Seniors Mosey on Over to Pine Ridge Dude Ranch
Horses wait for riders at Pine Ridge Dude Ranch. Photo Credit: Frahmida Usman
By NADIAH SHOHATEE and ELIZABETH VOOL
110 miles away from Midwood, in the midst of trees and leaves, the senior class of Midwood could be found having the time of their lives before ending their last year of high school.
On Friday, December 14, seniors left for Pine Ridge Dude Ranch, located in the Shawangunk Mountains in Kerhonkson, NY.
The bus ride was filled with talking, laughing, and lots of music blasting from speakers. Although the ride was long, the students had fun and found different ways to pass time.
Amira Gutic ’19 said that she and her friends were “the loudest ones on the bus. We were all playing music and singing the whole ride. It was a lot of fun.”
Finally, after an exhausting four hours on the road, they finally arrived at the hotel.
“The hotel literally looked like a ranch,” said Maryam Elwakil ’19. “It was all wooden on the inside, and there was a mini-farm, plus they had cute holiday decorations.”
“The beds were super comfortable, and the rooms were super clean,” said Uk Gjikoka ’19.
Gutic said, “We had a big room for us girls, which was super nice.”
At the ranch, there were a lot of sports and activities available for the students and chaperoning teachers. There was paintball, laser tag, an arcade, horseback riding, a nightclub, and even an indoor pool.
Alba Hasangjekaj ’19 said, “The most memorable part of the trip would definitely be paintballing -- being able to do this activity with friends and enjoying the pain at the same time, which was amusing.”
Ronnie Alvarez ’19 said, “I personally loved laser tag the most because I was winning all night, and I learned that I’m good at something new.”
Aside from the planned activities, many students simply enjoyed hanging out with friends.
Gjikoka said, “My favorite part was standing around the bonfire with my friends and bonding with one another.”
Some activities during the trip were unfortunately left out of the itinerary due to the weather. It was not snowing the weekend of the trip, so the students missed out on the snow activities.
“If we had gone in January, when it would most likely be snowing, we could’ve gone snow tubing and skiing,” said Elwakil.
However, most students were satisfied with the weekend, regardless of whether or not it was snowing.
Once Sunday, December 16, rolled around, many were sad to leave and agreed that the trip would have been more enjoyable if it lasted a bit longer.
“If we had stayed longer,” said Alvarez, “I could have beaten my record for rock climbing.”
Hasangjekaj said, ‘There would be nothing I would change about the trip other than the duration. It felt very short.”