting up camp was insanely boring, especially with all the wind. It was really hard and just plain obnoxious to put my tarp and keep it still, and align my tent

Day 1 

We set up tents and gear

Afterwards, I changed into shorts after I set up my tent.

Then Saxon Lars and Alex, during lunch time, climbed up the big hill by camp, and closely afterwards, other people started coming up, also including  me 

A bunch of people went on the first hike, and I started climbing up the rocks on the hillside, closely followed by Alex Lars and Ilyas. Also, I almost got to the top of the giant hill/ mountain.

Night 

I couldn't sleep well in my tent and went to Santi's science, which was further from Sebastian's group, who were super loud. Even at Santi’s tent, I couldn't sleep, but Santi sang a version of " Creep " by Radiohead, but as Trump and told a random but really funny bedtime story. But I ended up going back to my tent

Waking up was pretty nice, waking up and before packing up, I ate and cleaned up, but it wasn't the most fun immediately packing up our tents after eating.

Driving back

After we finally got in the car, we asked Amilio if we could go to In-N-Out, but we didn't have enough time to stop there, so we skipped it.

Saxon had left early for who knows what, and most of us slept on the car ride

On the car ride on the winding roads, there was a motorcycle crash, and most parents stopped, but our car passed the scene. And after that, we all basically slept

*Fictional*

I would like to start this story by saying that the following story is fictional and not based on actual events, because I was absent at the time.

I showed up to school, and everyone was there…besides Carli. I had to call her and ask her when she'd be here, she said ten minutes. Which was five minutes past when we were supposed to leave. An hour later Carli finally showed up with three suitcases, a Juicy Couture purse, and a stray frog she found on the side of the road. She asked me where everyone was and I told her everyone had already packed up.

I had to help Carli bring all her bags to the car. It was as heavy as I imagined carrying an elephant would be. Once we loaded everything up we both got in the car, and blasted Midnight Sun. We rolled the windows down and allowed our hair to blow in the wind. 

We continued the car ride with an intense debate on whether Zara Larsson is a basic white girl or not. My very intelligent mom agrees with me that Zara Larsson is indeed a very basic white girl. So Carli changes her mind because my mom is always right.

Once it gets quite hot we roll up the windows, and blast the AC. Carli kicked me in the face because I was chewing gum, and Carli thought I was eating food, and she was hungry. After that we karaoke to Die On This Hill. (By the end we can barely talk both our voices, croaky because of our gorgeous singing). 

The entire song we were lowkey tweaking because we were in the car for so long. We then merged our playlists, and listened to that the rest of the way… and ate goldfish. We played Kiss, Marry, Kill, with Matcha queen, Loudmouth, and Curly fries. It was really fun but we were super relieved when we finally got there. Once we got out we met up with Gia and set up our tent on a hill by a big rock. It was really hard to set up. Mostly because me and Gia were the only ones setting it up. While Carli found a spot to set her pet frog free.

When we finally laid down in the tent that night I was exhausted, and sleep found me faster than a ray of light. However upon waking up a shot of adrenaline flowed through me. There had been a very loud rustle outside. I was instantly positive that's what woke me up. I shimmy out of my sleeping bag and stand up inside the tent. I hear something outside again except this time it's more of a sharp intake of breath. But definitely coming from outside the tent. I stay very still and the crackle of footsteps on leaves, sounds like the fireplace we put out just a few hours ago. I quickly turn on the light that's hanging above my head and look down at where Carli is spread out taking up half the tent, and Gia is sleeping like a vampire with her hands crossed over her chest. As the light continues to shine they both wake, blinking away sleep. “Why do you have the light on?” Carli asks. Meanwhile Gia just shoots lasers with her eyes as she brings herself gracefully to a stand. “Do you hear that?” I say shushing them and ignoring Carli's question. They stand still and just as Gia rolls her eyes. There is the unmistakable sound of footsteps. 

From a little bit away. Pointer finger crossing my lips, signing them to shush, I slowly reach for the tent door zipper. Carli smacks my hand with a shushed squeal and whispers, “What in the world are you doing?” Calri drags me away from the door.

“Opening the door.” I respond with a muffled yell. “We just heard something outside and you want to open the damn door.” Carli says a little louder.

“Its probably a raccoon or something. I want to see it.” 

“WhAt? A raccoon in the desert?” Carli says. Obviously she does not think it's a raccoon. Just as Calri opens her mouth again we are hit with a cool gust of wind.

When we turn the tent door is open and Gia is gone.

In the end none of the girls made it back to the city. They were all lost to the desert. However some say that if you're quiet enough, and the wind seems to whisper, you will hear quiet giggles and crackling leaves, as the girls make their way through the sand to scoop up your tent and persuade you to join them. Don't listen to them.

I felt excited since I love camping, but kind of sad it was only 1 night. I started packing the night before, I didn’t like it. Packing took a while since I haven’t gone camping in a while so my gear was in storage and separated. I finally finished all that stressful packing in an hour. I was ready so I went to sleep and rested peacefully. 

When we got in the car and left from the school it was already fun. I was just listening to christian music while everyone else loved rock music. Also it was nice to talk with Julien and Saxon while we were driving. 

However once we were in Julien I started to feel car sick like I am because there were windy roads till Anza Borego. Getting out of the car felt much better and I got to breathe in air from outside which was the only thing I wanted in the car. 

