A Final Farewell from Georgia and Matt!
June 30, 2024
Pacific Northwest 1A families, this was posted on the incorrect page! While the trip is over and we hope your kids are sharing fun-filled stories, we wanted to share this with you! Thanks and apologies, Moondance HQ.
Hi everyone!
We hope by this time everyone has made it back safely to their families and are back to enjoying the comfort of their own homes and beds 🙂 Matt and I just wanted to say how proud we are of each and every one of our students on PNW1A and how lucky we feel to have gotten to spend the most incredible three weeks with them! From stinky backpacks to polar plunges in alpine lakes, and midnight summit starts, sunset kayaks and bioluminescent algae, whitewater rapids, ice cream stops and outdoor couches, funny outfits and fun climbing routes, PNW1A has been through it all together. Through the challenging moments, we laughed together. We asked each other meaningful questions about our lives. We shared our snacks and water with each other. We lent a helping hand, or a few encouraging words. We did everything as one solid (and might I add FEARLESS) unit, and we only wish we could have more time. As Ben put it best, we were strangers, who became friends, who became family. It was very hard to say goodbye to our newfound Moondance family, but we ended our trip in such an amazing way! After kayaking, we traveled to two different state parks for our last few nights, soaking up every moment with each other before preparing to go home. On our last night, we stopped at a thrift store and picked out some colorful outfits and headed to a pizza parlor in Olympia for banquet, accompanied by paper plate awards and an interesting dj outside the restaurant!
We ended the night with a little bit of music, crumbl cookie, and our Final Moonup on the dock of the lake by our campsite. The bullfrogs were croaking as Ava opened us up with the quote “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”, and Ben told a very well-thought-out nugjug story of our journey through the pacific northwest. We all gave each other meaningful shoutouts and expressed our gratitude for each other, whether it was through specific moments along the trip or a general vibe someone gave off that boosted the holistic group dynamic. We were appreciative of Charlie’s fearlessness and positivity throughout the trip, always leading the pack with a smile. We applauded Lainey’s kindness and gentleness to everyone throughout the trip, proving herself to be a soft-spoken and strong leader (not to mention an incredible rock climber!). We gave nugs to Cat for her perseverance and great attitude she showed during the more challenging moments of our trip. I am proud of her for pushing herself and doing things she didn’t know she could do. We shouted out Ava for her constant friendliness and relatability, as well as her amazing expedition behavior, always lending a helping hand whether or not she was asked. We gave Mckenzie praise for being unapologetically herself, and always bringing happy and electric energy to the group. We gave nugs to French for always making us laugh, and pushing through the hard moments while at the same time making the hard moments a little bit easier for everyone else with his humor and his attitude. We applauded Luke for always being up for a game, providing laughs to some of our corny jokes, mastering the art of the hacky sack in no time, and being a great friend to everyone in the group. We all agreed that Lucy was such a kind and caring person who never judged anyone and was always easy to be around. I also admired her openness and commitment to the Moondance process, as she leaned in from day one. And last but not least, we gave some stanky nugs to Ben for constantly entertaining us, making us laugh, inspiring us, and living his life for himself! Matt and I are so grateful for this amazing group of go-getters, and we have had so much fun “go-getting” with them for the past three weeks!
We wish everyone the best of luck going into this next school year and we hope the rest of their summer activities are filled with laughter and joy 🙂 We want to remind you that your Moondance family is always here for you, and never forget the memories you made on PNW1A!
Cheers to an amazing start to the summer!
Georgia and Matt
Awe-Inspiring Adventures in the Pacific Northwest!
June 30, 2024
One final greeting from PNW1A! We have just gotten off the whitewater and headed to our final two campsites before heading home for the summer, which we are all very sad about. The past week has been full of many thrills and solidifying genuine connections, and we are soaking up every minute we can. Once we left the SJIs, we got a little change of scenery and camped in the desert at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon for the next three days. We took a trip to Steelhead Falls for a quick dip in the Deschutes River to cool down from the heat, and everyone fearlessly completed a safe cliff jump there! That night, Cat and Ava helped Matt chef up some delicious tikki masala for dinner. A great culinary change of scenery for our palettes! Everyone loved climbing the rock walls provided at the campsite and watching the sunset over the red rocks together, with the huge mountains in the distance. Our two days of climbing were phenomenal! The weather was fantastic and our guides showed us 8 awesome routes!
