ESCAPE Club fans,
The ESCAPE Club at DeJean is really rocking this year! We’re on Instagram (follow us @escape.club ), we’ve got a YouTube channel, we’re in the newspaper, REI sees us, there’s snow in the Sierras already, our website is almost ready for official release, and most importantly, kids are getting to do some great things outside!
November’s trip was to Slide Ranch near Muir Beach. 8:30am at DeJean and the drive to the ocean was cold, wet, and blustery. 36 kids and 9 drivers ignored the weather, and showed up anyway, hopeful for a fun, worthwhile day. Driving through the rain, I have to admit I was wondering what I was leading these kids into. But once we parked the cars and got out, the sun broke through. We shed our rain gear, and felt once again like we were being favored.
The staff at Slide Ranch divides us up into small groups, and then spends the day giving the kids an intimate look at life on a farm. In particular, we spent time learning about and discussing sustainable living and where our food comes from. The groups rotate through several activities, including milking a goat, visiting the chicken and duck coops, making bread and butter, touring and tasting in the organic garden, digging in the compost pile, and seeing how a bee hive works. Each activity is completely hands on, and a new experience for almost everyone. The land at Slide Ranch ( slideranch.org ) is open to the public if you ever want to visit. We’ve just had a great time every time we’ve visited.
After our time was done at Slide Ranch, we walked down the hill to the beach. The tide was out, but there wasn’t a whole ton of wildlife that captured the students’ attention. A few starfish, a few crabs, a few anemones. But that didn’t matter. It was just fun to climb over the rocks, dodge the waves, and enjoy the sand and the view, and whatever oddity they saw. Back home by dark, the kids were tired and could look back on a great experience.
Jason’s slideshow video can be viewed by clicking on the following:
December’s trip to Monterey is coming up next week, so we’ll be back in touch soon!