The US Capital - Washington, D.C.

The bus ride yesterday passed without event, which was probably the best way it could've gone! We had to change buses twice, and I dropped my KFC potato wedges on the floor of the bus. That was the worst thing that happened really!

Once I arrived in Washington, DC, I was terrified to be on my own. I got a taxi, and the guy asked me if I waas in a hurry. When I said 'er... well, yes, really', he totally horsed it around the city, constantly honking his horn the whole way. It was quite funny really!

My hostel is in a bit of a ghetto (I seem to have a knack for picking them!) and it's a bit dingy - not nearly as nice as Buffalo. But I got a good night's sleep last night, even if I did think I was gonna roll off my dodgy bed!

This morning I got woken up by a crazy alarm going off in my room. It turned out to be the guy from Nottingham's phone. I'm also sharing with a girl from Toronto (Nottingham's siter, strangely), 2 guys from Ireland and 3 girls who've been doing camp (2 from Belfast, 1 from Adelaide). I got up straight away and got dressed, then made my way to Safeways to grab some food. It's proper scary in this area, I feel like I have to watch my back the whole time.

After breakfast and ringing home (man, I can't WAIT to go home!) I set out with my map and packed lunch to go and see the sights. The subway station is a fair trek from the hostel - I'm not looking forward to that with my bags. May get a taxi.

I had a wander downtown - which is SO much nicer than the area I'm in, and then walked over to the mall where all the monuments and government buildings are. I walked past the White House, which was surprisingly smaller than I envisioned, and the Washington Monument (a tall obelisk - tallest structure in DC by law). Then I saw the Lincoln Memorial (statue of him sat on a chair), and the WW2 and Korean War memorials. I didn't walk over to the Jefferson memorial or the US Capitol Building cos I was far too tired! I guess my legs are still knackered from the day at Niagara and I;m still tired from the long day yesterday.

So I came back here to the hostel, and I think I'm just gonna chill out, shower and chill some more this evening (and read some of my John Grisham!), cos I don't fancy going outsid after dark! Anyhow, I've gotta get up earlyish to get my bus to Philadelphia tomorrow. I'm staying at the HI there, so hopefully it's gonna be a nicer place!

Niagara Falls, NY / Niagara Falls, Ontario

Today I got up and wandered over to the Washington Market with Becky and Judy. It took us a while to find it - silly us, we thought it was an actual market, when it turned out to be a shop! What were we thinking??? We bought some breakfast and I got some food for butties. I made some lunch bakc at the hostel then we got the 11.15 bus to Niagara Falls, about 30 mins away. Driving through Buffalo was weird. It's really just a dead town - really dirty and dingy!

Once at Niagara we got off the bus and wandered over. I was expecting the whole gorge to be the falls, but in fact there's just three waterfalls make up Niagara Falls - the American Falls, the Bridal Gap Falls (I think) and the Horseshoe or Canadian Falls. We wandered over to Goat Island - great views of both falls on the American side from here, and wlaked over to the Cave of the Winds. Here you can get an elevator to near the base of the falls and can walk right next to it. There used to be a cave there where you could go behind the falls, but that unfortunately collapsed in the 1920's or 30's. We had to don yellow ponchos and their own sandals and we still got wet on the 'Hurricane Deck'!

Next we went over to 'The Maid of the Mist' boat trips, and got wet even further as we took the boat ride to the Horseshoe Falls, the same trip that Bruce Almighty is on at the beginning of the film! The spray was so strong we got soaked everywhere that our blue poncho wasn't covering! "Ladies and Gentlemen... This... is Niagara Falls!"

I left Becky and Judy here to ring home. She had just been watching Bruce Almighty - how weird is that!

Then I did some souvenir shopping and got some ice cream before walking over the Rainbow Bridge to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The view from the Canadian side was considerably better, well worth the stamp in my passport - hee hee! My feet were hurting so much by this point though that I didn't spend to long there before wandering back to get the bus back to Buffalo. Becky and Judy were at the bus stop though, which was good! I didn't have to go back alone!

Buffalo, NY - Home of the Chicken Wings!

Well, the bus journey was very amiable, we stopped in Syracuse and I just rocked out the whole way!

So here I am, in Buffalo, NY, the home of the spicy chicken wings. I attempted to walk to the hostel for the bus station (see, they think it's a fab idea here in the USA to place the two establishments as far as apart as possible), but retreated when I traversed a whole block and the streets were dead, except for the rats.

