The Wondrous Camping Trip
It was just a normal Thursday night during summer break when Quinn’s dad came home from work looking happy, which was unusual. He usually came home tired and bad-tempered and always complained to Quinn about his stressful day at work. He gathered up the whole family for a meeting, which included Quinn (13 years old), her dad Frank, and her little angel sister Evie (5 years old). Quinn’s mom would have also been there, but she was away on a business trip.
Okay, back to the meeting. “We are going camping, and we’re leaving tomorrow morning,” Frank said with an excited voice. They hadn’t camped for four years, and it was great news to all of them. Quinn and Evie jumped up and down happily.
For the rest of the night, they just started packing the materials and equipment that were needed to go camping. By Friday morning, they were all set and ready to go on an eight-hour road trip to the campsite. Their journey was enjoyable. Quinn’s dad was a healthy person and didn’t really allow any oily or sweet treats. This time was different, and he let both of his daughters spend 20 dollars each for this trip and brought a whole tub of snacks (including marshmallows)! The eight hours still felt like an eternity, and finally arrived! When they walked to their campsite, their jaws hung open.
The campsite was the prettiest campsite they had ever seen! It was a fairy ring (a ring of trees) with fairy lights hanging from tree to tree. Quinn and Evie were examining the beautiful site and thinking of fairies all around, until they heard Frank’s voice. “You two, come help me set up the tent.”
Quinn and Evie were glad to help and move around and avoid the pesky mosquitoes. After setting up the tent, filling the air mattress, and putting the blankets and pillows in the tent, they started the fire. They had dinner and roasted marshmallows, and soon Evie got sleepy and wanted to go back into the tent, so they brushed their teeth and went to bed.
Quinn’s family was leaving Sunday morning, so they didn’t have much time to explore the whole place, but they could visit all the places they really wanted to go. So on Saturday, when they woke up, they quickly ate breakfast and went to explore. They first went hiking; after they climbed to the top, they got a whole view of the beautiful place. They could see the fairy ring, a flower garden, and even a gift shop.
“Where are we going next?” asked Quinn.
Frank said, “We’re going to the gift shop to get you guys something.”
“What is it?” Evie asked.
Frank said, in a happy tone, “I’m not telling you!” They arrived at the gift shop, and Frank quickly walked inside, bought two magnets, and headed back to the car. He handed one magnet to Quinn and the other one to Evie. Quinn and Evie both said in sync, “A magnet?”
“Yeah, it’s for the beach we’re going to, and you will see why you need it for the beach,” said Frank. The beach they were going to had magnetite sand, which is a dark, heavy sand composed largely of the iron oxide magnetite. When they put the magnet to the sand, the magnetite would stick to it. It was so fun that they played and played until it was almost dark. They started to head back to their campsite. When they reached the campsite, they started the fire and sat around the fire to eat dinner. Of course, they couldn’t miss dessert, so they had a couple more marshmallows and went into the tent to look at the stars.
Quinn was all by herself, trying to find the Big Dipper and possibly finding the star link. Frank and Evie were finding the biggest and shiniest star of them all.
“Dad! I found the Big Dipper! Quinn shouted.
While Frank and Quinn were examining the Big Dipper, a voice came from the distance. It was Evie’s: “What is a big dipper?”
“A big dipper is a group of stars in the sky,” said Frank.
Quinn continued, “The Big Dipper looks like a big spoon in the night sky.”
“Sit around me; I’ll tell both of you a story about constellations,” Frank said.
“Ok, so we start with Orion the hunter guy, who is always trying to look strong and bold, but he is actually running away from Scorpius the scorpion because they’re on opposite sides of the sky and can’t stand each other. Then you have Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, which everyone calls the Big and Little Dippers, but they’re actually just a big mama bear and her cub playing tag around the North Star while Draco the dragon just curls around them like a weird pet. Higher up, this flying horse named Pegasus. Meanwhile, the 12 zodiac signs like Leo the lion, Taurus the bull, and Gemini the twins are all lined up in a big circle like a group of people trying to play ring-around-a-rosie. Even the random southern ones named after tools, like Antlia the air pump and Crux the cross, join them.”
By the time the story was over, Quinn and Evie had both fallen asleep and were snoring soundly. Frank said, “Good night kids, it was so fun to talk to two sleeping people.” He put them both to bed and then went to bed.
Morning came super fast; once they had finished breakfast and completed packing up, they started the journey home. They stopped at a gas station; Quinn and Evie went inside to buy some drinks and snacks. After what felt like a fifty-hour drive, they were finally home! Because of that super fun journey, the family had a new favorite hobby.