2002-12-25 Christmas Day
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2002-12-25 Christmas Morning
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2002-12-24 Christmas Eve
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2002-12-12 Matt's Concert At Mead
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2002-12-11 Visit From Santa
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2002-12-10 Christmas Pictures
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2002-12-10 Andrea's 6th Birthday
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2002-12-08 Cassie's 18th Birthday
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2002-12-01 Santa at Pilot Pete's
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2002-11-29 Thanksgiving at Mom's and Andrea's Birthday
46 Photos
2002-11-28 Thanksgiving Day and Andrea's Birthday
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2002-11-24 Andrea's Bowling Birthday Party
44 Photos
2002-11-12 Storey Family
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2002-11-11 Andrea's Bedroom
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2002-11-09 Matt's Cup Tower
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2002-11-01 Rebecca's Hurt Head
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2002-10-31 Halloween
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2002-10-30 Rebecca's School Halloween
9 Photos
2002-10-26 Nerge Halloween
11 Photos
2002-10-26 Andrea's & Alex's Soccer Trophy
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2002-10-24 Andrea's Dance Class
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2002-10-23 Rebecca's Dance Class
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2002-10-20 Carving Pumpkins
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2002-09-01 Jeanne Storey's Birthday
27 Photos
2002-08-25 Matt's People To People Reunion
10 Photos
2002-08-24 Rick's 1995 Ford Aerostar
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2002-08-23 Wisconsin Kalahari Vacation
24 Photos
2002-08-22 Wisconsin Kalahari Vacation
14 Photos
2002-08-21 Wisconsin Kalahari Vacation
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2002-08-15 John Norgard's Birthday
4 Photos
2002-07-27 Visit Uncle Pete & Aunt Lois
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2002-07-12 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 14 - Depart for Home
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Day 13 - Marin Headlands - Final Night Celebration
This morning you’ll greet the day with hot pancakes that you helped to prepare and savor the views of the Yosemite Area for the final time. Learn how to properly break down camp, take a few final pictures, and then say goodbye to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and head back towards the California coastline.
Returning to the Marin Headlands by afternoon, tonight you celebrate your final night in California in style! The evening is spent preparing a lavish final feast and participating in fun closing activities, including games and skits. Reminisce about the last two weeks of fun, adventure, and learning with your new friends and spend the night within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean.
Day 14 - Depart for Home
Eventually, all good things must come to an end. This morning you will get up early for the shuttle to San Francisco Airport and depart for home.
2002-07-10 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 12 - Yosemite Valley - Half Dome
43 Photos
Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Today you hike through the heart of the park, Yosemite Valley. A half-mile deep depression carved by glaciers during the last ice age, it is flanked by soaring 3,000-foot high granite walls and is the “jumping-off” point for many powerful waterfalls, including the third and seventh highest in the world. Unfortunately, because of its popularity, parts of the Valley were severely impacted by development and overcrowding and in danger of being loved to death. However, in January 1997 severe flooding destroyed half the campsites and one third of the buildings. It was decided that many would not be rebuilt, and instead the land has been left to revert to its natural state.
On the hike today you will have to keep a sharp lookout for California Big Horned Sheep and mule deer, and listen for the deeply toned hoot of the Great Grey Owl. Trail’s end is the base of Half-Dome, Yosemite’s most distinctive feature. Dominating the Valley, Half-Dome rises 4,733 feet from the Valley floor, and today lends itself to your study of glacial geology.
2002-07-09 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 11 - Yosemite - Tuolumne Meadows
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
As perhaps the most famous glacially carved landscape in the world, Yosemite National Park is the jewel of the Sierras. Yosemite covers a huge area of the western Sierras in central California and has innumerable lakes, meadows, forests and rocky summits with endless and awe-inspiring alpine scenery. The area received National Park status in 1880, as a result of the efforts of the pioneering Scottish naturalist John Muir, and has grown in popularity ever since.
Tuolumne Meadows, your destination for the day, is best known for its many alpine lakes, stark granite formations, and flower-filled meadows. Hiking is this pristine wilderness you will learn about the natural history of the area, the history of the park, and why the Native Americans referred to Yosemite as the “place of the gaping mouth”.
This evening you make camp along the western boundary of Yosemite and settle in for an evening of fun and games with your group.
2002-07-08 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 10 - Mono Lake
15 Photos
Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
At the transition zone between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Great Basin Desert is today’s area of discovery - Mono Lake. As one of the oldest lakes in North America, Mono Lake is three times as salty as the ocean and is home to one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. You will learn about such things as why no fish swim in the lake (but trillions of brine shrimp exist), why there is controversy surrounding the preservation of the lake, and how Mono Lake got its name. As a premier destination for learning about biodiversity, ecology, and geology, you will enjoy exploring this unique location.