The hostel is bloody LOVELY! I've met two British girls in my room, Becky and Judy, who did camp this summer, and they're going to Niagara tomorrow so I may tag along. They're also getting the same bus as me to DC on Tuesday so that'll be cool.

Anyway, busy day tomorrow, so I'm gonna get some kip!

Back in the Ghetto: Albany, NY

So here I am, back at the hole that is Albany Bus Terminal! Chris gave me a lift down cos he's driving all the way to NYC today, so this way I get into Buffalo 3 hours earlier, which is always good. That was really nice of him - Americans are so darn obliging! Makes you feel really rude!

So my bus is in an hour, I tried phoning Mum but the line was crap. So I'm gonna get some lunch and chill for a bit I guess. Can't wait to get into Buffalo! And see Niagara Falls! Kristi gave me $10 Canadian for if I fancy wandering over to Canada while I'm there. Like I said - so obliging.

Still in Saranac Lake, NY

This morning I got upand spent about an hour in the shower - it just felt so good! Poor Kristi and Chris thought I'd drowned!

We headed out of the motel around 11am and we went to the bagel shop - I got an interesting looking veggie burger and a croissant! After nipping to Kristi's dad's house, so she could grab her stuff and I could use the computer to sort out hostels, we drove up to Whiteface Mountain.

We caught the gondola (like a cable car) up the mountain, then realised it didn't take us to the top! We still had a great view though, and you could see on the higher summit where the ski paths were for the Olympics. We drove around the mountain, stopping for ice cream on the way, and took the highway up the mountain, all the way to the summit at around 4,800ft, amazingly. There was a little castle up there. and an observatory right on the top. You could get an elevator up to the observatory (an elevator on a mountain, can you believe?), and the view was spectacular from the top, as was the breeze! We walked back down to the castle and the car park, then drove back to Rainbow Lake, where Kristi's mum lives, for a spaghetti bolognese dinner - YUM!
.......................................................................

Okay, so we went to the cinema, after dinner, to see 'The Wedding Crashers' , which was really funny. It was all the way over in Lake Placid, around 45 mins away, so we had quite a drive back. Anyway, shortly after leaving Saranac Lake we were on a stretch of road, not going particularly fast and... we hit a deer.

It was horrible, especially for Chris who was driving. We were both in total shock, while Kristi remained calm and collected. Good job it wasn't a moose! Anyway we went back and it was no longer in the road, so it was either dragged off for taxidermy or it was fine. We all hoped the latter, which relieved us anyway.

Well that really woke me up, I'll tell you what!

Lake Placid / Saranac Lake, NY

Ok, so Kristi and her boyfriend, Chris, came around 12.30, by which time I was really freaked out by the weirdo guys that occupy bus stations! One guy was telling me his life story - he'd been arrested for possession in Albany and was trying to get back to Jersey but had no money. You can just see me retreating away very slowly with my eyes on him the whole time, eh?

It was great to see Kristi again - she looks taller than I remember! So we got lost on the way to the highway, and then I slept some of the journey since I was so shattered! We drove around Lake Placid for a while, and then went over to the ski jumps (Lake Placid was home to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics). They were really high - I felt sorry for the guy who worked the elevator! The chair lifts were really scary too.

We then picked up Kristi's brother, Chad, and went down to the lake for a dip. I declined since I didn't what to get my nose infected, but it was nice to sit on the rocks and just chill for a while. For dinner we rode over to the camp ground where Kristi's dad stays over summer in his camper. We had a great BBQ tea, along with Kristi's twin sister, Kerri, of cheeseburgers and 'glacial' hot dogs (they actually chisel them out of the ice...!) with loads of pepsi, potato salad and pasta salad - yum! I also discovered the beauty of Fudge Rounds - a 'Little Debbie's' creation - they're just divine!

After dinner we went for a ride on the golf cart and planned a to get some drinks in at a motel, cos Kerri works in one in Lake Placid. So we dropped Chad off at their mum's house after s'mores, and then went bowling before meeting Kerri. Chris was sure he was gonna win, but he lost to ALL of us - including Kerri, who turned up later on!

So, once in our motel - 2 double beds, TV, balcony, bath!.... we cracked open the cheap rum and pepsi, M&Ms (with funky new colours, including 'cacky' beige) and salt and vinegar crisps. A few of Kristi's friends turned up, but it all got a bit crazy when a girl called Erica stormed out over a game of arsehole, and Kerri and Jeff took off leaving a rather important package in our room! Not cool. Just decided to go to bed and leave them to it!

