Across the Big Pond

A great deal of time has pasted since I went on my trip across the big pond. The only excuse that I have is that it has taken me this long to try and figure out what I would want to write about and all the great things about England. I am not so sure what it was taken me so long. When I came home from England and while I was there I was just taking it all in and not knowing what to think about it all. Maybe this happens to everyone there first time to leave their home country and maybe their in the other country for a long enough time to digest it and process this new world. Also I was not sure what I was wanting to tell the people about or how to put it. Yes, what I am about to write and express to you about England is a bit long ago now but here it is.

The first week we were in London. We wondered around and saw everything we could and we were very much like tourist. Top five things to see in London are:
1.St Paul’s Cathedral: You can get in for free if you attend a service. This is what we did and the service was lovely. Plus the inside is so magnificent! You are not allowed to take pictures but it’s something that one will never forget. Also you do not get to see the entire Cathedral. You only get to see the main entrance part and the quire.
2.Trafalgar Square: At Christmas it is wonderful. There are Christmas trees and everything. It is just an awesome thing to see.
3.Buckingham Palace: This is just one of the sights to see. You walk up and there is a huge roundabout with a very large monument and it just feels like instant Royalty and it is pretty cool.
4.Abbey Rd.: This was my favorite place to visit out of all of London. It was just awesome to know that I walked in the very place that the Beatles did. Also just to see all of the graffiti across the wall in front of Abbey Road Studio and everything. It was just absolutely the best thing ever!
5.Kensington Gardens: I thought this was lovely as well. They had several different statues up. My second favorite thing was getting to see the Peter Pan Statue. There are also several other monuments in the Gardens. Such as the Diana Fountain memorial. When we visited here though we did not have much time because the night was approaching fast. Even though it was rather rushed it was still very much enjoyed.
Like most huge tourist areas it is very busy and crowded. I think that is why I enjoyed the last two sights the best, because even though there were few tourists it was not over crowded like the first three. Of course one is probably wondering what about Big Ben and Parliament. They are great sights, but again not as enjoyable because of the large crowds and tourist traps. My travel partner Scarlet probably kept getting mad at me because my navigation skills are good, but I like to wonder around and through the back alleys and get a feel for the city not as a tourist but as if I live there. When you go to London I suggest making a plan to see the sights that you really want to see and then wonder the city through its back door. Just like my one of my favorite sayings or quotes “Not all who wonder are lost.”

The second and third week we were in England were spent with our lovely friend Hulky Pulky. We stayed with her in her college house in Portsmouth as well as with her family in Brighton during Christmas Eve and Day. It was really awesome to have an Englander to show us around. It also made us feel less like tourist. We also took a small road trip of our own around the southern part of England. We stayed slashed visited: Portsmouth, Bristol, Oxford, Bath, and Brighton. All the places were quite nice, but I would have to say that my favorite was Bath. It is such a gorgeous place. When you come upon the city and get a chance to walk about it truly feels as though you have ventured back in time and you’re in a portion of Rome or Greece. There is actually a Roman Bath that is there and one can take tours of it. I wish that we would have had more time to really explore but we arrived shortly before dark, so it was quite hard to really be able to look about. Each English city we visited it had its own special thing to offer to the trip, each unique.

I will definitely one day be returning to England. There is still more to see and explore. I want to go to the Northern part and visit Liverpool and Manchester, as well as back to the Southern part because I was unable to visit Oxford as well as I would have liked. Over all England is an awesome place to visit no matter what time of year. So many of there cities are very diverse and you can explore and very colorful and wondering culture.

Some helpful things to know and try:
1.You must make sure you pushed the boost so your water will be semi warm when you go to take a shower. I think I had maybe one or two warm showers while I was there. I was so cold most of the time (I am very hot natured person as well).
2.Buy and Try Percy Pigs, they are the best gummy ever!!
3.Traffic tends to come from the left, so look LEFT then RIGHT then LEFT again before crossing the street. I do not know how many times Scarlet had to grab my arm because I almost ventured into traffic.
4.Have Kinder Chocolate.
5.Find a person or a place that will make or serve you a drink called a Snake Bite. Super great drink. Although it is Alcoholic beverage, it well get you well on your way.
6.Marks & Spencer is a wondrous and magical place, go and explore and you can find them everywhere!

I am sure there is so much more that I am leaving out and forgetting, but once you visit you will make up your one opinions and discover even more great things.

