First Fishing Journey

by JL

In November of 2008, I went on a camping trip in Bakersfield, at my uncle’s house. My dad and I got on a train for about a six-hour ride. When we arrived, we stayed at the house for one day, then we loaded up the camper and got ready for the next day. We got to the campsite there were lots of people there, and we started to unload the camper. I was so excited about the fishing trip, because it was my first camping trip.

My uncle is a correctional officer, and he treats me like I’m in the army or something, but I don’t have a problem with that. He says thing like “Move out!”

When my cousins got to the campsite, I had lots of fun. We started fishing, and I discovered that I hate putting bait on the fishing pole because it really stinks.
Later on, we started a fire for the s’mores we were making I wasn’t going to eat them because I didn’t like marshmallows, but I found out they’re good with s’mores. When it got real dark, we lit a lantern that was real bright. I got really bored and just sat in the camper for a while thinking about friends at school, even though it was Thanksgiving break. My dad was talking to me, but I was tired, so I wasn’t listening, and then my uncle yelled at me and almost made me cry, but he was kind of drunk. I was getting very tired so I went in the camper and laid down and thought about the Fishing Derby that was coming up the next day. I couldn’t wait.

At about 3am, my uncle was ready to start up the engine so we could get a spot in a long line of people ready to go down to the river for the derby. There was lots of traffic because so many people were going to try to win the one thousand dollar prize. We were there for about two hours, bored, waiting to start. We were setting up everything: our fishing poles, bait, etc.

Time flew and people started catching big fish, and from that point on I knew it was no challenge for us. Later, I asked if we could go, and then we packed everything up and went back to my uncle’s house. My auntie and my cousin Arian were glad to see us. My dad and uncle started drinking, and then we ate dinner and went to sleep. The next morning we got dressed and ready for our train to come back home. The ride was long and boring, but I was taking pictures of things and thinking back on what I did on my long journey of fun.