Trek America Part 3 ~ Alabama to New york
I have finally finished typing up my trip diary! As the days were filled with so much driving, I had the oppertunity to write a...sizable...amount. Even I think I go on a bit, especially in D.C! So beware it is long...I suggest skim reading!
Day 17 - Alabama
Wake up in the morning to a storm. Find it very ironic when learn all about the events of the night before. See Michelle and ask her how she is doing, she says she is fine and I suspect she feels rather stupid about what she did last night.
At breakfast Alex tells us all we have to stay in the hotel till 11am whilst the storm passes over. Having watched the news this morning I know for a fact that the storm is a lot worse than she is letting on as the whole area is under a tornado watch, with the area just to the north of us under a tornado warning. When I question her about this Alex tries to play it down, but reluctantly admits that there is a tornado watch out for the whole area till 11am and we cannot leave because the area we are driving through is under a warning. Feel irritated yet again that Alex is not giving us all the facts when it comes to situations like this. Being somewhat of a weather nerd and knowing a lot about tornadoes I know that being under a watch is no laughing matter, especially not when I know the storm passing over us led to violent tornadoes that killed people in the Midwest the day before. When Alex disappears I tell everyone the difference between a watch and a warning and what they mean. Instead of being panicked like I suspect Alex thought, everyone is grateful for the information and is glad to know the state of play. I later find out that the storm produced two strong tornadoes in the county north of us causing moderate damage to houses and property.
When we set off for our campsite in Alabama Alex tells us that the camp ground we are heading to has been flooded and is under water, so we are going to stay in a hotel instead. Feel great joy at the prospect of another night in a hotel and don’t care about the extra $18.00. Get further irked with Alex when find out that she didn’t care to check Michelle had returned in the morning and only bothered to check she was back safely when she saw she was in the van. Am fed up at this point as Tim and I have come to blows yet again over the stupid TV thing, apparently “I” should have “Compromised” as it’s “All about give and take”. Tell him I feel the exact same way about him and Vas. Realise can’t take much more of Tim. Had hoped guys were more mature at 27.
Alex takes us on a tour around the areas damaged by hurricane Katrina. It’s very sad to see so many of the houses with red X’s on them, completely gutted and falling to bits. Feel very angry that things have changed very little for these people in the past 3 years. I find it deeply maddening when Alex shows us the Levy that is supposed to keep these people safe from another hurricane. It basically consists of a not terribly high concrete wall…pray that for these people it will be at least another 50 years or so before New Orleans takes a hit from another strong hurricane, because the rebuilt levy is no where near good enough. Alex tries to show us the houses she built, but gets lost and can’t find them. Am grateful to her for showing us something that we asked for that wasn’t on the trip schedule.
See fleeting glimpses of Mississippi from the road side as we drive through it on the 300 mile trip to someplace in Alabama, where we stop on the side of the road at a Ramada hotel. The hotel is really nice and I share a double room with Iris and Tatiana. We head out for dinner. Iris is really starting to irk everyone on the trip; because she doesn’t help her group do their daily chores and seems incapable of making a decision for herself to the point that she shadows Tatiana in EVERYTHING she does. Am close to breaking point when Iris cannot decide where we should go to eat, so Tatiana and I ignore her dithering and go to pizza hut across the road where after more dithering about what we should eat, we go ahead and just order a pizza.
Later that night Iris floods the bathroom. Not wanting the shower curtain to touch her she put it outside the bath and proceeded to take a shower. The tiled floor is an inch deep in water and the carpet outside the door is soaked. Tatiana almost loses her temper with Iris when she finds out about the flood by slipping on the bathroom floor and nearly killing herself. I put sodden towels all over the floor so we at least have something with a bit of grip to stand on.
Feel annoyed that I haven’t really seen much of either Mississippi or Alabama today bar what I can glimpse from the roadside.
Day 18 - Tennessee
Sleep well, but on waking forget bathroom is flooded and lose footing on way to sink, prevent injury to self by grabbing hold of sink and slide gracefully across floor.
That morning on way to general store meet an Alabaman with a seriously strong accent. It’s so cool!!! Especially when he asks us all what states we are from!
Fed up with seeing gas stations and subways every time we stop for lunch, Billie asks Alex to take us to Chattanooga on the way to Ocoee in Tennessee. Having read about it in the lonely planet she reckons it will be an interesting place to see. Agree that it has to be more interesting than the interior of another MacDonald’s.
Chattanooga is very pretty. We head down to the river and take pictures by a fountain. Wish we had longer than an hour as would love to take a tour of the Aquarium! Grab some food to eat and head back to van, thankful to have stretched legs and seen an actual town.
Campsite that night in Ocoee is one of the best, lots of lovely lush green grass, dense pine trees, a volleyball court and a wicked campfire. The place has also been newly done up with new showers and bathrooms. Make some sort of amends with Tim playing volleyball. Very glad to be here and looking forward to rafting!
Day 19 - Virginia
Get bad night of sleep due to freezing temperatures. Roll into ball, but still shivering under about 3 layers of clothing, hats, socks and fleece blanket. Hate camping.
Very excited about the rafting and after hurriedly packing up camp I head off to rent a wetsuit. Excitement turns to morbid fear when Chihiro, Tatiana and I end up in same raft as Iris. The night before, determined to make her pull her weight for once Iris’s team (Chihiro & Billie) asked her to wash up on her own, which backfired spectacularly when it took her 2 and a half hours to clean (or not as the case turned out to be) 14 dishes, some pots and pans. I feel very sad for her as she does not know how to do anything for herself and has to ask everyone’s opinion before she attempts anything, even something as basic as which part of the grass to pitch the tent. But as we head off for the river I can’t help but wonder if getting in a raft with her is a good idea as I know she will literally not pull her weight.
