Huzzah!

This little video is dedicated to our friends in Mr. Miller’s class in California. We think they are pretty marvelous. They gave us the gift of this geocaching adventure, and we are grateful. We enjoyed our conversation with them via Skype this week, and well, we are making plans to send a little adventure their way. But Shhh! Don’t tell them!

Tags: geocaching, Huzzahnian Dragon, Mr. Miller

Over the weekend a geocacher by the name of Lazonain deposited the Huzzahnian Dragon travel bug in a geocache near our school. To know more about how this adventure was begun by Mr. Miller and his class, read here and here.

With the help of a Mr. Berry, our principal, and a GPS, we took a little walk and located the cache on Monday morning. It was a beautiful fall day here so the walk in the forest was especially sweet. Pictures of our adventure coming soon!

Please give us some feedback on the survey below or in the comments. Is this adventure over or does a new adventure await us?

Tags: geocaching, Huzzahnian Dragon, Mr. Miller

This is just too exciting!

Our friends in Mr. Miller’s Room 162 in central California have included us in a very exciting project: they are sending a travel bug our way. Now, who sends their friends bugs? Geocachers do!

Here is our cute-as-a-bug bug, the Huzzahnian Dragon:

According to Geocaching.com, there are 1 210 622 active caches all around the world. It’s an outdoor sport–a hide-and-seek sort of game–that’s only been around for a decade. Geocachers hide things for others to find. Some of the more active geocachers have thousands of finds. Such is the case with VCTrails, an avid cacher who is currently transporting our dragon: he has over 3400 finds to his credit! Some caches contain travel bugs that are on their way somewhere. The Huzzahnian Dragon is travelling to a cache near us!

The dragon started in California, near San Miguel. He/she/it was placed in a cache by Mr. Miller, then sat in the dark for three weeks. Luckily for us, he/she/it was was found by VCTrails who is heading north to–of all places– Vancouver, British Columbia, just a ferry ride and one hundred or so kilometres away!

And what an adventure he/she/it is having! Take a look at these photos by VCTrails (captions added–but I am sure that is what the dragon was thinking): All three were taken at Redwoods National Park. The map at the bottom shows how far the dragon has gone–more than a 1000 km. We are really grateful that VCTrails is going out of his way to show our dragon a good time.

Huzzahnian Dragon: hero, villain, or just a regular guy?

So what is this dragon like? Well, cute for sure, but about other important things? Is it a boy or a girl? Young or old? Friendly? Quirky? Intellectual? What does this dragon eat? Drink? Read? What does he/she/it sound like? Does he/she/it miss the kids in Room 162? (If you are from Room 162, please let us know how you are managing without him/her/it.) Would this dragon be a good partner in charades? Does he/she/it have good table manners? What do you think? We are starting a new page with our best guesses about the Huzzahnian Dragon. Please feel free to add your thoughts there! But if you just want to say hi, or tell us about your geocaching experiences, please comment below. And VCTrails, we’d love to hear from you!

Image credits: Dragon indoors–Mr. Miller Dragon outdoors–VCTrails

Tags: geocaching, Mr. Miller. VCTrails, Room 162

Tags: physical education, track jamboree

This past Friday afternoon, Huzzahnians hoisted up the sails and took to the water.  Thanks to Compass Adventures, the grade five and sixes were introduced to sailing at the Comox Marina.  Judging from the huge smiles on everyone’s faces, the afternoon was a great success.  The instructors were incredibly impressed at how fast our class caught on. 
After launching from the harbour, the four Hobie Cats (catamarans) with four students in each boat, glided across the water in perfect formation.  In the lead boat, our class’s resident sailor, Josh, put on an impressive show of tacking and keeping the sails full of wind.  The sun and a gentle wind made for a perfect day, as some of the class was also introduced to kayaking and paddle boarding on the sandy banks of the Spit.  The quote of the day, often repeated, was “This is awesome!”  I’m sure everyone is looking forward to returning and enjoying the water. 
A special thanks goes out to the instructors (James, Andrew and Molly) who patiently explained and guided us on one of the coolest field trips that I have ever seen.  Thanks, also, to the parents (Celine, Shelly, Judy, and David) who drove and our school PAC for making the event possible.

Tags: sailing