Posted by Deneb on August 21, 2006, at 17:50:01
In reply to Re: Deneb?, posted by curtm on August 21, 2006, at 11:37:35
Wow! Thanks everyone, for the warm welcome! You guys are the best. :-)
I was just really tired from my trip yesterday and slept in today.
Now, about my trip...
So, it was noon and I had all my camping gear, clothes and toiletries packed. I went outside to wait for my ride. I waited and waited. My ride was late. I called at 12:45 PM, but I couldn't get a hold of my friend. She finally called me at around 1 PM and told me there had been problems with the car rental and that she was going to be late.
My friend L and her boyfriend J finally came and when they opened their trunk we all said, "Oh no!" because it was almost full already. We stuffed my stuff in and went to pick up the other friend. We somehow fit everything in the car, we had to stuff things in the middle backseat.
We went to M's house to meet M, Eu and Em. We all went pee one last time and headed off, each car with a walkie talkie.
We stopped at the duty free store at the border. I bought 24 Smirnoff coolers.
We started driving at 3:00 PM and got at the camp by 8:30 PM. We got lost a little bit on the way there. We had to set up camp in the dark. I pounded one stake in and couldn't get it out. It must have bent or something. Now I know to stop pounding the stake in if it's really difficult to get in. I got all hot and sweaty setting up my tent and looking for firewood.
It started raining a bit. L and J set up a wobbly tarp to cover the picnic table. We decided to not cook that night and I ate the sushi my Mom made for me, made with real crab meat, not the imitation kind.
We called it a night at around 11:30 PM. I usually shower at night but decided not to because it was dark and I didn't know where the showers were.
We woke up and F and I went to take a shower, I discovered I was stinky! Yuck! I'm never stinky. I usually don't need anti-perspirant. I showered extra well.
My friends and I were split up into two camps next to each other. M, Eu and Em were in one camp. L, J, R and I were in another camp. Our camp sort of sucked because we didn't bring a lot of camping stuff. We couldn't fit in chairs into our car. We decided to spend breakfast/lunch and dinner at the other camp because they had more firewood and cooking gear.
I had a veggie burger for breakfast/lunch. F had clam chowder. L and J had noodle soup. The prepared camp, M, Em and Eu had bacon, eggs and bread (the toasting didn't turn out well LOL).
We then decided to get groceries at a nearby grocery store. I bought champagne grapes (they were really tiny and really sweet), blueberries, BBQ chips and anti-perspirant LOL.
Then we all went to the beach. I swam with my life jacket on. I lost control a few times. I would suddenly start floating on my back and couldn't get back upright again. I would have to say, "Help me! I've lost control! LOL" I must have looked funny, an adult in a life jacket. No one had a life jacket on.
It was fun on the beach. I put on a lot of sunscreen and was really slimy. LOL We stayed at the beach until it closed at 6 PM. We went back to camp to eat dinner. We went to the other camp.
I had another veggie burger. Afterwards we built a really big fire and sprayed lighter fluid on it once in a while. It was fun! They started throwing in tea candles in the fire and feeding in long tree trunks into the fire. M is sort of a pyromaniac LOL.
I had two coolers, green apple and grape flavoured. It was OK. I also had some Bailey's. We had roasted marshmallows. They would light on fire and we would dunk them in the Bailey's, just like in the commercial. I liked my toasted marshmallows without the Bailey's.
I was able to take another shower that day before it got dark. I like showers LOL. No stinkiness for me.
The next day we had breakfast/lunch, then L, J, F and I went to the beach again and M, Em and Eu decided to stay at camp. I had cup of noodles for breakfast. F tried to make pancakes, but they turned out more into stir fried pancakes LOL. We couldn't flip them. I thought they were still OK though.
F's lantern wasn't working so she decided to get rid of the kerosene inside it. She dumped it into our fireplace! We couldn't leave the kerosene there for the next campers! We decided to light it. We lit it and it exploded into flames! The flames were nearly 2 meters high! It was crazy scary! Some fumes also ignited outside of the fire pit and F had to jump quickly away. Scary stuff!
We built an even bigger fire that night at the other camp. We started throwing pancake mix into the fire and it would spray up a huge poof of fire. We sprayed more lighter fluid into the fire and even threw in a lighter. The lighter exploded.
F and I had hot dogs for dinner. We then had marshmallows.
The next day we packed up and left for NYC. We got a little lost looking for the hotel in New Jersey.
That night we split up into groups to do our own things. F and I became one group because L and J probably wanted to be together. F and I walked around. We went to the Museum of Art and Design. The Museum of Modern Art was closed. We then went up the Rockefellar tower. I took pictures.
The next day we all went to the Museum of Natural History. We went to the planetarium and saw "Cosmic Collisions". It was fun. We also saw an IMAX film, "Journey into Amazing Caves." We saw dinosaur fossils and live lizards.
M, Em, Eu, F and I then went to Macy's and Victoria's Secret after the Museum closed. I bought some panties, 5 for $25 and no tax. Cool. I also got measured to find my bra size. Apparently I'm a 32 B.
M, Em and Eu then decided to head home. F and I went to Times Square. We went to Tasti D-Lite. I ran out of memory on my memory card and stupid me I decided to buy some memory on the spot at this nearby camera store. I got cheated. I paid $260 for a 1G memory stick because I'm a stupid tourist. I should have gone with my gut instinct. I thought it was too much to pay. L researched it for me that night and we found out the Sony store sells the same card for $60.
The next day I went back to that camera store. They wouldn't return my money, but said I could get more stuff. I got a 2G memory stick (which sold for over $400 but are really only $100, it's highway robbery), some Sony headphones (which sold for $99 but are really $30 and 4 T-shirts. I still lost about $60, but it's better than losing $200. I'm such an idiot!
The guy totally wanted to cheat me. My friend was helping me because I'm not very assertive and he kept asking why she was butting in. The guy who sold me the memory stick didn't give me a receipt and took off the price tag. All the prices were taken off my stuff.
Never ever buy electronics without researching them first! I'm going to report that store to the Consumer complaints place. I got the store's license number.
I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I follow my gut?
That experience nearly ruined my vacation.
Anyways, that day we went to the Central Park Zoo. My favourite animal was the polar bear, but poor bear, he/she must have been hot.
F and I walked around Chinatown and Little Italy and ate at this Chinese place mentioned in this guide book.
I was tired, so we headed back early.
The next day we left for Ottawa. We decided not to skip the camping for the last day. We were too tired for camping.
I forgot to take my Wellbutrin many days on the trip. I think the trazodone worked because I was able to sleep on the trip but we didn't sleep until late everyday and woke up early so I accumulated quite the sleep debt.
The trip was a little stressful, especially while waking through crowded streets. It got really crowded. I didn't like it at all.
Overall it was fun. Nagivating the city wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. The city's grid system is really easy to navigate.
I liked going to the beach the most. The Museum of Natural History was also very fun.
I didn't like the busy streets.
I still feel really bad about being cheated out of my money. I'm going to try to forget about the incident. I'm such an idiot.
Deneb*
poster:Deneb
thread:678600
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060819/msgs/678795.html