By: Meridian 5th Graders

It was really fun making our way to Oregon! It was great to step in to our history books and to dig deeper into Lewis and Clark’s discoveries.

We were surprised by how close together the historical places were–when we read about them in class they seemed scattered around, so seeing them in person was eye opening! Our hands-on experience made the locations come to life. Learning new information was even more engaging because we could see and imagine how Lewis and Clark felt when they were discovering the area. We were all pretty surprised to find out that they celebrated Christmas, with a full ceremony and gift giving!

During our trip, we went kayaking on the Columbia River, visited Fort Clatsop and Fort Stevens, and went to the Maritime Museum and the Astoria Column. One group even got to play on the sand dunes and see the Peter Iredale (an old shipwreck on the beach).

There were a lot of challenges on the trip, some of us had never kayaked before and almost fell over! But it was definitely worth it. Some advice that we’d give to 5th graders next year is to bring a raincoat, a sweater and a hairbrush. It will be colder and wetter than you think it will be. In general, wear more layers than you think you will need, because there’s no harm in being extra prepared. When you’re kayaking, don’t be afraid of tipping. The tenser you are, the more likely it’ll happen. Lastly, the trip might not be what you expect, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be awesome!