Our trip to Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop
We met as a group at St. Joseph's on the 5th of October, 2013, to make a trip to the corn mazes of Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop. There were ten of us, but our numbers were going to grow as two other groups met us in Lathrop. The entire group, once we met, were Josue, Franz, Nayo, Sara, Father Hamilton, Patricia, Daniella, Julia, Jasmin, Daniel, Rita, Cameron, Jaycee, Richard, Ramon, Marcos, and Richard. It made for a nice size group, as we were large enough to make it interesting without being so large that we couldn't all interact.
We were hoping to take advantage of being a large group, but we needed 20 people in order to do that. Close but no cigar! We decided to only get tickets for the corn mazes and haunted house (even though there were quite a few that wanted to do the zip lines, rope courses and pumpkin blasters. Fortunately, we really only had time for the maze and the house, so we didn't end up wasting the money by purchasing something we wouldn't use. As one of only two not-so-young-adults, I wasn't sure if the truly young adults would want to go into the mazes together or separate and go in group in different directions.
It turned out that we were going to do both: we entered the first maze as one big group. As you can see in the picture of the map of the mazes below, it is one very large connection of twists and turns that aren't easy to manipulate. Josue had a theory that all mazes can be solved by holding your hand always to the wall to your right, but look at the map. Does it look like that would work? It definitely didn't work for us, as we end up getting lost around what looks like wagon wheels. We kept ending up in the same location no matter who was in the lead. I started out leading, but wanted to have some fun by sneaking up on the more scared individuals and wanted to take some pictures as well. The sun was already down, so most of us had either a flashlight or a phone out to see where we were headed. After a couple of turns, I turned around with the small group of five with whom I was closest. We noticed that we were by ourselves. Somewhere, the rest of the group had taken another turn that we missed.
After a few twists and turns, and ending up in the same locations over and over again, a couple of the people started to get nervous. One actually asked another group if there were from St. Joseph's. When the response was, "No," her nerves showed even as she immediately responded with, "You're not our people." It seemed as if she thought that they were from another planet.
After a few twists and turns, and ending up in the same locations over and over again, a couple of the people started to get nervous. One actually asked another group if there were from St. Joseph's. When the response was, "No," her nerves showed even as she immediately responded with, "You're not our people." It seemed as if she thought that they were from another planet.
I eventually noticed on the printed map that we were given that there were some numbers. I recalled seeing a sign with a horror movie question that had a number. If we could make it back to there, I was sure that we could find our way out. Sure enough, once we made it back to the numbered sign, it was a relatively quick trip to get back to the exit. Franz was so relieved (or having so much fun) that he kissed the ground upon getting out. We were the first ones out, but now the problem was how to find the rest. I started texting some of the others, but the only response I got was, "We are in the maze and Josue is leading us." The six of us hemmed and hawed a little, trying to figure out what to do. We couldn't leave without the rest. Some of the ladies didn't want to go back in to look for them. We ended up deciding that four of us would go back in to search for the others, while the two ladies stayed out by the security guards.
We entered for our second trip inside of the mazes in search of our friends, something that is not easy to do. We decided that calling out names of the others might help. "JOSUE! CAMERON!" we started. Before too long, we got to Marcos' name. Because of the way it sounds, we heard "Polo," as a response. I laughed a little, but before too long, we were yelling, "MARCO!" and listening to a "Polo" response from multiple directions. At one point, we heard "Polo" coming from five different directions at the same time. It was kind of fun, but we had more important things to do: find our friends. Before too long, I heard what sounded like my name. "Nayo?" I yelled out. Sure enough, it was Nayo along with another small part of our group. We were relieved to find at least part of our friends, but where were the rest? We started to retrace our footsteps to get out, and I received a text letting us know that more were out of the maze.
We entered for our second trip inside of the mazes in search of our friends, something that is not easy to do. We decided that calling out names of the others might help. "JOSUE! CAMERON!" we started. Before too long, we got to Marcos' name. Because of the way it sounds, we heard "Polo," as a response. I laughed a little, but before too long, we were yelling, "MARCO!" and listening to a "Polo" response from multiple directions. At one point, we heard "Polo" coming from five different directions at the same time. It was kind of fun, but we had more important things to do: find our friends. Before too long, I heard what sounded like my name. "Nayo?" I yelled out. Sure enough, it was Nayo along with another small part of our group. We were relieved to find at least part of our friends, but where were the rest? We started to retrace our footsteps to get out, and I received a text letting us know that more were out of the maze.
We hurried back to the exit to reunite with the entire group. You can see the relieve in the faces of most in the picture to the left, but unfortunately, we still weren't all together. There was still a group that was lost in the maze. There were too many of us to either go back in or split up again, so we texted the lost ones to find their way out and find us at the haunted house.