Afternoon Tea

It is down to the final countdown. One more week and I will be hanging out in London. I am so excited, my travel partner Scarlet and I got together just the other night to discuss sites to see. We are going to do all the obvious ones, like Big Ben, Tower of London, London Bridge, Museums, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and so much more. We are staying in a hostel for the first week. Then when our friend Kerry gets back (she is the whole reason we are going over.) We are going to go to her house in Portsmouth and then on to Brighton. I am so excited. Once we meet up with Kerry the 3 of us are going to journey to see: Liverpool, Manchester, Bath,Salisbury, and Oxford.

Although it has been rather stressful, trying to figure out all the things you really need for traveling. The only travel we will have to do publicly is the first week that we are in London. The best deal that i have found is to purchase an oyster card. It allows you to use any public transportation not just the tube or the bus, but all!

A very helpful book that I found was Let's Go London On a Budget. It has so much helpful information. Also things to do if you were going to stay in London and work and what not. The book is filled with all kinds of websites. Also another book that has been used and I would suggest is National Geographic Traveller Guide to Great Britain. This book is more pricey then the first but it also hold good information and great pictures.

Let's Go London On a Budget $16.95

National Geographic Traveller Guide to Great Britain $27.95

But of course you could go onto amazon.com and find these books and more to your liking for a cheaper price.

Til Next Time.

Helpful Websites:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk

Winter Holiday

I am very excited because the days are counting down to when I leave for England. It is my first time to leave the country and i know it will not be my last! I thought i would go ahead and start writing about my venture to come. I have just started to really hard core plan. There are some pretty good websites. There is also so much that goes into planning. Needing a rail pass, all the different sites and prioritizing what to see first and when.

Camping Extravaganza!

This is my latest Venture. My good friends and I went camping little less then two weeks ago. This was my first time camping with out my family. The best part was that I actually got to go camping two weekends in a row because my family had come up and gone the weekend before.
I had a lot of fun, because it was my first time planning a camping trip. I certainly learned a lot from it and hope that the next trip i plan will go more smoothly. Not that this one did not it was just a lot of small forgotten things.
So we chose to go to Warrior's Path Park in Kingsport, Tn. It was an okay part. If you really enjoying camping like i do then this not really the place. Most of the sites are geared towards RV's and RV's are not real camping! Plus it was not very far back into the woods.
So of course, I can never get to a campsite to set it up before dark, because then what kind of trip would that be. Plus it always fun to watch people try and set up a tent with no lights. You can really learn a lot about a person. hahaha. It was very typical, The girls and I watch the boys be very manly, and set up the tent, go find wood, cut the wood, and start a fire. They were so handy. Very funny though, because I am not sure that the best way to cut wood is with a Machete.
One of the funniest things that happened (which also shows a glitch in my planning) was when dinner Saturday night came around and we realized that no one had signed up to bring hot dogs and we had nothing to eat. Luckily we were far from civilization and we could run to the store and pick some up. Other then that we had a nice fat raccoon that joined us each evening. We named him Melvin. He then beat up some other raccoon on Saturday night which was some first class entertainment.
All in all it was a great weekend. Like I said if you are really into camping and like to be off deep in the woods, Warrior's Path is not the place to go. It's more for people who like to think they are camping. Even though a lot goes into camping it was a really nice relaxing weekend in the great outdoors!

Just Jump

This venture took place on September 29, 2007. My good friends, invited me to come down and jump of cliffs with them. We went to Rock Island, which is over between Cookville and McMinnville Tn. I had just had surgery less then 2 weeks prior to this engagement so I did not jump, but i documented the greatness. The drive there was like 45 minutes or something. But we road with Rob in his jeep and it was so cold, we had the top off and the wind was crazy cold. Hints the picture above trying to show everyone it was cold!

It was a nice little hike to get to the cliff (overall it took like 20 minutes maybe). Nothing extremely notable happened. The cliffs were i believe something like 30 ft high, i can not remember. I know that it was high enough that in mid air you got the o shit feeling right be fore you hit the water. There is also a much smaller cliff that may only be 10ft that one can jump off of if they are not into anything higher. Over all the day was a whole lot of fun and i got to spend it with a few of my favorite people. All in all I high suggest that you and your friends find some cliff and jump off of them its great! But always do these activities SAFELY!