When we get to the Ocoee river I quickly snag the best looking guide, as reason if am going to die, may as well have something nice to look at and we set off! The first rapid is a class 4 and we scream our way down it yelling expletives every now and again. After the first rapid decide you could never EVER do this enough! Rafting is AWESOME!
At the second rapid (called broken nose) we get tossed around a bit and a little voice from behind calls out that her ore is floating away down the river. Am somewhat thankful Iris has lost her paddle as although it sucks for her it is probably a good thing for the rest of us. As we go down the river we see it wedged in a rock, there’s no chance of us being able to get it.
We paddle for 5 miles down the Ocoee hitting various degrees of rapid, it is AWESOME! We have some dodgy moments, but nobody falls in. As Tim’s group comes down Chihiro has given her paddle to Iris for a bit and Vas wonders why Chihiro has no paddle. Tim tells him that Iris is in the boat and he should think about it. Feel bad for Iris who despite her inability to make decisions is a nice person.
Am sorry to finish the rafting and wish we could all go down again. It is definitely something I want to do back home! Tennessee is a lovely place; the river was so beautiful framed on either side by jagged mountains covered in pine trees.
Travel 200 miles to campsite in Virginia. Love watching the rolling green hills filled with barns and horses. It is almost like being back at home. I like it here.
Campground gorgeous and we put up our tents as the sun is setting, realise have sunburn from sleeveless wetsuit…crap.
Day 20 - Maryland
Don’t sleep well again and am awake long before our early departure time, which is a good thing as it starts to rain. Today we have a 330 mile trip through Virginia to a place called Beltsville in Maryland. We were supposed to be staying nearer D.C. but a trek group staying at Lake Fairfax managed to get Trek America banned from the camp site for a year.
We all frantically pack up to avoid the rain. Chihiro and I take our tent down in record time, though not before getting soaked. When everyone is done there is one tent left up and no sign of Iris who it turns out is cleaning her teeth in the bathroom. Tatiana, is absolutely fuming as everyone pitches in to take the tent down. When Iris returns from the bathrooms the first thing she asks is why all her stuff is piled on the wet grass? When everyone finally gets on the van Tatiana loses it after nearly 3 weeks of having to do everything for Iris and the first real argument breaks out. Luckily it doesn’t last long and both parties manage to clear the air. I can’t help but admire Tatiana’s tolerance…for as nice as Iris is I think if I’d been sharing a tent with her for the last 3 weeks I would have killed her by now.
The drive through Virginia seems to go on for days, rather than hours. I’m so fed up of the van I don’t know if I can take sitting in it for another day. The campsite in Maryland is gorgeous and it’s by far the best campsite we’ve stayed at in terms of facilities and it’s pretty too, with lots of trees and big grassy fields. When we find our plot and unload the van Chihiro and I pitch the tent as fast as humanly possible and desperate to get away for some alone time and to ring home I head off in search of the recreation room and stumble across an Irish Celli dance going on. Can’t resist watching and resolve to take Irish dancing back up when I get home. Am very glad to find TV in recreation room and have a good time chilling out watching ghost.
That night we pile into the van for our ‘illumination tour’ of Washington D.C. which consists of Alex getting lost and dumping us at the Korean War memorial. Now being a crazy history nut and having seen M*A*S*H I find looking at the War memorial incredibly interesting and thought provoking, but I know I am very much in the minority for Alex has yet again failed miserably in the thought department. You would think she might have considered the fact that the 3 Koreans in our group may just find the Korean War memorial somewhat upsetting, especially since for them the war is not over and the memorial serves only to commemorate the deaths of Americans and mentions very little about the millions of Koreans who died…but alas she does not. Sulgi in particular is really upset and as a group we are all rather unimpressed on the Koreans behalf.
After the Korean memorial we headed off to the Lincoln memorial and the reflection pool. I unexpectedly find myself bubbling with excitement and realise that what I enjoy most about travelling is the history of places. I realise I am more in awe of the engraving of the Gettysburg address than I was when I first set eyes on the Grand Canyon and that surprises me! But it is a good surprise. After seeing the Lincoln memorial I decide to test Alex’s knowledge of American history and ask her about the Gettysburg address. She tells us that it was a great speech made on the battlefield that ended the civil war. I really wish that she would give us more details…but suspect she doesn’t have a great deal more to give.
After taking many pictures of the Lincoln memorial we head off to the Vietnam War memorial. I had seen pictures of it before I came to America, but pictures do not prepare me for the shear number of names etched into the walls. It is different to the Korean memorial, but both are equally haunting. As I run my hand over the names etched in stone I think of the quote on the wall of the Korean memorial and it never seemed so true, “Freedom is not free”.
After the Vietnam memorial we head back to the campground all slightly peeved we didn’t get to see the White House.
Day 21 - Maryland
Very cold night again, but wake up bubbling with excitement at prospect of heading back into DC. Alex drops us off outside the national archives place and tells us to be back for 4pm.
We all head off to the Washington monument and take pictures. I walk around with Iris and Tatiana for a bit, but nobody wants to go up to Capitol Hill bar me so I decide to head off on my own hopeful that I might be able to get on a tour.
I set off for Capitol Hill, grateful for a bit of alone time in which to indulge my passion for all things historical and political. When I get to the Capitol it is an impressive building, one of the most stunning I have seen in America and I’m only sad I can’t walk up the steps and get closer to it. I find out that all the tours for the day went at 10am and I won’t get to see inside, which saddens me, because that would have been cool! Ask a really nice Iranian man to take a picture of me in front of the pond and decide to get on one of those tour buses and head off to the Jefferson Memorial.
