As a teenager I vehemently protest any attempts whatsoever to get me out of bed before 11:00 A.M., I consider this a longstanding tradition that I have upheld since the age of ten. My parents are the type who always took trips to National Parks rather than Disney World or say, Universal. While I have not always appreciated these trips, one that I have never second guessed is the trip my family and I took to Yellowstone National Park. My vehement protests were rudely neglected when my family and I would wake up at 4:00 A.M. to go look for wildlife, including the rarely spotted wolf packs that inhabit the National Park.
â–º QUARTER FINALIST 2012 TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP
While we had previously traveled to Yellowstone National Park, my family had participated in what might be considered the more "touristy" aspects of the park and therefore felt we had to return to experience the more intimate aspects of the park. On our first trip we had learned that during the early years of the park, visitors would tour the park by way of stagecoach and in order to accommodate these visitors, a number of hotels were erected at relatively regular distances along the main trail. My family and I decided to re-enact this pilgrimage of sorts. We traveled from Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to Lake Yellowstone Hotel. The views from the first hotel alone were enough to captivate any visitor. Deer roamed the lawns of Mammoth Springs and a rather large Bison met us at the entrance of Lake Yellowstone Hotel. The mountains surrounding me, which were obviously inanimate objects, were so immense that I felt intimidated by them. Something that I have learned from visiting National Parks is that the nature preserved in them is so much bigger than any human, or anything a human could ever make because they have stood not only the test of time, but also are thoroughly authentic, being created by Mother Nature.
Our adventures proceeded on to the Canyon Lodge and the Old Faithful Inn, while I also briefly stayed at the Roosevelt Lodge Cabins. I found Canyon Lodge rather uninteresting…perhaps it was due to the 13 hour hike I had recently completed. To me it looked as if it had been taken out of the Las Vegas strip in the 70s. I much preferred the Old Faithful Inn and the Roosevelt Lodge Cabins. Talk about intimidating, when I entered the Old Faithful Inn I had to stop for a moment and look up at the over 50 ft. beams that lined the ceiling and the rest of the solely wood structure. Its amazing to consider that craftsmanship and architecture of this sort was done with the technology and tools of the early 20th century. I was lucky to stay in a room that looked directly out onto the famous geyser named Old Faithful for its consistent, timely, eruption. I mean how man places do you find holes in the ground that blow water 120 feet in the air!
It is hard to describe all the nature that I saw as we would drive from lodge to lodge. I saw everything from black bears to wolf packs, and bison roamed everywhere. I received the scare of a lifetime when trying to take a picture of a bison, at first I thought I was accidently zooming in with the camera, but much to my surprise the bison was charging straight for me! I have never run so fast in my life as I did at that moment. The mountains such as El Capitan (named for the way it looks like a man with a cap on) appeared to touch the sky, and waterfalls were immense and appeared to continue on forever. Some waterfalls created rainbows as they fell. Sage plants lined the ground everywhere and bison, although once endangered, roam in herds. There were antelope and deer with full racks.
I doubt that I will ever be able to experience quite like Yellowstone. The natural world that I was exposed to there, and the deep history that it seemed to contain in its rolling hills is truly one of a kind. I have such fond memories of the people I met and the places I stayed at this park. It was this trip that taught me that I was not missing anything by visiting National Parks instead of Theme Parks. I have some advice for anyone who takes the same trip: stay as long as you can and visit as many of the original lodges as possible! It makes for the best, most scenic, and most educational stay. I hope to return to Yellowstone National Park in the near future.
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A destiny I will never forget.
This was by far, the best vacation I have ever been on. I hope be awarded the scholarship so that I can go on to college, graduate with honors, and get a great job so that one day I can show my family what a great place Yellowstone National Park is. Thank you for considering my application!
I hope you enjoy my essay. Thank you for your time.
My favorite city so far!
It's such a beautiful place!
my trip.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for checking out my blog. 🙂 I hope you enjoy.
With Much Appreciation,
– Zoe McDowell
hello
I have run short on space, yet I managed to squeeze in about 3/4ths of my trip.
Lordsburg and Demming are in New Mexico (I guess I should have edited that), and there are numerous other details I would have liked to have included….
If you're interested in traveling in my footsteps, I highly recommend the Togwotee Lodge and Resort, which is where we stayed during our trip.
While visiting Paris the summer I was fourteen, I was captivated my by its beauty. The city's rich culture, diverse people, and turbulent history fascinated me and captured my imagination. It was there that I discovered the wonder of adventure, and my never-ending love of Paris.
this is my actual scholarship submission. PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE THE PREVIOUS ENTRY. THIS IS MY SUBMISSION. THANK YOU.
This was the most incredible vacation ever! All my classmates who attended agreed and have remembered every memory from Washington D.C. Thank you School Tours of America and my special sponsors Mrs. Nobel and Mr. Fitch.
