Day 3 - Thursday 3/20/14 Manatees and Snorkeling

Surprisingly it was with very little trouble and complaint that everyone got up this morning at 4:30am. Even more surprisingly that everyone had checked out and loaded the bus by 5:15am. But most of all what pleasantly surprised Mrs. Rhodes and Mrs. Nicholas this am was how very nice our students left their rooms. Judging the cleanest room contest was hard but we finally awarded 1st place to Tristan, Jordan E, Stone and Brad. It looked like no one had lived there at all. Well-done gentlemen. Our first hour on the bus was spent eating breakfast and then taking a short nap before Kristin our World Strides guide had us watch the informational Manatee Movie. After a short briefing by one of the Pro-Dive shop guides, everyone got fitted for their wet suits, snorkels, masks and fins. Putting on a dry wet suit is not an easy task especially for those who have never done it before. A short bus ride took us to the Crystal River/Springs where our three boats and guides were waiting for us. Excited to see and to interact with manatees we set out for the Three Sisters manatee sanctuary. Unfortunately there were no manatees hanging out in the sanctuary. The weather has been fairly warm lately we were told and that means most of the manatees have migrated out towards the ocean. This in turn meant that it would be much harder for us to find, see and most of all be able to interact with a manatee. After about 15-20 minutes someone spotted a large male. We anchored, were told to find our “exit buddy” and got in the water without fins – it was too shallow – and a very small handful of us had the opportunity to actually see this guy. He decided he had enough and moved on. So we had to get out of the water and boy was it cold. Burr!! We moved to another area and right away we come across a mom and her juvenile calf. Once again we got in the water and this time a few more students had a chance to see a manatee, but it did not last long. They had enough and moved on as well. Out of the water for a second time and it was still cold. It took much longer this time before we got word of a small group of three manatees that were sleeping on the bottom. Luckily these guys tolerated us and actually hung around so that all students that wanted to could see a manatee or two or three and several of our students also had a chance to touch one of them. Hot chocolate to warm us up was a perfect end to our excursion. Back at the Pro Dive shop we did some shopping and watched our Manatee video. Our lunch from Quizno’s was delivered – Yummy subs, chips and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert that we all ate on the bus on our way to KP Hole Park for our second snorkeling experience of the day. By this time it had already warmed up quit a bit and it was not too bad to put on those somewhat damp and cold wet suits. Our guides were waiting with the boats at the dock of the Rainbow River to take us upstream 1.5 miles. This time we got to put on our fins before getting in the water. Zach, Mike, Phillip and the "new bee" Bill guided us down the river to make sure we stopped at the interesting points such as the chimney hole, the blowhole vent where you can dive down and let the force of the water shoot you up to the surface, popcorn springs which make the sand look like its popping popcorn and the cave 23 feet down you can dive down to and go into. We got to see lots of fish. The sand and rocks were so beautiful with the sunlight shining down into the water. Several of us saw turtles and many different kinds of birds. Mostly though everyone seamed to just enjoy the floating, swimming, diving and exploring. If you listened carefully enough you could hear many of our students say: “This is so cool.” “This is my favorite part so far.” “I just love this”. Priceless. Once everyone had changed into some dry, warm, cozy and comfortable clothes we settled back in on the bus for our 6 hr drive to Key Largo. The first part of the trip was spent napping, relaxing, texting, checking Face book and email, and some of us even got the blog caught up. Half way there we stopped for dinner at one of the rest areas with where we had many different places such as Nathan’s hot dogs, KFC, Wendy’s, Baskin Robins and many more to choose from. After dinner it was down to business again. First we did our daily Journaling for our scrapbooks. Next everyone worked in their World Strides Science in Motion Journals and we went over those pages as a large group. Finally it was time for a movie – The Lorax. Arriving at the hotel in Key Largo around 10pm gave us just enough time to get checked in and settled before lights out at 11 pm. Today was a super great day and I am sure everyone will sleep well after spending all day in the water. And through all this Elizabeth’s hair stayed up in her very specially constructed bun. Amazing!

Day 2 - Wednesday 3/19/14- Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

 “Good morning – this is your wake up call. It is now 6 am and the high for today is going to be 80 degrees”. Yes!! Another wonderful day in Florida, another wonderful day at Disney and another wonderful day with our amazing group of students. This group has been super so far. They are nice and polite, they are timely and this morning EVERYONE was waiting in the lobby even before it was time to board the bus. We actually ended up having to wait for the bus (it got stuck in traffic close to the train station). NO worries because our group was ready and we still made it to Magic Kingdom in time for our Magical Day to begin. The Y.E.S. educators (Youth Education Series) met us as soon as we arrived and quickly had us divided into three groups for the morning’s physics program on the “Properties of Motion”. The lesson got off to a slow start with a simple demonstration and hands on activity to review the Scientific Method and Newton’s Law’s of motion. Gradually everyone’s brain began to wake up and by the time we finished our monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom Park entrance it all had come back to each and every one of us. At 7:30 am the park is not yet open to the general public. This gave us a chance to experience Main Street USA fairly empty and many of the cast members preparing the park for the day. We decided against a group picture in front of the castle because of the maintenance that was being done.