Once I set up my tent it was pretty easy because I am an experienced backpacker so my tent was set up but sadly was left open during the whole period of the trip due to both zippers not working. Anyway Tuesday turned out good with the food we had and the hike I went on. Even all the fellowship with friends was good, eating food that was prepared and talking with each other. It later turned to Wednesday so it was time to go, so I packed up my tent into the bag and grabbed my gear. 

The drive back was better since I sat in the front seat so I didn’t get car sick this time. It was kind of boring compared to the drive there since we didn’t really talk, everyone was just tired ready to get home. As I got home I reflected on this awesome trip the teachers had planned. The worst part came of camping which was the unpacking which is just like packing; not fun to do. This camp has good campsites and a bathroom that wasn’t that far away. It also has many nice hikes around for all types of hikers.

Before the camping trip I was excited but nervous at the same time because I thought it was gonna be really cold like how my sister explained it was gonna be. Excited  because I was going to be with friends somewhere far from home and school and new to everyone and me. The car ride was pretty nerve racking because everyone put a lot of stuff into my truck. I didn't even know it could hold that much. As we set up and put everything into the car we were in, everything went pretty smoothly. None of my car peers got sick as I expected them to due to the curves around the road.

 As we arrived at the camp sight we were the first to arrive but the last to leave somehow. The setup for the tent was really simple and easy since everything was already in place. The hardest part had to be debunking everything from the truck since the stuff out in was pretty heavy. We managed to unload and get set up for about an hour. The first day me and my friends just settled in and laid down to drink sodas and stuff.

 Once we were rested and ready to get up and do stuff around dawn,that's where I saw John ,Coleman ,Diego,  Liam and Ferb playing 1 on 1 football. I decided to join them and do something. I played with it a bit since it was still hot and I was running low on water so I went to sit down. I wanted to go on the mountain since I hadn't done that yet while everyone else has. I got a couple of my friends to go up and check it down. I saw a snake which was the only thing that caught my interest while I was up there. 

As dinner was around the corner we got our friends and played a game of 4 on 4. The game was really fun since it was an open area and we could run freely. As we got called up for dinner we got in line and severed our plate. We all went into my tent to munch on the grub since it was pretty dark out. As we finished our plates we went to rinse them off at the cleaning station. Once we got done with that we got ready to go to bed.

 No sleep, the wind was shaking the tent all night and we set up an easy up which flew away in the middle of the night which caused the teachers to help me put it away. Later that night my tent broke, the worst night ever. 2 hours of sleep is what I got. I went outside on a chair for the rest of the night to 4-11. The pack up was horrible since the tent was a complete disaster. It took us 2 hours to get everything fully cleaned up with 2 other of my friends' help. The drive back was great. Everyone in my car was slumped sleeping for the whole car ride. Once we got to school and unloaded everything, the joy on my face knowing it was over and I could go home and sleep. Some recommendations I have are to be papered to sleep outside. BRING WATER and a cozy sleeping bag.

On the car ride there it was fun because my favorite teacher was driving, but I was expecting a lot when we got there! I was like “ou o k a y.” It was depressing to a degree. Setting it up was cool because I didn't really do nothing, just watched. On day one, every time me or my friend Damian had to use the bathroom we ran to it. We'd be talking with all of our friends and he'd be like “I gotta go!” Then mid convo we'd sprint to the bathroom. It was dumb but fun.

Dinner was smacking, the S’mores we had were super good. Damian is like the laziest person on the planet, so I made him his. NIGHT time was coooooool, my friend Sebs lost his phone like every 20 minutes. It was bad. The time was late and there was a bunch of people in our tent. Sebs was about to sleep, like about to close his eyes to knock out in his sleeping bag and then he realized he didn't have his phone.

 Immediately he actually flipped the tent inside out! We were all like “bro, chill the f out.” He was acting like his phone was a check for a billion dollars. Every little thing in our tent was moved five times, not even joking. All of us were just watching him. Then Kaylum had enough and found it right by his lil bed in 10 seconds. Everyone in the tent was yelling at him. It also got really super cold. I slept for like 1 hour. Teachers came to my tent a lot because we had a canopy outside our tent and at midnight it was super windy. It broke in half, and fell on top of the tent. Waking up felt like I was being born again. Packing up was great because I only packed 1 pair of clothes in my normal school bag. My friends got me a sleeping bag, pillow and all that good stuff so I did NOTHING. Driving back to school was cake. I loved it and it felt good to be back in Daygo. I miss the camp already. The views are so cool if you have a family. It’s a must go place. I'll bring sun glasses if I go again.

Before the Camp

I was pretty excited to go camping because I hadn't really gone camping with a big group before, and I didn't really know what to expect. As we were on our way to the camp, I had John, Anthony, and Diego in the car, and it was pretty fun. But as time went on, I started to get bored, and I eventually fell asleep. And just like that, we were at the camp, and I didn't really think it looked that appealing, but I mean, it’s camp, what more can you expect?  

