On September 24, all of us Israelis met at de Toledo High School in the morning and when everyone arrived, we started our 6 hours drive to Yosemite.

The drive was long but it was a lot of fun. We talked, sang songs, ate snacks and really bonded.

When we arrived at Yosemite we were amazed by the beautiful views. We had two stops to hike, at Glacier Point and at the Fissures. The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun together.

After this long day we went to the house we were going to stay in, in Yosemite’s Scenic Wonders. It was big, beautiful, and in the middle of Yosemite, so the view was incredible.

We had purchased food before, so we all helped making dinner. We ate and then were surprised by our Hebrew teacher who came from Israel and gave us letters from our parents. A lot of us cried because it was very emotional and sad, but it was great to hear from our parents and to write them back.

While we were in Yosemite, we went bike riding through the valley, we went to Tenaya Lake to sail boats, we watched people climbing El Capitan and we went to a hike by Olmstead Point.

On September 27, we drove to San Francisco. After more than 6 hours on the road, we arrived at the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We walked over the whole bridge and it was so much fun!

The next day we sailed to Alcatraz Prison, which used to be the most secure prison in the world because it’s in the middle of the ocean. It was  hard to realize that prisoners used to be imprisoned there.

After that, we went to Chinatown and down Lombard Street.

The next day at 6:00 AM we started driving back to Los Angeles. It was sad but good to come back to our buddies and their families. It was an amazing trip with a lot of fun, learning, bonding, and incredible views.