 No one liked the big crane towering over the spirals and taking away the magic. Our first stop took us to Tomorrow land and Space Mountain where we had a chance to ride the rollercoaster first with the lights on and then again with the lights of. This gave us a chance to make a hypothesis and compare the differences of the ride.  We learned that the top speed is 27mile/hour, the ride takes 150 seconds, the highest point is 70.5 feet and the biggest drop is 23 feet and with the lights off it makes the ride feel so much faster and bigger. Outside we continued our discussion about roller coasters testing the amount of potential and kinetic energy it takes for a marble to complete one of three miniature coasters. Buzz Light Year and Pirates of the Caribbean taught us about Disney’s Animatronics through hydraulic and pneumonic movement. Riding Big Thunder Mountain Rail road – another one of Disney’s steel tubular coasters – we experienced centripetal force and g-force in person. Some of us even had some airtime. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Haunted Mansion before it was time for lunch. Lunch and free time were combined. Again a large group of our boys decided to splurge and spend $232 on lunch at this Italian place. After their meal cards they still had a $80 bill to pay. We also managed to get a few laughs in with the Monster Inc. Laugh floor. Some of us did some shopping, watched Mickey and Minnie and their friends put on a show at the Castle and watched the mini celebration parade. All of our first time Disney visitors received a special 1st time visitor button and Tristan was given a Happy Birthday button since today was his 14th birthday.

 In the afternoon we went to Hollywood Studios and the “real rides”. With Disney’s new fast pass system those who wanted to ride the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rocking Roller Coaster ended up having to wait 1-2 hrs in line to get their thrill gene satisfied. Others decided to experience the stunt shows Indiana Jones and Lights, Motors, Action, and learn about the set and props used during movies and TV shows. Our evening ended with another spectacular show in the dark – Fantastic. The lights, the characters and the story were super and again we were all in awe. Going to bed this evening – in about 5 minutes – should not be a problem after two packed and fun filled days. Goodnight!

Day 1 - Tuesday 3/18/14 - EPCOT

Due to the snow and not knowing how much we would get and if the parking lot at school would be cleared the decision was made to move our departure location to the Liberty/Burger King Gas Station of off Rt. 11 and I-81. The Bus was on time – I repeat the Bus was on time and so were all of our students. Everyone and their luggage had been loaded by our set departure time of 3:45am and after lots of hugs, kisses and last advices given it was time for our 2014 World Strides Trip to begin. As usual the first hour on the bus was spent going over lots of important information. We handed out t-shirts, instructed the chaperons, had breakfast and got some time to rest. The drive to Reagan went as planned and we arrived at 5:50am. Our early arrival was a good thing as it took over 1 hour and 20 minutes to get all 50 of us checked in. Not sure why it took so long BUT once again we only had a few minutes to spare before the last call for boarding was made. The flight to Orlando was a little bumpy but overall went very well. Overall it was very quite as most of us fell asleep or chose to rest our eyes. Our first time flyers “enjoyed” the take off and the landing. Our luggage arrived on the carousel very fast which made up for the time it took to check in. “Welcome to the Sunshine State” – Kristen (our World Strides Guide) greeted us. “Today’s high is expected to be 77 degrees.” Yes, just what we all needed after all this snow and cold weather. We quickly changed into shorts, put sunscreen on and boarded the bus that would take us to EPCOT. Once through security and the park entrance we stopped for a brief group picture before heading off to lunch. Boy, everyone was starving and the food at “The Seasons” restaurant hit the spot. Now on to some rides. We learned about hydroponics and aquaculture among other things and got to see some great fruits and vegetables growing during “The Land” ride.

 Next we decided to taste a few different coca cola products from all over the world – some were good and others Yuk!!! Ellen and Bill Nye helped us learn a ton about all kinds of energy. What wonderful review from 6th and 8th grade about fission, fusion, solar and wind power, fossil fuels and hydroelectric power BUT most of all brainpower. Next it was time for Mission Space. Not everyone rode this ride that sometimes causes motion sickness. Those who did though had a great time. Free time was spent discovering the eleven different countries in “The World Showcase”. One group of 9 boys decided to put all of their dining card together and got themselves a great big pizza feast for dinner while visiting Italy. Others like the adults decided to go for a nice relaxing sit down dinner in Mexico. Dinner was great. By now most of us were running somewhat low on fuel despite having had a good dinner. Starbucks, chocolate and ice cream quickly became our very best friends to keep us going through the amazing “Illuminations” fireworks show. Wow!!!!

 It is now almost midnight. We have checked in, situated ourselves in our rooms, cell phones have been collected and lights have been turned out. Tomorrow will soon be here and we all need some well-deserved rest.