During The Camp

As we started getting unpacked and setting up our tents, we all started to chill and just kick back till it got dark. When we finished setting up, the boys and I went to play football and started exploring around the campsite. Shortly after, all the boys ran up the hill to see a snake that April had found. Once it started getting dark, everyone was hanging out around Sebastian's tent, just talking. Soon after that, dinner was done, and oddly enough, the chef dropped a big plate of spaghetti, which was at least ¼ of the food that we had. As it began to get dark, Sebastian started messing around with Anthony and me, and Diego, and we started pushing each other around. As it was approaching 8 pm, we all went on a night hike to see the stars. But to be honest, that was the most boring walk ever. The time went by fast because it began to turn at 10 pm. The teachers said that we had to be in our tents and be quiet. So you know what that means… we had to go back out. We all waited at least an hour to go outside, and as we did, we were just talking and looking at the stars at night. As it was coming at 2 am, Ms.Trisha woke up and kicked everybody out of Sebastian's tent, and it was time to go to sleep. Which sucks because stuff like this only happens once in a lifetime.

The End Of The Camp

As I woke up, I still felt tired, and I didn't really wanna unpack the tents and get ready to go. I eventually got up and started packing up the tent. The sun was beaming in my eyes, though, so it was hard to look around outside. Once we were all packed up, we were waiting for at least an hour or 2. Soon enough, John's mom arrived, and I was so glad to leave camp. Not because I didn't enjoy it, it's just that I wanted to go home and be comfortable. As we were on the road, we stumbled upon a motorcycle accident. So we all pulled over, and Anthony called 911. After that it was cool seeing the ambulance and police pass by us, knowing that we were the ones who called 911. As we approached the city, I was asleep, but as soon as I woke up, my ear basically erupted. As we arrived at school, I was so ready to go home and sleep. Overall, I am glad that I went to camp, but I wish it weren't so plain.

Anza Borrego was the best trip so far and an unexpected experience. Before the trip, I was really excited and felt prepared.

Although I had forgotten a few things, I still was ready to just be out and have time out of school with my friends. During the trip, the car ride felt really long and it was super hot so I made sure the air was on blast. I had a really good time with my friends and having more free time was fun.  We went on a night hike and it was cool to get a breeze and hang out before it was time to head in the tents. Setting up was kind of a struggle because it was super hot and I was trying to finish a lot of things at once so I could finish faster, having more time to rest and settle. I was so scared of something bad happening or losing anything while on this trip, so I made sure everything I bought with me was safe and secured. 

On camp day 1, it was super fun and I really enjoyed the food and the smore’s. It was super hot in the daytime, I could barely set up my tent because of how hot it was. It was as hot as a boiling pan, and I could barely move around in the heat without feeling exhausted. Overall, it was really nice to have our own space and the tent was really relaxing. I took a nap before dinner because I had already been tired from the first hike. 

Although we did get in trouble, the night was really really fun. It was super windy and I only slept an hour trying to hold my tent down and just couldn't fall asleep like I wanted. Waking up was a little stressful because I needed rest and knew that it was time to pack up everything. I went on the morning hike and it felt long and it was super hot. Driving back and getting back to school was nice because I was ready to go home and relax. It was a lot taking everything back once we got to the school because the bags were heavy and I was tired.

Overall, camp was a mix of good and bad. If I revised Anza Borrego, I would come more prepared when dealing with the heat and bring extra beverages.

The car ride was really long, and I did not have enough legroom. My mom was driving, and I had my friends in the car, two of whom were meeting my mom for the first time. My friends and I had a good conversation during the car ride. We were talking about the camp, and we were talking about snacks that we brought, and how we were going to set up camp. Time passed quickly, and once we got to camp, we got everything out of my mom's car. Then my mom told me she was living, so I said goodbye, and I hugged her, and she told me to be good, but enjoy my first camping trip. We took everything out, and we started setting up. We took out the tents, and I didn't know where to start. It was my first time. Luckily, I had my friend Anthony and Diego there to help. We got the tent up, and then we had to put all our bags in the tent, and we had to set up the inside of our tent. 

When we were done, we had Nutella sandwiches that I brought for my camping group and me. After a little while, my friend Diego said he brought a football and asked if I wanted to play. One more person joined, and we did one-on-one, and we took turns being the quarterback. As time went by, more and more people started to join. All my friends joined, and we had enough people to do a full game of football and we started a game. I was cooking with my team, and we were beating everyone. Then my teacher came over and said we were cussing way too much and that we needed to stop.

Then dinner time came and we all line up for food, and then we saw some one drop all the vegetarian food but it was ok because no one was vegetarian me and my friends all gathered up and we ate together and had a good time together then i remember i brought s’mores for me and my friends and we all made some and it was very good and i love s’mores.

After we were done eating, my friends and I walked around for a bit before we had to go to bed, and we had a good talk, and it was nice and cold. Then it was nighttime, we had to go to bed, and so my friend and I walked to the bathroom to pee before bed. After that, we were ready to go to bed. I couldn't go to sleep because it was really windy, and I could just hear everyone screaming and talking. I didn't fall asleep till 3 am, then when I woke up, I went to make myself a bagel with cream cheese, and I enjoyed it in peace as I looked at the view.

After I finished my bagel, I went to do the school work that I had to do, and I decided to do it at the last minute after I was done. I had to pack up, and I had trouble doing it because I had never been camping before, but I'm glad I had my partner to help. It was easy to pack my bags, but we had trouble packing up the tent; eventually, we got it packed up. Luckily, my mom came early, so we could pack everything in the car.

