isaac obx

On this trip we went to o b x. we got to see Vino family and have a cookout at their beach home. It was nice to meet his family. Then we drove to the ferry and met Alex’s grandfather. Next we got on the ferry and were on it for three and half hours, but it was fun for most of us. Once we got to camp we met the Gordons. They took us out to dinner in the O B X. The next day they spent the day at the beach with us. We went to the sand dunes. The next day we went to Avon pier and went fishing. We got a tour of a coast guard station. That was the x.

The Outer Banks Expedition

The Outer Banks Expedition By Chris Veno

            On Tuesday we woke up at 7:30 to leave for Carolina Beach.  We drove for nine hours to get to Carolina Beach State Park which was our campsite till we left for the Outer Banks on Friday morning.  On Wednesday we drove to Fort Fisher Beach to spend a day there. While we were hangin at the beach I was flirting with some hot girls and I said “Hey Ladies” to five girls and they waved to me, smiled at me, gave me the look, and said hi.  At the beach we found a large, dead jellyfish and Alex chopped it up into sushi.  I told everybody in the group that jellyfish could be eaten and I was the first to eat it. It tasted like very salty jello. 

            On Thursday we drove to my beach house to chill at the beach with my family for the day and it was sick nasty.  When we got to my beach house the group met my family and they all thought that my family is awesome.  The group met my awesome cousin Cade. They also met Mum Peg and Skip Pop who are my mom’s parents.  Aaron, Anders, Alec, Aidan, Shane, Cade, Coley, Jon, my dad, and I played a 45 minute beach football game and it was really fun.  For dinner Skip Pop cooked fillet minion and it was amazing. 

            On Friday we drove to Cedar Island to catch the ferry to go to Camp Hatteras and it was a long ferry. We ate dinner with Aaron’s family and Anders and I watched the Flyers Sabers game. They were down 3 to 0 at the end of the first period, tied it up and but then lost 4-3 in overtime.  What a great game!! 

            I really loved the Outer Banks because I got to see my family and it made me happy. 

Final Ex: The Outer Banks and turning 17!!!

Aaron Gordon

            So, our final expedition was in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was a little different because we got to see the Veno family, my family (the Gordons), and we also hung out with Alex’s grandfather.  The Veno’s own a beach house in Wilmington, NC, so they offered to have us drop by for a cook out and beach day, which was AWESOME!  Because I was turning 17 over our final ex, my parents decided to fly down to the Outer Banks and spend the weekend with us.  Even though it was a small amount of time, it was great to see everyone. 

            We also did a decent bit of fishing, both surf and pier.  We didn’t catch much while surf fishing, but on the Avon Pier, we caught tons of Speckled Sea Trout, Sea Mullet, and several Skate, which are a type of ray.  We also battled the constant hooking of stingrays, which were really quite annoying. 

            Along with catching fish, we visited the North Carolina Aquarium of the Outer Banks, which was awesome.  We saw many different types of aquatic creatures from around the area of coastal North Carolina and the Outer Banks.  Some of the group decided to stay outside the Aquarium and dig in the shark tooth search, an encircled area where you can dig for shark’s teeth and keep anything you find.  Jon and Anders found some really nice ones!

            The Outer Banks was a good expedition to end the semester.  Everyone had fun, everyone grew and everyone is now ready to go home! For the final time, hope you enjoyed our blogs, and we’ll see you all parents weekend!

I just got back from the  Outer Banks.  It was . We got to do a lot of fun thing like go to the Coast Guard Station. We got to learn a lot of things about the Coast Guard and their boats. It was a lot of fun.  We got to go to the beach. The water was cold but we still got in.  It was a lot of fun. We got to go to Chris' home and chill with them for a day and eat some good food. We got to see Aaron's parents for his birthday and go out for some more good food. We got to go to sand dunes and roll down and jump off them.  It was a lot of fun. The weather was   good but the wind was not going to stop.  I am sad that it was the last expedition that we got to go on and that I will not get to see some of these kids again.  We got to see a ship that came over in the 1800s. It was cool. There was a lot of cool stuff there. We got to find sharks teeth there and we found a lot of different types of shark teeth like the tiger shark.  Overall it was very fun.

