Day 19 – day off (total – 330 km)
A game card we found when grabbing some food tonight!
Today is Friday the 4th, but if feels like it should maybe be Friday the 13th. I wouldn’t admit to being that superstitious, but you now when you feel like luck is not on your side? We left the hotel this morning to discover the RV had a flat tire. That took about 3 hours to fix. And as the RV was just finishing up having the tire put back on, it had a little “accident” with the roof of the tire place. A few new holes in the RV and the back corner ripped up pretty good… a fun day off for sure!
Over the past decade of working in the field of outdoor education, I have met so many amazing individuals… individuals who not only teach the importance of being outside but live it as well. I think of Jal, who started Alive Outdoors a decade ago and is facilitating schools having a multi-day experience in various wilderness areas of Ontario. I think of Andrew, who started the P.I.N.E Project in Toronto, introducing urban kids to amazing discoveries right in their own backyard… and Chloe, whose commitment to an active lifestyle with diabetes and encouraging others to do so is gaining momentum through Connected in Motion. I think of the staff at Wanakita, who are giving students 3-4 days of fun and learning in the highlands of Haliburton – teaching students how to snowshoe, find animal tracks and waste less food! These individuals and others spread out all across Canada are a passionate bunch – a group of people who don’t make a lot of money, work 13 hour days and absolutely love what they do. They love giving students a taste of the great outdoors… a sense of wonder for what nature can offer. And in return, they themselves get to be outside all day, “playing, not working!” most of them would argue!
They give fully of themselves to ensure others see the beauty and magic of being outside and connecting with nature.
Many of these individuals are not just colleagues, they’re friends… good friends! They are the ones who are giving children and youth an experience with nature. They are the ones who are getting them outside and active. They give fully of themselves to ensure others see the beauty and magic of being outside and connecting with nature.