Greyhound Bus Terminal, Albany, NY

I am SO tired today. I got up around 6am to get my taxi to the bus station in Boston. The driver looked really ticked off when I didn't tip him, but hey - I had no change and he smoked a cigar the whole way, which made me feel terrible since I already had a migraine.

Anyway, I managed to catch the early bus at 7.10am, had some breakfast of peaches in a cup and cereal out of the same cup with some milk! Then I fell asleep soon after Worcester and awoke only once we were in Albany.

So Kristi isn't here yet - she's my friend from San Diego who is picking me up and taking me to her house near Lake Placid - she probably got my message late or didn't want to set off earlier, so I'm just gonna sit here and wait. Only 15 more mins until I said I'd be here anyway.

Bewitching Salem, MA

Today I woke up around 9.30am, and was dismayed at the utter lack of crockery and cutlery at the hostel/nursing home. This place really is a dump. I pulled on some clothes, walked to Brooks Pharmacy and bought some plastic plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. Just so as I could eat breakfast and make a packed lunch, can you believe.

I then caught the subway to Central Boston, and just missed a commuter-rail train to Salem, so waited there an hour for the next one. Once there, it wasn't what I was expecting at all - a lot more built up. I was thinking it was going to be this little village with white, wooden houses, but it was a proper town.

I had a wander around and ended up in the visitor's centre, watching some kind of propaganda film that told you nothing about the infamous witch trials that took place here in 1692, and only mentioned the slave trade about twice (Salem was a receiving port of slave-carrying ships). Instead, it was mainly about the settlers and industrialisation of Essex County, how the puritans "could no longer stand the corruption of the Church of England and wanted to build new lives in the New World". In fairness it was quite interesting, if not dangerously cheesy.

Next I set out to the Salem Witch Museum. I paid my $6.50 and got a cool sticker, and then read some information boards about the trials before a presentation. We all went into this dark room, like an auditorium, and on the floor was an illuminated red circle with all the names of the accused on it, going around in a spiral. Around the edges of the room were raised platforms, on which stood displays, each illuminating in turn as the story was narrated. Apparently it all started with a young girl named Rebecca Putman, fabricating stroies and maladies out of boredom. This led to hysteria in a time when God and the Devil were feared above all else. In the end, there were around 18 people hanged, pressed (with rocks) or imprisoned for being found guilty of witchcraft.

Then, we got shuffled along into the 'Exhibit Room', where there stood models of 3 types of witches; the pagan midwife, who used lots of 'erbs (as the Yanks pronounce it) and was a healer; the Hollywood witch with green face, broomstick, black hat and cape; and modern-day witches, practising the religion of Wicca. They also had an interesting equation on the wall, which can be applied to most 'witch-hunts': "Fear + Trigger = Scapegoat".

Afterwards I wandered around some more, taking in the waterfront, the Pirate Museum (argh!) and the Bewitched Statue (a bronze tribute to Elizabeth Montgomery), then I headed back to the hole. Since there were no pans for my clam chowder at the nursing home (ooh! surprises), I bought a microwavable chicken parmigiana from Target and crashed on the couch with the French girl from my room, to watch 'Friends' for a whole 2 hours! Bliss!

Well, I'm off to Albany, NY tomorrow, where I'll be meeting my friend Kristi (whom I met in San Diego two years ago), and I'll be staying with her in Saranac Lake, by Lake Placid, NY until Sunday. I'm really excited to see her after so long, plus it'll be nice to see a friendly face!

Exploring Boston, MA

Well I landed in Hartford on Tuesday night around 10pm, fluying over Six Flags on descent. The stop over in Dallas, TX was really cool - I had a look at all the Texas souvenirs but forced my self not to buy any!

I was so relieved to see Leo at arrivals! She even had a little placard with "Chips" written on it, in case I couldn't find her! Once at her house Andi and Amber were there - it was good to catch up with them. I got the bus from Hartford in the morning at around 11am, buying my Greyhound Ameripass at the student price with my YHA card! Thankfully, Claire was there at the station in Boston to meet me with her friend from camp, Laura. We caught the subway to where my hostel was supposed to be, and walked up and down the street trying to find it. Then we realised the door was in the middle of Hooters!

I was really annoyed to find that they'd overbooked and I had no bed! I also felt really bad cos I'd dragged Claire and Laura over there for nothing. Claire was great - she gave the guy a load of jip for it! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up in an ex-nursing home 3 subway stops out of the city, complete with creepy hospital beds, shitty kitchen and dodgy neighbourhood.