Coley O'Brien

                                                                                                                                                                          

Outer Banks North Carolina By Jon Adkins

I will be discussing three of the most memorable moments that I had while I was in the Outer Banks with the Rebel Tribe.

            The first memorable moment that I had while I was in the Outer Banks was the fishing off the Avon Pier there. The parts of that that made it a little more memorable was when both me and Anders caught some rays and while we were trying to catch fish and not them we both said “I swear to god, if I catch another ray, I’m going to murder it” or something along those lines.

            The second memorable moment that I had there was when Aaron, Anders, Chris, Isaac, Chris’s brothers, his father and I had a forty-five minute game of football at their beach house in the Outer Banks on Figure-Eight Island. A part that made it all the more memorable was that it was done on the beach but was sadly not tackle football but was two hand touch.  It was still a lot of fun though.

            The third and final memorable moment at the Outer Banks was going to the aquarium in the Outer Banks. Although I didn’t go inside because I have been there many times and remembered most of the exhibits from previous semesters so I didn’t want to go inside. I also didn’t want to go inside because I was having a lot of good luck finding sharks teeth in this basin that the aquarium staff dumps dredged sand from the bottom of the ocean from areas that are known to have fossils.

            In conclusion there are many moments that were memorable for me from this expedition but these are the three that stand out to me and that I will always remember.

The Final Frontier

On the Rebel Tribe’s final expedition they went to the Outer Banks.   We had a really fun time.  So on the Third day that we were there we went to the Veno’s beach house and had a cookout with them. Mrs. and Mr. Veno were very nice to allow us to come. They were very happy to see Chris again after three months. So were his siblings and his aunt and uncle.  We were glad to see Chris happy.  We had lunch with them. Then we went down to the beach and swam, dived, and bodysurfed in the waves. We played in the water for 2 ½ hours. Then the boys had a football game in the sand. It was windy so when the sand was picked up by the wind it stung when it hit you. I went inside after I was exhausted after playing in the water. I went inside and had a great conversation with Chris’s family. I loved their stories about young Chris. I also loved how they allowed us to share our stories.  While we were doing this the Veno’s  were making an incredible dinner with Chris’s grandfather. We all circled up and I explained how thank you circle went. I started the circle and then it went all the way around. Then we started eating and it was amazing. I personally thank the Veno’s for their hard work and patience. That was one of our best days. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Veno. This is from Alec Thompson and the Rebel Tribe.  We will see you in 5 days

We just got back from Cost Rica.   It was fun. We got to do a lot of fun things  like going on the zip line and  going horse back riding and we got to stay under a volcano . It was cool. We got to go to a natural swimming hole and go on a rope swing.  It was fun. We got to go cliff jumping too and it  was fun.  I jumped off the water fall in to the pool. It was very fun for me.  I got to drink a lot of coffee. It was very good.  We got to go in to the towns and buy food and I got the best brownie that I have ever had. We got to go shopping to. It was cool to see that you can bargain with the locals. It was fun and cool how it is very different then the US. Then we got to go the the beach. It was cool. The first day we went   to the park. It was cool to see the monkeys.  And we  got some cool tans and sun burn. It was a fun day. The second  day we went to the beach again and got some surf boards and boogie  boards . and some guys got to go shopping. It was a lot of fun. Over all we had a very fun trip and can not wait for the next one.

The Rebels Head to Costa Rica 

Aaron Gordon

            Our 4^th expedition to Costa Rica was unbelievably awesome!  It was more like a mini vacation.  We went to the beach, hung out in natural swimming holes, and went zip- lining and horseback riding.  The weather was nice and the people were nicer.  Also, the addition of “Big John” Wilson, the Executive Director of SOAR, just made our trip more worthwhile.

            While we were waiting in the Charlotte Airport, Big John entertained us with numerous card tricks.  He DAZZELED us with his magic and was just overall fun.  He was definitely not the person I was expecting him to be.  He turned out to be a real cool cat.  He was chill as a cucumber. 