Once we were on the way back to school, my friends and I were talking about different cars and what we wanted to be when we grew up. After a long conversation with them, I eventually fell asleep, and I didn't wake up until I got to school. When we got to school, the teachers gave us some info, and we handed them the paper we had to do, then we were released.

When I got home, I took a shower because I hadn't showered for a day, and I was stinky. After that, I took a nap. After my nap, I had to go to soccer practice, and I was exhausted. When I got home after practice, I fell right asleep, and I had the best sleep of my life. When I woke up the next morning, I felt new and fresh, and I was happy to be home.

This journey is about camping, and we went camping to learn more about the Kumeyaay.

Before camping, I kinda didn't want to because I've never been before, and I was kinda excited to go, but not really. The car ride was fun. We were stuffed in Ethan's mom's car, packed to the brim, and we were the first car to be ready. It was barely like 9:00, and we had to wait like 30 minutes in the car just to leave. We finally left, and we all wanted to stop, so then we stopped at McDonald's, and we all ate. After we were done eating, we went back in Ethan's mom's car, and we were all cramped up. The thing that sucked, though, was all the turns we had to come; it was not fun, especially after we all ate too.

We made it to camp, and Coleman, Liam, and Ethan wanted to go to the bathroom, so there were like big deep pools of water, and ethan though it would be a good idea to jump from one to the other side, but he slipped in the water, not even 5 seconds of being there. It was the funniest thing ever.

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I asked Omar if I could use his camera, and he said yes, but only after I set up my tent. Coleman, Liam, Ethan, and Devien set up our tent, and it literally took like 10 minutes to do it. After we set up our tent, Omar gave me his camera, and he taught me how to use it. It was really cool, actually. I think the whole time we camped,  I just had a camera and took over 1000 pictures. Well, Omar and I combined took that many pictures.

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Eventually, there was a hike I didn't wanna do because I was tired, and throughout the time of the hike, I just chilled at camp and took pictures. After the hike, it was just chill time until dinner, and during that time, Omar and Scott were playing Go Fish and 21, but then Scott was like we should play mau and Omar and omar where like what is that and he said it's a game where you can't talk about the rules and u dont know the rules and I said if I won can I get boost points and Scott said yes, sadly I didn't win but it was still fun.

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So then it was dinner time so we ate. Then, after dinner me Hannah Omar and Adri were taking pictures with lights and it was really cool. After Scott did a night hike, and that was cool, then after that it was bedtime so we pass out at like 11, then at like 2 in the morning, I wake up cause there were people awake. Then, I just went back to my tent and then I went back to bed but like 2 hours later the wind like broke our tent so me and devin side of the tent was like on the floor and it sucked then I  just went back to bed I  eventully woke up at like 7 and we just hung out until we need to pack up Mr. Amilio yelled at me, Liam, Coleman, and Devin because we needed to pack up and we have not yet after like forever we finly packed up and Ethan’s mom arrived and she drove us back to school but on the way back we wanted to stop and we stoped at in n out and as soon as we got out of the car we meet Fussey after we took a pic with him we went inside and got food Ethan’s mom was nice and got me and Devin food because we didn’t have money. Then we went back to school, and I went home and passed out.

If you like camp, I would recommend it. Even if you don't like camping, I would still recommend it because it's super fun, but DON'T GO WHEN IT'S REALLY WINDY. It is not fun when your tent flies away in the middle of the night and you get no sleep.

The car ride over to Anza Borrango State Park was a fun experience; there were moments of great music and car sickness. I had fun singing and talking to my car mates. When we arrived at the campsite, my groupmates and I started with the tent. We ran over to the best spot and set up the tent. I got all my stuff situated and immediately started to climb the mountain nearby. I was the first person on top of the mountain, and I enjoyed the scenic landscape as one does. 

Then I called my friends up the mountain, and when they were finally at the top, I took my data for Mr Amillos. Then, when I was headed down the mountain, I slipped and fell on a rock the size of my height and hit the ground, rolling into a cactus. I had injured my leg pretty badly, but I still wanted to have fun, so anyway, when a hike was coming up, I went. 

At first, Mark Ceder was explaining the surroundings of the mountain, and most were listening, then as we moved on, it turned into just enjoying the beautiful nature that was surrounding us. 

 At a certain point, the other group decided to turn around and head back to the camp, but me, Juan(aka Red) Charlotte, and Carlos Lopez.  When we were on the trail, Charlotte stepped near a snake and scared it.  We quickly hurried back to the car to get back to the camp.

 On the way back, I could not help but think about how many cuts and bruises I had. I had a rough night of sleep; the whole class was awake at one point in the night. I could not wait to be back home and to sleep in a cool, quiet, comfortable bed.

 The whole night was a doozy. All of the Classes woke up at exactly 2:37 am. Everyone stuck their heads out of the tent. The other tents were deafeningly loud in the middle of the night. It felt like I was hallucinating throughout the night. 

 The entire tent fell on me, but I was ditched, and it was just me and the tent at one point. You would get periodic 5 minutes of sleep and then awake for another 2 hours.

  I'm so glad when the morning finally rolled around.I was exhausted. I got up after I slept in a little late, but I got in the car, and I high-tailed it out there.

