March 11, 2011, Friday (Day 9) to March 13, 2011, Sunday (Day 11)
If you were to take a special education course at a reparable University with the hopes of one day
working with special needs individuals, the one term you would hear repeated in every class
would be “routine”. You would probably hear things like: “Students need to see their routine.”
You be told to “Establish a routine for your students.” You professor might even emphatically
say, “The most important thing you can do for a special needs student is to establish a routine
and stick to it.” What these classes often fail to emphasize is the need for the established routine
to be strategically compromised to facilitate learning. Compromises challenge the student’s
understanding of the world around them and provide a platform for instruction. Students are
afforded new feelings and emotions through compromises they wouldn’t otherwise encounter.
Perhaps in the future we could label our program as the Routine Compromise on the Highway to
Hell.
We took 6 of Post High students out of their normal routines, dropped them into an adventure of
visiting theme parks, eating at nice restaurants, and spending the night at a beautiful resort in the
hills of Escondido, California. Then, just as they were getting settled into a new daily routine of
fun in the sun, we loaded up the vans, and got back in the saddle for the road trip home.
Friday morning we said goodbye to our condos at the Welk resort in Escondido. We were filled
with excitement as we checked into the Disneyland parking terrace one last time, ready for our
last hurrah before driving home. Indio, Garrett, and Shaylee decided that Disneyland was much
more enjoyable without the large group and decided to go their own way until lunch. Aleyda,
showing great personal growth, declined Garrett’s constant begging for her to join his group for
the day. Aleyda knew what she wanted and didn’t even have to scratch her chin before declining
Garrett’s offer. We, the staff, are so proud. While Garrett, Indio, and Shaylee were off
squandering their last few dollars and trying to convince each other which ride to go on next, the
rest of us were having the time of our lives. We rode everyone’s favorite rides and then jumped
aboard the Wild Rapids California Adventures just to check it off our list. The first time down
the manmade river, everyone got wet accept Bryanne. Adam, Kylie, and Aleyda caught the
brunt of a water spout right before disembarking and Tami, Mike, and Doug were splashed by a
few rogue waves. Everyone agreed that Bryanne had to share in the miserable sensation of being
wet in your clothes so back in line we went. The second time down the wild rapids, Mike caught
a couple of gallons right in his lap while Doug, Kylie, Tami, Aleyda, and Adam took a few more
splashes from overhead, underfoot, and across the side. There was a stark contrast between
Mike’s shoes—squishing sounds with each step accompanied by water oozing out of the vent
holes, and Bryanne’s shoes that were dry and bouncy. We were all a little defeated knowing that
we had gone from wet to soaking and Bryanne was still dry.
Both groups met for a late lunch, early dinner at the Denny’s just outside the park. It was the
only break we had all day. Once we were fed, refreshed, and medicated, we set off for a busy
night in the park. Tami and Adam headed back to the van’s to get jackets for those who were
still wet from the Wild Rapid ride, while the others ventured back into the park. The night was a
hodgepodge of the best of Disneyland and the best of California Adventures. One of the best
experiences of the day was watching the 4D bug show in Bug’s World. In the last week we have
seen several 3D movies but the Bug World’s 4D show took the cake. The entrance to the theatre
was a bugs cave and had several interesting facts about different types of bugs displayed as
movie posters. Inside the theatre we noticed that the seats were plastic benches, carved and
painted to look like wooden logs. For 15 minutes we not only saw the effects of 3D vision, we
became a part of the experience with the 4D interaction. We felt the acid spit from the termites,
we were poked by the bee’s stinger, the weather balloon size black widow spiders came right
down to our heads, we could really smell the sulfuric aroma of the stink bug, and when we were
asked to remain seated so the cockroaches could exit safely, we felt the stampede of critters
beneath our seats. The Bug World production is definitely something that shouldn’t be missed.
We painfully endured the last two hours of our Disneyland adventure. Some of us couldn’t wait
for the clock to strike twelve. The way Kylie was moving through the parking lot, one might
think she was worried that the vans would turn into pumpkins. All things must come to an end
and Alas the fun in the sun ended as we drove out of Anaheim for the last time.
At 1:30 am we pulled in front of Bryanne’s Brother’s house in the suburbs of Beaumont,
California. Indio and Garrett quickly fell asleep on the two couches. Aleyda, Shaylee, and Kylie
were next to zonk out on an air mattress by the kitchen. Bryanne and Tami shared the guest
bedroom, and Mike and Adam slept on camping cots in the living room. We barely noticed the
family that inhabited the beautiful home and they were gone before many of the students were
even awake. Once the last of our party was showered and dressed we loaded up and got on the
road.
