"We are going to California!" Shouted my father. Me, my sister, and 2 of my brothers were all excited to go. We got all packed up and on our way. Then we realized how long it was going to take. My dad drove most of the and my brother Alfredo drove too. He is in his early 20's. My other brother who went was 16 years old and his name is Daniel. Then the youngest was my sister named Sofia and she is 8 years old. As we were in Nebraska we saw a lot of cars that were flipped over it was because of the icy roads. We even saw a semi-truck flipped over. It took super long to get out of Nebraska. It to like 8 hours to get out of Nebraska. Then when we finally got out of Nebraska we were in Wyoming. In Wyoming we saw many mountains covered with
During the long journey to California the Joads, and other migrant travelers, encountered many warnings of what California was going to be like from migrants who were returning home, mostly destroyed by the true reality of California. They got a warning in the camp they stayed at on the side of the road while Tom, Al, and Casey were fixing the car. There was...
The mountains were tall (11,000 feet +) and covered with bright powdery snow. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was eager to set-up camp and prepare for our nine day hunt. But, Dad said that we had to drive around and check out all the good places, just to make sure that we were in the best area. This was partially understandable, but since I am a teenager I'm not supposed to understand anything! So, we spent another several hours driving. We went up and down through the mountains and then we saw it. The spot was beautiful; it was right on the edge of a vertical drop-off, over looking everything. It was like paradise, but colder!
California, the world's most beautiful haven for all of us migrants, who have come from different backgrounds, seeking hope and new opportunities. During the early 1980s, my family's journey would begin in Michoacán, Mexico. As described by my Father (Luis), " The magnificent lands are exempt from any flaws". In the small town of Acuitzeramo (where he grew up), beauty is enriched in the landscape; however, my grandfather knew he needed to take his family to "El Norte" (U.S.). Since the family became burdened with poverty as tortillas were even too expensive to eat for breakfast, it needed to be immediately. In spite of the fact that my father loved his mother country, he and his family would leave to find better opportunities which would change their futures' and mine as well.
Some women came to California with their husbands and children. Men thought of the adventure...
They arrived in beat-up, run down vehicles; after traveling thousands of miles into California, often losing children and older family members along the way (pg 22), they arrived with dreams of a brighter future, one with the hope of land for their own and jobs to support their loved ones. The scene they came up...
When you are a military spouse, moving frequently is common, which makes finding a place to call home difficult. Colorado was where I was born and raised. However, Texas was home to me. I enjoyed the warm weather, and how I was only a fourteen hour drive from home. While living in Texas, I learned a lot about myself and grew as a person. I had a great career opportunity managing a 240 unit apartment complex, I had good friends and enjoyed everything Texas had to offer.
A couple of years ago during one of those, on a whim after spending a few days in Arches National Park, my wife and I detoured to the snowy, icy south rim of the Grand Canyon. We journeyed toward it from the east side but got turned back at the National Parks’ gate; the road was snowed under from there on up. After retracing our steps, we traveled down to Flagstaff and spent the night, driving in my four by four truck up to the South Rim the next day. It was an eerie experience to stand on the edge of the South Rim and see only cloud; fog shrouded the canyon’s great gap, leaving us with visual doubts that anything was really there. Defeated, we hit the Visitor’s Center and gathered information so we could go back sometime in the spring or fall with weather more to our liking.
It was going to be the time of our lives. Four buddies of mine and I went out to Jackson, Wyoming to do some of the best snowboarding of our lives. It was our chance to get away from home for a week and have the best time of our lives. The trip out there was extremely boring driving through Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Possibly the three most boring states in the country.
When we left the hotel, my parents had a tough time finding the theme park. There were so many overpasses and lanes, my dad missed the exit a few times. Luckily, my dad finally got off at the right exit. When we first arrived, I was so excited. I had never seen so many seen so many people in one place, and the climate was very different compared to El Paso. I remember listening to the roars of the roller coasters and the screams of the people on them. We finally got into the park. As we entered, I remember it being very humid and moist. There were so many different smells coming from the restaurants.
My life in West Virginia has done much in shaping my personal development. It’s easy to be taken about by West Virginia’s natural beauty and welcoming small towns. One might picture an idyllic life with mountains and fields to roam, streams to fish in or sit quietly by, a life of peaceful tranquility. West Virginia, however, is a land of contradiction. While it does abound in natural beauty and abundant resources, the reality for people who live here is quite a different actuality. Poverty, drug abuse, and growing crime are a malignancy eating away at the heart and soul of West Virginia. Ranked the third poorest state in the nation, the scars of poverty are seen as closed businesses, dilapidated homes, and rampant unemployment. Having the
Travelling to North Carolina was our family 's first big trip anywhere. I was seven years at the time, my brother ten years old, and my sister only one year old.
Have you ever looked off a gigantic cliff? Now imagine traveling 30 miles per hour on a bike with curvy roads with enormous cliffs on your side with no rails. This is exactly what I did with my family when we went to Colorado. From the hotel we drove to a bike tour place to take us to the summit of Pikes Peak. After we arrived at the building we saw pictures of how massive the cliffs were, but what terrified me was the fact they had no side rails. This observation was thrilling as well as terrifying. It was an odd mix of emotions, but I loved the adrenaline rush it gave me. My dad whispered to me, “ This will be absolutely horrifying”.
Road trips are fun and exciting especially if you are on your own. The road trip to Fort Bragg was an excellent adventure and I will always remember it. The trip was also a good experience for my first road trip. Sure some embarrassing events occurred during the trip, but it was all in fun. I can not wait until my next adventure. I know it will be as wild and crazy, if not more, as my first road trip was.
Going to California was a bit of a rocky start though because I had forgotten my jacket at home and it was supposed to snow while we were in Yosemite. My mom and I ran into Old Navy and grabbed a lightweight pullover hoping that would be enough. After fixing the fashion emergency we drove to the airport, hopped on the airplane, and landed in San Francisco late that night. The next morning we woke up and started our explorations of San Francisco. First we biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so much fun, but
At last, we had arrived! It had taken us about four days to reach Los Angeles, four long treacherous days. There my aunt Yolanda and her husband came to pick us up. I recounted the events of my journey at a meal. Without asking for it, I had learned that crossing the border was the most difficult task that I would ever endure. That night my child and I slept soundly. The next morning, Pedro, my husband, came to pick us up. After about six hours we arrived to Hayward, which has been my home for almost 18 years.