This evening we pitch our camp near the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and enjoy telling stories about the day’s events around the campfire.
2002-07-08 Pom Pom Class
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2002-07-07 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 9 - Grover Hot Springs - Bodie Ghost Town
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Departing Kirkwood, your first stop today is for a swim and a soak at Grover Hot Springs. After this refreshing break, you will continue your traverse of the Sierras and find yourself on the much more arid eastern slope. This afternoon, walk the dusty streets of Bodie, one of the largest and best-preserved ghost towns in the west. Listen to the creaking floorboards of a once thriving saloon, see the walls of a bank vault that are still standing (but not the bank), and walk through a jail from which only one prisoner was ever known to have escaped.
Although W.S. Bodey discovered gold here in 1859, he died the next year and never saw the mining town that kept his name and flourished to hold over 10,000 people. According to area pioneer Judge J. G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables." You will hear stories about people like “Bad Mike” and “Madame Moustache.” citizens who once walked the streets of this rough and tumble mining boomtown but who reside in the infamous Boot Hill cemetery. You will also learn about the booms and the busts of this fascinating town, and the effects the Gold Rush had on the natural environment.
This evening will be your first night of camping. Your campsite in the Eastern Sierra is set among towering mountains and clear lakes, and it is where you will learn fundamental camping skills and how to cook delicious meals outdoors. Tonight if it’s nice enough you may want to sleep out under the stars!
2002-07-06 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 8 - Lake Tahoe
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Today you will explore one of the deepest lakes in the world, Lake Tahoe. With an average surface elevation of 6,225 feet, it is also the highest lake of its size in North America. A place of remarkable beauty, Marl Twain described Tahoe as the “fairest picture the whole earth affords” and it draws millions of visitors annually.
Cruising across the cobalt-blue waters of the lake aboard the paddlewheel-driven M.S. Dixie II will inspire you to find out more about this incredible treasure. Learn about the history of the lake and why the water is so clear that it is possible to see to a depth of 67 feet. Later, meet with representatives of Keep Tahoe Blue, an organization that is committed to maintaining the clarity of the lake in spite of the many challenges that face the surrounding ecosystem. At the end of the day, head back to Kirkwood for your last night in the Tahoe region.
2002-07-05 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 7 - Kirkwood Activities Day
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Several adventures await you on this fun and challenging day. The fun part is that you will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of supervised activities conducted by your Naturalist Leaders. The challenge will be to choose which ones! Will you explore the Lake Tahoe wilderness on horseback, hike among wildflowers and jagged peaks, ride a resort chairlift to the top of the ridge for panoramic views of the Sierras and beyond, or ring the bell at the top of the climbing wall to let everyone know you made it? The choice is yours but since you may not have time to do everything, choose wisely.
2002-07-05 Rainbow Falls
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2002-07-04 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 6 - Kirkwood Exploration
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Wake up today and breathe in the fresh pine-scented air of the Sierra environment that surrounds you at Kirkwood. This morning you have time to do laundry, call home, familiarize yourself with the resort, acclimate to the mountain climate, and relax.
Then, spend the afternoon hiking one of the many trails that lead to pristine lakes and high alpine meadows. Along the way, look for the traces left by settlers who braved their way over the surrounding high mountain passes to come to California. You’ll learn about people like Kit Carson who became a national hero by leading expeditions through the mountains of the American West. Cap off the hike with a refreshing swim in one of Kirkwood’s many lakes before making your way back for a hearty meal.
2002-07-04 4th of July
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2002-07-03 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 5 - Gold Rush History
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Today you journey from the shores of the Pacific into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, following in the footsteps of the thousand of prospectors who came to California hoping to strike it rich. At the “Gold Bug” mine, which is on the Register of National Historical Places, don a hard hat and make your way through on of the old mining tunnels. Discover the crystals and stalactites that cling to the walls of the mine and learn about what life was like for the people who worked the mines 150 years ago. Although you will only spend a short time exploring the depths of the mine, you’ll gain a sense of what it was like to work 16-hour stretches down below.
Other than digging, the most common way to mine for gold involved using water and a shallow pan to sift through the rich deposits (or placers) along the region’s riverbanks. Located in the heart of the Mother Lode, Placerville was once the center of commerce in California and at one time was the third largest city in the state. Here you’ll get a chance to try your hand at panning for gold the old fashioned way in a nearby river and learn the eerie reason behind why the town was once named “Hangtown”.
This evening, settle in to your accommodation at Kirkwood, your home for the next several nights in the heart of the Sierras.