Once I'd got sorted we went back into the city - to Faneuil Hall Market where I bought a Red Sox cap, and then we got the subway to Harvard University. I actually wasn't that impressed with it - there were loads of 'keep off the grass' signs and it just didn't have that magic I expected it to have. By the time we'd wandered around and got a coffee, it was getting quite late, so we made our way back to the city and we parted ways.

Back at the hostel I had a burning hot shower, a rarity for the traveller, and watched some 'Friends' on TV. I've really missed TV! Gonna have an early night now cos I'm quite tired out, plus the Australian girl in my room has a flight at 7am so I don't want to keep her up late.

Off to Salem tomorrow - home of the infamous 1692 Witch Trials. Excited about that!

Last Day in Denver

This is just a quick post cos I'm leaving for my flught back to Hartford in 5 mins!

Yesterday we took Matthew to the airport to catch his flight home. I hated leaving him - he's my little bro! He can't get two planes by himself! I looked into staying here another two weeks and changing my ticket, but I didn't want to let people down and not travel around the East Coast.

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent chilling back at the house - playing Thomas the Tank Engine with Joe and being beaten at air hockey and fuzzball by Mark! Once we'd picked Kathryn and Jenni up from school we had a problem with the car, which meant we all had to pile into the Dodge truck for our evening out in downtown Denver!

We had tea at Hard Rock, then trapsed around trying to find somewhere to get our noses pierced (me and Kat had decided we'd get it done together!). After much 'cafuffle' and playing of the 'la la-la la la laaa!' game in the car, we ended up in Lakewood, west of Denver, at a place called 'Celebrity Tattoo'. I nearly cacked myself when I saw how they were gonna do it - Kat went first and I couldn't watch! But once it came to me it wasn't nearly as painful and torturous as I envisioned!

Anyway, today is my last day in Denver. I've been chilling out with Joe this morning watching Clifford and The Incredibles, and now I'm all packed (after piling a load of my stuff into Matthew's bag on Sunday!) and ready to go. I really wish I could stay longer I love it here! But I'm sure if my finance allows I'll be back next summer!

The Flying X Ranch, WY

Howdy Podners!

This weekend has been great! On Friday we got ready lazily, enjoying a cooked breakfast and a bounce on the trampoline outside, then set off around 1.30pm for The Flying X Ranch, Wyoming. See now, I was under the impression that we were off to a small ranch owned by Susan's sisters' father, Eldon, and was expecting a wee farmhouse with a cattle ring outside and a stable with a few horses. It was actually a huge, 26,000 acre retreat with loads of horses and cabin accommodation, of which Eldon was a long-standing partner. So I was a tad shocked, to say the least!

After many a tedious and heated car game, usually involving guessing the pattern in people saying seemingly random words, or guessing who a person was, we stopped in Wheatland, the nearby 'buzzing metropolis' (thirty miles from the ranch at a population of around 500) for tea before we arrived at the ranch, and that was a special place. Where you could marry three times and still have the same in-laws, and there are cafés with signs outside declaring "Welcome Bikers". Unfortunately, this little establishment was closed so we settled for Pizza Hut instead. After we'd finished they all ran out and got the car started while I was in the loo, leaving me at the mercy of the bikers!

At the ranch (after we'd traversed the 8 mile long driveway and passed a huge dead snake in the middle of the highway), we met Eldon, who sweetly resembles Father Christmas, and got settled into our cabins. They were luxury compared to camp - curtains, electricity, carpets, a mirror... ooh, lovely! Each one was named after an outlaw too. Mine and Kat's was Cole Younger, but I got bored reading his story. Apparently he was part of the Jesse James gang. We spent the evening sat out on the porch like cowboys, drinking beer, until I realised I was drinking underage and snuck away into the room to finish it off!

We got up early in the morning for breakfast - bacon, eggs, and real hash browns (fried grated potato - yum!). Then we headed straight down to the corral to get saddled up and on our horses. Mine wasn't a huge heffer like I usually get - a lovely-sized and well-behaved gelding named Phoenix. He was gorgeous! Jen got a huge white horse called Sugar, which was a right little rascal - cutting people up and galloping off at one point!

