We began at the Boys and Girls Club in Billings, Montana. We left the clubhouse in the morning with a handful of teens. When we started the drive, it was the summer when “Stranger Things” season four came out. While we were on our way to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho we stopped in places of Montana I had never been before. I remember looking out of the window listening to “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac, My favorite band.   I saw mountains and scenery I haven't seen yet and I was shocked by the scenic beauty my state had to offer. Road trips give me a certain type of serotonin and I become worry free during the ride to the destination. We arrived in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and stopped there for a couple of days during the week.

    I was absolutely ecstatic when we arrived because I looked forward to the itinerary we had scheduled for the time we were there for. I remember going into our hotel and laughing because it did not look like the pictures. It was sketchy and questionable, but I put it past me because I was on a free week-long trip.

    I got together with two other kids I did not know thoroughly, however I was excited to make positive memories with them. After dinner, we went on a little trip around town, we got back to the hotel and went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I remember waking up excited to take on the day filled with activities around the town. After breakfast, we went to “Dutch Bros.” I remember some kids being excited because they'd never had it before. After that, we had a boat tour around the lake.

    Since we were early for the tour, we grabbed our swimsuits out of the van and headed towards Lake Coeur d'Alene to go swimming. A friend and I decided it would be funny to pretend we were mermaids but since we were in a lake we called ourselves “Lake Mermaids.” We had instantly created an inside joke because we remember playing mermaids in pools as kids but we were not at an ocean, we were at a lake.  After swimming it was about time to get ready for the boat tour we had scheduled. I remember staring at the propellers and the splashing water. We walked around the boat and judged each lake house mansion we saw like they were our own. After the boat ride, we talked about how fun the ride was. We went back to the van and drove to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we had already packed our bags in the morning so we could just leave for Spokane. Once we got to Spokane, we checked into our hotel in the valley. 

    We went shopping and toured different places with unique designs. We went to a big garden with pretty flowers everywhere and unique designs in the hedges. We also visited Gonzaga University and toured the whole thing. We saw the cool buildings and almost every one of them had a story that made them even more unique. After the tour, we went back to our hotel and waited for the morning because we would be heading back to Coeur D'alene. When we got back to the little lake town we waited outside for a while for my counselor to get room keys. After, we headed towards “Silverwood”, a theme park in northern Idaho. It was super fun especially for me because I am a thrill seeker. We went on roller coasters until it was only me riding rides, everyone else wanted to go to the water park. 

    When we finished up at Silverwood we went back to our hotel and got dinner. After dinner we went swimming in our hotel pool and went to sleep. I was preparing for our last full day away from home. When I woke up I remember filling up with dread because I didn't want to leave this trip. One of the staff on the trip and I went out to the grocery store for coffee and groceries to pack lunches for the trip back.  We shared music and I told her all the things going on in my life at the time. The trip allowed me to build a lot more connections with people I would have never thought I would talk to or open up to ever. Then we headed back to the hotel to start packing up so we would be ready to leave by morning. After we got everything situated, we started our day by going around town and just exploring. We went to the lake and swam for a little bit. After, we went to get dinner and headed back to the hotel. We still had a few more hours till we had to go to bed and everyone was going crazy for one more adventure. We had to do something and someone suggested the lake. 

    After some contemplating, we all decided to go back down to the lake and go swimming during the sunset. I saw birds running and flying around the beach. We went swimming and took lots of pictures of the lake . We played in the sand. We played with seaweed, and we played in the water. It was a really cool part of the trip, we made the little time we had the most memorable part of the trip.

    Then we went back to the hotel, making sure everything was packed up for our trip back home the following day. I get the sense of family when I think about this trip. Especially with the Boys and Girls Club. Even though I am not blood related to the people at the club I get the sense of family. The Idea of family differ from person to person but what truly matters is what it means for you and how you as an individual interpret the feeling of family.