The house was more gore and loud music than scary, but we did make our way through it. It actually ended up inspiring me to work on organizing a Saint Walk for youth for next year (not enough time to organize for this year).
The house was more gore and loud music than scary, but we did make our way through it. It actually ended up inspiring me to work on organizing a Saint Walk for youth for next year (not enough time to organize for this year).
If you haven't heard of a saint walk, you set up something like a haunted house, but instead of being scary, you have actors that are sharing about the lives of different saints. It could be pretty fun and something in which the youth would learn about different saints.
We finally connected with the rest of our group while coming out of the haunted house. Jaycee was so excited that she literally jumped over the three foot divider to hug her brother, Cameron. By this point, we were pretty hungry, since it was already almost 9 PM. There were plenty that wanted to try to rope courses or pumpkin blasters, but the hunger made the decision for us. We headed for the exit, taking a couple of scenic pictures on the way. Then the trouble began.
Josue decided that it would be a great idea to draw a happy face in the dust of the back of a police vehicle that was parked on our way back to our car. It seemed like an innocent thing to do, but before we realized, Josue was being escorted by the security guards to the police. There were nerves all around, so much so that Daniella started getting angry. "He didn't do anything! Why are they giving him a hard time?" she insisted. In the end, there were smiles all around, as the police were playing a joke. They took a picture of Josue to use to scare other real trouble makers, but didn't give him any real trouble, more than the delay.
We piled into our vehicles and finally head for dinner. With all of the different options, we ended up heading to a familiar restaurant in Manteca. I entered and shared that we had a rather large group. The response was a rather strange look. "No, I am serious. It really is a group that big." The look didn't change, as it turns out that the waitresses had just finished setting the tables back together after a group of 20 had left not that long ago. They quickly had the tables set up again. The service was rather quick, considering we were such a large group, and extremely pleasant, as they put up with our noise, size and sense of humor. There are more pictures from our evening. You can see them in the slideshow below.
Our evening finally ended as we drove back in our separate vehicles back to Modesto. It was a delightful evening, with lots of fun! We made a engaging group that were able to have fun together, which was the point of the evening. As the instigator behind ¡YA!, I have to give all of the credit to the Leadership who had the idea of having this type of event, and put together all of the details. I look forward to our next event, the pilgrimage to Mission San Rafael and wine country, which will be on the 19th of October. Will you join us?
How about joining in the fun? If you look at the blog of this site, you will find a series of questions. If you are the first person to answer all of the questions and post them as a comment, you will win a prize. Go ahead and post, as there are consolation prizes for those that aren't the first.
We finally connected with the rest of our group while coming out of the haunted house. Jaycee was so excited that she literally jumped over the three foot divider to hug her brother, Cameron. By this point, we were pretty hungry, since it was already almost 9 PM. There were plenty that wanted to try to rope courses or pumpkin blasters, but the hunger made the decision for us. We headed for the exit, taking a couple of scenic pictures on the way. Then the trouble began.
Josue decided that it would be a great idea to draw a happy face in the dust of the back of a police vehicle that was parked on our way back to our car. It seemed like an innocent thing to do, but before we realized, Josue was being escorted by the security guards to the police. There were nerves all around, so much so that Daniella started getting angry. "He didn't do anything! Why are they giving him a hard time?" she insisted. In the end, there were smiles all around, as the police were playing a joke. They took a picture of Josue to use to scare other real trouble makers, but didn't give him any real trouble, more than the delay.
We piled into our vehicles and finally head for dinner. With all of the different options, we ended up heading to a familiar restaurant in Manteca. I entered and shared that we had a rather large group. The response was a rather strange look. "No, I am serious. It really is a group that big." The look didn't change, as it turns out that the waitresses had just finished setting the tables back together after a group of 20 had left not that long ago. They quickly had the tables set up again. The service was rather quick, considering we were such a large group, and extremely pleasant, as they put up with our noise, size and sense of humor. There are more pictures from our evening. You can see them in the slideshow below.
Our evening finally ended as we drove back in our separate vehicles back to Modesto. It was a delightful evening, with lots of fun! We made a engaging group that were able to have fun together, which was the point of the evening. As the instigator behind ¡YA!, I have to give all of the credit to the Leadership who had the idea of having this type of event, and put together all of the details. I look forward to our next event, the pilgrimage to Mission San Rafael and wine country, which will be on the 19th of October. Will you join us?
How about joining in the fun? If you look at the blog of this site, you will find a series of questions. If you are the first person to answer all of the questions and post them as a comment, you will win a prize. Go ahead and post, as there are consolation prizes for those that aren't the first.