On the first day, our guides set up a challenging but fun route for us after practicing on a few easier routes. Lainey hopped on the rock and scaled it straight to the top, paving the way (known as the beta in climbing terms) for everyone else to reach the top. I have so much respect for every single student who faced their fears to get on the rock and attempt to reach the top, no matter their previous climbing experience. Special shoutout to French and Lucy who were a little apprehensive at first when they climbed on the first day. They came back the second day and climbed two full routes to the top, and rappelled down a wall without hesitation. Mckenzie was another surprising rockstar on the crag (climber slang for the rock face). She ended up touching the top route of every single route we did throughout our two days. Ava was another fearless student who took on every route with confidence and genuinely wanted to try all of them. I believe she is our adrenaline chaser of the group 🙂 Needless to say it was incredible to see everyone conquer their fears head on and accomplish things they thought they would never do. Also props to everyone for making it through a hot day on the rocks, which we celebrated with ice cream afterward. We had so much fun decorating our matching t-shirts for Monkey Face the next day, with LITMO on the back and anything that symbolized important or funny parts of the trip on the front. On the day of Monkey Face, nerves were high but energy was higher! We hiked up Misery Ridge trail at 6:30 in the morning to meet our guides bright and early and start getting people on the rocks! Charlie was brave enough to go first on the rappel, and he took our sea turtle stuffed animal mascot named Bortis with him through one of his climbing belt loops. Then went Ben, who scaled the rock faster than I had ever seen and rappelled in less than no time. His enthusiasm for the whole day was electric and he got others excited to do the rappelled despite their fear. I was so proud of Cat, who was so brave during her climb up Monkey Face and rappel down! What an incredible moment, filled with encouragement from her peers the whole way.
After our rock climbing portion, we got to cool off the next few days rafting and kayaking on the white salmon rapid. Our first day was full of vigorous paddling through freezing rapids and floating down gorgeous lava gorges. Lucy swam through one of the rapids and Lainey swiftly helped her back in the boat. Day two we kayaked down a mellower portion of the river as our last activity of the trip, and we had a lot of swimmers that day, but everyone was laughing the whole way down, and we even got to play some games on our kayaks! Luke was an awesome LOD today, leading the way down most of the rapids and having a great attitude all day, participating in all the games and encouraging others to as well! I think this was a big highlight for a lot of our students and a great way to conclude an amazing 3 weeks in a truly pristine part of the U.S. We experienced so many different types of scenery and different kinds of adventurous activities during our trip. Everyone is so grateful for this experience! A few words to the parents from our kiddos:
Ava- “Thank you for sending me to Moondance, I had so much fun!”
Cat- “This trip has been so fun and I miss and love you so much!”
Lainey- “Thank you guys so much for sending me on this trip, it has been so much fun and I love you so much!”
Charlie- “This trip will and forever change my life. Thank you guys for everything.”
French- “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to go on this amazing trip and meet new people!”
Lucy- “Hey Cort and Bakes, thank you for not letting me give up when things get hard. I love and miss you guys. See you soon!”
Luke- “Thank you so much for sending me on this trip. I have made so many unforgettable memories here and I can’t wait to see all of you. I love you”
Ben- “Dear Mom and Dad and Davis, I have had the time of my life and have learned, loved, and loved for Ben!”
Mckenzie- “Dear Moth and Poth, best three weeks ever. Miss you so much but I don’t want to go home!”
There you have it! PNW1A sends out love to you and everyone cannot wait to share their stories with you! Hopefully this has given you a glimpse into our trip, but look forward to many more stories from them:)
Love and memories,
Georgia and Matt <3
So Much Fun Sea Kayaking!
June 23, 2024
Another successful week in the Pacific Northwest! Everyone had so much fun sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands, where we spotted lots of wildlife including porpoises, seals, and bald eagles! During the three days, Charlie managed to catch 42 crabs, which is very impressive. Ben met his twin flame, our kayak guide named Sean, and bonded with him about everything under the sun. The ferry ride to Friday Harbor was so beautiful and a great start to this section of the trip! Our first day of paddling was picture-perfect- the weather was sunny, the saltwater was refreshing, and the views along the way were breathtaking. Lainey was a powerhouse in the back of the boat and was a good sport always letting her boat partner take the front if they wanted to. In the evening, Lucy and French led a deep and meaningful Moonup along the shore while the sun set behind us on the water. Our second day of paddling was a blast- we spent the first half of the morning hanging out along the shore doing polar plunges in the ocean and lying on the warm pebble beach to dry off. Props to Ava, who is never afraid of a dunk in freezing water! Since we got in our kayaks, we paddled to Orca Island and enjoyed ice cream along the dock overlooking the ocean and the Olympia mountain range in the distance! Everyone kicked back and relaxed once we returned to the island. In the evening, Sean took Ben, Cat, Charlie, Ava, Lainey, and me back out onto the water for a sunset paddle, where we “got whaled”, meaning we saw quite a few porpoise fins in the distance, told lots of riddles, and had a very pleasant conversation with an older man on a sailboat who told us that we are so lucky to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We also experienced a truly special moment one night on Jones Island during the full moon when Sean led us to the other side of the island and showed us the bioluminescent algae in the water that shined a bright neon green when we swirled our hands around in it. Cat is an incredibly good riddle solver, as she was able to figure out every riddle Sean threw at us. We also loved playing games like hacky sack (at which Luke is becoming a master), spike ball, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee at our campsite before and after our kayaking trip, as well as exploring the lovely port town of Friday Harbor! When I asked the group what they wanted to include in the trip update, Mckenzie said that this has been the best three weeks of her life…so far 🙂 We had a great time traveling from the mountains to the desert yesterday and ending the day with a dip in the Deschutes River and a sunset cookout. We will miss Washington deeply, but we are stoked for our next week of rock climbing and river rafting in Oregon!