            Costa Ricans are possibly some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Their overall attitude towards others is unlike anyone else in the world.  They come to help, even if you don’t ask for it.  The Costa Rican kindness definitely made our trip that much better. 

            The Costa Rican sun is also one-of-a-kind.  The weather throughout the entire trip was beautiful and hot.  The day we arrived in Costa Rica, it was like 84*.  Weather was the defining part of our vacation. The only bad part about Costa Rica was the sunburns.  But out of the bad, comes the good.  I got a sweet tan.

Isaac's Costa Rica trip

Costa Rica expedition

On this trip we went to Costa Rica. It was a lot more like a vacation and one of the SOAR directors went with us. His name was Big Jon. Big Jon was a cool director and had some good stories to tell us. The first night we ate from some hole in the wall places that rocked. The next day we went to” La Fortuna” (in Spanish). We were only staying at the bottom of a volcano that had not exploded in two to three months. We went to the hot springs at Los Lagos’s and went horseback riding and then zip lining. The swimming pools are hot and cold. After “La Fortuna” we went to “Capos” (in Spanish) which is by the beach and National forest of Costa Rica. I have been in that same area when I went to same Costa Rica with my dad. We did one beach day. That was the trip.

Coata Rica SOAR Blog

This expedition the Rebel Tribe went to Costa Rica. During our first day in Costa we went to a hotel in San José. Then we went out to eat at random places throughout the city. In Costa we were really lucky to get the great guide named Willy. Willy drove us all over the country and took us to really good restaurants called sodas. We stayed at the base of a volcano that was normally active, but don’t worry it has been only building up for the last few months. We went horse riding and this is how it sounded ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. After that we went to a water hole with a rope swing about 25ft above the water. I went off spinning like a top and slammed into the water face first while spinning. It was amazingly fun. We also jumped off water falls at this water hole. We went to the beach two days in a row. Day one I got really baldly burned and stared a trend. I laid down in the surf and let the waves push and pull me back and forth. A little kid was copying me and so were a few group members and another school group. The same day Willy made us a fruit stand it was really good. The next day I put on a water shirt and didn’t get burned much worse. I bought all my friends and family gifts. Me and some other of my group members got into the water and just let the waves pummel up while others surfed. Then we went way too far out and had to be rescued by the life guards. There weren’t many life guards out there. We went back to San José on our last day and walked around again. On the last day I met some people from Sweden they were really cool. We flew back the next day.

Anders newest blog

Hello again my loyal fans.

            Today’s blog is going too be a special one. My group and I were recently one our most adventurous expedition yet. We have just arrived home from a glorious vacation in the blazing sun of Costa Rica.

            This blog is going to be telling you all about all of the amazing new experiences and amazing views that we saw along the way.

            The activities that we participated in were very different each time, almost a world apart. We went from horse riding on the ground, to flying over the canopies like birds flying in the air. We were hiking in ravines, and dropping off of rope swings into beautiful clear water.

            Each activity was amazing, and different. Each had its highs and lows, though mostly highs.

            While we were doing many of our activities, there were special moments that I will never forget. Some of these are:

            My first highlight of this expedition was when we were horse back riding. We were riding our mounts by the base of an active volcano. This is now a little scary; because the volcano was due to erupt any day. Pretty scary right! Well, we were riding along, and my horse was starting to lag behind, so I gave it a little nudge with my heels to prod it along. Without warning, my horse bolts for the other group at a full out sprint. I couldn’t say that I had ever been more surprised in my life. I was pretty sure that I would just have a heart attack and fall off my horse, but of course that didn’t happen because I am typing this to you right now.

            Another really interesting story was when I was swimming, and attempting to surf. Sure I have surfed before, but I could never get up on the board and stay on it. I swear that the board that I was using had it in for me, because on one particularly large wave, I attempted to get up only to have my board slide out from under me and rap me on the shins. After getting out of the water to inspect the area that was smacked by the board, had the beginning of a nice bruise forming.

            These were the two most fantastic stories from our trip I feel.