Tour bus costs $25 dollars, but as it is a LONG walk to get to the other end of D.C. I decide it’s worth it. Go past Union station, the post office and the Japanese prisoner of war memorial. As we pass the latter I am very glad Alex missed that particular stop out on the illumination tour last night!
The Jefferson memorial is another beautiful white pillared building, containing a statue of Jefferson. It’s also littered with his many speeches & writings, including the declaration of independence! Take a while to read all the engravings and ask a nice guy to take my photo.
After the Jefferson memorial I decide to head back to the war memorials for a look at them in the day time and walk round via the Franklin Roosevelt memorial. The Roosevelt memorial is situated by the lake and is a series of granite walls and fountains littered with quotes on democracy and freedom. I find it all very interesting and ask some Spanish people to take my photo with Bronze statues of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
The walk back to the Korean War memorial is something! But I am determined to get there, pulled muscles be damned. The statues of the soldiers in the Korean War memorial are less haunting than they were at night time, but they look so real it feels almost as if they are alive and you’ve somehow been transported into the middle of a warzone. I think the guy who crafted it did an amazing job as it really feels to me like he’s captured some small piece of what these guys went through and frozen it in time for all to see and to think about.
Head back to Lincoln and take some photos in the day time, then on to the Vietnam memorial. It is a sad place to go to, but somewhere I think everyone needs to go to at some point and get a feel for the true cost of war. After Vietnam I decide I can’t leave this part of D.C. without doing the full whammy and visiting the WWII memorial, especially since of the three it means the most to me and me family. So I spend a while walking around it and thinking of my Grandpa.
After that I drag my now weary self back onto the tour bus and off to the white house. When I finally get to the White House it is nearly half past 3 and maddeningly the road closest to it is shut off and nobody knows when it will be opened up again. Slightly peeved I head across the ellipse and walk towards the front of the white house, which is just visible from behind a bunch of JCB’s. I take some pictures and realising I haven’t eaten anything since a small muffin at breakfast grab an egg roll and try to remember where the hell the meeting point was.
I get lost. I know it is on constitution road, but I cannot remember where as everywhere looks the same! Curse the fact I went off on my own and spend the next half an hour walking up and down the road hoping to see someone familiar. Do not and at 4 start to panic as realise I should have seen someone by now. Wonder whether it was 4:30 instead of 4:00 and continue walking up and down, cursing my stupidity and the fact I neither have a mobile phone or Alex’s number on me. At 4:45, just as I am about to find a pay phone and dial the operator in order to try and contact Alex a familiar white van rolls up! Am VERY pleased to see Alex, who doesn’t seem the least bit phased that I’ve been missing for 45 minutes. Turns out the Environmental Protection Agency is not the National Archive building where Billie and Michelle are now waiting in case I turn up there. Billie and Michelle very pleased to see me and I feel incredibly stupid for wandering off on my own without being 100% certain of the meeting point!
As tonight is our last night together we all decide we want to go out for a meal. Alex doesn’t want to stay around D.C. and tells us she thinks the IHOP (international house of pancakes) near the camp ground will do. Nobody wants to eat in a crummy fast food place, so Alex takes us across the road to a Texas grill restaurant and rushes us through our meal as fast as she can. Nobody is given the choice of a sweet or the chance to sit at the bar and relax for a while. We all pay our separate bills and pile back into the van, whilst Alex chivvies us along. As we sit in the van Billie tells me that Alex rushed us through our meal so fast because SHE wants to go and see her absolute best friend in the whole world and if she doesn’t get to see her she’ll spend all night crying and wont be able to drive us to New York the next day. Am VERY mad.
When we get back to the campsite Alex gives us our evaluation forms and buggers off for the night, which happens to also be HER last night with all of us. Wonder whether Alex realises what we all think of her or just doesn’t care either way?
Fill in Evaluation form as honestly as possible. Feel bad for being so negative about Alex, but at the same time feel that because of her out trip hasn’t been as good as it could have or as safe. Don’t rate her higher than a 4 except for driving in which I give her 9, because she was at least good at that. I write in the comments section about the Mexico incident and that I feel as if we ‘passengers’ were a chore and that it felt like Alex was basically doing the trip for herself and not having a whole load of fun doing it. I also add that I felt Billie was the actual leader of the group, because she was the one who looked after me when I was sick, told me about how to keep myself warm, rescued us all in Mexico and devised activities to bond the group together.
After filling in form feel the need for lots chocolate and head off to camp ground café for a double scoop of triple chocolate ice cream. It tastes extremely good and I join Billie, Michelle and Anna at a table in the TV room. We all spend the next hour or so talking about the evaluation forms and discussing Alex. No one has rated her very high at all and no one will recommend Trek America to their friends or go back for another tour. We are all undecided about what we should do with regards to tipping her, both Billie and I are adamant we will not give her one and the others um and ar about it. I hope somebody at the office actually reads the forms and does something, because I would hate for another group to go on a tour with Alex and get the same treatment.
I walk back to the campsite with Billie and on the way we run into Sulgi and Hye. I ask Sulgi what she thought and she tells me she thinks Alex was no more than a bus driver. I realise that I really am not over reacting when the people who speak the least amount of English in the group have the same thoughts as the rest of us.
Get into my freezing cold tent for the last night of camping! Whohooo!
Day 22 - New York
Woken up from a bad nights sleep in the freezing cold by the one thing that could make the situation worse. Rain. Not just a little bit of rain, but an absolute deluge!