Before crossing the state line into Nevada, we stopped in the town of Barstow, CA for lunch.
We gave the students six dollars to blow in the Barstow Station. Six dollars doesn’t go very far
but if you were like some of our students, and blew all of your money by the second day of the
trip, six dollars amounts to a lot of money. We spent some time reminiscing about all the silly
things that happened during the past week. Earlier on the trip, Bryanne noticed that whatever the
staff said the students would believe it. Bryanne therefor named our class Team Gullible,
referring to all the hook, line, and sinkers swallowed by the students and staff. (Adam
swallowed one the first day when Mike told him he could tint the van windshield by turning a
nob. Garrett swallowed a few when we told him Doug’s mom called and said we had to give
him more money. Shaylee and Indio swallowed the entire fish when we told them that Sea
World serves dolphin meat—watch the Cove. Garrett and Indio caught the hook when they
texted Mike in Disneyland asking where he was. When Mike text back that we were on our way
to Las Vegas without them panic ensued. 30 minutes later Mike got a call from a concerned
parent who was wondering just where the class had left his son.
We arrived in Las Vegas just after 3:30pm and turned North North East towards Boulder. The
Hoover Dam, often referred to by Adam as being the Boulder Dam, was right where a dam
should be. Indio didn’t want to waste time walking the Dam because he has seen too much of
the dam site. When we all tumbled out of the vans into the dam parking lot, Tami, Kylie, and
Bryanne went in search of a dam bathroom. We took a dam picture, and Adam went looking for
a dam tour guide but couldn’t find one. He ran into the dam police and asked a couple dam
questions. Kylie scared Tami when she took a running leap onto the dam wall, and we were all
relieved when we found the dam bathroom. What a wonderful dam experience.
We had to wait in the parking lot for the Nevada Police to give citations to some people in a
truck who cut off a couple of bikers and caused to crash. It’s a good thing Mike was on the ball
with the meds. Doug remained cool and we were able to get back across the dam without losing
a single person over the side.
Bryanne was ready to kill Adam and Tami after the 10th call to her I phone with different name
of a restaurant to go to. Tami wanted a “sit on the floor, Japanese restaurant” and Adam wanted
the students to experience different cultures on the trip. At 6:00 pm we pulled into a parking lot
next to the Osaka Japan Restaurant. We thought we were in the wrong place for a moment—the
parking spot we had chosen was outside a couple shops with lace in the window. Normally lace
in the window means you are at an authentic French Cuisine restaurant along the Loire River in
France. In Las Vegas it doesn’t mean French food, rather it indicates things that might happen
on the French Riviera. We found our way over to the Osaka and waited for Adam’s wife and
sister to join us for dinner.
Inside the Osaka, we were led to a long thin room in the back that had shoji windows and tatami
mat flooring with a long table that was prepared Japanese style for our class. Each person had to
slip off their shoes in order to sit on the tatami mat. The waiters were Japanese and we could tell
that this place was authentic because half the patrons at the restaurant were Japanese. The
students and staff gagged down a combo plate of sushi rolls, edamame and gyoza appetizers,
shabu shabu (a boiling concoction of meat and vegetables), and Japan’s finest dish Tsukiyaki
(same as shabu shabu but with a soy sauce base). Adam thought it was divine, Mike thought it
was a cool experience, Indio and Garrett thought about fighting over the meat, Shaylee thought
she could hide her portion under her rice, Tami thought she liked it, Aleyda thought the egg roll
was the best, Kylie thought about real food, Bryanne thought she died inside a texture vacuum
that only served gross food, Adam’s sister thought the food was just slimy, and Becky, Adam’s
wife, thought the mochi ice cream was the best treat of all.
The students and staff got to join Adam in celebrating Becky’s birthday. A few days before,
during our trip to Sea World, Adam corralled the help of the girls in our group and purchased
Becky some pearls. The pearls were presented to Becky on the ice cream platter at the Osaka
restaurant with the students, waiters, and staff in on the surprise. As Becky adorned herself with
the newly acquired jewelry Garrett shared his thoughts about the whole pearl necklace. “I told
Adam that you would probably like the necklace so much that you would maybe be happy and
could give him a lot of kisses and maybe even make out with him.” (Garrett has defined making
out as having lips together for a long time.) Adam assured Garrett that a make out session was
likely to ensue but not in front of him.