Besides the really cool activities that we participated in, the feeling of being in a foreign country, and not knowing all of the proper customs, was really interesting. I felt like I didn’t belong there, but also did at the same time. You could almost compare it to a guy who accidently walked into the woman’s bathroom.

            My most favorite aspect of Costa Rica was the system in which it used to trade, and sell goods. The system they use is called bartering. This means that a seller of goods is allowed to make his own price, and change it however he feels. This then allows the buyer to try and haggle for a lower price. I personally along with most of our group felt that we were pretty good at haggling, even thought I bet that we still overpaid them.

Well this is the end of this blog; stay tuned for next week’s blog,

Anders Deboom

Costa Rica Expedition

       Costa Rica Expedition By Chris Veno

            On Monday the group went to the Rec Center.  Doug and I went to the urgent care center to check on my sprained ankle.  At the urgent care center they took x rays on my ankle and determined it was only sprained.  On Tuesday we woke up at 5:00 and picked up Big John, then drove two hours to the airport.  At the airport I ordered a double cheeseburger from Burger King and it was tasty-nice.  Then we boarded the plane for Costa Rica.  On the flight to Costa Rica I sat next to Jon and we had some great conversations. 

          The first night in Costa Rica we walked around San Jose and ate dinner at Santa Clara, which is a bakery that is very good.  There are a lot of cool souvenirs in Costa Rica.  Then we went horseback riding.  We also went to Los Lagos to go swimming and it was awesome.  The next day we went zip lining and I hung upside down, beat my chest, and called like Tarzan!!  We had a lot of fun in Costa Rica. 

          On Saturday we went to the beach and went surfing and boogie boarding.  Alex, Isaac, Jon, and I had to be rescued by the lifeguard because we got taken out by a rip current.  Also at the beach, I was peeling and eating Tropical Almonds and they tasted like red bananas, which I love.  I also got a rad tan while in Costa Rica. 

Three of the things that I loved about Costa Rica By Jon Adkins

The first thing that I loved the most about Costa Rica was being able to go back to Los Lagos Hotel, Spa and Resort in Costa Rica. Some of the fun things that we did were go down one slide that is kind of short but is heated by the volcano and dumps you in the area next to the bar, and another slide that isn’t heated but twists and turns a lot before dumping you in a cool pool.

The second thing that I loved about Costa Rica was at the same place as the slides Los Lagos that on a different day we went on the canopy zip-line tours. Some that spanned about six-hundred meters. Another thing that we did was go horseback riding in some of the same areas that we did the zip-line tours and other parts going in view of a large river and around some mountains.

The third thing that I loved about Costa Rica was all the times that we went to the awesome beaches where most of us in the group would be body surfing and seeing how far inland we could go by the waves alone. After awhile we made a game out if it and it caught on quick because soon we even had kids around us copying us and playing the game.

In conclusion even though I have done all of the things before I will always remember the people that I did it with and what we did there.

The canopy by AT

On the Rebel Tribe’s trip to Costa Rica, the students and staff went to a zipline tour through the canopy. We had one more person with us and his name was Willy who was our driver for our van. He was driving us to and from places so he decided to come with us. We drove to the outfitters to outfit us with harnesses, helmets, and zipline equipment. Then the guides took us top the first zipline by driving us to it.  The guides were awesome and fun.  The first and second lines were fun and then they told us we could go upside down on the third one. I stepped up to do it and it was a wild ride. Everyone did go upside down and Jon, Sophie, and my other teammate did a superman movement on the zipline. It took about one hour to go on the first six ziplines. Then on the 8^th zipline we had to get all the speed to get to the other side. I went down and saw an amazing view. Overall we all made this experience an awesome memory. I hope the Outer Banks are this awesome and have the same adventures.