Get up at 5am to find tent is most definitely not waterproof; sleeping bag soaked, clothes soaked, bloody suitcase soaked, pillow so soaked I decide I’ll have to bin it! Find myself & everything around me wetter than the sodden pair of suede trainers I have been attempting to dry out since the rafting 2 days ago. They are now most probably the driest things I own. As I sit in my sleeping bag surrounded by a pool of water I reason that the end of the trip and a hotel with a heater cannot come soon enough.
As we pack up our sodden belongings Chihiro turns to me and says “I can’t think of anything good to say about this trip it’s all been bad”. I kneel on my mattress pad flummoxed and try to think of something I can say to disagree with her, but at that moment in time words fail me and find myself having to agree with her. The strange thing is up until now I thought Chihiro had been having quite a good time! We put down our tent in torrential rain and get soaked right down to our underwear.
As we all pile into the van of torture for the last time, a 265 mile trip to Secaucus, I can’t help but think about the night before and how I wished we had done more to celebrate it.
It is a big deal for me when we finally drive into Secaucus & I can see the Empire state building! I realise I have made it. I have gone through the absolute mill with Bronchitis, crappy tour guides, camping and extremes of temperature. I have accomplished everything I set out to, I rode a horse again for the first time in 5 years, white water rafted, danced at a club, walked around god knows how many places and gained an energy and a healthiness that had eluded me for 5 years. I had days where I was able to forget about everything and just live and I found the key to that was to treat everything as normal, keep smiling and throw myself into everything and anything regardless of how I felt.
As we approach New York and spot the holiday inn I cheer like a maniac and think about the nice hot bath tub that awaits me!
Get to hotel and find out I booked the wrong one! My hotel is in Newark, @~%$”!! As it is pre-paid I cannot cancel it. I say goodbye to everyone and pay $48 to get a taxi there. It is strange leaving them all behind. Although I never really clicked with anyone, I liked them all and miss them immediately. It feels strange to be leaving them all behind after 3 weeks of being stuck together. A part of me wishes the Trek was still going on and I’m sad for it to be ending.
Hotel is pretty cool, my room is lovely and it has a fantastic view of the local prison! Finally get into my long awaited bath and start to warm up! Dry out suitcase and clothes intermittently with heater and hair dryer. That afternoon I make my way into New York as it is the only chance I’ll get to see it. So take hotel shuttle to airport, airport train to train station and train to New York. Arrive in Madison Square Garden and get soaked all over again as it is tipping it down. My first impression of New York is an ambiguous one. It’s a fascinating place, but it is so tall and busy and grey. There are people everywhere and the sound of sirens and car horns fill the air. People push past one another talking loudly and taxi drivers screech and shout as the crowds throng this way and that across the roads. I feel very claustrophobic as I stare up at the buildings which seem to go on forever. I miss the beautiful green rolling hills of Virginia and Maryland already.
I decide to try and find Macy’s and buy some clothes. But find myself in a borders shop sat on the floor of the world history shelf picking through books about Cambodia and Japan. I am glad to escape the rain for a little bit and buy a book about Cambodia. After that I find my way to Macy’s. It is HUGE! I spend ages looking at the pretty dresses, but decide I have already spent a load of money and even with the dollar being half that of the pound it’s still expensive! Find Chinese food for dinner and after 3 hours or so in New York head back to train station, buy New York goodies from gift shop and go home.
Get off at wrong stop! Find Taxi and pay $27 for trip back to hotel.
Dry off AGAIN, collapse into bed and sleep!
Day 23 - Barrow-Upon-Soar, England
Spend last day in America, sitting in hotel reading. Would have liked to have gone into New York, but with 23kg of luggage and a job to get there decide it isn’t worth it. Get on hotel shuttle at 5:30pm and head for Newark airport for 9:10 flight.
Flight is late by an hour or so and we end up leaving at around 10:30pm. Very glad to be on flight and spend a while talking to a bunch of cute college guys embarking on a Euro trip. Sleep for 90% of flight whooo!!
Get off flight easily and find Dad. The 2 hour trip back to Barrow seems incredibly fast after spending days in a van. Realise we have covered nearly 4000 miles (3915 to be exact) Am so pleased to be home! That night I dive into my wonderful bed, with its cuddle ewe mattress topper and fluffy duvet and wonder where everyone on the trip is now and what they are up to. All in all I think I have enjoyed myself. I know I have definitely grown and changed in the ways I wanted to, so I am glad. That night I sleep like a log, it is shear bliss!
I think now that I am back home I'm enjoying the experience more. It wasn't the greatest amount of fun whilst I was there, mostly because of Alex and also the camping. But I got what I was looking for out of it, which was the ability to ingore myself, get on with things and live normally again. I definately want to travel again, but doubt I will ever go on another tour group! Next time I want to go somewhere with a friend, because I think the American trip would have been better if I'd found a couple of really good friends on it and had people to laugh with and talk with about common interests.
It's been strange being back home. The last couple of weeks have been a struggle, part of me just wants to revert to the old me, sit back and not do anything...and I'm constantly having to fight to get myself to go somewhere or do something. I am soooooo taking up dance lessons again, just as soon as I can find a class that I can get to by bus (NOT EASY!). I did go into loughborough today and buy a cute dance skirt as motivation, so hopefully this week a dance class (Irish dancing if I can help it) will be arranged. Also today I made an appointment for next thursday at the local volunteer agency. I NEED to get myself a job regardless of what the anxious part of me would like to do and volunteering seems like a good way to do that. At the moment I don't care what I end up volunteering as, just as long as it occupys my brain, gets me out the house and gives me a challenge. Hopefully I will enjoy it!
