MY TRIP TO COSTANOA

Macy’s Mountain

When you arrive at an RV campsite, you’ll see a ridge full of good climbing trees. This ridge is called Macy’s Mountain. There are some dips that divide up each section. My cousin Franklin, named the groups. Macy’s Mountain starts at a certain point. It goes along in a straight line with a good view of the beach. Macy’s Mountain begins at the RV campsite 1 RV campsite away from the playground. Or, on Whales South. When you start up the path on Whales South, you go right into Treehouse Street. If you walk along the path, you’ll get to the dip. The dip is known as Monster Dip. After Monster Dip, there is another section known as Magic Lane. The second tree on the left side (coming from Treehouse Street) is perfect for climbing. When you get to the second dip, (known as Decoration Dip) you’ll enter Light Road. It’s a bit dark on Light Road but that’s okay. There are some good trees to climb there. Light Road is nice for walking mostly. When you get to the next dip called Hamster Dip, you’ll get to the opposite of Light Road: Dark Avenue. First of all, it’s the opposite of Light Road because it’s light there. Do you know why? There are 4 or 5 trees and it’s very short. The next dip is called Chess Dip. After Chess Dip, is Scary Boulevard. There’s a really good tree to climb near the end. When you get to End Dip, you’ll go onto the last section: Bad Court. There are good trees to climb, but that ends Macy’s Mountain.

The General Store

The General Store is off Scary Boulevard and has lots of cool trinkets and souvenirs. One of the most popular things in the Hekl family was the cute finger puppets. I got a Red Squirrel and a Monk Seal. They’re both very cute! Another thing is the balloon animals. Franklin and Vincent got them to share. The store also has books and food. One book that looked funny was The Book of Immaturity. I took a look inside and it was pretty fun looking. Maybe you should get it and tell me how it is! They’ve also got big puppets. Finally, they’ve got stuff for the wilderness.

The Chess Board

Just like the General Store, the chess board is off Scary Boulevard. You’ll see it when you’re on Dark Avenue too. It’s not a small chess board, it’s a big one with big pieces. Franklin loved chess when we introduced it to him. So every time we passed it, he would want to play. That’s what I love about Franklin. When he learns something he holds onto it until he’s a pro. I didn’t play much, only the beginning of a game. But I was thrilled to hear it when Franklin got a checkmate against a girl. Anyways, when somebody was playing, he would just watch carefully, looking at all the moves they made. The chess board is near the General Store. So if you need a refreshment during a game, just walk backwards and you’ll go through the door.

Our RV

The RV we chose was perfect for a family like mine. There was a bunk on top, a couch that folds into a bed, a table that turns into a bed, a bunk bed, and finally, a queen bed at the end. In total, the RV could sleep 10 people. 2 on the bunk on top, 2 on the fold out couch bed, 2 on the table bed, 2 on the bunk bed, and 2 on the queen bed. Along with the beds, there was a table, a couch, and another table which was actually the bunk bed. There was a small kitchen and one TV which was on the bunk. I slept on the bunk, Macy and Kaitlin shared the bunk bed, and Mom and Dad shared the queen bed. And that was our RV!

The Playground

There’s a small playground at Costanoa that my cousin liked to play in. It was surrounded in sand and my cousin, Evelyn, would love to throw it up. Another hobby she had at the playground was going down the slides. They mostly had slides but they also had a rock climbing wall that I liked to jump down and this weird climbing thing to get into the playground. I liked to race Franklin. The playground is really fun because you get to meet new friends!

Flag Football

One Christmas, the Westfalls gave us a flag football set and we finally got to put into action!
I was a team captain, along with Franklin. I picked a lot of adults. I picked Dad, Mom, Uncle Aaron, Roma, and me! We kicked off to them first. Vincent got the ball and knelt down. We played defense and it was really fun! I scored 2 touchdowns! The final score was 18-12!
If you added extra points, it would be 21-14. But it was a fun bonding experience with family! P.S. I intercepted a pass! What!

Pitching

The first or second day we were there, I brought out a ball and my glove so me and Dad could pitch. I threw a lot of strikes and got some walks, but it was fun. Franklin watched very carefully. I loved it when I got on a good roll and threw 6 strikes in a row. Me and Dad would talk and laugh. Franklin wanted to pitch but got carried away in Macy’s Mountain. I threw a pitch so good that Dad told me he hit a homerun. That made me happy because that meant I threw a really good pitch!!!

Coming Here

My family lives in Pleasanton so it wasn’t that long of a ride. It only took about 2 hours to get to Costanoa. I kept myself entertained by reading a book called Half Magic. It was by an author named Edward Eager. It was a really good book! I finished it the 3rd day. Another way I kept myself entertained was by playing on the iPad. I played Temple Run and watched a movie. The movie was Flubber. The plot was that a guy made flying rubber and it won a basketball game. When Mom said we were here, I was really excited. I almost jumped out of my seat. But I managed to stay calm. I looked out the window as my eyes widened. When we got there I was pretty hungry so I had a sandwich. Yummy yummy!

The Campsite

I was excited when Mom told us that our cousins had arrived. Our cousins live in San Diego, so it was a long drive for them. When we got there, I hugged Didi, then Uncle Aaron, then Franklin, then Vincent, and then Evelyn. Us kids played while the adults talked about who knows what. Sadly, Vincent was in a time out before they came, so he wouldn’t play with us. I was really sad because we were playing one of his favorite game: Tag. So when I tagged him, he said, “I’m not playing.” So I went to get Franklin. We played that for a little and then we played Hide And Seek Tag. Then when it got cold, I went back to the RV for dinner.

Tommy Nickels

One day there were some kids playing whiffle ball. I wanted to play. So I went over and played and right at that moment somebody hit a pop fly right to me and I caught it. The kids who were fielding cheered. I got put onto the batting team. I introduced myself as Tommy. Surprisingly, one of the kids was named Tommy. He was 7 years old. We made friends quickly and there wasn’t a day I didn’t see him. Besides whiffle ball, we played catch with a football and Three Flags Up. So I was really sad when we left. I went inside his trailer once, and it was really nice. There was a bunk bed and a queen bed and a spacious middle. I wish we had something like that!

Hiking In Mud

There was a day where we went hiking. But it didn’t last long. Here’s the story: We went walking so we could find the trail. The trail we went on was called Whitehouse Creek Trail. When we first got on, I was really excited because there was a creek! I always loved water lie so I couldn’t wait to see the creek. But things went downhill after the bridge. I looked down at the water. I would’ve stayed there the whole day if Mom didn’t come and get me. A few seconds later, we were in mud. The trail was muddy! All muddy! Vincent and Franklin ran through, getting all muddy. Luckily, I didn’t because when we went back, there were super muddy! So sadly, we didn’t hike that much after all.

Going Home

On April 5, we headed home. I was really sad for tons of reasons. One, it would be a long time till we’ll see our cousins again. Two, I’ll miss Tommy because we had good memories of playing. And three, I’ll miss Costanoa all together. When we got into the RV, I started playing on the iPad. I played Temple Run, Temple Run 2, and Temple Run Oz. Finally, I started watching the Lego® Movie. When we got home, I was really pooped. But we had to unload, and that was very tiring. When we were done, I collapsed on the couch and read. And that’s what ended our trip.

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"Steve"

"Steve" takes his pseudonym from Minecraft, one of his favorite hobbies. But certainly not the only one! This 8-year-old also plays piano and composes his own music. He's passionate about Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, and plays four-square at recess every day. His favorite sports include baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, swimming and tennis.