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ESCAPE to San Francisco 2016

ESCAPE to San Francisco

From San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin. Six stops on a rainy Saturday in December…

We knew it was going to rain, but we were hopeful for a reprieve at some point during the day, as we had our usual list of destinations to hit:

  • Lombard Street
  • Palace of Fine Arts
  • Fort Point
  • Golden Gate Bridge
  • Marine Mammal Center
  • Battery Spencer

Though it didn’t work out exactly the way we’d hoped, we had a great day, and dodged the raindrops as best we could.  We did get to see the wild parrots at Lombard Street, which was a special treat.  The Palace of Fine Arts was glorious as always, but without much shelter, we didn’t stay long.  The torrents continued while we were at Fort Point, but at least we could avoid the rain if we chose.

But the rain continued, and we thought it best to skip the walk on the Golden Gate Bridge.  The Marine Mammal Center generously allowed us to eat lunch in their classroom, and then gave us an introduction to all that goes on there.  They had just brought in a juvenile elephant seal an hour earlier, which was fortunate for us.  It was the only animal we could actually see.  In recent years, we’ve seen many, many more animals, but we’ve gone in March, much later in the season.

The kids (and chaperones) persevered, and to buy time in the rain, we visited the Marin Headlands Visitor Center.  It’s actually a nice visitor center, and they graciously hosted us for close to an hour.  By then, the rain finally gave way to heavy fog.  We decided we could try going to Battery Spencer.  Though we were just a few hundred yards from the Golden Gate Bridge, we couldn’t see a thing.  It did give us a chance to burn off a little energy, running around among the old buildings.  By that time though, most of us were pretty cold and damp, and ready for a warm shower and dry clothes.

We decided to call it a day, and returned to Richmond an hour early. But we were pleased with the attitude and the adventurous spirit of the kids.  Most of them felt like this was still a major upgrade from sitting by themselves at home on the couch!  We’re grateful for a nice group of kids we have this year, and for teacher/chaperones that are supportive, attentive and flexible.  And we got to wear our new shirts! Don’t we look good in them?

We filmed a “mannequin challenge” at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center to pass the time in the rain.  You can see it at the end of our slideshow video below.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us at the ESCAPE Club!

Click above to see the video.  Our mannequin challenge is at the end.

 
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ESCAPE to Slide Ranch 2016

ESCAPE to Slide Ranch

Goat milking, a trip through the chicken pen, baking from the organic garden, and lots more…

We have come to love our annual trip to Slide Ranch.  The students are exposed to so many new experiences, that it’s a bit overwhelming for us to try to document the day.  
Our group of 35 kids was broken into four groups, each led by one of the talented Slide Ranch staff.  They take the time to learn kids’ names, and really interact personally with them the entire time we’re there.  We can’t say enough about their program, and their generosity to us.  You can find more about them at  www.slideranch.org.

We ended the program sharing a feast of all the things we made: bread, butter, vegetable stir fry, and rhubarb crisp, all on nasturtium leaf plates.  So tasty, and we made it all ourselves!

The last part of a full day was a walk down to the beach for a little tide-pooling, some selfies, and an incredible sunset.

Click above to see the video!  
(on DropBox since YouTube had copyright issues.  
If you prefer, a higher resolution version is here.)

 
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ESCAPE to Mt. Diablo 2016

ESCAPE to Mt. Diablo

To the summit at 4000′, then back down to Rock City

Our first trip of 2016-17 was to Mt. Diablo.  This has been a great first trip for more than the past 10 years.  It is relatively close, we know what to expect, it’s virtually free (thanks, Mt. Diablo!), and we get lots of unstructured time to kick back and get to know each other.  We had a nice group of about 40 kids in 10 cars, and it was a nice start to the year.

The day started early at DeJean, as it takes a little more than an hour to get up to the summit.  Lots of cyclists going up and down the mountain these days.  The view from the top was clear, and you really feel like you’re up high.  Even that is a new experience for a lot of our kids.  No real clouds or fog to speak of, and some of us were disappointed not to see a tarantula out looking for romance.

We headed back down to Rock City in the late morning.  There are several easy scrambles that anyone can do up the sandstone structures.  The small wind caves provide an attainable goal and a nice reward for adventurous kids.  And there are lots of mini “summits” from which kids can look out over the area.  The kids have a couple hours and about a half-mile radius to go out and explore, climb, survey, or just find a shady spot to relax with friends.

We temporarily acquired a “volunteer” alligator lizard which was fun to see up close.  Then we had some ice cream treats, a brief dry ice lesson, and it was time to head home.  Check out the video below to see all of the shots and highlights from the day.

Thanks go out to the many chaperones who gave up their Saturday to give our kids a special experience.

Trip #2 is coming up soon, so we’ll be in touch.  Enjoy the photos and the video, and thanks again for your support.

Click above for the video!

 
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ESCAPE Club is Back!

The ESCAPE Club is back for more!

More fun, more adventure, more new experiences

You know it!  The ESCAPE Club is back for year #17.  Who’s coming with us?  We’ve begun recruiting students and new chaperones at DeJean, and our first meeting is coming up this week.  We’re already making plans for our first trip, next month to Rock City on Mt. Diablo. We’ve added a few email addresses to our distribution list, so if these messages are new to you, welcome!  (Feel free to unsubscribe anytime at the bottom of the page–no hard feelings).

If you’re one of our regular driver/chaperones, you should have already received your first request.  

If you’re interested in sponsoring us financially, the avenues are the same:

  • write a check directly to us
  • donate through the EdFund (tax deductible, they take a small percent for processing)
  • deposit direct to our account using PayPal (to info@escapeclub.org)
  • donate via DeJean (be sure to let us know you’re doing this so we can follow up)

More details for supporting us financially are on our website: http://escapeclub.org/index.php/donate

We appreciate every dollar that is sent, and be assured that every dollar goes directly to the students and the trips.  We have virtually no overhead costs, and every chaperone and teacher leader is a volunteer.

If you’re not following us on Instagram, you really should be. We are @escape.club

And if you didn’t catch our year end slideshow video, I’ve posted it here again.  It’s a good one.  Go ahead.  Click on it.

 

Finally, we’ve got plans for some new ESCAPE Club swag this year. So along with our usual shirts and sweatshirts (with a sweet new design), we’ll also have a few other fun promotional items.  We’ll let you know about those soon.

Thanks for reading, and for all your support and encouragement. Drop us a note sometime, if you haven’t recently.  Jason is back working at DeJean for the time being, so that will help our connection to the students.  We’re looking forward to another great year!