2002-07-02 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 4 - Muir Woods - Stinson Beach
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
This morning you journey to the forest moon of Endor, home to !he furry little Ewoks of Star Wars fame. Well, not really. But you will walk through a forest of Coast Redwood trees and experience the same environment that served as a backdrop for the Endor landscape.
Wandering the trails at Muir Woods National Monument, you will learn about the tallest trees on Earth and why they are only able to grow under very specific conditions. During the 1800’s this stand of old-growth redwoods, some over one thousand years old, was spared from the saws of loggers due to its sheer inaccessibility. In 1908, the grove was formally protected by Theodore Roosevelt and named for the late conservationist John Muir. Close your eyes and listen to the forest grow, surrounded by walls of 300-foot trees in the cathedral Grove.
Departing the redwoods, this afternoon you make your way down a trail that leads to one of the most picturesque beaches in the world, three-mile long Stinson Beach. Here, a California style beach party is awaiting your arrival! You will have an opportunity to learn how to surf, boogie board, play volleyball, build sand castles, or simply soak up some rays. The evening’s barbecue cookout is topped off by the sunset over the Pacific.
2002-07-01 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 3 - San Francisco Day
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Today it's a grand day out in the “City by the Bay”: San Francisco. Listen to the ringing of cable car bells, breathe in the smell of fresh-baked sourdough bread, feel the cool sea air on your skin, and savor the taste of authentic Chinese cuisine. Hopping on to a historic cable car, you'll make your way up and down the hills and through the city streets to Chinatown, originally formed by the thousands of Chinese Immigrants who came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Did you know that San Francisco's Chinatown contains the largest concentration of Chinese outside of China?
Later, from Fisherman's Wharf you travel by ferry out to Alcatraz Island, located directly in the middle of San Francisco Bay and home to one of the world's most infamous prisons. Luckily for you, it is now a historic site. Walking the halls of the crumbling prison blocks and entering the cells of some of the prison's most notorious criminals, you will hear narration of what life was like for prisoners on “The Rock.”
2002-06-30 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 2 - Marin Headlands
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Wake up this morning to the sound of waves breaking on the shores of the Marin Headlands. Today's place of discovery is the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (or GGNRA). An oasis of rolling green hills, woodlands, wildlife, and rugged coastline, the GGNRA is the largest urban national park in the world. During the first part of the day you and the rest of your hiking group will bond together through challenging games and group-building initiatives. In the afternoon you will enjoy your first hike together as you explore the rocky inlets, tidal pools, and abundance of sea life that inhabits this unique coastal environment.
2002-06-29 Matt's People to People Trip - Day 1
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Matt's People to People Student Ambassador Program California Discovery Trip
Welcome to California! Arriving at the San Francisco International Airport, your Naturalist Leaders will be waiting to meet you. Everyone will immediately be divided into smaller "hiking groups" and then travel across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands, located on the rocky coastline near the entrance to San Francisco Bay. After getting settled in you will get to know your fellow travelers through name games and team-building exercises. This evening, enjoy the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
2002-06-29 Matt At Airport Leaving for People to People School Trip to California
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2002-06-29 Haley's Birthday
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2002-06-29 Andrea's & Alex's Baseball Trophy
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2002-06-27 Fish Tank
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2002-06-16 Father's Day - Zak & Grandma's Birthday
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2002-06-14 New Siding
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2002-06-08 Andrea's & Alex's Baseball
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2002-06-05 Andrea's & Alex's Pre-School Graduation
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2002-05-31 Matt's 6th Grade Graduation
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2002-05-18 Andrea's Dance Recital
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2002-05-17 Andrea's Dance Rehersal
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2002-05-13 Andrea's Dance Outfit
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2002-05-12 Mother's Day & Rebecca's Birthday
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2002-04-27 ArtiosCAD Users Group at Captiva Island
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2002-04-23 Nerge School Sculptures
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2002-04-21 Tea Party
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2002-03-31 Easter Day with the Marinko's
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2002-03-31 Easter Morning
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2002-03-30 Easter At Grandma Jeanne's
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2002-03-30 Coloring Eggs
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2002-03-24 Breakfast With The Easter Bunny
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2002-03-20 Roof Repair
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2002-03-20 Wind & Hail Damage
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2002-03-07 Matt's Concert
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2002-03-02 Snowman
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2002-03-01 Rebecca's Dance Class
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2002-02-17 Alex's & Amanda's Birthday Party
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2002-02-01 Daddy Daughter Dance
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2002-01-26 Uncle Pete's Bird
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2002-01-21 Matt's School Bug
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2002-01-20 Matt's Family Birthday
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2002-01-17 Matt's Birthday
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2002-01-17 Andrea's Dance Class
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2002-01-13 Andrea's & Alex's Swim Party
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