Wednesday,

March 31

4:00 p.m. Arrive and meet host students

4:30 p.m. Attend a canoe party and picnic at Goose Hollow, hosted by Tommie and Pam Mullis.

Thursday

Students attended classes with host students; teachers visited classes of their choice.

A reception was held in the library where Mr. Waldrep welcomed the group to West Laurens.

Teachers toured Page House and the Occonee Regional Library with Mrs. Connor and students returned to host homes.

Friday - Sunday

April 2, 1999 -

April 4, 1999

Scott Thompson guided the Estonian students and teachers on a walking tour of Dublin that included the historic district, the Courier Herald offices, and ended at Channel 35 where they appeared on live television.

The group returned to WLHS for lunch and then attended the Advanced Placement History class where students heard presentations about American History from several time periods.

Students left with their hosts for Easter weekend. Among the events enjoyed were family reunions, trips to the coast, riding four wheelers, visiting the fair, bowling, Easter Egg hunts, Easter church services and many other activities. Each student's experience was different.

Teachers went with Mr. and Mrs. Connor to Crooked River State Park from which they visited Cumberland Island and the Okefenokee Swamp. New experiences for them included our barrier islands, sunburn, Georgia shells, pitcher plants, and alligators.

The state flower, the Cherokee Rose, was blooming along the highway and the weather was very hot, by Estonian standards - 86 degrees F.

Monday

April 5

West Laurens hosts and Estonian students and teachers left for a three-day excursion in North Georgia and Chattanooga, TN. On the drive to Cloudland Canyon State Park, the group stopped in Macon to see the downtown and climbed Kennesaw Mountain north of Atlanta. After checking into the group lodge, the students and their teachers hiked into the canyon to see the two beautiful waterfalls.

Relaxing below the falls in Cloudland Canyon State Park.

Tuesday

April 6, 1999

We woke up to thunderstorms. In clearing weather, we visited Ruby Falls. Lunch was at Riverfront park in Chattanooga, a beautiful park running for miles along the banks of the Tennessee River. The next stop was the Tennessee Aquarium, a spectacular structure where you move from one water environment to another. Included are the Delta, the Gulf Coast, the Swamp, the TN River, Nickjack Lake, and various rivers around the world. You could view the below water as well as above water displays with wildlife, fauna, and abiotic elements for each environment. Fascinating!

At the IMAX cinema, we saw "Into the Deep", a 3-D exploration of the waters off the California coast with its kelp forest and sea lions.

After dinner, the students from Estonian shared photos of their families with the whole group.

Wednesday

April 7, 1999

After breakfast and cleaning the lodge for Park Service inspection, we drove along the ridge of Lookout Mountain to Point Park where we hiked to the overlook.

Next stop, after a spectacular drive down the mountain, we visited the Chicamauga Battlefield Park to see the excellent media presentation about the battles for Chattanooga and their importance to Georgia.

After a picnic, we traveled to Cumberland Mall where the Estonian group said goodbye.