Coley

The Suwannee River was a very fun trip. We got to do a lot of fun things like going to the world’s best pizza. The slices wer the biggest that I have ever seen in my life. We did a lot of community service. It was very fun. We got to go on the rope swings. Before we went back to NC we went to Blue Springs. It was cool we got to swim in the springs. That was a under cove that led to the other side of the springs and we swam under it. It was Very fun. But Jon and Mike and I did the real fun thing we free dived 50 feet to the cool cave. It was cool and fun. Now I am back in NC and it is good weather, and I am getting ready for my next trip. The end

Coley

Suwannee River X Blog BY ALEX WILDS

           The first thing that I noticed about Florida was how well it was kept. There wasn’t much trash in the state parks, the roads were in really good condition, and the campsites were the best I’ve ever stayed in. The campsites were normally screened in platforms and they had water. The only problem was the way the water tasted. It tasted like sulfur or chemicals.

Suwannee River X Blog

By: Alex Wilds

3-22-11

 

            The canoeing was really fun. The river flowed at 2 miles per hour so paddling was a breeze compared to the Everglades. We did a 20 plus mile day once. We guessed we went about 27 miles. I say we went about 25 miles. There was a solo boat with only one person. I didn’t get the solo boat but others did. We went down some white water in the canoes. I was guiding and Isaac was taking a video.

            We saw a lot of wild life on the Suwannee. We saw mostly turtles and birds, and sometimes a fish jump or a lizard on a tree. We didn’t see any snakes or alligators witch was a downer.

            We went to Lazy Moon Pizza again because it’s really good. After Lazy Moon Pizza we went to tour Rollins College for a few people that are looking at colleges.

Isaac Brenman x3

By

Isaac Brenman

This expedition was the third one. It was on the Suwannee River. The campsites that we stayed at were like four star hotels. They had electricity and hot running water. We got no fish on the river. The water looks like Coca Cola so we call it the Coca Cola River. We met a lot of nice people on the river. One of the camp hosts had a dog named Poop dog. Poop dog was a very nice dog. That’s was at Blue Springs just off the Suwannee River. The water was crystal clear. You could see the bottom of the 30 ft. deep pool. The water was 72 degrees. Which is pretty warm for a spring? On the way back we went to Lazy Moon pizza. The expedition was a lot of fun.

ANDERS MOST INTERESTING EXPEDITION

Hello again my loyal viewers!

            This weeks blog is going to be a very interesting one, mostly because I was unable to go on the expedition with my team.

            Due to some unacceptable action which I had prior to leaving for my team’s second Florida trip, I was put on OSS. For those who are unfamiliar what OSS is, OSS is out of school suspension.  So instead of going to Florida, I had to stay at base camp in North Carolina in the semi cold and live in the X cabin for about eight days.

            I can tell you that the X cabin is definately not my favorite cabin. When it rains, it leaks, and it has no insolation, so when it’s cold out it just freezes the cabin.

            Though I would rather have gone to Florida, I believe that my time on OSS was essential for me so I can turn over a new leaf at Soar and really succeed.

            While I was in the X cabin, pretty much the only thing that I did, and was allowed to do was, sit in my sleeping bag, and process all of the consequences of my actions, and everything else that had to do with why I was on OSS.

            I was probably able to go over every instance of bad, which I had done while I was at Soar, and recognize all of the consequences that those actions had here at Soar, and not at Soar. It really shocked me when I finally realized all of the effects that my actions have caused. Since OSS I have made it my goal right now not to get back on OSS and to go on the straight and narrow road, so I don’t run of and fall in a life’s ditch.

Well this is pretty much my whole expedition. I know its not very exciting, but trust me, it could have been much worse!

            Well thanks for reading this weeks blog!

            Anders Deboom

Isaac Brenman x3

By

Isaac Brenman

This expedition was the third one. It was on the Suwannee River. The campsites that we stayed at were like four star hotels. They had electricity and hot running water. We got no fish on the river. The water looks like Coca Cola so we call it the Coca Cola River. We met a lot of nice people on the river. One of the camp hosts had a dog named Poop dog. Poop dog was a very nice dog. That’s was at Blue Springs just off the Suwannee River. The water was crystal clear. You could see the bottom of the 30 ft. deep pool. The water was 72 degrees. Which is pretty warm for a spring? On the way back we went to Lazy Moon pizza. The expedition was a lot of fun.

