My Time at Bidwell Park
by Zachary Staggs, Age 13
One of the first things that we did when we moved to Chico, CA was go to Bidwell Park. We were surprised to see that there were a bunch of little spots along the creek with picnic tables and little barbecues. We pointed a few out, but my mom had to have the perfect spot. It had to have some shade, but not too much, and it had to be off the road a ways so that we had some privacy. But we finally found one, and piled out of the car.
It was a great spot! My sister Alexa was 4, and we made a little shallow area for her. We even built a dam, and got the water pretty high. There's a log that sticks out toward the middle and reaches up out of the water, and Alexa loves to get on there and bounce on it, pretending it is a horse. Right next to that is a little deep area that goes kinda fast. When we built the dam it got going even faster.
Whenever we go to the park, my stepdad barbecues delicious hot dogs, and makes baked beans and red, juicy watermelon. When we are done with the watermelon, we always have to go wash off in the creek.
One day we saw some people going down Chico Creek on inner tubes. When we saw these people we thought it was a great idea, and went out and bought some tubes. Our grandma secured our favorite spot one day, and off we went. My sister shared a tube with my stepdad, and the rest of us had our own. When we started, we had to go through a little tunnel, and it was awesome.
Almost immediately after, the call was heard:"BUTTS UP!" When you hear somebody say "butts up" it's because there are a bunch of rocks, and it's really shallow. On some parts, my younger stepbrother Ricky and I were light enough that we glided right over, while everybody else was bouncing around, getting stuck. In this way, we were able to take the lead and warn all the adults.
Near the end of our tour of the creek via inner tubes, we came to a series of rapid chutes. The first was great until you realized that the water was carrying you straight into a log piled with sticks and debris, and had to paddle frantically to try not to ram into it and flip over, afterward getting run over by the people behind you. Everybody still ran into it, but just bounced off and headed down the fast moving water toward the opposite bank where there is an overhanging tangle of roots and dirt that nearly sucks you under into a deep area. The second was very shallow, and everybody was bouncin' around.
My sister's favorite thing to do when we're at the creek is to catch the tadpoles. We have perfected this delicate art, but still have to try a few times before we catch one. She loves looking at the big bullfrog tadpoles, because it's easy to see their developing legs and shrinking tails. If the tadpoles aren't hatched yet, Alexa is not very happy, but still has fun doing the rest of the stuff at the creek.
Something our whole family has fun doing is picking the blackberries. Sometimes they are along the banks, sometimes they are closer to the road, and sometimes we end up not being able to see each other. Ricky and I are the ones who get to the hard to reach places, with some help from my stepdad. Last summer we made jam, to enjoy through the winter, and we still have frozen berries for the next batch.
We've gone to the park a lot since that first day, and have done a lot of things. All in all it's a great place to be during the summer. I love going to Bidwell Park and have great memories from going there.
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