Field Trip!!
As some of you already know, I had to go on a field trip for my Geology class. My lab section went yesterday, with some other sections. The field trip brought us to the Rock Hill quarry in Essex county, NJ and to Orchard Beach in the Bronx.
We were informed on Thursday during lab that we had to be at Queens College no later than 7:45am. Charter buses would be leaving promptly at 8am. Brian and I left his place around 6:15am so that we would have enough time to sit down and have breakfast at a diner near campus. I got to campus at 7:45 and no one else was there except for me, all the lab instructors, and the buses. Within 5 mins, most of the students arrived and we were able to board the buses. After we boarded, the driver decided to spray bathroom spray in the bus (he couldn't do that *before* we boarded??) We ended up leaving around 8:15am.
On the way to the quarry, we took the Whitestone Bridge. All was fine and dandy until we heard this loud scraping and there was panic. Our bus decided to become friends with the bridge guardrail in the section just past the part that has the suspension cords. But we were ok and the bus was ok and everything was ok. When we finally hit I-80, I took notice of the sound barrier designs. They look like GIGANTIC SPERM!!! Seriously.
We got to the rock quarry around 9:30. We were briefed about what we would be seeing along the way and what we should be looking for and oh, by the way, the path is steep. They didn't tell us how steep it was going to be. When we started to descend into the quarry, the path got really steep really fast. It reminded me of Clarke in the Adirondacks, only more dangerous because tree trunks were not within reach on this path. There were some really loose soils and rocks along the way and I slipped a few times. Thankfully I didn't fall and no one behind me did either. Also, any time I encountered a danger, I shouted out what I ecountered so that other could avoid it, because I'm nice like that.
We saw really interesting things along the way and the trip got increasingly dangerous when we had to climb over rocks on a sill that may or may not have been firmly in place. Yikes! At one point, I needed assistance to climb up a ridge because it was awkwardly angled and the gap I had to go over was a bit too wide for comfort. Thankfully, someone heard me and came to my aid. I am very greatful for that as he aided me most of the rest of the time in dangerous areas.
Before we were heading back up the mountain, we stopped to look at a Dinosaur footprint! It was fucking awesome! Someone took a picture of it and I had her send it to me, but upon looking at the picture, I can't find the footprint. D'oh!!
Ascending back up the mountain was extremely difficult for me as at that point, I was already worn out by the hiking we had been doing, and getting over an upper respiratory infection wasn't helping at all. About halfway back up, I got really really dizzy. Thankfully, I had a support system with me, which included my lab instructor, and they helped me out immensely in getting back up the mountain.
I got back to the bus around 11:45. We ate our lunches on the bus (I brought a Tuna sandwich from Subway...mmmmm) and at Noon we started heading to Orchard Beach in the Bronx! Woohoo!!
I really wanted to kill the guy sitting across the aisle from me. His douchy music was blasting through his headphones. It was awful!
We got to Orchard Beach around 1pm. Hiking boots beach walking = hilarity. We looked at the sand and then the huge rocks that have a sign that say "DANGER! Do not climb on rocks!!" and our lab instructors told us to climb over the rocks (we're living dangerously). We walked over to the area that used to actually be a mountain some 450,000,000 years ago. That was really awesome. More rock climbing occurred. Thankfully, we didn't have to go back the way we came this time. We walked through the nature preserve to get back.
On our way back to the buses, we saw a group of about 15 Nuns rollerblading, playing catch, and playing tennis. Very cool :)
We left Orchard Beach around 3pm. Headed back over the Throgs Neck Bridge, and thankfully, we didn't become one with the guardrail. Maybe the bus is only attracted to the Whitestone Bridge. We hit traffic on the LIE and got back to campus around 3:30.
Brian came and got me and then we ended up going to Friendly's for dinner. Nom nom nom...
All in all a good day. My legs still ache though...
~*::Meow::*~
We were informed on Thursday during lab that we had to be at Queens College no later than 7:45am. Charter buses would be leaving promptly at 8am. Brian and I left his place around 6:15am so that we would have enough time to sit down and have breakfast at a diner near campus. I got to campus at 7:45 and no one else was there except for me, all the lab instructors, and the buses. Within 5 mins, most of the students arrived and we were able to board the buses. After we boarded, the driver decided to spray bathroom spray in the bus (he couldn't do that *before* we boarded??) We ended up leaving around 8:15am.
On the way to the quarry, we took the Whitestone Bridge. All was fine and dandy until we heard this loud scraping and there was panic. Our bus decided to become friends with the bridge guardrail in the section just past the part that has the suspension cords. But we were ok and the bus was ok and everything was ok. When we finally hit I-80, I took notice of the sound barrier designs. They look like GIGANTIC SPERM!!! Seriously.
We got to the rock quarry around 9:30. We were briefed about what we would be seeing along the way and what we should be looking for and oh, by the way, the path is steep. They didn't tell us how steep it was going to be. When we started to descend into the quarry, the path got really steep really fast. It reminded me of Clarke in the Adirondacks, only more dangerous because tree trunks were not within reach on this path. There were some really loose soils and rocks along the way and I slipped a few times. Thankfully I didn't fall and no one behind me did either. Also, any time I encountered a danger, I shouted out what I ecountered so that other could avoid it, because I'm nice like that.
We saw really interesting things along the way and the trip got increasingly dangerous when we had to climb over rocks on a sill that may or may not have been firmly in place. Yikes! At one point, I needed assistance to climb up a ridge because it was awkwardly angled and the gap I had to go over was a bit too wide for comfort. Thankfully, someone heard me and came to my aid. I am very greatful for that as he aided me most of the rest of the time in dangerous areas.
Before we were heading back up the mountain, we stopped to look at a Dinosaur footprint! It was fucking awesome! Someone took a picture of it and I had her send it to me, but upon looking at the picture, I can't find the footprint. D'oh!!
Ascending back up the mountain was extremely difficult for me as at that point, I was already worn out by the hiking we had been doing, and getting over an upper respiratory infection wasn't helping at all. About halfway back up, I got really really dizzy. Thankfully, I had a support system with me, which included my lab instructor, and they helped me out immensely in getting back up the mountain.
I got back to the bus around 11:45. We ate our lunches on the bus (I brought a Tuna sandwich from Subway...mmmmm) and at Noon we started heading to Orchard Beach in the Bronx! Woohoo!!
I really wanted to kill the guy sitting across the aisle from me. His douchy music was blasting through his headphones. It was awful!
We got to Orchard Beach around 1pm. Hiking boots beach walking = hilarity. We looked at the sand and then the huge rocks that have a sign that say "DANGER! Do not climb on rocks!!" and our lab instructors told us to climb over the rocks (we're living dangerously). We walked over to the area that used to actually be a mountain some 450,000,000 years ago. That was really awesome. More rock climbing occurred. Thankfully, we didn't have to go back the way we came this time. We walked through the nature preserve to get back.
On our way back to the buses, we saw a group of about 15 Nuns rollerblading, playing catch, and playing tennis. Very cool :)
We left Orchard Beach around 3pm. Headed back over the Throgs Neck Bridge, and thankfully, we didn't become one with the guardrail. Maybe the bus is only attracted to the Whitestone Bridge. We hit traffic on the LIE and got back to campus around 3:30.
Brian came and got me and then we ended up going to Friendly's for dinner. Nom nom nom...
All in all a good day. My legs still ache though...
~*::Meow::*~