Once the check was paid we headed to the Las Vegas strip. For those of you working in the ASL
realm the “strip” might be described as the MAIN STREET or STREET CASINO MANY. But
for those in the Hard of Hearing realm the Las Vegas strip is a little more graphic. Garrett’s face
turned red when Bryanne signed Las Vegas Strip using the sign STRIP. Many who have been to
the city of Las Vegas may remember the 80’s and 90’s push to make the Vegas Strip a family
friendly place. Children attractions were popular, shows were less burlesque in nature, and one
could actually walk down the street without getting burned with every glance upward. Toward
the end of the 90’s, Vegas became less of a family place and more of a secret getaway. Finally at
the change of the new century, Las Vegas openly adopted the label of Sin City and with it the
new slogan of “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. No longer is the Las Vegas Strip a
family oriented place. Even in the Circus Circus Adventure Dome, were the rides are geared
towards the younger generations, one can find the beginnings of greed, promiscuity, and lasting
feelings of satisfaction. Kylie, Garrett, and Indio stayed in the Adventure Dome with Mike and
Bryanne while Shaylee, Doug, and Aleyda followed Adam, Tami, and Becky through the
casino’s maze to the top hat to watch the acrobats and play the “ring the bottle” carnival type
games. The Adventure Dome group went in search of ice cream, while the top hat group started
the 30 minute drive up Bonanza to the home we had planned to spend the night.
At 12:00 midnight the decision was made by Adam to drive North to Hurricane before stopping
for the night. This may have been a brilliant plan at the time, but it wasn’t so brilliant in
execution. Adam and Tami’s van found a very drunk and truly stranded woman on the Apex
road across from the Nevada Speedway. They helped push her car off the road and called a
contact on her phone to come and pick her up. When both groups finally met up at a gas station
outside of Las Vegas, the time was 1 am. We decided to continue on and the night disappeared
into oblivion. The driving wasn’t much of a problem for either vans but when we arrived in
Hurricane at 3am we realized that there had been a time change as well as daylight savings time.
The real time was 5am Utah time. We had successfully driven through the night without
intending to do so. Needless to say, everyone crashed on beds, couches, and air mattresses for as
long as their bodies would let them.
Kylie woke up sick and bowed to the porcelain throne, while Doug did his laundry and added a
soggy diaper to the batch. The morning wasn’t as relaxed as we had hoped it to be. We returned
Indio to his family and we were pleased to see that his family missed him as much as he missed
them. Shaylee and Doug helped Doug and Bryanne clean out the vans and Adam repacked them.
Tami and Aleyda cleaned up the bedding from the night, and Garrett helped fold the freshly
washed towels. Our time is up and we are finally homeward bound. The days have been long,
the nights have been longer, our bodies and minds are tired and spent. Perhaps this week of
adventure and learning will stick longer than the everyday minutia of post high.
Epilogue
March 18, 2011, Friday 5 Days after the trip
Sitting at the classroom computer, Shaylee frantically scoured the internet for pictures of places
she visited during our trip. She wants to write a book to share with her family. Aleyda has
changed her backdrop on the computer to a picture of the Tower of Terror and is still making
quick decisions for herself. Garrett wears his newly acquired Fedora (hat) daily and caries
around trinkets that resemble the mouse. He is positioned to move into the school apartment
next week. Doug went home sick on Tuesday but managed to play his drum twice before he left.
Kylie gives us daily reminders of the different things that happened on the trip and is putting her
pink Disneyland jacket to good use. She is more energetic and loves riding the bus alone. Indio
is hopefully sharing his experiences with the St. George class. We hope he will come visit
Ogden to see what we do when we are not on a class trip. Bryanne meets the little ones every
morning with a spring in her step and a feeling of contentment. Tami continues to be the mother
of the year and is still willing to come to work in the cottages. Mike continues to be the unsung
hero of the Post High class trip. He finished balancing the books and is back up to bat in the
game happening outside of school. Adam has a clean white board for the first time this year. He
still rubs the black head by Sally’s office every morning and evening, secretly hoping that one
day he will rub off a part of plastic and find a diamond in the rough.
Life gives us time; time to make choices; time to have experiences; time to feel emotions; time to
learn; and time to be accepted. The Post High has just completed a magnificent feat-10 nights,
11 days, 6 students, 4 staff, 6 points of interest, 2 vans, and 2,500 miles of adventure. Each one
of us has been made better for the time we spent on the 2011 class trip “Califunia or Bust”.
USDB Post High