The first day one of our girls had the first IV of the day, the first IV of Trek. She was heat exhausted and then she started to hyperventilate. Another of our girls started feeling sick with heat exhaustion. We lost them for a little while because we had to keep moving on and at the next stop they were reunited with us. They made it the rest of the way. Struggled, but made it! We all struggled in our own way. Most of the kids were not use to being in the heat for this long doing strenuous work all day. It was very tough work. A few of the Ma's and Pa's went down each day too, fainting, with injuries, having to get IV's and such. I think everybody had some sort of injury...the boys chaffing, blisters all over our feet, achy joints, one of our girls was having hip problems, getting blisters on their hands from pulling and pushing the carts, etc. We went up and down steep hills, super rocky hills, almost impossible looking hills and mountains.
The first day was so hot and difficult.
We traveled about 11 miles. After one of our girls had the first IV, there were 16 total IV's given that first day. It was crazy hot and difficult. We just tried to keep our kids drinking and drinking and drinking enough water and gatoraee. But, I think we were all feeling it. There were difficutl times later that day. We went most of the time through the wash and it was like trying to walk and push through beach sand. It was very difficult and there were many times of frustration and exhaustion All we could do was try and keep them as motivated as possible. A few of them talked about wanting to just go home, the road & miles ahead seemed so far. We just kept telling them they could do it, we all could do it, we would be so proud when we finished. The pioneers took 90 days and we could do just 4. I think we were all so relieved to finally make it to camp that night. For dinner we had broth with a few carrots and celery and a roll. It was enough. We layed out our tarp in the wash, had a little family time and went to sleep on our tarp under the stars. we already felt bonded together, the kids seemed to open up to us and were geting more comfortable. We were so happy to be able so sit and lie down and just rest.
The next morning we woke up, fixed our oatmeal and cleaned up our camp and loaded it all up again. We had to trek it back out of the wash that morning which was hard. We had to go about 9 miles that day. My body was cramping this day...I kept trying to sip water as much as I could and have some gatorade every now and again. My stomach felt so full of water that I didn't feel like drinking anymore, but if you don't keep drinking and your stomach starts to cramp that means you're beginning dehydration because it's in your stomach but now it needs to be going to the rest of your body. I kept sipping and cramped most of the afternoon. A lot of kids were discouraged this day, murmuring, some showing their discouragment more than others. My feet began to ache and I felt like I was getting blisters. Other than that and the cramping I was doing okay. We passed by a couple of sites on the first day and the second that made it seem even more real. The second site touched me...it was a true pioneer story about a little lost boy Arthur Parker who was sick and sat down to rest and his family did not realize that he was missing for a while. The father was sick too and in the sick wagon, but the mother sent her thin red shawl with the father to go back and look for him. If he was to find him dead he should wrap him in the shawl and bury him. If alive, he was suppose to use the shawl as a flag and wave it as high as he could. We passed by a young man carrying a red shawl asking us if we had seen his young son. Later on down the trail we saw the young woman (his wife) looking way far away, high up on the mountatins to a very distant waving red shawl. It brought tears to my eyes thinking of the people that this really happened too and many other stories like this. It made me wonder what would really happen if my own small children were on the trek with me, how it must of been.
Later on in the day at one of our longer breaks they had a surprise snack of pickles. Oh. My. Goodness!!! They tasted so stinkin' good! It was like the best surprise ever at the best time. I know it brightened most everyone's day and gave us a surge of energy to keep going. During each day we had family time and talked with the kids about their experiences, why we were doing this and how what we were going through parallels to life. I'm glad we had a talkative bunch, they weren't afraid to speak most of the time. Some shyer than others and one that actually just observed most of the time. But, I think it was sinking in their heads...what the pioneers really had to go through, how hard this really was, how much it is really like life. Life has ups and downs, life has rocks in the road, some big, some huge,, sometimes you stumble, sometimes you fall, sometimes there are unknown or known people that jump in to help you push a long the path for a little bit and you have no idea how much that means. If you just keep pushing through as hard as it may be, as much as you want to give up and as much as you get so frustrated, if you just endure to the end..it will all be worth it. Some days its almost as much as you can do to just keep putting one foot in from of the other, but you keep going because you know its what you need to do, to accomplish your goal. All the kids were so strong and so tough and just kept doing it. Although they murmured and got frustrated sometimes they did not give up, they helped each other as a team, they motivated each other and kept one another going. They talked nice to each other, they lifted one anothers sprits when one was down. They believed in each other. We believed in them. We finally made it to camp that night. We had all the ingredients to make stew, yummy rolls, homemae butter to make in a mason jar and gingerbread. It all tasted so delicious. All the food we ate tasted delicous. Even the pickier eaters were eating things they nomrally don't and they weren't complaining. That night was cooler and most slept better. We had a pretty soft spot in a washy area under some trees. We had great family time that night, we talked for quite a while as a family and really got to know the kids. We talked about fun things, fears, deep down things and they got to ask us some fun questions too. It was a great night!
The trees we were sleeping under had little flowers on them that attracted bees, we woke up to a swarming sound of bees above our heads. I also saw a hummingbird early in the morning. The Ma's and Pa's had a meeting around 5:30 every morning just to get a brriefing of the days events. Today would be around 9 miles too. My feet were hurting so bad this day. My shoes were horrible, good hinking shoes with good traction but no comfort, rubbing on the sife of my feet, creating blisters in a good few spots on both feet and both of my pinky toes were swelling pretty badly. They had been looked at the night before and again this morning, duct tape was put on to just try and stop the friction and rubbing. But the pain was getting bad. It seemed that this day had some rough patches too. Trying to get some of the kids to drink enough was a task in itself. There was a few times I said quick little prayers in my mind to help the kids, to help my husband, to help me. This day I was really wanting to cry, each step was starting to hurt so badly. You can't stop because you'll get run over by the cart in back of you and if you stop and sit on the side your family will eventually be so far ahead that it would be hard to catch up. I didn't want to cry in front of the kids because it would only bring them down and not help their frustration and I was NOT going to be carried or ride a horse. Artie kept asking me if I wanted him to carry me....uh no! I would not do that to him, I know he was hurting too and I did not need to be carried. I said a quick prayer to just help us to stay positive and keep going and that my feet would be okay. We ended up having a short stop maybe 5-10 minutes later and an "Angel" (one of the other Ma's) had sent a stake member to bring back some pairs of tennis shoes from home. She found me and came running to find me and had a pair of new (old tennis) shoes for me. Tears came to my eyes, my prayer was answered literally within 10 minutes. The shoes were a bit big, but that was a good thing, they were roomy and helped a lot. My toes were still swollen and blistered, but they felt so much better with the "new" shoes. They felt pretty good, tired and sore, but good the rest of that day.
4 days in the hot, hot desert trekking 33 miles with 9 brand new teenage kids. We had a great family. Nobody new each other that well when we were first joined together, but by the end we were literally like family. I love them all. We had hard working and such good kids. Each of them played a special part in our family. Some that were natural leaders, some that just did what they were told, some that were stubborn. :) But, all so great! They kept telling us that we had the best family! We thought so too. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also one of the greatest!