My trip to new york was wonderful. I even c reated a website to prove it.
http://nothinglikenewyork.shutterfly.com/
I almost did not go on this trip, worrying about what could go wrong, that summer would nearly be over when I returned, and how much it cost. But, I decided to take this trip to see a few of my German friends and their families, not knowing when, otherwise, I would see them again if I didn't take this opportunity. Now that I have returned home, I am very happy to have taken this trip.
My name is Inemesit Effiong.I am an avid reader and an ardent Colin Firth fan. I love outdoor activities, writing poetry, and volunteering. I have had the privilege of volunteering with several clubs like National Honor Society, Rotary Club, Interact Volunteer Club, and The Bridge Run. I enjoy watching Jeopardy with my father (mostly because of Alex Trebek) and I hope to pursue Nursing as a major. I entered this contest because I love exploring and I fell that my experience is very relatable, especially to teenagers my age, who would like to travel abroad, but lack the means or opportunity to do so.
This is a blog about my trip with my mother to New York City
I encourage you, go on a mission trip! You will never regret it. If anything it can help you to figure out your place in this world.
I raised money for this trip during the course of my Freshman year, first by a Bake Sale, which raised over $700, then by giving out poetry that I had written in exchange for donations. They expereince broadened me as a leader and created lasting friendships with other cultures.
This was my Italian experience. It was extremely fun and I can’t wait for the time when I get the chance to return.
Hope you enjoyed my essay! Just wanted to share my beliefs and personal experience. 🙂
Hopefully you can enjoy my post! It's what I believe and is my own personal experience. 🙂
My scholarship entry!
Im glad to share my families trip with you. I hope this inspires you to go on a trip with your family to Hawaii.
My vacation to Spain in general was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The culture was rich and the archetecture was far more ornate than anything I've ever seen in the United States. I will defenately go back there some day if I am fortunate enough.
This particular blog was submitted as a scholarship essay to myfamilytravels.com, enjoy!
I truly am grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had to travel to Hong Kong for a month! I'll definitely think about living in Hong Kong in the future!
I hope people can read this travel blog and see for themselves how great the aftermath of war is. Because of war, these children have to suffer every single day. ):
This blog was very fun to write, it let me reevaluate what had happened during the trip and laugh about it once again. Maybe it will inspire someone else to do what what my family did and go through the indescribable little horrors that we all went through. Happy traveling!
If you have ever wondered what a BIG city is, than New York City is the place for you to go! i had a blast there! Check it out!!
I had alot of fun writing this essay.
Europe is a great place to visit!
it looks cool!
Here is my scholarship for the Teen Travel Writing Scholarship of my journey to Alaska!
My trip to London.
I discovered that I was a pretty good photographer while on this trip. I now take all the family vacation pictures!
My trip to Yellowstone was truly amazing! Yellowstone is a must-see for all nature lovers and hikers!
The wedding took place on August 6, 2011.
this was a wonerful trip with friends & family
My experience was amazing here!
My essay describes the emotional connection to the effects of a storm which would seemingly ruins a trip to Lake Michigan.
I wish I could have written more about Germany, but summing up a vacation such as that in only 600 words seemed impossible to me. I would have never guessed I would have learned so much about myself there. We did activitivities I would never seen myself doing in a million years. Many of the students that went on the trip I would not normally be friends with, but at the end of the day no matter how different we were from one another, we were all friends and family to eachother and still keep in touch till this day. I don't know when I will be able to go on such an amazing adventure again, but my advice to whoever comes across this is, if you have the oppritunity, take it. Even if you are apprehensive, take the risk because I'm willing to bet you will learn so much more.
Thank you all for reading this and best of luck to everyone who entered this contest!
We love going to the Hawaiian Islands. Maui was one of our favorites. Molokini Crater is just off of the Maui coast. I couldn't believe at the variety of fish we snorkeled with–we even glimpsed a reef shark! Snorkeling at Molokini Crater was a great experience and was the inspiration for this short essay.
This is my scholarship essay, please confirm that it has been entered. Thank you!
The reason for my visit to Nigeria was because of a death in my family. In the attatched picture, I am in the middle, surrounded by my family members as we walked toward the area where the ceremony was to be held. The whole experience of visiting Nigeria a third time (but as a teenager) opened my eyes and made me realize that there are things in the world bigger than just me and my problems, and it's my job to find a way to give back before time runs out.
This was my family trip to Missouri…never forget how important learning and family is.
I am a young international traveler interested in seeing the dynamics between different cultures acted out out not only through travel but through international relations on a global stage. Trips to Belize and across the world have cemented my belief that nations working together is for the good of everyone on earth.
I wrote this for the Scholarship writing contest.
This is my entry for the FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholorship!
I hope that everyone can learn a little about this unique country from my blog. There are so many more things I wish I could say, but space is limited!