Old Men & a Number

Stated before I worked at a summer camp. Camp ended on July 27th. 2 of the other girls that I had gotten close to decided that we were going to go to Florida for a little goodbye holiday. So it was Banksia (she is from Australia) BigBird (she is from England) and me heading to Panama City Beach. We had the best time ever! The whole way down we listened to the cheesiest pop music, because we all seemed to have a place in our hearts for the backstreet boys, nsync, and britney spears!

So probably the best story we have from this trip was the first night there. Us 3 and my sister all decide that we are going to go out. We had dinner (at pineapple willie's; good but nothing special) and then some corona's on the beach for starters, just sitting on the beach talking about the summer and all the inside jokes. Then we decided that it was time to move on.

We went to a locals bar, which was were the fun really began. Before entering we stated the game where you can see who can get a guys number first. Thought it would add another fun element to the night. We get in and a round of drinks, we are sitting just chatting watching people play some beer pong and dancing, this guy walks by and bumps into BigBird and then it begins... First this man was not one of the young hot type he was an older man probably old enough to be our fathers and not good looking. Well he is already pretty well lit. He comes back to say sorry and then sits down, he is talking all kinds of crazy junk. For example he says he can rap; here is a taste "I am the peckerwood pimp, i feed my bitches lobster and shrimp." My sister and I exchange looks and then die laughing! The man just kept talking to BigBird. We decided that in honor of the night we should take a picture with this man. I was the one who got volunteered to sit on his lap!

More drinks for everyone, another man then approaches us. This man again not good looking and old enough to be our father. He is needing help, he is texting his daughter and wants to tell her that he is not drunk. So he comes to me for help- I send the text to his daughter, then there is a little texting game, nothing to funny. Since i was so nice i receive a drink. YAY for me! But then again we have another old man who will not let us be. So needless to say its getting later we are having more drinks and thus far no one has gotten there number.

I spot a cute guy at the bar, who has been watching the activities and laughing at us and these old men. i make the move. I go up and start a conversation. One of the old men interrupts with a joke stating that he is in fact my father and the guy should watch out. insert laugh and then moving on. The guy asks how long we in town for and everything typical conversation, then i see my chance and just shoot out hey let me get your number and we can hang out later this week. But then i can not find my phone, must have left it in the car, but no fear God created napkins for more then just cleaning up messes. He also gets my number as well as his friend and i exchange numbers. Yes, i will count that as 2 numbers and I win!

But wait the night is not over..... The bartender who must be a jealous bitch sees that i have received this guys number, comes over then spots the x's on my hand (implying that i am in fact not 21) She extracts my drink from my hand and throws it away. Fair enough. But yet she can not leave it there, she then gets the bouncer or who ever to come over. He asks me if i have been drinking and a few other questions, and then gets smart with me. I am very chill given that i am in the wrong, but no need for him to be a smart ass about it. Needless to say- I spent the night in jail. KIDDING!!! I say let me get my sister- we gather the gang and get ever so nicely escorted out.

We then decide to go to Waffle house, were i let everyone know that I got a number, I can be very competitive. So we are sitting at waffle house enjoying ourselves, we get the check and before we are walking out- in walks the "Peckerwood Pimp" man. We have a few more laughs and then say we must go. Ending out ever so eventful night!

Wild Wet Fun

This story is from the past summer. Short run down, I worked at a summer camp which changed my life all together. There was a good amount of counselors that were from out of the country, so during the weekend when we did not have campers, there were staff trips available.
One of the trips that my closest click went on was White Water Rafting on the Ocoee. I had been white water rafting before, but it was when i was younger. The trip was so much fun. We had seven people in our raft, one person (Hulk) got to be like a hood ornament and did not have to paddle. Plus our guide was so awesome! I would high suggest going white water rafting. Its not that expensive (like 15 bucks a person).

Nothing extremely hilarious happened. Besides just inside jokes and what not. Although there is a point were everyone in the raft can jump out and swim around for a bit. I have done this before and being tall and trying to get back in the raft does not really work for me all that well. I am literally in mid-sentence stating that I do not think that I am going to get (SPLASH) our guide pushed me in before I could finish! It was really funny. Again I think that goes to show how fun the guide was to just not give a flip.

Also as you can see above there is a place were they take your picture. Like I said Hulk was the hood ornament and out of no were she pulled out her tooth brush. Who does that right. So in the picture above you can see that she is "brushing" her teeth. The guide is throwing the shocker (how awesome!) and the rest of us are just trying to look like BA's with the paddles above our heads.

http://www.ocoeeadventurecenter.com/rafting/rafting.htm