(Editor's note: This is a winning essay for the Grades 4-8 category of the 2008 Amegn Tour of California Youth Essay Contest. This year's theme is "choose your own adventure, by bike.")

One day I had a feeling I wanted to go to Puerto Rico. I wanted to go to Puerto Rico because my brother told me that Puerto Rico was a beautiful island. So I thought about it, and I told my brother about having an adventure there and taking over our bikes. I brought my brother because he knows about a lot of places in Puerto Rico. So we planned our adventure and got permission from our parents.

We started to go to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. We saw the pretty, sparkling ocean with some goldfish and other fish jumping high out of the ocean on the way. We started to ride our bikes around the island. It was true that Puerto Rico looked beautiful. I couldn’t believe it. It was interesting that Puerto Rico is one of the biggest islands between Florida and South America. We continued on our adventure with our bikes. I followed my brother because I didn’t know the places like he did. We passed an Art Museum and we also stopped and rested on a magnificent fountain. Again we started to go on our bikes and passed a tropical rain forest and had lunch there. It was the best. On the way we saw snakes, mongooses, and also saw beautiful flowers. The sound of the tropical rain forest had lots of birds singing. The day passed and we saw the sunset go down and soon it was night. My brother and I saw some bats pass by us. My brother and I went camping. It was the best time of my life.

The adventure was the best. It’s like a dream come true. I was so surprised when it ended. An adventure like this is cool, fantastic, and fabulous. Puerto Rico is a nice place for an adventure or a vacation. Puerto Rico is one of the magnificent places to live. Being on a bike exploring this tropical part of the United States was a dream come true.

Maria Cruz
Oceano Elementary School
Grade 6, Age 11