Camping is a very interesting activity. What I don’t enjoy about it is being in the hot sun while trying to find a proper trail to go to. I ended up getting the ladder. But it was still worth it.

The car ride up through the mountains felt like it took forever. I was sitting in the backseat while the wind from the window was blasting in my face (Driving past Julian made me hungry). Setting up the tent was simple; we just put the stakes in deep and folded the poles and fabric. While everyone else was putting their sleeping bags inside, I helped set up the foldable tables with Luis.  After that, I climbed up the cool rocky mountain to join my friends, which only took around 7 minutes. It wasn’t until I got up there that I realized that the overall environment at this time was really nice, with the chilling breeze contrasting with the hot, steaming ground. The view was not short of something you would have in a weird fever dream.

We all came down to have some lunch afterwards with some PB&J’s, which were very filling. I thought about the worksheet, so I grabbed one from Amilios' car. It took a while to write down the temperature in the air because everyone was using them. We decided to go on the nice valley hike and got to learn about the pictograms. Seeing one up close was a surreal experience to say the least, and I was also surprised to see more than 3 caverns and caves throughout the walk. I decided to turn back around, though. Getting back, I set up my sleeping bag and pad, and waited for my friends to get back. When it was dinner time, I put on my beanie and began walking towards the campfire. 

The food looked very appetizing, and everybody seemed to think the same thing. Trying to stand up was a task in itself when I woke up. For breakfast, I had a nice bagel, and packed up all of my stuff early. I finally climbed up the rocky hill for the last time, admired the view, and began wandering back down when all of a sudden I got some cactus in my shoe. I then began to help put the chairs and the food supply away and unloaded them into the car. I quite enjoyed the trip, but I was excited to be back home. It was one of the best moments I've had with my friends and with school in general. You will enjoy it if you are willing to deal with the weather and the dryness of the desert.

Have you ever been camping? Or slept in the middle of nowhere? Well I did for the first time at Anza Borrego, not too far from Julian California. In this story of my first time camping. It may make you laugh, worry, cry, or make you want to go camping. Or it makes you never want to go camping.

The night before the camping, I felt like a ball of emotions. Trying to make sure I packed everything I needed. Also trying to not out do myself because, that night I made sure to try and get as much sleep. Knowing 24 hours from then I would be sleeping in the dry desert. In the morning is when it really hit me that I would be sleeping in the middle of nowhere.

 On my way to school it felt like a car ride of a bunch of emotions. When I arrived at school, I made sure to kiss my mom goodbye and tell her how much I love her. I was afraid I would get eaten by a mountain lion and never see my mom again.

Then before I knew it I felt a bunch of weight over my shoulders. Carrying all this weight made me feel like a body builder. It felt like a punishment because why did I pack so much stuff?

Arriving at the camp site, I noticed there was no service. I immediately started panicking. I wasn't used to this.  Maybe because I was so used to being on my phone all the time. I quickly realized maybe this is what I need. Some time off my phone, just enjoy the moment and mother nature.

As humans we get caught up in work, school, social media. We forget to take a breather. We forget to be gentle with ourselves. Sometimes you just need a break from the city, your phone, work, school. 

Setting up was the hardest part. Just even trying to secure our tent to make sure we didn't go flying with our tent in the middle of the night. Some part of me was still thinking about how I even agreed to this. Some part of me was hungry as well. When I was finally able to eat I ate like a lion. Something about being stressed always gets me hungry.

After dinner I noticed myself getting really homesick. I missed my bed and my parents. Although my friends were helping me forget about home, they made me feel safe. My friends feel similar to home for me. Playing with them gave me deja vu. I felt like a little kid again. I felt the same joy I felt as a little kid playing in the middle of the street. This felt like a core memory to me. It also healed a part of me. 

At night, I hardly got any sleep. It was super windy. I felt like I was going to fly away because of how strong the wind was. I kept on getting smacked by my tent. Note to self, set up your tent correctly so you don't get smacked by your tent.

 Luckily I was able to get through the night though. The morning felt even better than night. Just waking up to such a beautiful view. Not a lot of people take time to just sit in mother nature. During this camping trip, from just being away from the crazy city, enjoying mothernature, and playing around with friends. For my first time camping it went well. This will surely be a core memory.

On the way home I felt so tired I felt like I hadn't slept in days. The wind kept me up all night. The whole car ride I was just thinking about how that first shower was going to hit and finally sleeping in my cozy bed, without getting smacked by my tent because of the wind.

When I finally arrived home, I realized how much I missed my parents. You don't realize how much you love or miss until they are gone. Or until you are away from them.

Once I hopped in the shower, the feeling or the warm water dripping through my body. Made me feel like a new person. That feeling of finally laying down in my cozy bed, was an indescribable feeling. 

Sometimes we all need a break from the crazy cities.

Sometimes we all need a break from social media.

Sometimes we all need a break from people.

It's very important to try something new all the time. Camping is something everyone should get a chance to experience.

The date was February 24, 2026, the Sage and Oak gathered for a one-night trip at the Anza Borrego State Park to experience what it’s like camping. Before the trip, I was nervous because this was my first time camping, and I didn’t know much besides making my own tent. The car ride was chill. To start, I got McDonald's for breakfast. I was mostly looking at the view because it was so astonishing, and I took a nap for the rest of the ride. When we got to the site, it felt like an exhibit at the San Diego Zoo for a desert-dwelling animal. Setting up my tent wasn’t that bad. It was very hot to set up because it was like 84 degrees, and it was really hard to set up. My palms were sweaty, and I felt the hot breeze on my back. After 40 minutes, it was finally done, and I said goodbye to my mom. After she left, I went to see my friends because they were already done with their tents and hung out with them for a while before some of them were going on a hike. 