Right time to find that dance class!
Day 17 - Alabama
Wake up in the morning to a storm. Find it very ironic when learn all about the events of the night before. See Michelle and ask her how she is doing, she says she is fine and I suspect she feels rather stupid about what she did last night.
At breakfast Alex tells us all we have to stay in the hotel till 11am whilst the storm passes over. Having watched the news this morning I know for a fact that the storm is a lot worse than she is letting on as the whole area is under a tornado watch, with the area just to the north of us under a tornado warning. When I question her about this Alex tries to play it down, but reluctantly admits that there is a tornado watch out for the whole area till 11am and we cannot leave because the area we are driving through is under a warning. Feel irritated yet again that Alex is not giving us all the facts when it comes to situations like this. Being somewhat of a weather nerd and knowing a lot about tornadoes I know that being under a watch is no laughing matter, especially not when I know the storm passing over us led to violent tornadoes that killed people in the Midwest the day before. When Alex disappears I tell everyone the difference between a watch and a warning and what they mean. Instead of being panicked like I suspect Alex thought, everyone is grateful for the information and is glad to know the state of play. I later find out that the storm produced two strong tornadoes in the county north of us causing moderate damage to houses and property.
When we set off for our campsite in Alabama Alex tells us that the camp ground we are heading to has been flooded and is under water, so we are going to stay in a hotel instead. Feel great joy at the prospect of another night in a hotel and don’t care about the extra $18.00. Get further irked with Alex when find out that she didn’t care to check Michelle had returned in the morning and only bothered to check she was back safely when she saw she was in the van. Am fed up at this point as Tim and I have come to blows yet again over the stupid TV thing, apparently “I” should have “Compromised” as it’s “All about give and take”. Tell him I feel the exact same way about him and Vas. Realise can’t take much more of Tim. Had hoped guys were more mature at 27.
Alex takes us on a tour around the areas damaged by hurricane Katrina. It’s very sad to see so many of the houses with red X’s on them, completely gutted and falling to bits. Feel very angry that things have changed very little for these people in the past 3 years. I find it deeply maddening when Alex shows us the Levy that is supposed to keep these people safe from another hurricane. It basically consists of a not terribly high concrete wall…pray that for these people it will be at least another 50 years or so before New Orleans takes a hit from another strong hurricane, because the rebuilt levy is no where near good enough. Alex tries to show us the houses she built, but gets lost and can’t find them. Am grateful to her for showing us something that we asked for that wasn’t on the trip schedule.
See fleeting glimpses of Mississippi from the road side as we drive through it on the 300 mile trip to someplace in Alabama, where we stop on the side of the road at a Ramada hotel. The hotel is really nice and I share a double room with Iris and Tatiana. We head out for dinner. Iris is really starting to irk everyone on the trip; because she doesn’t help her group do their daily chores and seems incapable of making a decision for herself to the point that she shadows Tatiana in EVERYTHING she does. Am close to breaking point when Iris cannot decide where we should go to eat, so Tatiana and I ignore her dithering and go to pizza hut across the road where after more dithering about what we should eat, we go ahead and just order a pizza.
Later that night Iris floods the bathroom. Not wanting the shower curtain to touch her she put it outside the bath and proceeded to take a shower. The tiled floor is an inch deep in water and the carpet outside the door is soaked. Tatiana almost loses her temper with Iris when she finds out about the flood by slipping on the bathroom floor and nearly killing herself. I put sodden towels all over the floor so we at least have something with a bit of grip to stand on.
Feel annoyed that I haven’t really seen much of either Mississippi or Alabama today bar what I can glimpse from the roadside.
Day 18 - Tennessee
Sleep well, but on waking forget bathroom is flooded and lose footing on way to sink, prevent injury to self by grabbing hold of sink and slide gracefully across floor.
That morning on way to general store meet an Alabaman with a seriously strong accent. It’s so cool!!! Especially when he asks us all what states we are from!
Fed up with seeing gas stations and subways every time we stop for lunch, Billie asks Alex to take us to Chattanooga on the way to Ocoee in Tennessee. Having read about it in the lonely planet she reckons it will be an interesting place to see. Agree that it has to be more interesting than the interior of another MacDonald’s.
Chattanooga is very pretty. We head down to the river and take pictures by a fountain. Wish we had longer than an hour as would love to take a tour of the Aquarium! Grab some food to eat and head back to van, thankful to have stretched legs and seen an actual town.
Campsite that night in Ocoee is one of the best, lots of lovely lush green grass, dense pine trees, a volleyball court and a wicked campfire. The place has also been newly done up with new showers and bathrooms. Make some sort of amends with Tim playing volleyball. Very glad to be here and looking forward to rafting!
Day 19 - Virginia
Get bad night of sleep due to freezing temperatures. Roll into ball, but still shivering under about 3 layers of clothing, hats, socks and fleece blanket. Hate camping.
Very excited about the rafting and after hurriedly packing up camp I head off to rent a wetsuit. Excitement turns to morbid fear when Chihiro, Tatiana and I end up in same raft as Iris. The night before, determined to make her pull her weight for once Iris’s team (Chihiro & Billie) asked her to wash up on her own, which backfired spectacularly when it took her 2 and a half hours to clean (or not as the case turned out to be) 14 dishes, some pots and pans. I feel very sad for her as she does not know how to do anything for herself and has to ask everyone’s opinion before she attempts anything, even something as basic as which part of the grass to pitch the tent. But as we head off for the river I can’t help but wonder if getting in a raft with her is a good idea as I know she will literally not pull her weight.
