Tuesday, February 15, 2011
living
California Girls - oh that song is wayyy over played
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York"
Three blondes took over New York. Courtney and I stayed with one of our sorority sister's (also my real sister's good friend) and her husband on Long Island. It was so nice to relax for two days, work out, catch up on things, and sleep in an uber comfy bed! The bad thing- we didn't make it into the city during the day. It was farrrrr too hot to step outside and we have both been there several times. :( BUT I have made major progress- I ate sushi- and actually liked it! I have come to realize that sushi is a common social outing so I need to suck it up and like it. We went to a fabulous sushi restaurant in the city, and finished the night dancing our tails off at a quaint little dance club.
"California girls
We're undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
Westcoast represent
Now put your hands up
Oooooh oh oooooh"
You should have seen us rocking out to this song- classic.
From there we were off to Boston. We were there for less than 24 hours but made the most of it. We got a beer at Cheers, walked the parks and saw the tomb stones of Mother Goose and John Hancock! I found Hancock's tombstone a very interesting choice of design.
Strange? I think so
We had tapas and sangria at Tapeo on the famous Newbury Street (shout out to Andrew) then enjoyed a night out with some locals. Their bars there are set in basements to avoid noise complaints-smart! Funny story: we watched a man swim in a fountain in the middle of the park, in broad day light, stealing all the coins. My response "is this real?" and the kids next to us "well at least he is clean!" Hhaha. Anywhoo now we are chillaxing in Philly with my wonderful Aunt and Uncle. Today we ventured out to the Amish region in PA into a town called "Intercourse."
ohhh the Amish in Intercourse
YES spelled just like that, they even had tshirts that read 'I <3 Intercourse! haha we were cracking jokes all day- and they never got old! That combined with a tour of the Hershy museum completed the day. Headed into the city for some din! Ttyl
Count down til cruise to the Bahamas: 6 days
scurrrrry journey to NYC
First off, we have lost complete track of time, day, date, even the month! If I were to date this it would read: "there are no days here."
Further I want to share this quote by FDR- "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." I fear the fact that I am scared of lightening storms. I used to love lightening and thunder, I thought they were beautiful and mysterious. Also only 70 people die a year from being struck, so no big deal-right? WRONG!
When I was in elementary school my dad and I were part of Indian Princesses (I guess it could be compared to the girl version of boy scouts.) I was "running flame" and he was "thunder bird," and we did everything from camping out on Catalina Island to skiing at Big Bear. My favorite was staying in the huge cabin in big bear- but one year things went haywire. A HUGE thunder storm rolled over and I have never heard thunder roar so loud in my life. We were all huddled in the cabin when next thing we heard was a bang, a snap, another bang, then a car alarm. YUP, the lightening struck a tree right outside the cabin, which fell onto a car-- and who's car-OURS! It took 15 men to lift the tree off of our silver volvo (aka "quicksilver") which was completely totaled. I recall being to small to sit in the front seat of the car at the time, but the tree had smashed the entire back in, so I had no where to sit but the front (of course I was a little excited about that.) And yes--we drove the smashed in car all the way home, vovlvo's back in the day were tanks, you couldn't do anything to make the damn things break even if you tried! (My first car was the exact same model but in blue- I hated it, but it was "the safest thing on the road")
Yesterday we encountered the second worst lightening storm of my life. Lightening shot from the sky less than a mile away from us, rain pored down like Niagara Falls, and the sky roared as if we were in a surround sound movie theatre. I was terrified. All i could do so pop one reeses pieces after another into my mouth, which I have realized is the WORST nervous habit ever. At first Courtney was cracking up, filming me almost crapping my pants, which of course only increased my fear. "Put the stupid camera down, you are going to get electrocuted!" As we sat in the parking lot of Target I darted my eyes around to make sure there was no trees, telephone poles, or anything that could fall on our car. I told Courtney my story about Big Bear, and she lost her composure and nervously began eating her gold fish. So there we were sitting in a parking lot, nearly crying, and shoving junk into our mouths to distract us- it was quite the experience. We waited for a lull and then darted out of there, Courtney drove while I painted my nails to distract myself (probably not the best idea, but we made it!)
But as for now I am getting summoned to get ready for a night out into NYC! So I have to run, but will ttys (talk to you soon)
Fun Fact: Maine is the only state with one syllable
CANADA .. still
So here I am, sitting in my little dorm/hostel room, sipping some champagne I got for my 21st bday (thank you pops-it's a good celebration) and enjoying my last day (finally) in Niagara Falls. Today, Patrick (the hostel owner) asked Courtney and I to stay another week-for free- to work on another project.
- ACBB Hostel- our "home"
Our response- "we will think about it." If you know me at all, then you know that means NO. I am extremely compulsive when it comes to things I want, and Court tends to get a little upset because she likes to think about things. For me, I say "sure-why not?" In this case, it was a no. We have already skipped out on Montreal and Maine, so there is no need to stay here for another week. The heat is getting to me, and there is no way I can stand more than another night without air conditioning!
