June 4, Day 3

Day Three June 4, 2010

The dance was great last night, The kids liked the DJ (which always helps) and he was so surprised that they requested "oldies" and said how different ( in a nice way) these kids are than what he usually sees. Some of the students were really interested in the Celtics game, so we took over a TV in the pool area and let those who wanted to watch the game while others dances away the night. It is good we can provide options so everyone has a good time. Dance and game were over by 10 and we taped thiem in. We got them up at 6AM and had them checked out of the hotel by 7AM, loaded the buses and headed down the hill for breakfast. It is one of the original Howard Johnson's and is a very cool place to eat. The food options were amazing.

We were on the road by 8:30 and made it to Ausable Chasm on time. There were were banded with bracelets and headed out in groups of 10 for the 1.5 mile walk along the chasm rim which eventually brings you down to the level of the water. It is a beautiful walk, slippery at times and we travel throuhg virtual time zones as we descended layer upon layer of limestone laid down throughout the ages. It is a geologist's laboratory. Finally we turn a corner and you can see the big inflatable rafts being lowered into the river and that's when it gets exciting. We took off our sneakers and tied them to our life jackets and jumped into the boats for the ride out of the chasm. There is a little whitewater, some bumping on the canyon walls and a fun ride out as the river flattens. We took a trolley back to the top of the hill and enjoyed a great cookout and they had down time to play volleyball, catch, soccer, or just hand out. It was a gorgeous day.

We drove to the ferry which is cool. All four buses loaded together for the short trip over beautiful Lake Champlain to the Vermont side. We arrived at Ben and Jerry's and toured the facility in groups and had free ice cream. Some of the boys even bought the "monster" bucket which takes about 10 hungry teen agers to get through--but they did.

As we headed home all I could think about was the fact that there probably are not many schools where you can take away 160 kids who are finishing middle school for 3 days with virtually NO incidents and nothing but compliments. That's who we are and that makes me proud. The new bus driver in the group could not say enough to me after we arrived home, he was actually teary.

We have done a good job, the result of a partnership between home and school and the village of Ipswich which continues to be a great place to raise kids,

Thank you chaperones and students for a wonderful trip, 2010. This will be hard to beat.

Cheryl Forster