When we get to the Ocoee river I quickly snag the best looking guide, as reason if am going to die, may as well have something nice to look at and we set off! The first rapid is a class 4 and we scream our way down it yelling expletives every now and again. After the first rapid decide you could never EVER do this enough! Rafting is AWESOME!
At the second rapid (called broken nose) we get tossed around a bit and a little voice from behind calls out that her ore is floating away down the river. Am somewhat thankful Iris has lost her paddle as although it sucks for her it is probably a good thing for the rest of us. As we go down the river we see it wedged in a rock, there’s no chance of us being able to get it.
We paddle for 5 miles down the Ocoee hitting various degrees of rapid, it is AWESOME! We have some dodgy moments, but nobody falls in. As Tim’s group comes down Chihiro has given her paddle to Iris for a bit and Vas wonders why Chihiro has no paddle. Tim tells him that Iris is in the boat and he should think about it. Feel bad for Iris who despite her inability to make decisions is a nice person.
Am sorry to finish the rafting and wish we could all go down again. It is definitely something I want to do back home! Tennessee is a lovely place; the river was so beautiful framed on either side by jagged mountains covered in pine trees.
Travel 200 miles to campsite in Virginia. Love watching the rolling green hills filled with barns and horses. It is almost like being back at home. I like it here.
Campground gorgeous and we put up our tents as the sun is setting, realise have sunburn from sleeveless wetsuit…crap.
Day 20 - Maryland
Don’t sleep well again and am awake long before our early departure time, which is a good thing as it starts to rain. Today we have a 330 mile trip through Virginia to a place called Beltsville in Maryland. We were supposed to be staying nearer D.C. but a trek group staying at Lake Fairfax managed to get Trek America banned from the camp site for a year.
We all frantically pack up to avoid the rain. Chihiro and I take our tent down in record time, though not before getting soaked. When everyone is done there is one tent left up and no sign of Iris who it turns out is cleaning her teeth in the bathroom. Tatiana, is absolutely fuming as everyone pitches in to take the tent down. When Iris returns from the bathrooms the first thing she asks is why all her stuff is piled on the wet grass? When everyone finally gets on the van Tatiana loses it after nearly 3 weeks of having to do everything for Iris and the first real argument breaks out. Luckily it doesn’t last long and both parties manage to clear the air. I can’t help but admire Tatiana’s tolerance…for as nice as Iris is I think if I’d been sharing a tent with her for the last 3 weeks I would have killed her by now.
The drive through Virginia seems to go on for days, rather than hours. I’m so fed up of the van I don’t know if I can take sitting in it for another day. The campsite in Maryland is gorgeous and it’s by far the best campsite we’ve stayed at in terms of facilities and it’s pretty too, with lots of trees and big grassy fields. When we find our plot and unload the van Chihiro and I pitch the tent as fast as humanly possible and desperate to get away for some alone time and to ring home I head off in search of the recreation room and stumble across an Irish Celli dance going on. Can’t resist watching and resolve to take Irish dancing back up when I get home. Am very glad to find TV in recreation room and have a good time chilling out watching ghost.
That night we pile into the van for our ‘illumination tour’ of Washington D.C. which consists of Alex getting lost and dumping us at the Korean War memorial. Now being a crazy history nut and having seen M*A*S*H I find looking at the War memorial incredibly interesting and thought provoking, but I know I am very much in the minority for Alex has yet again failed miserably in the thought department. You would think she might have considered the fact that the 3 Koreans in our group may just find the Korean War memorial somewhat upsetting, especially since for them the war is not over and the memorial serves only to commemorate the deaths of Americans and mentions very little about the millions of Koreans who died…but alas she does not. Sulgi in particular is really upset and as a group we are all rather unimpressed on the Koreans behalf.
After the Korean memorial we headed off to the Lincoln memorial and the reflection pool. I unexpectedly find myself bubbling with excitement and realise that what I enjoy most about travelling is the history of places. I realise I am more in awe of the engraving of the Gettysburg address than I was when I first set eyes on the Grand Canyon and that surprises me! But it is a good surprise. After seeing the Lincoln memorial I decide to test Alex’s knowledge of American history and ask her about the Gettysburg address. She tells us that it was a great speech made on the battlefield that ended the civil war. I really wish that she would give us more details…but suspect she doesn’t have a great deal more to give.
After taking many pictures of the Lincoln memorial we head off to the Vietnam War memorial. I had seen pictures of it before I came to America, but pictures do not prepare me for the shear number of names etched into the walls. It is different to the Korean memorial, but both are equally haunting. As I run my hand over the names etched in stone I think of the quote on the wall of the Korean memorial and it never seemed so true, “Freedom is not free”.
After the Vietnam memorial we head back to the campground all slightly peeved we didn’t get to see the White House.
Day 21 - Maryland
Very cold night again, but wake up bubbling with excitement at prospect of heading back into DC. Alex drops us off outside the national archives place and tells us to be back for 4pm.
We all head off to the Washington monument and take pictures. I walk around with Iris and Tatiana for a bit, but nobody wants to go up to Capitol Hill bar me so I decide to head off on my own hopeful that I might be able to get on a tour.
I set off for Capitol Hill, grateful for a bit of alone time in which to indulge my passion for all things historical and political. When I get to the Capitol it is an impressive building, one of the most stunning I have seen in America and I’m only sad I can’t walk up the steps and get closer to it. I find out that all the tours for the day went at 10am and I won’t get to see inside, which saddens me, because that would have been cool! Ask a really nice Iranian man to take a picture of me in front of the pond and decide to get on one of those tour buses and head off to the Jefferson Memorial.
