Name: Vanessa                  Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Teacher: Ms. Babb

 An Over Night Trip in Orangeville, ON

            In Orangeville, ON, there is a place full of fun and adventures.  That place is called Teen Ranch!  Teen Ranch is a ranch of education and Christianity.  Every year Cardinal Leger gets to go to Teen Ranch every year because we have a good reputation.  In this essay, I will tell how much fun horseback riding was, what food they gave us, and how hard rock climbing was.

One the activities I enjoyed most at Teen Ranch were horseback riding.  Before we were able to ride the horses, my group had to sit for an hour and learn how to get on a get off a horse, how to make it go and stop, and how to turn it right and left.  It was worth the hour.  Later, our group walked down to the barn to choose our horses.  At the side of the barn there was a red door.  My group entered the door which leads to hall with pictures which leads to a room with helmets.  I got my helmet and I went out to the barn to choose a horse.  In the area there were many horses.  My horse was Rosie.  Rosie was a caramel coloured horse with a white stripe down her face.  Rosie was tall and looked like she weighed 1000lbs.  She was a very gentle and calm.  I standed on the left side of her and waited for assistance to get on.  Once I was on Rosie, I realized the saddle was very uncomfortable.  It was hard as a rock.  After everyone was on their horse, we left the barn and entered a forest.  It was nice scenery.  There were times where Rosie struggled and almost fell.  When we got back to the barn, I got off Rosie and headed back to the helmet room.  As I walk out, I was happy that I actually rode a horse, and if I didn't I would regret it.  

            At Teen Ranch the food was excellent.  I really enjoyed it a lot.  For breakfast, we would have the usual cereal and milk.  Then for the next course we would have eggs and bacon, or pancakes and sausages, or French toast.  No desert!  At twelve o'clock (lunch), we would have a salad with fries or pasta.  For desert, we would have cookies with cinnamon or coconut.  For dinner, I think is the best meal time of the day.  We would have rice and chicken, or mashed potatoes with meatballs, or fish and potato wedges, or ham with peas, and corn.  And for desert, we have banana rolled in cinnamon with vanilla ice cream, cookies, or cake.  They are very delicious.  The food was healthy except for the deserts.  The food at Teen Ranch deserves five stars.

            From my point of view of rock climbing, I suck at it.  I can't even make it two metres up the wall. The two helpers for rock climbing were Alyssa and Josh.  I was in a group of eight people.  We were all sitting on a bench waiting for a turn.  Once it was my turn, I walked to Alyssa's side.  Her wall was the medium difficulty wall.  I pull on my belay and Alyssa tightens it.  Then I ask two questions, "Is my belay on?" and, "May I climb?"  As I climb the wall, I was slipping and falling.  At least I past the black line.  After I got off, I decided to climb the easy wall.  Once again I pulled the belay on and Alyssa tightened it.  Then I asked the two questions again and started to climb.  This time I noticed it was easier.  I had a better grip of the rock and I didn't really slip.  There were times when I wanted to give up, but couldn't.  And there was that moment, I reached the top!  I pushed myself past my limits and I reached the top!

            In this essay, talked about how horseback writing was fun, what food they gave us, and how hard horseback riding was.  Teen Ranch is one of my favourite overnight trips ever.  I really want to go again.  There is another chance.  I'll try to do better in art and hoping to get selected for the Bob Wilson Art Camp, so I can go back.