Shattering The Surfaces

Chapter Nineteen Crater Lake

Quick Note: Okay, Crater Lake is actually colder than I portray here. I looked it up after I wrote it so whoops, just imagine it not being almost freezing pretty please hehe. When I went to Klamath Falls which is just south of Crater Lake, I was there in October 2000 (in the book it is November and not the year 2000) there was no snow at ground level yet so maybe haha. Also the X-Files joke in the chapter is from an actual X-Files episode where Mulder and Scully go to Crater Lake in Oregon to investigate an alien abduction case, yeah, I'm a nerd. The picture is of the night sky visible at Crater Lake and the song is Santo and Johnny 'Sleepwalk' an instrumental love song no words from 1959 that I spent hours searching for because I couldn't remember the name of it and it was the only song I wanted for this chapter and appropriate to the setting. Unedited so hope you all enjoy this one. =) Happy Reading!

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Nerves flitted about in my stomach as my mom drove me to school. Today the astronomy class is leaving for the camping trip. Everyone was supposed to meet at the school at seven am to pack the charter bus with all the students’ luggage and camping gear, besides what the school had provided.

Jon and I had split the list we were given on who should bring what. His responsibility would be most of the camping gear since he already had it from his own families camping trips as well as his own personal things needed for the trip. I took on bringing the supplies side, entertainment, smacks, and school supplies form when we were working on the project and my own personal items.

The process had kept both of us so busy that we had hardly seen each other all week. Hence the nerves bouncing in my stomach like atomic particles fusing together. We had three days and no parents or Tony. Sure there would be teachers and teacher aides but there were twenty students to keep an eye on. I’m sure some shenanigans were bound to happen.

The mountain camping site we were going to was a three hour drive north east. I was unfamiliar with the park but Jon had camped there a few times before as I said with family on vacations. So I would be relying even more heavily on him and his knowledge. I didn’t like it much but what else could I do. I did however bring my own GPS gadget in case anyone of us got separated or lost.

There would be plenty of activities to do during the day. Each team was given the freedom to make their own schedules for two of the three days so as we participated in some of the group activities and meal times. The last day would be a special class BBQ.

So far, the schedule that was set up for when we arrived was to get all our things unpacked and pick a spot for each team’s camp site to set up the tents. Jon and I brought two as was the request for teams of opposite gender. Once everyone got set up the camping guides were supposed to give us a lecture and lesson on camping protocols and surviving in the wild, safety guidelines etc.

After that we had the option to make our schedules while we ate lunch. All the meals would be a group activity and our teacher, Mrs. Davis, happened to be a cook so she had volunteered for the job on the trip with the help of the other aides. We were even told to make a sleep schedule because obviously the most opportune and visible time to see a meteor shower was at night and a reason why so many supervision was coming along to do so in shifts.

“You haven’t forgotten anything?” My mom said as we rounded the block the school sat on.

“Yes mom I triple checked the list.” We had to label everything with those travel tabs attaching them to everything we were bringing in case anything got lost.

“What about Jon?”

“I’m sure he is more prepared than I am.” I smiled at my mom’s concern, but it fell as nerves settled once we pulled into the school parking lot.