Tour bus costs $25 dollars, but as it is a LONG walk to get to the other end of D.C. I decide it’s worth it. Go past Union station, the post office and the Japanese prisoner of war memorial. As we pass the latter I am very glad Alex missed that particular stop out on the illumination tour last night!
The Jefferson memorial is another beautiful white pillared building, containing a statue of Jefferson. It’s also littered with his many speeches & writings, including the declaration of independence! Take a while to read all the engravings and ask a nice guy to take my photo.
After the Jefferson memorial I decide to head back to the war memorials for a look at them in the day time and walk round via the Franklin Roosevelt memorial. The Roosevelt memorial is situated by the lake and is a series of granite walls and fountains littered with quotes on democracy and freedom. I find it all very interesting and ask some Spanish people to take my photo with Bronze statues of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
The walk back to the Korean War memorial is something! But I am determined to get there, pulled muscles be damned. The statues of the soldiers in the Korean War memorial are less haunting than they were at night time, but they look so real it feels almost as if they are alive and you’ve somehow been transported into the middle of a warzone. I think the guy who crafted it did an amazing job as it really feels to me like he’s captured some small piece of what these guys went through and frozen it in time for all to see and to think about.
Head back to Lincoln and take some photos in the day time, then on to the Vietnam memorial. It is a sad place to go to, but somewhere I think everyone needs to go to at some point and get a feel for the true cost of war. After Vietnam I decide I can’t leave this part of D.C. without doing the full whammy and visiting the WWII memorial, especially since of the three it means the most to me and me family. So I spend a while walking around it and thinking of my Grandpa.
After that I drag my now weary self back onto the tour bus and off to the white house. When I finally get to the White House it is nearly half past 3 and maddeningly the road closest to it is shut off and nobody knows when it will be opened up again. Slightly peeved I head across the ellipse and walk towards the front of the white house, which is just visible from behind a bunch of JCB’s. I take some pictures and realising I haven’t eaten anything since a small muffin at breakfast grab an egg roll and try to remember where the hell the meeting point was.
I get lost. I know it is on constitution road, but I cannot remember where as everywhere looks the same! Curse the fact I went off on my own and spend the next half an hour walking up and down the road hoping to see someone familiar. Do not and at 4 start to panic as realise I should have seen someone by now. Wonder whether it was 4:30 instead of 4:00 and continue walking up and down, cursing my stupidity and the fact I neither have a mobile phone or Alex’s number on me. At 4:45, just as I am about to find a pay phone and dial the operator in order to try and contact Alex a familiar white van rolls up! Am VERY pleased to see Alex, who doesn’t seem the least bit phased that I’ve been missing for 45 minutes. Turns out the Environmental Protection Agency is not the National Archive building where Billie and Michelle are now waiting in case I turn up there. Billie and Michelle very pleased to see me and I feel incredibly stupid for wandering off on my own without being 100% certain of the meeting point!
As tonight is our last night together we all decide we want to go out for a meal. Alex doesn’t want to stay around D.C. and tells us she thinks the IHOP (international house of pancakes) near the camp ground will do. Nobody wants to eat in a crummy fast food place, so Alex takes us across the road to a Texas grill restaurant and rushes us through our meal as fast as she can. Nobody is given the choice of a sweet or the chance to sit at the bar and relax for a while. We all pay our separate bills and pile back into the van, whilst Alex chivvies us along. As we sit in the van Billie tells me that Alex rushed us through our meal so fast because SHE wants to go and see her absolute best friend in the whole world and if she doesn’t get to see her she’ll spend all night crying and wont be able to drive us to New York the next day. Am VERY mad.
When we get back to the campsite Alex gives us our evaluation forms and buggers off for the night, which happens to also be HER last night with all of us. Wonder whether Alex realises what we all think of her or just doesn’t care either way?
Fill in Evaluation form as honestly as possible. Feel bad for being so negative about Alex, but at the same time feel that because of her out trip hasn’t been as good as it could have or as safe. Don’t rate her higher than a 4 except for driving in which I give her 9, because she was at least good at that. I write in the comments section about the Mexico incident and that I feel as if we ‘passengers’ were a chore and that it felt like Alex was basically doing the trip for herself and not having a whole load of fun doing it. I also add that I felt Billie was the actual leader of the group, because she was the one who looked after me when I was sick, told me about how to keep myself warm, rescued us all in Mexico and devised activities to bond the group together.
After filling in form feel the need for lots chocolate and head off to camp ground café for a double scoop of triple chocolate ice cream. It tastes extremely good and I join Billie, Michelle and Anna at a table in the TV room. We all spend the next hour or so talking about the evaluation forms and discussing Alex. No one has rated her very high at all and no one will recommend Trek America to their friends or go back for another tour. We are all undecided about what we should do with regards to tipping her, both Billie and I are adamant we will not give her one and the others um and ar about it. I hope somebody at the office actually reads the forms and does something, because I would hate for another group to go on a tour with Alex and get the same treatment.
I walk back to the campsite with Billie and on the way we run into Sulgi and Hye. I ask Sulgi what she thought and she tells me she thinks Alex was no more than a bus driver. I realise that I really am not over reacting when the people who speak the least amount of English in the group have the same thoughts as the rest of us.
Get into my freezing cold tent for the last night of camping! Whohooo!
Day 22 - New York
Woken up from a bad nights sleep in the freezing cold by the one thing that could make the situation worse. Rain. Not just a little bit of rain, but an absolute deluge!