During that time, I hung out with my other friends near my tent, and they were water coloring while Mr. Amilio was playing a card game with a few other kids. 

After 3 hours, the other kids returned from their hike, and we all started to hang out and fill out the worksheet that was given to us earlier that day. Then afterwards, it started to get dark, and everyone was changing into their pajamas to prepare for the cold of the night. When everyone was ready, it was time for dinner. They were serving pasta and garlic bread, which was delicious. After everyone was done eating, the teachers announced that they were going to do a night hike later that night, along with making s'mores in a few minutes. 

During that time, I was playing some Mafia with a few other friends, along with Scott. The scenarios that everyone was making were so funny to me because of how absurd they really sounded. Then, when everyone was done with the hike afterwards,  it was time to go to bed. Going to sleep was okay for the first 5 hours until there was wind coming in the reservation that we were camping at, which caused 3 tents to get blown down, which was insane to hear from inside my tent. When it was finally time to wake up, the wind was still in the valley, going crazy from left to right. We all started to have breakfast for 2 hours at best, then it was time to pack our things before all of the other drivers arrived. While packing my things, the wind came back, blowing a lot of stuff away while everyone was packing their belongings as well. 

3 more hours went by, and everyone was cleaning up their trash after finishing packing their things together, and the wind stopped after 5 hours. The drivers were arriving, including my mom, so that everyone could put away their things, along with the equipment that was used for making food. After only 30 minutes, we started to head back towards the school. The morning after the trip, I felt okay at best, but the only bad thing was that my back was sore from sleeping there

I highly recommend going to Anza Borrego State Park if you are interested in experiencing what I’ve been through.

On February 24th to the 25th a class of 9th graders from High tech High went camping at Anza Borrego, the camping was a fun and solid experience. The primary reason for camping was to analyze and record information about convection, radiation, and conduction.

Before the trip I was expecting no cold weather and I had felt as if I was packing unnecessary items that were not needed for a one day camping trip. Once we had to get to school and helped pack things up. 

I had gotten in the truck my chaperone was driving and we were the last to leave. Despite that we actually managed to get to the area first and it looked absolutely beautiful, no loud noises or anything, just peacefulness and a nice view. 

I finished setting up my partner’s tent and chilled for a few hours. After a big commotion about a rattlesnake I was very tired and my friend Santi offered to let me sleep in his tent so I did for about a few hours. 

I felt very comfortable even without a sleeping bag and just letting my face lay on the ground. I woke up around sun down to when everyone was having dinner. I had eventually decided to get up and go to the campfire.

 I wasn’t hungry at all so I didn’t eat. Later I was sitting by the campfire after nearly everyone had gone on the night hike. I was somewhat bored but glad I wasn’t hearing a bunch of irritating kids. It was a calm and boring time with my teachers Anna, Amillio, and Trisha as well as the other chaperones by the campfire.

 Around this time I was bored and just checking the time on my phone hoping I would get some sort of cell service to text someone. Not talking to any of my friends away from the camp really ruined my mood. 

After a boring rest near the campfire everyone else had finally come back and it was time to get into our tents.

Constantine, Kaden, and Santi all got in the tent and we were playing cards until Santi had fallen asleep. Afterwards, I was very bored and decided to sit outside in Santi’s chair because I did not feel like staying in the tent. Around 30 minutes later people were outside so I decided to join them because I was so bored. 

After getting into a bit of trouble Constantine and I went back to our tent and Santi had finally awoken, he then gave us a weird bedtime story about a few certain countries getting into full scale wars, immediately after he finished his story I saw a shooting star and I thought it was a missile coming to strike the hills because from the angle I was at it looked like it would.

 I was somewhat scared especially after hearing Santi’s story with all of the global conflicts happening in the real world now. I then decided to try and get some sleep when the wind started to pick up heavy speed.

After finding time to fall asleep the wind was irritating me. And almost blew away Santi in his own tent because he didn’t put steaks down.

Eventually I woke up and immediately got out of my tent in the morning. I could see Luis making pancakes and I saw my friend Sebastian asleep in his chair covered in his blanket. After he woke up we walked to the bathroom and the morning was pretty solid. 

I played soccer with Santi for a bit. I helped organize some of my classmate’s things from his tent and eventually helped Sebastian pack up things into his father’s truck and we eventually got back on the road.

 Back on the ride we saw a biker get into an accident and it was interesting, we then got back to driving and I felt as if I was dying inside because it was so hot but I didn’t feel like talking to Sebastian’s mother so I let myself fall asleep. Eventually I woke up and Sebastian and Damien were asleep and we ended up stopping at 7-11 to get some food, we then got back to school. I had felt so exhausted and Omar made me help bring stuff inside, we then finally chilled in class and went home. Overall the camping experience was solid and I had a good day.

If anyone were to camp at Anza Borrego I would recommend the basic essentials and of course food and water, sunscreen and a first aid kit just in case.

