Location: On the road from Harrisonburg to Missouri
Written by Katelyn Shank

June 7:

The journey started bright and early around 5:30 .  The group said our goodbyes and boarded the coach.  Sleeping, playing card games like Euchre, Rook or Poker, talking, or working on our assignments filled the long 12 hour bus ride.  Our first stop was St. Louis !  This awkward group ate dinner on the sidewalk between the Mississippi River and the St. Louis arch! “No one’s ever made dinner here before, I guess that’s ok,” said the lady that Mr. Yoder got permission from.  So we enjoyed our random dinner of sandwiches and a couple people gulped cans of free Red Bull to give them a kick for the rest of the night! We then entered the underground museum and walked through displays of history.  Mr. Yoder made sure that everyone saw the statue of “TJ” a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson before the trip to the top of the arch.  In groups of five, we squished into a white egg shaped capsule.  It is in times like these that I am happy to be short! We clinked all the way to the pinnacle of the arch.  The doors opened to a curved hall in which small rectangle windows were scattered for our viewing pleasure.  I laid on the slanted wall and peered out across St. Louis .  I wanted to stick my hands through those windows and scoop up the city of glittering lights!  It was truly amazing!  I also looked straight down the leg of the arch, which appeared to be a huge sliding board.  We reluctantly reentered the capsules and descended the arch.  That night we were hosted by Bethesda Mennonite Church .  We entered the “Gateway to the West,” and the journey began!

Location: Colorado
Written by Caroline Clymer

June 10

Yesterday, we visited the 5,000 acre Porter farm in Quinter, Kansas , a piece of land passed down through five generations, with rippling wheat and gorgeous Kansas sky stretching for miles.  Mr. Porter took us out to a field that had just been planted with sunflowers, and let us take a sample of soil.  We took out a sample about two and a half feet deep, and looked at how the color and texture of the soil horizons changed as we went deeper.  He also showed us a tool called a moisture probe, a six foot long metal rod you should be able to push all the way into the ground if the soil is moist enough.  I doubted it was possible, but I gave it a try anyway.  To my surprise, it easily punctured six feet of soil without hitting a single rock on the way down.  In Virginia , you can hardly poke in tent pegs without hitting a rock, but Mr. Porter told us that you can go down 50 feet in Kansas before you hit anything.  He talked to us about the things they do on their farm to prevent erosion and keep the soil fertile, like no-till farming, crop rotation, and planting trees as a wind-break.  After the tour of his farm, we went the city pool for a swim, then hopped back on the coach for a three and a half hour drive to Byers High School , where we spent the night. 

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