The ride was great, a real mixture off easy trails and rough, rocky terrain, up and down hills. Phoenix was so great I felt really confident and comfortable on him, and not at all intimidated if he started to trot or canter. Eldon commented on my confidence and said it was obvious I'd ridden before. To be honest, I think it was the easy-going comfort of western-style riding that did it! Matthew really got into it as well - we were singing the Back to the Future III theme tune - and he said he'd really want to do it at home if he could ride good terrain and not have to wear a goofy hat! Anyway, plenty a farting horse later we'd been out for around two and a half hours before heading back for lunch.

After our left-over Pizza Hut we didn't really feel like the healthy-looking sandwiches Susan had so expertly prepared. I settled for a cookie and a few crisps instead! Matthew, Jenni and Kat went off to the 'field' (our code-word for 'pool' around Joe, since he had no PFD and couldn't go swimming) while I hung back to read some of my book. A little while later, Susan, Mark, Joe, Eldon and Chris (Susan's nephew) were going to go on a drive around the land, so I tagged along. We saw a lake occupied by pelicans, a little shepherd's hut, plenty of cattle, four stray horses, and some antelope. On our way back down to the ranch-house a deer ran out in front of the car, which scared the bejeezes out of me since I was sat in the front!

After a cookout tea of burgers and pasta salad, we played on the rope swing on the playground, and went in the pool for a while. I played a silly game with Joe (who had found an inflatable and was henceforth allowed in the pool) that I was a beavershark out to get him! Which was fun.

On returning to the cabins, we got some coals from Eldon and attempted to light a barbeque on which to toast marshmallows for s'mores. This involved a lot of lighter fluid and intense flames, which I'm pretty sure are to blame for the burn marks on my new Roxy hoody! We started on the wine and I was rambling on about being the Graham cracker committee and how the BIG marshmallow committee was now a covert, freelance organisation (ie. get one yourself). Then we had more guessing games... and eventually everyone filtered off to bed, except for me and Susan.

We stayed up chatting until around half one - about all sorts of junk - but while we were talking three deer came to graze on the grass outside of our cabins! It was great, but when I slunk off to get my camera they ran off. When one came back I was ready and poised with my camera, but then some guy came out to go to the loo and scared it off. So Susan and I followed it behind the bushes (still in a state of clear inhebriation) and as we closed in on it and it's friend, we realised they were in fact a barbeque and a picnic table. The real deer must've run off in another direction!

This morning I felt quite rough, but after brekkie and a lot of water I was fine! We just chilled out - playing on the rope swing, sitting on the porches having girlie chats... until lunch in Eldon's trailer of vermicelli bolognese! Yum! After that we were back on the road home. We stopped at Eldon's house for tea and picked up Phoebe La La Rouche (Jen's Pooch) and Riley (Kat's kitten), as they had been staying there while we were away.

Back at home and we got straight into the hot tub after we'd unpacked the car.... ooh it was lovely, bubbly and hot!

It's a shame cos Matthew's going home tomorrow, so today was his last day in the States. However, he does have a spare bag, so I've thrown a load of my stuff in there and he's going to take it home for me! In a way I wish I was flying home from here too, and all my travelling time I was spending here! It's just so cool and laid back after the hectic life at camp. But I'm also really looking forward to seeing everyone on my travels too.

Chillin' in Denver

Toreet?

Ooh, how nice it is to just chill out and not worry about campers! Unfortunately, I"m painfully aware that camp really has changed me forever, for now I"m reciting camp songs at the merest hint of relevance, and I've taught Kat how to make friendship bracelets!

Yesterday I got up around 9.30, farted around for a while (not literally) and chatted to Joe (my cousin whom I've rarely seen since his birth in 2001), then after dinner me, Kat, Jen and Maff dragged ourselves off the trampoline in the back garden and drove in Kat's 'Batmobile' to the mall. Kat's car is great - it's an old, banged out Firebird, but it's top.

At the mall I got some new trainers and a Roxy hoodie from TJ Maxx (I don't know why they insist on calling it TJ instead of TK here, but there you go), and a Batman top from Hot Topic, a store that, up until now I've been afraid to set foot in due to fear of getting lynched by all the rockers. Kat was distraught that I bought the Batman top cos she really wanted it, but whatever, she's not gonna see me again in ages anyway!

On return we chilled out around the house again, making friendship bracelets and eating tea. Over tea we had a heated debate about why America was a good place to live in and why Britain's crap and vice versa. Basically, we agreed that you should live wherever you're happy. The only reason I wouldn't want to live in America is that I'd feel so unhealthy. Unless you live in the city, you can't get anywhere without a car, and everything tastes like sugar.