Get up at 5am to find tent is most definitely not waterproof; sleeping bag soaked, clothes soaked, bloody suitcase soaked, pillow so soaked I decide I’ll have to bin it! Find myself & everything around me wetter than the sodden pair of suede trainers I have been attempting to dry out since the rafting 2 days ago. They are now most probably the driest things I own. As I sit in my sleeping bag surrounded by a pool of water I reason that the end of the trip and a hotel with a heater cannot come soon enough.
As we pack up our sodden belongings Chihiro turns to me and says “I can’t think of anything good to say about this trip it’s all been bad”. I kneel on my mattress pad flummoxed and try to think of something I can say to disagree with her, but at that moment in time words fail me and find myself having to agree with her. The strange thing is up until now I thought Chihiro had been having quite a good time! We put down our tent in torrential rain and get soaked right down to our underwear.
As we all pile into the van of torture for the last time, a 265 mile trip to Secaucus, I can’t help but think about the night before and how I wished we had done more to celebrate it.
It is a big deal for me when we finally drive into Secaucus & I can see the Empire state building! I realise I have made it. I have gone through the absolute mill with Bronchitis, crappy tour guides, camping and extremes of temperature. I have accomplished everything I set out to, I rode a horse again for the first time in 5 years, white water rafted, danced at a club, walked around god knows how many places and gained an energy and a healthiness that had eluded me for 5 years. I had days where I was able to forget about everything and just live and I found the key to that was to treat everything as normal, keep smiling and throw myself into everything and anything regardless of how I felt.
As we approach New York and spot the holiday inn I cheer like a maniac and think about the nice hot bath tub that awaits me!
Get to hotel and find out I booked the wrong one! My hotel is in Newark, @~%$”!! As it is pre-paid I cannot cancel it. I say goodbye to everyone and pay $48 to get a taxi there. It is strange leaving them all behind. Although I never really clicked with anyone, I liked them all and miss them immediately. It feels strange to be leaving them all behind after 3 weeks of being stuck together. A part of me wishes the Trek was still going on and I’m sad for it to be ending.
Hotel is pretty cool, my room is lovely and it has a fantastic view of the local prison! Finally get into my long awaited bath and start to warm up! Dry out suitcase and clothes intermittently with heater and hair dryer. That afternoon I make my way into New York as it is the only chance I’ll get to see it. So take hotel shuttle to airport, airport train to train station and train to New York. Arrive in Madison Square Garden and get soaked all over again as it is tipping it down. My first impression of New York is an ambiguous one. It’s a fascinating place, but it is so tall and busy and grey. There are people everywhere and the sound of sirens and car horns fill the air. People push past one another talking loudly and taxi drivers screech and shout as the crowds throng this way and that across the roads. I feel very claustrophobic as I stare up at the buildings which seem to go on forever. I miss the beautiful green rolling hills of Virginia and Maryland already.
I decide to try and find Macy’s and buy some clothes. But find myself in a borders shop sat on the floor of the world history shelf picking through books about Cambodia and Japan. I am glad to escape the rain for a little bit and buy a book about Cambodia. After that I find my way to Macy’s. It is HUGE! I spend ages looking at the pretty dresses, but decide I have already spent a load of money and even with the dollar being half that of the pound it’s still expensive! Find Chinese food for dinner and after 3 hours or so in New York head back to train station, buy New York goodies from gift shop and go home.
Get off at wrong stop! Find Taxi and pay $27 for trip back to hotel.
Dry off AGAIN, collapse into bed and sleep!
Day 23 - Barrow-Upon-Soar, England
Spend last day in America, sitting in hotel reading. Would have liked to have gone into New York, but with 23kg of luggage and a job to get there decide it isn’t worth it. Get on hotel shuttle at 5:30pm and head for Newark airport for 9:10 flight.
Flight is late by an hour or so and we end up leaving at around 10:30pm. Very glad to be on flight and spend a while talking to a bunch of cute college guys embarking on a Euro trip. Sleep for 90% of flight whooo!!
Get off flight easily and find Dad. The 2 hour trip back to Barrow seems incredibly fast after spending days in a van. Realise we have covered nearly 4000 miles (3915 to be exact) Am so pleased to be home! That night I dive into my wonderful bed, with its cuddle ewe mattress topper and fluffy duvet and wonder where everyone on the trip is now and what they are up to. All in all I think I have enjoyed myself. I know I have definitely grown and changed in the ways I wanted to, so I am glad. That night I sleep like a log, it is shear bliss!
I think now that I am back home I'm enjoying the experience more. It wasn't the greatest amount of fun whilst I was there, mostly because of Alex and also the camping. But I got what I was looking for out of it, which was the ability to ingore myself, get on with things and live normally again. I definately want to travel again, but doubt I will ever go on another tour group! Next time I want to go somewhere with a friend, because I think the American trip would have been better if I'd found a couple of really good friends on it and had people to laugh with and talk with about common interests.
It's been strange being back home. The last couple of weeks have been a struggle, part of me just wants to revert to the old me, sit back and not do anything...and I'm constantly having to fight to get myself to go somewhere or do something. I am soooooo taking up dance lessons again, just as soon as I can find a class that I can get to by bus (NOT EASY!). I did go into loughborough today and buy a cute dance skirt as motivation, so hopefully this week a dance class (Irish dancing if I can help it) will be arranged. Also today I made an appointment for next thursday at the local volunteer agency. I NEED to get myself a job regardless of what the anxious part of me would like to do and volunteering seems like a good way to do that. At the moment I don't care what I end up volunteering as, just as long as it occupys my brain, gets me out the house and gives me a challenge. Hopefully I will enjoy it!
Right time to find that dance class!