The Suwannee River Expedition

   The Suwannee River Expedition By Chris Veno

          On this expedition we went to the Suwannee River in northern Florida.  We canoed for five days and had a lot of fun.  I have been working on my rad tan and sick-nasty abs.  We saw 103 turtles while we were canoeing on the pristine Suwannee River.  I paddled with Jon, Doug, Aaron, and Alec.  They all thought that I am a powerhouse in the front of the canoe. 

          At Holton Creek the temperature went down to 31 degrees Fahrenheit at night which is very unusual for March in northern Florida.  We saw five Gulf Sturgeon jump in the river and one of them was eight feet long.  They are an amazing sight to behold when they jump out of the water. 

At Lafayette Blue Springs I got Poison Ivy while I was digging up Bullbrier Greenbrier for the roots because you can make flour out of the roots.  Digging up Bullbrier roots takes a lot of strength because you have to break through tree and plant roots and that is a lot of hard work. 

          At Hanna Park we went to the beach and Doug and I played catch with the Frisbee.  While at the beach I went swimming in my boxers because I was wearing jeans and I did not want them to get wet.  While I was swimming the waves pants me a couple of times and it was really funny. 

Memorable moments on the Suwannee By Jon Adkins

One of the main memorable moments that I had while I was on the Suwannee is the day that I paddled over twenty miles by myself in a canoe. One of the parts that made it more memorable is that I tied two canoe paddles together and made a make-shift kayak paddle. That made it go by a lot faster than it would have if I just used a single paddle.

            Another memorable moment that I had on the Suwannee was on the third to last day where we stopped for lunch on the river where there was a rope swing. The main part that made it more memorable for me was that Sophie had her camera and was taking pictures of us jumping off the rope swing. The part that I remember the most is the picture of Chris that was of him in a ninja position in the air. It was very funny to see.

            The final memorable moment that I had was when we were at the Lafayette Blue Spring and was when Aaron, Alec, Chris and I were asked by the camp host to bring an aluminum framed park bench up a flight of stairs and couldn’t do it because of the heaviness of the bench and the width of the stair well. However all we could do was the all wood bench (which by the camp host was thought to be heavier than the aluminum framed one). We got that one up the stairs in no time and even got a bit of time to talk to her and got to go on a private porch that only the camp hosts get to go on.

            In conclusion there were many moments while I was on the Suwannee River that I will remember always with the Rebel Tribe.

The Wild Water by Alec Thompson

On the Rebel Tribe’s third expedition to Florida, we had a 27-mile paddle day on the Suwannee River. It was a warm sunny Florida day and we had already paddled 2o miles. We were paddling at a good rhythm and we heard the sound of rapids and thought we had miscalculated the river plan. We knew the river was low and we didn't expect the river to have rapids.  We looked ahead and saw some small rapids. The next thing we saw as we approached the rapids was a huge gulf sturgeon jump out of the water and land to my left. It surprised my boat (Chris and I) and it surprised Sophie’s boat (Sophie and Aaron).  After stopping before the rapids we saw two more jump. Then Sophie called out to be ready to run the rapids. Sophie’s Boat when first, then it went in this order: Jon( who was in the solo boat), Alex and he- shall-not-be-named, Chris and I, and finally Doug and Coley. It was a wild ride and Chris and I barely touched a sunken log in the water and got some water in our boat. It was really exciting and we finished it without any flip-over’s.  We paddled the rest of the day rapid free and made it to camp before sunset. This expedition was filled with fun and adventure, so I hope Costa Rica is the same way.  Our second to last expedition is coming up fast! it will be a fun filled and hopefully be a awsome ride, and many stories will be coming back from costa rica.

Everglades Expedition By Alex Wilds 3-4-11

            I write song lyrics a lot and on this last expedition I have written 4. A lot of my team members are musically talented. I am hopeful that we can write and play some songs together. That would be really cool and really great. I am going to try to make a band when I get home with some of my friends. It’s a good idea to put together a temporary band here at SOAR because we have a songwriter, base player, guitar player, and some people that play the drums. I have a few songs that we can make. One is Plastic Bag and another I can’t find right now. I hope that we can play one or two songs at the end of the semester.