During the car ride I felt out of it, out of place. I felt off as if I was supposed to be talking but there was nothing to talk about until Emeli woke up.

Once we had gotten to the camp I took out our stuff while Alana was setting the tent. I felt like it wasn't enough team effort, yeah I was bringing our stuff but it felt like bare minimum. As we stepped into the tent it was burning hot, since I’m the type of person to sweat a lot I felt embarrassed, yeah they've seen my sweat here and there but I felt self conscious of how I looked, smelled, and acted. 

After a while we hung out with our tent neighbor, making jokes, laughing, and with Emeli doing their hair. I watched, I had tried to do someone's hair but I gave up. 

During dinner I ate the pasta, but I wasn't complaining since it was good.

While we finished our meal we played ‘spin the bottle truth or dare’ it was fun but the amount of people around the tent made it annoying as we screamed at them to leave, and then, one thing was told and made the mood flip, it was enjoyable but now with just an awkward feeling in the air for the rest of the game. 

Waking up was confusing, I kept hearing Mr. Amlilo saying “Emeli wake up… Emeli!” I was thinking to myself ‘Emeli wake up I want to sleep more’ until I noticed she wasn't in the tent. I woke up to tell Mr. Amilio where the box  was and thought to myself did he think I was Emeli?

I searched for my glasses. I had lost them and then I looked for my flip flops. They weren't there..? As Emeli came back I saw them on her feet. I wasn't upset… ok maybe a little but you would too.

As we went to go back I was praying it wouldn't be like the over, it was the same I felt so awkward and so unsure, but maybe it was just me being too quiet myself.

Once we got back to school I felt worse. I watched both my friends go with their friends but I knew I couldn't go to anyone. I stood awkwardly, I wished I had as many friends as they did I used to but no longer. I stood beside them awkwardly feeling out of place and so unsure. I had just wanted to go home already. On the drive home it was better and since we took Emeli to her place it was better, we talked stupid stuff with my cousin and my mom until she left.

Once I got home I went straight to the shower feeling fresh, then I had to try on stuff for my quince. After that I just locked myself in my room like I usually do.

Other than all those parts, I loved the trip and I’m glad I got to go again. I would say it was fun and lots would enjoy it as well.

That's it,

Judith

(PS! I did love this trip! I honestly don't know why I was making it so sad #I love my friends)

When I woke up, I remembered that I had to go on a camping trip. I was excited because I liked camping and because I was camping with friends. I was also really excited for the night because it would be the most fun at night.

On the car ride to camp it was fun because my group stopped at McDonalds and I ate some chicken nuggets and fries. When we got to the camp we were like the last people there because we stopped for McDonalds. Setting up the tent was bad because it was hot out and it took us like 20 minutes to set up our tent.

During the day all I did was scroll on tiktok on my phone or talk to friends because I was bored. At about 5 PM me and Lars started going up the mountain but he got ahead of me because I was slow. It took me about 20 minutes to get up the mountain and it took another 20 minutes to go back down.

After I got down, I saw that some people made pasta, but when I ate it, it wasn’t that good. During the night when me and my tent group were in bed, the wind started to shake my tent violently waking me up. After I woke up I just sat there but then I went outside because I heard some people talking. When I got out me and my friend went to the bathroom and when I got back from the bathroom I saw Trisha yelling at people to go to sleep.

After that, I got back in the tent and tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t. Some time later in the night, it started getting really windy and shook our tent a lot. Then a huge gust of wind came to our tent and tore our tent down. Everybody woke up after the tent came down and we started laughing because we thought it was funny.

After that, Omar came and told us he saw something flying away in the air coming from our tent. And after that, Trisha told us to quiet down because we were being too loud. After that we all quieted down and everyone else went to sleep but I couldn’t go back to sleep so I just sat outside of the tent. I stayed up all night until it was morning and I went back into the tent and fell asleep.

When I woke up everyone was starting to pack up so I started packing up too. After I was done packing up Ethan's mom came back and picked us up and we went back to school. On our way back we stopped by In-n-Out to get food and I got a burger and fries. When we got back to school the teachers told us some stuff and after that I left.

If you like camping I would recommend this place, but if you get car sick easily I wouldn’t recommend this because the roads to the camp get really bumpy and twisty. And be aware at night because it gets really windy and might cause your tent to collapse.

The first time I've gone camping in years, but this time I had classmates. The campsite was located in Anza Borrego. Anza Borrego is a dessert in California that I've never been to before! 

We were listening to one of my favorite artists, Olivia Dean, on the car ride to Anza Borrego. 

As soon as we got to the camp site me and my dad started taking the camping gear down from the truck. When all the things were off the truck my teacher came and told me that we were setting up somewhere else. By that time my dad had left so that meant I had to carry all the stuff to a new area. It was a difficult task but I was able to overcome it. Once I got to the new area I built the tent with the help of my friends.

After setting up I went to climb rocks with one of my classmates, it was fun but tiring. Climbing down from the rocks was a challenge because it was very steep. When I made it down from the rocks I went into my tent and took a 5 minute power nap. After waking up I decided to walk around the campsite. I saw some people playing BS and I decided to join, it was fun while it lasted.

Dinner time came and I helped prepare the bread. A few minutes later the food was ready and when everyone was eating I heard people say that the bread was good, which made me happy. As soon as dinner was over me and my friends ran around the campsite. 