Anyhoo, after tea we trekked out to the cinema to see a late showing of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' cos I hadn't seen it yet. I didn't really buy the whole father issue thing - I could just imagine Johnny Depp and Tim Burton sat in a boardroom or meeting over coffee to fabricate the whole thing - but other than that I thought it was really good. But then I'm a child of the Gene Wilder generation so that will always remain the real story!

In other news, we learnt last night that Matthew does not fly home the day after I fly to Hartford as we so thought, indeed not even the same day, but the day before! He goes home on the Monday and I go back to Hartford on Tuesday. So he's now been robbed of two days he thought he had here! Poor thing.

That's all for now, I'm off to a ranch in Wyoming today and will be coming back Sunday, so I'll try and post then.

Meldrew Update!

For updated news on the fate of Meldrew, my trusty old Fiat that was destined for the masher, see my new website: www.allstarpidge.blogspot.com or click on the link below highlighted 'Random Ramblings of the Pidge'. Look for a post from 18th August 2005.

Rock on Old Fart!

Arriving in Denver, CO

Hey Y'All!

This is just a quick post - I'm still mentally on Connecticut time so it's just gone 4am for me and I've been on this computer way more longer than is healthy! Just letting you all know that I've arrived in Denver, CO safely and without hassle. My connecting flight from Hartford, CT to St Louis, MO was an hour delayed, but luckily they held the Denver flight for us. The plane was tiny - one seat on one side of the aisle and two on the other, with limited hand lugagge space and unbelieveably low ceilings! Very...erm...cosy!

Anyway, the whole brood (Mark, Susan, Kat, Jenni, Joe and brother Matthew) were at the airport to meet me, which was great. We stopped at a diner for some munch cos I was ravenous (I"m sorry Mum, but I've not eaten properly since Saturday - I need Claire here!), then drove on to their house. They live just outside of Denver in a grandly named place called Aurora, and their house is humungous! They have 2 huge living rooms, a kitchen and pantry, 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a bar area (complete with air hockey table and fuzzball table) and various other little areas for laundry, towels, vacuum cleaners, clothes etc. It's seriously h-yow-ge.

Anyway, I should really try and get some sleep now. I'll let you know what I've been up to soon!

The Warped Tour, Northampton, MA

Hey All!

So what did I get up to after camp finished? Well, on Sunday we left camp around 1.30 and headed up north towards Springfield, MA for The Warped Tour '05. Leo, being the saint that she is, gave me and CB a lift while Becky and Kate went in Woosh's car. We had to stop a couple of times cos it started storming and Woosh's car doesn't work in the rain!

Eventually we arrived at the motel in Chicopee, where we would be staying Sunday and Monday night, and got way too excited at the prospect of TV, air-conditioning, mirrors, a flushing toilet, a bath, electric lighting and a double bed each! In an incredible act of generosity, Leo offered to take my gargantuous, over-packed rucksack back with her, and take me to the airport Wednesday. How grateful am I? This, however, meant I had to ring up my hostel in Hartford and cancel for Tuesday night, and the guy on the phone actually told me off, can you believe. I'm glad I didn't stay there now!

Anyway, Leo left us and we settled into enjoying the luxuries of civilisation! Me and CB went over the road to a 1950's style diner for tea (the others opted for take-aways). It was lots of fun - there was a phone at our table (I was cursing the time-difference cos I really wanted to use it!) and we got to pick 7 songs on the jukebox for $2! CB ordered an all day breakfast whereas I opted for a greasy combo appetiser and a side salad! About 10 minutes after we arrived back at the motel, a thunderstorm cracked and the power went out. On our first night with electricity and TV. Typical.

We got up early Monday morning and grabbed a McDonalds breakfast (a sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle - the diet starts here!). We called a cab company asking if they had any cabs to fit 5 passengers, and they said "We usually do 4... but we can work something out for you". Love it! The woman who came to pick us up was a beastly heffer of a lady, who chatted on her mobile for pretty much the whole 45 minute journey, except when she made painful attempts to start a conversation with me, sat in the front. She gave us her cell number and told us to call her up for a ride when we were done.

By the time we got there the queue was already humungous, but first we had to find somewhere suitable to leave CB's luggage, and after pleading our naive foriegness to the guy/girl (one can never tell at gigs, I guess) behind the ticket booth, they let us leave it in there. Once we were in, it took all of about 3 mins before we were sodden with mud from our knees downwards and spattered upwards, since the ground was really boggy cos of the thunderstorm. Nice!