BUT our time here has been nice. We met some amazing people and have made some great friends. Two named Owen and Dan- they are traveling from Australia and have been our roomies/partners in crime for the past three days. Our first day here we went out on a jet boat and fooled around in the Niagara River- and it was absolutely beautiful!
- it was like a pool was dumped onto you!
Once you get past the touristy Clifton Hill Street (aka cheesy Disneyland on steroids) then Niagara Falls has a lot to offer. From there we went to the quaint and classy town called "Niagra-on-the-river" aka Gilmore Girls Town. From there we checked out a few wineries and headed 'home'-to our hostel
- ohhh Clifton Hill
Day 2 here included more wine tasting, a hike at Niagara Gorge, and coffee and pastries in the Gilmore Town with the boys. Day 3 we walked along the falls, took some nice photos, and took a trip onto Maid of the Mist- which is a boat that takes you out right under the falls! It was beautiful- and we looked super sexy in matching blue ponchos-- hahahah NAWT! After that we enjoyed some ice cream overlooking the falls
and drove our boys to the train station :( They are offto Toronto, and our goodbyes were not an easy one. That is the beauty of hostels- you are given the opportunity to meet such a diverse group of people with at least one thing in common-- traveling! We will miss those two, but we exchanged contact info and will stay in contact (thanks to the beauty of the internet!)
Fun Fact: Actually a sad fact- less than 10% of American's own a passport!
Anywho, tomorrow we are off to NY! Wooohoooo finally I will have a phone that works (aka my iphone-aka my life!) The second we get over the border, I plan to buy some more mace (since the last one got taken,) and hit up cosco and target- boy how I miss those places. As for now ciao, hasta luego, adios!
CANADA
"Life is a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control."
So who knew it was illegal to have mace in Canada, because we sure didn't! My mace disguised as a perfume bottle was quickly taken and I was devastated! How was I going to defend myself? The Canadian response "buy a whistle." And to top it off the border patrol threatened to search the car, and my first thought "oh no-not the wine!" Our entrance into Canada was a little rocky but has been great ever since!
Our first night we spent in Toronto where we toured the city and went to the top of the CN tower. Sad story- I was overly excited to get a shwerma because they bring back so many amazing memories from Barcelona, but when I went to buy it the guy would not accept my debit card because it read 'visa.' I had no cash, no American money and no Canadian, so I handed the sandwich back. :( I walked out and rushed over to Subway. It is amazing how places like Subway and McDonald's have a sense of comfort and security when you are out of the US. Otherwise, I highly DISLIKE both places, but in this case a 6-inch turkey sandwich has never tasted so good.
- CN Tower
Now we are in Niagra Falls where after one thing led to another, we ended up in a hostel called ACBB (what that means- I have NO idea). I am sweating uncontrollably in this 90 degree humid weather with no air conditioning, and sitting next to two Brazilians turned American turned Canadian. I keep telling myself that this was meant to be. We were in route of Montreal, when we decided we were too tired to tour all day then drive 8 hours, so we slowly rolled around until we found a wi fi hot spot (so we could look up a hostel to stay in). We went onto hostelworld.com and typed the address into the Garmin (which I want to kill by the way- it doesn't stop talking!) and it said "approaching destination in 400 feet." Huh, this is strange we thought. So now here we are, staying here for a couple days free in return we help market this hostel which, besides the heat is a very nice/friendly place.
- Niagara Falls
Our new game to kill time in the car= the saltine challenge. We can both successfully eat 4 crackers in 60 seconds, what can you do?
The truth behind the CN tower-
it has been outdone by the Burg in Dubai standing as the tallest building in the world.
CHing chinG
Day 14 Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Sunset at Grand Rapids, Michigan
Since I don't have anything written for this day the following is from Courtney
"We pull up to Grand Rapids State Park couple hours before sunset at campsite four, about to pitch a red tent meant for the woods–in the sand. Kelly pulled the tent out amidst the cluttered, stuffed to the rim trunk. She thought she knew how to set up that tent. But when it came down to it, we were both kind of clueless.
That is until Mark showed up.
But there was another problem before Mark showed up. When Kelly and I pulled pulled up two tents were already pitched in lot four. The lady in the lot next to us said we better figure it out, because there was no way we were allowed to pitch our tent behind her massive camper. (Why? Not sure.) To help clear things up the park guard came over. Turned out that Frank was supposed to be at campsite number 87 for Monday night, and number 4 the following three nights. So when he got back from playing at the beach with his four kids, the guard broke the news. Mark had to pack all of his gear, tents and food back up into his South Carolina license plated mini-van.
Talk about awkward when he showed up. However, he felt silly for acting like a dyslexic, and helped us with our tent regardless. What took two hours for us to “attempt” to figure out, took two minutes for Mark. As you can imagine, we had most of it all wrong.
What a learning experience. But thanks to Mark I am now confident that the second time around, pitching will be a piece of cake.
I recommend Grand Haven for anyone traveling through Michigan. The sunsets are to die for. Bright rustic orange colored sky turns into a deep red, just as night falls.
- Getting a little help from our new friend
Ciao Michigan! Onward, CANADA!!"
In my defense I DO know how to pitch a tent- it was a brand new one that I have never used before and the pictures were horrible
- taaaa-daaaa