Night time came around and I went on a night hike. It was a fun hike because I did stargazing. On the way back to the campsite it was lights off time. At that time tents were going everywhere because of the wind.

After that, I went to sleep and once I woke up I went to the bathroom. Later on that day my teacher invited everyone to go on a hike and I said yes but I was doubtful, it was actually a really fun hike. The hike consisted of seeing pictographs on rocks.

Finally, It was time to go home and I packed everything up. It was such a struggle because I couldn't pack my tent but my classmate came to the rescue. On the ride back I fell asleep but I could tell it went well. In the end, camping with my classmates was a great experience and one in a lifetime.

If you plan to go to Anza Borrego definitely go in the winter or early spring so it's not too hot. Keep in mind that at night time it can be windy. Make sure to take advantage of all the amazing trails in the area including the pictograph trail.

I didn’t process that we were camping until the morning came. I saw tons of kids clumped together with sleeping bags, duffel bags, someone even brought a suitcase. I found my tent group and placed my stuff down, rushing to go sign in at the front desk since I had arrived late. 

Flash forward about more than half an hour and we were in Hannah’s car. I sat comfortably in the heated seats and held Brissa’s hand for more than an hour. Her grip on my hand being so tight it left little marks where her fingertips were when she woke up from a nap and let go. 

As we arrived at camp the sun scorched our skin, the sudden urge to want to go back home flooded my senses. I could only dream of it. My AC, my own bathroom, my comfortable bed. 

Snapping out of my daydream, I was faced with the harsh reality of the sun burning everything in sight, including me.

 I wasn’t going to survive. 

Just kidding, it was actually Brissa who wasn’t going to survive since she had to go home early due to feeling sick. I knew the heated seats in Hannah’s car WERE that comfy, but after giving it some more thought, I realized that her sleepiness was the result of feeling sick. 

As we bid farewell to Brissa, it was just me and Hannah. We had so much room in the tent and I could actually fall asleep around her. I think I fell asleep around her a little too much. I couldn’t resist the urge to nap whenever I could. But in my defense I was exhausted the second day.

The hours I got to sleep were great. I had oddly realistic dreams, for example being at bird rock, another being me in my sleeping bag, getting ready to sleep and Hannah asking me if I wanted any snacks. The snack she offered me was also one of the ones I brought myself, so I genuinely wondered if it was a dream or not. 

Back to the point, I woke up a few times, at first it was hearing a bunch of people screaming, talking, being loud outside. I seriously thought it was day time because of how loud it was, but I trusted Hannah would’ve woken me up if it was. I found out that apparently it was because a bunch of people's tents blew away or broke. But gosh they could’ve kept it down.

Anyways, another reason I couldn’t go back to sleep, the real reason, was because of the wind. After Brissa left, me and Hannah were socially distanced with tons of room to ourselves. We had our own sides and everything. I was facing the way the wind was blowing towards. It was horrifying. I thought I was going to suffocate or something because it was caving in. 

Hannah left to use the restroom and the wind started shaking the tent like crazy. I started to feel like the Charli XCX song “House” featured in the new motion picture “adaptation” of Wuthering Heights. It was terrifying and I didn't think I was going to make it. 

Flash forward, the rest of the day was pretty chill. Luis made pancakes and I think I ate at least like twenty five of them. In my defense they were mini and I was really hungry during this trip. I believe it’s due to how exhausted I was. 

Anyways, I did a hike and then boom we got into the cars and came back to school! I survived actual camping and had a good amount of fun doing it! I talked to people I don’t always talk to so often during school and I really stepped out of my comfort zone. Overall, it was a fun camping trip and I’d definitely recommend the experience. My only note is to drink a ton of water and make sure you pack clothes that are weather appropriate!

 It all started crammed into Ethan's mom’s car. We were packed in there pressed against each other shoulder to shoulder. The first hour of the car ride was smooth. We were listening to BLP kosher and laughing until we stopped at McDonalds. After McDonalds road started winding and twisting and I could feel my stomach turning. Right after the windiest part we saw the campsite. 

We set up our tent and then proceeded to wait around the campsite for a few hours doing nothing. Later that day we played a 5 on 5 football game while the sun was setting and that went on for a few hours before it was dinner time. I did not like the dinner that much so I didn’t end up eating that much of it. After that we had smores and then we went to Sebastian's tent and crammed like 12 people in that tent. Shortly after my tent settled down and attempted to go to sleep I tried the whole night to get some shut eye but after listening to other tents talk the whole night and my tent collapsing I didn't get much sleep. The next morning I woke up and felt aches all over my body. I was tired, I was angry, I did not want to do anything, and I dreaded being out there. 

A few long hours later we began on our descent home. We stopped at in n out 15 minutes from school. It was there that we saw the great influencer fouseytube. We talked to him for a minute and took photos then left back for school. We got back to school, and my legs almost collapsed beneath me. The only thing I wanted in the whole world was to sleep. I searched all over Ethan's car for my sleeping bag but it was nowhere to be found and I started thinking I left it at camp. Once I left school I finally felt some relief being away from all my classmates and teachers. I finally got to sleep too. 

If you are looking to go to Anza Borrego to camp I would recommend hiking the nearby rocks. I would also be mindful of extreme winds at night.