We saw/heard (I'm very short you see) bands such as The Starting Line, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights, Funeral for a Friend, Story of the Year, Dropkick Murphys, Fall Out Boy, The Transplants, Thrice, The Offspring, My Chemical Romance and Senses Fail. Not being a rock geek myself I failed to recognise the vast majority of the music played, but I still really enjoyed it. Dee - you'da loved it! The best bit of the day was watching people crowd-surf; one guy just behind us tried to do it during the Offspring, but he was way too far back - we just dropped him, the poor guy!

By the end of the day my feet were killing and caked in mud. We left around 8.15 and said goodbye to CB, who was staying with her friend Heather. I was going to stay with her, but since Woosh was giving me a ride to Leo's the next morning it was much easier to stay with her at the motel another night.

Soon after, we were sat at a petrol station for nearly 2 hours waiting for a cab (heffer lady let us down so we had to ring someone else), all of our phones were dead and mine was totally out of credit. Our taxi finally came (he'd forgotten about us), but he had no meter nor radio, looking pretty dodgy. But the

Leaving Camp Laurel

Hello All!

Oh my, Sunday was hard! It was probably the saddest day of the summer. Tania had to pack my bag for me cos I have way too much stuff! We headed down to main camp around 11am and people just started filtering out. It was really hard saying goodbye to Dude and Luna cos I don't know when I'll see them again. Then Tania went off on a trip to New London with Brooke and even though I know I'll see her at home it still sucked.

I'm gonna miss everyone loads and I reckon I'll probably miss camp too! WE'll just have to make sure we all stay in touch!

Weeks Seven and Eight - On Stage

Hey Everyone!

Well, this last fornight has been the hardest ever. We've had so many difficult kids, and we also had three different programmes living in one unit, which was very stressful. We got another theatre group, but I just didin't have the same energy I had last time.

We had Casino Night again on the Monday, when I skived off with Amber to go grocery shopping! And we also told our kids that Dude's leg was bitten off by a beavershark (a mythical creature that we've managed to get all the kids to believe in) and it was a bionic leg, and they had to figure out which one it was! Tuesday night was weird, our kids were all hyper after cookout and we just wanted to chill out. It just started to get tiring dealing with impolite, mithering kids all day. On the Wednesday night a puppet show came to entertain the girls in an educational sort of way, so me and Tania skived and went for a hike up to the outer units of camp! And on the Thursday evening me, Tania, Dude, Rene and Fruity got to run campfire since Amber was ill in the health centre. That was a lot of fun!

On Friday the 5th it wa Tania's 21st birthday, and it was horrible! I got her some party stuff and Teddy Grahams (cos she keeps nickin them from the kitchen!) but it was a terrible day for her. It was really humid and she ended up cleaning a camper who had diahorrea and had shat all over herself, her clothes, her suitcase... Happy Birthday Tania! We had a big water fight with our kids though, which was great, but Tjitske shouted at Tania cos she had campers going home and they were getting wet. Trouble at th'mill!

On Friday night we went to Sarah's house cos she was leaving :(
It was SO good - we got wine and I was blazing! We also had a lovely dinner of chicken and rice, but the night ended with me having a really silly disagreement with Tania cos of our drunkeness. Oh dear.

Saturday at Camp was Rene's girls' Hula Party, with was great! We had leis, shell necklaces, inflatable palm trees, water games, grass skirts and a limbo pole! Steve the legend, our cook, cooked us barbequed burgers and hotdogs with ice cream for dessert - yum!

Unfortunately, our night was spoilt by finding out that one of our campers had been bullying the others in her cabin - cursing, hitting, name-calling... I was just SO tired of all the drama with these kids! By the end of week 7 (week 8 with staff training) I was ready for it to finish!

By Monday I felt terrible. That was my worst day. I don't know whether it was physiological, fatigue, or just the fact that we were so close to the end, but I've never felt so down and miserable in my life. I had to take some time out, so I went for a trek to the outer regions of camp. I was so chuffed with myself - I managed to reach the border signified by a "NO TRESPASSING" sign, and I saw two deer too!

On Tuesday it was the god-send that is get out of camp day, so for my time off Brooke took us to WalMart for last minute stuff and then for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. We ended up coming back to camp 45 mins late! But it was lots of fun. Wednesday was Pirate Day, and Tania and I were really annoyed that we'd not been informed, since we are the ultimate pirates! Thursday brought with it my first complaint from a parent! Apparently I'd "been yelling". That really bugged me, cos yeah, I have to shout to be heard over all the campers' noise, but I have never once lost my temper with them. Gutted.

