Patch Blog: Dadmissions on Monterey Hills Field Trip

The first graders from Monterey Hills School loaded on to the old, yellow school bus and it quickly became clear: It's been a long time since I sat on a school bus.

The seats were still the same "pea soup green," and I was glad to see they still used the same "pea soup green" duct tape to cover the rips in the seats. The kids now sit three to a seat and they use seat belts, unlike the 1970's when we'd hit the ceiling if we hit a good bump.

And the driver is still the same guy from the 1970's. His beard was gray and weathered and you just had the feeling he'd spent his whole life in that seat. The driver would just as easily fit the part captaining a fishing boat out of Gloucester as opposed to the old, yellow school bus out of South Pasadena. He gave us the directions for the bus, showed us the emergency exits, and asked us all to keep quiet.  

So we set sail. The mission for the day was simple. I was chaperoning the field trip with Alicia's first grade class and needed to make sure I came back with the same four kids I left with, unharmed. Alicia had warned me for days about the hike, and I know she had concerns telling her mom, "He's just not the walking type." She's right.  

But I didn't want to let her down, and so we tackled the Audubon Center and Debs Park. We nicknamed our team the "bubble gum avenger road runner hikers" and off we went.  

The kids and I saw a hawk, a turtle, salamanders, and lizards. We walked all around a pond I didn't even know was there, and all through trails I'd never cared to notice. We hiked some really steep terrain and saw incredible views of Downtown LA, the Southwest Museum, and Montecito Heights.  

By the numbers with my group it was four kids, three bathroom trips, two packs of beef jerky that staved off little kid starvation, and one snake skin that they found which quickly signaled it was time to start heading back. When we got down from the hill it was time for a picnic lunch.  

Alicia traded for part of my sandwich, and I gave the cheese from my sandwich to Bobbi. We all decided it tasted better to smash chips in the middle of the sandwiches. We shared the carrots. No one really wanted the apples. I felt like I was back in first grade all over again.  

After lunch, we had free time on the playground and frisbee in the park. I nailed some kid in the back of the head with a frisbee. Sorry. Graceful was never my thing!  

In the end, we counted up all the kids, I succeeded in not losing any of mine, and we boarded the school bus for the ride back. As we rode the bus home, with the smell of diesel in the air, I couldn't help think that in one day I had matched and exceeded all the days my dad took off from work throughout my entire childhood for a school event. He took zero days off.  

During the hike one child told me, "My dad can't come on field trips, because he's a boss." For this day, I took time off from work, played the surrogate, and I was happy. It became clear: today's first grade field trip was just as much for Alicia as it was for me.  

I slayed the school yard demons that had haunted me for so long and I even succeeded in finally riding in the back row of the bus. Yes, once reserved for cool kids and bullies, on this June day, it was reserved for a 30-something dad trying to make new memories for he and his kids.  

As we got off the bus, I gave a "thank you" to the bus driver, and Captain nodded back and tipped his cap.  I wonder how many times he's witnessed the memories being made in those very same pea soup green seats.