East Coast Trip – When we’re flying and why you should be walking

We have all been waiting to find out exactly when we're flying, and I recently received tentative flight information from USA Student Travel.  We are scheduled to fly JetBlue non-stop both ways, departing Long Beach on a red-eye flight on Friday, April 1, and returning home on Thursday, April 7.  Here is our schedule at this time:

1-Apr          Depart Long Beach 913PM          Arrive New York-JFK 521AM (2-Apr)

7-Apr          Depart Washington-Dulles 545PM         Arrive Long Beach 821PM

Of course, flight information is subject to change, and we won't know our exact itinerary, flight times, and flight numbers for sure until our pre-departure meeting on March 22.  As more information comes in, or if anything changes, I will keep you posted.

Our East Coast Trip is now 40 days away and it's a good time to get out and stretch those legs. We walk an average of seven miles each day in this trip--through museums, up and down the National Mall in DC, along the battlefields of Gettysburg, and through the big-city streets of Philadelphia and New York City. Even the most physically-active students can get worn out by the amount of walking in our trip.  I'm over twice the age and over twice the weight of just about every student on this trip, and I will probably end up walking faster than any student.  Yes, consider that a challenge.  :-)

I encourage all our East Coast Trip families to take a family walk two or three days a week. If you really feel the need to get a special new pair of shoes for the trip, get them now and start breaking them in.  On every trip I've done, there's always one student asking for band-aids to patch up blistered heels from a new pair of shoes.  Don't let it be you!

While on the subject of footwear, we will have one special "dress-up" day in New York City when we see our Broadway show. Again, consider a nice, but sensible pair of shoes for this event. If you wear cute little strappy high-heels, it's likely your feet will be both cold and in pain by the time the walk is over. If you're looking for a more complete list of suggested items to pack, you can check out my Suggested Packing List here:  http://j.mp/ectpack.  You can also find this same Suggested Packing List on http://ipptrip.blogspot.com listed under Helpful Links and Downloads.  In the meantime, get out there and start walking!

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Ron Ippolito • Teacher/Yearbook Adviser, Rio Norte JHS
rippolito@gmail.com • mrippolito.com • call/text: (661) 347-4990