Our On Stage performance was on Thursday too. We were no where near as prepared as last time, but we did a show of all different folk tales from around the world. It was good in the end, and me and Tania did a Punch and Judy show which went down a treat!

I cannot tell you how relieved I was yesterday when all our last campers went home! We all went out for ice cream after dinner, and got really hyper on sugar and euphoria! Today has been spent tidying and cleaning, and then playing with the tubes in the lake, cos it's been unbearably hot and humid. Tonight we're having a banquet with steak and veg and proper food! Then tomorrow we leave! YEY!

My plans from here on are:

I'm off to The Warped Tour Music Festival in Northhampton, MA tomorrow, then on Tuesday I'll return to Hartford, CT before flying out to Denver, CO on Wednesday to see Mark and Susan and co! After that I'm gonna travel round by bus and kinda play it by ear. I have a plan but I'm not sure how it's gonna work out so I won't divulge it just yet!

Camp has been great really. There's been times of side-splitting laughter and times when I've just broken down and cried, but all in all it's been a fantastic experience that I wouldn't change for the world.

That's all for now!

Week Six: Night Owls... again!

Hey All!

Well last week was quite a good week. It was very refreshing on Sunday night not to have any homesick campers and get a decent night's sleep! On the Sunday evening after opening campfire we took our kids down to Chapel Point and made a fire to toast marshmallows on. On the Monday we had a night hike up to the outer units (Nyoda and Hiker's Hill) where I'd never been before so that was quite spooky.

On Tuesday morning we got woken up by a fire drill at 7:45am (since we had Night Owls we were allowed to sleep in every morning and eat breakfast at our cabins - obviously not this morning though!). And then around 10am just as we were getting dressed the alarm went off for an LBD (Lost Bather Drill) too. What a morning. In the evening on Tuesday we took our sleeping bags, pillows and a few groundsheets and slept on the front lawn under the stars. It was really good, but us counsellors were really giddy that night and it took us ages to get to sleep.

On Wednesday it was cookout day, but surprise surprise it thunder-stormed again (just like every Wednesday, like clockwork) so we ended up cooking our English Muffin Pizzas in the dining hall. I also fell over on my already sprained ankle that afternoon, gashing my knee and leaving a nasty cut. I was limping about like a muppet for days afterwards! On Wednesday evening we had our movie night in the Health Centre, and then we persuaded the kids to go "raid the kitchen" (something we'd already secretly arranged with the kitchen staff so they could catch them in the act!). It was really funny cos the kids thought they were really in trouble!

On Thursday evening we did my treasure hunt. Whilst walking along a trail from the Barn to a unit called Four Corners, the line of girls in front of us parted and some girls started crying. Walking through the buddy line was a cloaked and hooded faceless figure. To my horror I realised it was a counsellor, and I'd totally forgot that she was gonna try and scare us that night. Well, it TOTALLY freaked the girls out - they were crying and really upset, so I told them that an old camp legend stated that there was a hooded figure living in the woods who helps lost campers, and we'd obviously seen him tonight. That didn't make a difference so eventually I told them the truth. But the legend was so much more fun!

On Friday the kiddies went home again, and I learned that I wasn't going to be moving again which was good. This week we have another theatre group, but they're a lot more raucous than the last one so we've got our work cut out! It's scary though that these girls are gonna be the ones who go home the day we all have to say goodbye to each other and go our separate ways. It's really sad.

Anyway, on the Saturday just gone everyone was off for the weekend, and the nurse, Duckie, got us discounted tickets to a nearby theme park in Agawam, Massachusetts, called Six Flags. It was a great day, lovely and scorching, and we went on loads of cool rides, including a rickety old rollercoaster called 'Cyclone' and a new one much like the Pepsi Max but longer, called 'Superman'. Apart from the huge queues and masses of people that were there it was lots of fun.

That's pretty much everything in a nutshell that's gone on this week. I've also got tickets to the 'Warped' tour in Boston on the 15th August (straight after the end of camp before I fly to Denver), which is apparently like Glastonbury but a bit more hardcore (!) so I'm looking forward to that.

In other news, I got accepted into my first choice of halls at uni! It's kinda worrying that my student loan is only just gonna cover my accommodation there, but I guess that's all the more incentive to get a job! So I'm excited about that too.

I'll post again soon! Hope your all ok x