Today is our next, and maybe final day in this amazing time in Alcove springs. I had so much fun there, and I even had time to relax and play some games! We got to swim around for a while in a spring, there were berries here and there, ready to be picked. There are trees everywhere for shade from the sun, it's the perfect little oasis in the middle of a large, endless, grassy, muddy, terrain. There was so many animals there, we had so much good food! We had fresh berries, a rabbit stew, potatoes and other delicious vegetables that taste so good after this long, tiring journey. We even had an apple cobbler for dessert! Our animals are starting to get extremely tired, and they really needed a break for a day or two. They seemed like they were getting slower with each passing day. I bet they are thankful for Alcove spring, too. But sadly, I still had to do some chores in the dreamland. I milked the cow once or twice, moved some equipment around, fixed some of the wagons, and even went out hunting! But I still feel that we could skip Oregon, and just start a small village here, in this awesome spring. Everything that you ever need or want is in one spot, in the middle of nowhere. Who needs Oregon. I'm ready to stay here and have some fun instead of going on that lame, boring trip. If we do have to keep going on that terrible path, then I do sure hope we run into another thing of beauty like this one.    

    We have a ton of saltwater on the planet. There is so much, and it's undrinkable. Earth's water is 97.24% saltwater. Of ALL the water on earth, 97.24% is saltwater! Less then 3% is drinkable! 0.001% percent of freshwater that was in the air. All the lakes, streams, rivers, and other freshwater things add up to 0.01% percent. Of all the freshwater that is underground adds up to 0.61%, over half of a percent. 2.14% is in ice form, like a glacier, iceberg, or icecap.

Reflection: It was cool to learn about the geysers and mountains and all those cool things about the things in Yellowstone. I couldn't believe several of the things that she said, like the Geysers were almost at boiling point! That's extremely hot! I would die if I went in water that hot. Just burned so badly from the heat. There were other things too, like the petrified trees, and the volcanoes that would make the water it touched all acidic and really dangerous. We also learned about the pressure and she made some good inferences to what we do. All in all, it was really fun.

    I learned that when you are shopping for things to bring for your trip, you really have to consider the space you have and the weight that all of the items you buy will add up to. We planned to bring plenty of food that wouldn't rot, tools that would be necessary for survival, some clean water, and any other items needed that would fit that would help us on our journey west.

List of items:

• 6 spare axles
• Bolts
• Beef Jerky
• Bacon
• Corn
• Beans
• Hunting Knife
• Guns
• Axes
• Wheat
• Salt Pork
• Many More...

          We would need a ton of items to be able to survive this whole trip, but that is just to ensure it. We might never use some of the items, but then it was good to have them just so we knew that we had the items and we could fix any problems we had on the trail. Some of them were essential and we would probably end up using them almost every day. But we have no clue what we will run into on that trail. So we need to be ready when disaster strikes. 

• Animals in Yellowstone effect the Yellowstone ecosystem and they also affected the travelers going west.
• Yellowstone had a ton of trees and mountains and rivers so we will have to go by the mountains and pass by the rivers.
• There is a volcano in Yellowstone under the ground.
• Yellowstone is as big as Delaware and Rhode Island combined and there is still room.
• The wagon you rode in was smaller than your car and the weight under 1 ton and a half.
• Predators that you might find are Bears, Mountain Lions, Wolves, and other animals.
• You will find a ton of Bison in Yellowstone along the trail. 
• An ecosystem is a system of living components and not-living components. 
• Animals harass you on the trip west.
• Coyote work together and a wolf can take down an animal by itself but for a large animal the Wolves work together.
• A Coyote is smart and will try to lure you out and draw you away from their target, so then they will try to attack. All of that would happen all along the trail.
  
• The trail was sort of patted down, but no direct road that leads you right there. There wasn't just one trail, there were multiple all leading to a similar point. Wyoming has more of the Oregon trail than any other state.
• Pioneers would trade with the Native Americans and the tracks were deep.
• A Wolf has teeth that humans don't have, but the wolf and Coyote have the same teeth. 
• Wolves eat once or twice a week but they ate a ton so then they could continue to go. Wolves live in a large, social family.
• Not everybody went on the trip so that was why elderly people sometimes came along, so they wouldn't be separated.
• The prairie has no trees so the tracks were the grass pushed over.
  
• A ton of huge mosquitoes in prairie and large biting flies and you have no bug spray.
  
• An 11 year old had to protect the wagon with adults then could play at night before going to sleep.
  
• Bug spray would be buffalo fat.   
• Badgers eat small rodents and sometimes a rattlesnake if it catches it. 
• Black bears are extremely dangerous and will kill you
  
• Wolves have paws with a little webbing to walk on snow
• Wild animals can get infected by domestic dogs
• Wolverines won't back down to anything.
  
• Reindeer and Caribou can eat Lichen 
• Golden Eagles can kill a small deer.
• Sick people would go on the trail would stay in the wagon.
  
  
  
  
  

    It was cool to learn about the predators and animals along the Oregon trail that we will probably encounter while going along the trail. Now we know more about what we will face and what the landscape and animals look like. So now we know some of the dangers of what the trail is. It was crazy to hear that one small little eagle can take down one huge deer! It was also cool to hear all the other things about what the trail was like and all the things that the pioneers would face and what they would to do defend and protect them self from the dangers of Yellowstone. I never knew that Yellowstone Park was so big, that it was bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined! It's huge!  

    I heard that some other people around us are moving west because they heard that there was gold lying in the rocks out west and they wanted to start new lives in California and out west. They would hope to go and look to find gold and then sell it and have some money to buy the items they need to survive. When they find the gold, they will be set and settle down to start a new life.

    In my past I grew up in Greece and lived there until I was 15 and then traveled here to the United states. While I was in Greece, I played sports and also learned to cook many different things well. I worked for an inn and was the cook and chef for them, making all the meals. I came over to the United States hoping to find some new things and experience some new things to cook with and live with some new people. After that, I worked for random inns and places that would give me pay. I was looking to find a place with higher pay. 

    I am excited to go to Oregon because I can cook with fresh, new ingredients and also I can see new things and the land is extremely cheap, so I might be able to buy and use my own land. There is plenty of space to grow crops, build a home, and establish a living over there. The people who have been there say it's awesome, so I am excited to go see this so-called paradise they're talking about.