A little over a week ago I was given the opportunity to be involved with a "special needs" group who were coming up for the Yosemite Institute program. I was so excited because I've never worked with people like this before. And although once they got here I started to get those butterflies and became a little scared, after the first day of being with them I was so happy to have met them and my fear just kind of faded away.

We went to Split Rock on Tuesday and I was able to meet and get to know a lot of them better. We played some teambuilding games and did some activities about trees, etc.

Wednesday, we did a challenge hike to the bridge at Vernal Falls. Boy, was that a challenge. Ha Ha Ha! I think everybody was tired by the time we got back. Not only did we make it to the bridge, but we also had a few obstacles along the way. We had a wheel chair to get up there, people who pretty much got carried, as well as a few tears and some other stuff. But it was such a great feeling to have reached the bridge, with everybody. There was so much support and teamwork in that group. It was amazing.

For Thursday and Friday we took a trip to Lower Yosemite Falls. We did some trust games to help the students to trust one and other better. Them we took them into the spider caves. I received the job of lighting up the caves with candles and manning the "birth canal." That was really neat, because I have never seen the caves lit up. It's always been dark when I've gone in there. That was cool, now I know what I've been walking around in. We also went to the West End of Yosemite Valley and to the Indian Village. We looked around the visitor center and watched "The Spirit of Yosemite" (a movie about Yosemite and some of it's history).

Thursday night was campfire. It went great. The students sang and had fun and we even had some students get up front and sing their favorite songs. They seemed to really get into it. Friday was our last day together. I was so sad to see them go. I hung around with them until they boarded the buses and took off. This was an amazing week, one I'll never forget.