June 2023 Part 1: Trek

On June 4th (the day after we got back from our California Trip), Michael had to pack for Trek and drop all his gear off at his Ma & Pa's house. He wanted to take it on his scooter, but we had our doubts about that so we followed him. 

Later that night, we realized that Michael had packed ALL of his trek clothes, except an extra button up shirt that he wasn't planning to take, so I raided my fabric stash and made him a pair of pants to wear the next day. 

The next morning, he was all ready to go, complete with his new pair of pants. (We had gotten all his other clothes at DI before school got out so he'd be ready.) We felt a little bad that we'd worn out his feet in the parks the week before, but took comfort in knowing that our neighbors had also spent the entire previous week in the parks and their daughter also went on Trek. At least Michael had a kindred spirit/empathetic trek buddy.  

I dropped him off at the Stake Center. I can't believe that he's old enough for this! 

It was fun seeing our youth in their 1800s best, all ready for an adventure. They went to Hardware Ranch up in Logan. Now, I'm passing the baton over to Michael to tell you all about it.

The bus ride up took a long time. We stopped at a random spot and our hand carts were there, and we had to load them up and take them to our camping spot. We had some apples and some guy talked, and we started going. 

Right away, some kid fell over and rolled his ankle. We kept going though, and eventually we stopped for lunch. This is Aurora Reed (left), Reese Brinkerhoff (middle), and Landon Bills (right) who were my siblings for Trek in the Tuttle Family. 

Here's Landon and Sam Tuttle at lunch. 

We had a talk or something about some pioneer stuff. I think this is where they introduced the Be the Buffalo theme for Trek. We stay in a herd, something about facing the storms head on--I don't know. 

After we were a good way in, the people in the back kept stepping in cow pies because they couldn't see ahead of them, so Aurora started calling out how bad they were on a 1-10 scale. 10 was toxic, and a 1 wasn't even worth mentioning. The cowpies were still liquid, but had dried on the outside, so they looked solid, and whenever they got run over, they exploded. The grass stuck to the turd-caked wheels and made some pretty nasty stuff. 

That night it rained a lot, and my shoes were soaked. We still had the dances and stuff in the mud. The mosh pit was fun. It was pretty cold. 

Here's the family with the cart. Chloe Bills and Tatum Turner are in the very front, then Mikayla Maughn, Aurora, and Reece are in the middle, but Mikayla is the only one in the box, and Aurora and Reece are just walking by, so I'm not sure what's happening here. I think this might be the Women's Pull (when all the women pulled the cart all on their own up a hill to to symbolize the Mormon Battalion leaving and to commemorate the times when women lost husbands or had sick husbands and had to pull the carts on their own. All the men in the camp had to stand on the side and watch the struggle. It was a powerful part of the experience for everybody.) 

Here's all the girls after the Women's Pull. Left to Right: Reece, Aurora, Sydney Katz, Chloe Bills, Mikayla, Tatum, and Mama Tutt (Kari Tuttle). 

That's me and Joe Brown after the Women's pull. We're just sitting here. We had to sing a song. I don't really know what song it was. 

Here's Aurora and Mikayla, pulling in the front, and my leg and pink Crocs, which I wore for two days after my shoes got soaked the first night. 

This is me and Tatum in the box, with Reece pushing. Landon had just had surgery on his knee right before Trek, so he was the flag bearer. 

Here's Chloe walking by the wagon. 

Here's me, Chloe, and Tatum pushing in the back on the morning of the last day. 

Here's Sam, Aurora, Reece, and Papa Tutt. 

There's Mikayla, with me pushing in the back. 

Here's our ward on our last day. 

The thing I liked most about Trek was the people. My family was pretty cool. 

(Back to Devri)

On Wednesday, June 7th, they made their way home. I think someone alerted parents as to when they'd be arriving. It was crazy to see 23 busses full of youth and leaders come pulling up to the Stake Center. It was a bit of a mad house, but I found my boy and our neighbor Alva, got their stuff, and got them home. The first order of business was a shower. 

Later that night, Michael came to us, feeling quite sad and saying, "I wish I could go back to trek."