Cheers!
Georgia and Matt, and all of PNW1A <3
Hello from PNW 1A!
June 18, 2024
We are happy to report that we are fresh and clean after a silly yet successful week in the backcountry! We kicked off our trip exploring Rasar State Park in North Washington and preparing for our 6 day backpacking section in the North Cascades. We learned how to set up our own tents (although everyone prefers to sleep under the stars when it is nice out), learned how to properly pack our backpacking packs, made our own GORP(which stands for good ole raisins and peanuts), and talked about good expedition behavior. We loved our campsite the night before heading into the backcountry- we were able to all hang out along the river, sleep under the stars, and eat delicious burgers and salad under the pavilion prepared by Lainey, Cat, Ava, and French !
Our first day in the North Cascades was an exciting one. We drove up to Ross Lake dam, where we got picked up by a water taxi that took us to a scenic lunch spot along a pebble beach surrounded by snow peaked mountains and a crisp alpine lake. After lunch, we walked along a craggy ridge line along the lake to our first campsite, where we were accompanied by a friendly doe, who made it very clear that she was not at all unfamiliar with a bunch of goofy backpackers. Once we set up tents and enos, we decided to make the most out of the sunshine that we had left and walk down to the water together. Charlie, Ava, and Cat braved the cold water and did the polar plunge into the lake, thus spawning a great quote from Cat, “I’m glad I did it, even though I didn’t really like it”. What a powerful lesson on Type 2 fun! Charlie and Ben offered to help cook green chile and chicken enchilada casserole for dinner, along with some Spanish rice that went along nicely with our summer sausage and cheese wraps for lunch the next day! French and Cat led our first backcountry Moonup under the pines and the stars to close out the day.
The next day, Luke and Lucy (our Leaders of the Day) led us a few miles deeper in the forest (with an awesome waterfall in the middle) to a group campsite on the edge of another gorgeous pebble beach, and this time everyone enjoyed a dip in the clear alpine water! We all sat on the beach for dinner and enjoyed chicken alfredo pasta, where we announced that we would be doing an alpine start (midnight wake up) to summit Desolation Peak! There were a lot of emotions circling the group, but McKenzie seemed super excited to hike up a mountain with a headlamp and good attitude! We hit the hay early and woke up in the middle of the night, scarfed down some oatmeal, huddled together for motivational quote from Ben and a pump-up chant and started on the trail up to the top. The climb was super tough, but with the help of French’s acapella skills and Ben’s Hamilton monologues and the entire group’s can-do attitude and we all made it to the top for the most gorgeous 360 view of all mountains surrounding the peak! After our desolation dance party, everyone made wraps, munched on some celebratory Trolli sour gummies, and made homemade Mio snow cones in celebration of reaching the top! Shoutout to Ben, Charlie and Luke for displaying exceptional expedition behavior and carrying backpacks up the summit for people to store their water bottles and layers! By the end of the day, we had walked 13.6 miles and felt like champions. We all enjoyed breakfast for dinner together, and Ben and Ava closed us out with a meaningful Moonup.
The next day, French and Lainey led us through a difficult day of hiking to our next campsite, filled with huge pine trees and rushing river along the side. Trail conversations flourished today and we got to eat lunch in the most picturesque spot in the middle of the woods. It was a long day, but everyone pushed through and just made conversation with each other the whole time, which made the trail go much quicker! After crossing a few rivers and setting up camp, we all sat together and enjoyed some jambalaya for dinner and howled at the moon to close out our second to last night in the backcountry.
The next day, we started off with some cinnamon roasted apples and peanut butter tortillas for breakfast. Charlie and Mckenzie led us toward our last campsite on Hozemeen lake, which was another long day of hiking but filled with fun trail games and conversation. We had so much fun all making personalized pita pizzas for dinner, while Lucy and Ben started up a campfire next to our kitchen so everyone could stay warm and hang out while we cooked. Charlie and Mckenzie led Moonup at a beautiful spot on the side of the lake, discussing bucket lists and superpowers. We have shared so many laughs along this trip, it is hard not to smile when we are all together! The last day, Ben and Cat led us off the trail and back into civilization, where we enjoyed a local food stop at a taco shop in Burlington, WA and unpacked everything at camp to prepare for the next section of our trip, sea kayaking! Backpacking is the most challenging part of the trip and everyone took it in full stride and did such an amazing job and had an incredible attitude the whole time. Our group is so close with each other and we cannot wait for two more weeks together! Everyone wants to tell their parents they love you and thank you for sending them on PNW!
Until next week!
Peace and love,
Georgia and Matt
Save arrival in Seattle!
June 10, 2024
Hello Pacific Northwest Families!
We heard from our leaders this afternoon that the group has landed safely in Seattle and are headed to their first campsite! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure!
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next two weeks! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
