Nashville y'all.

It was a slow morning after a late night so we decided to get breakfast at Maccy D's on the way to Nashville. It was a shorter drive today, it took about 3 hours and we only took 2 stops so arrived just before 1:30pm, however thanks to a change in time zones whilst driving we gained an hour back. It was 32 degrees today so once we'd unpacked and had lunch we took a dip in the swimming pool. It was the best temperature, nice and cool, without being too cold! I then had a shower and felt great. Unfortunately after 10 minutes I was back to feeling hot and sticky!

We headed into town at 4pm and took some time to wonder around the shops and look at the amazing selection of cowboy boots and hats on sale ($300+ for a pair of boots) and we dropped into a few bars to hear some good old country music. We ate dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon and got line dancing lessons there. Unfortunately this was quiet tricky for me as I'm not able to put any weight on most of one foot but I gave it a go anyway. There was then a band playing who were good and dis some good songs (country of course). The food was good but the drinks outshined the food for the sole reason you could pay a little extra and get it served in a glass cowboy boot you could then keep. I headed back to camp quite early so I could charge devices and then get an early night. When I got back at 8:30pm it was still 27 degrees and the coolest it's supposed to get all night is 22 degrees!!

Thank you very much

White water rafting!

It was such an early start today but it was worth it as today was the day we went White water rafting on the Ocoee river! We had to be all packed up ready to load the trailer at 6am then had breakfast packed up were gone by 7am. It was a 5 hour drive to our campsite which was at the place we went white water rafting. It wasn't the most plush campsite compared to the ones we've had the last few days but the weather was boiling!

White water rafting was amazing! The Ocoee river is the most popular place for white water rafting in the world and its a grade 4 out of 6 (with 6 being you will die here). It was a 5 mile stretch and we were in the water for an hour and a half! I didn't fall out the boat (though I did fall into it a few times). There was a half way mark were you could jump out and swim/float down the river a bit which was really fun. I would definitely do it again! We got some great photos we all pitched in for so it only cost us $6 each for them all!

Back at camp we were starving so the group cooking started dinner straight away whilst some others went out to the shop getting a surprise for Emily as it was her birthday so we decided to have a bit of a party. We had dinner and decorated our area with some balloons and had a cake for her. We then  hung out and was able to chat and play games with the other 2 groups who were also doing treks and staying there. It was a great night and so much fun the only down side is that I accidentally stepped on one of the nails used for the tent and it hurt so bad. I now have a nasty bruise right on the bottom of my foot which makes it a bit tricky to walk normally.

Love these guys!!

1 day, 14 people, 410miles, 3 trolleys of food and 2 lost phones.

5:45am and we are up and away! Breakfast and packing up all our tents and putting everything in the trailer Tetris style and we are off! It's a day of travelling as we head further south. We stopped for groceries along the way to restock. We take it in turns to cook dinner and you can choose what you cook. The people who aren't getting dinner will restock the breakfast and lunch foods, that was my group as we cooked yesterday so won't be cooking again for another few days. It's quite bizarre shopping for 14 people for 3 days. It's A LOT of food!

Once we'd finished the shop and put all the food into our boxes and coolers and reloaded the trailer we had a quick look in a goodwill then set off once again. The next stop we made was a flea market we passed and decided to have a browse through. It was really cool and there was so much stuff! If I didn't have luggage limits to worry about I would probably have left a few bucks shorter. We then drove a short while to a rest stop to have lunch. This involved unloading our lunch box and cooler and using paper plates to make wraps or sandwiches and cereal bars and salad. There was a bit of drama as we left as one of the guys had misplaced his phones. After a long while of searching it turned out they were on the bonnet of the van the whole time!

We arrived at the camp site around half four and was told a storm would be passing through in 20 minutes so we unpacked the trailer and set up our tents plus a big one over our food area, finishing moments before the first few drops started coming down. It was a fast passing storm but with some rather spectacular thunder and lightning. We git a bit of free time whilst the people on cooking did dinner so we headed to the "family fun centre" and watched Tom and Marezk battle it out in pool, air hockey and basketball. Dinner was chilli and my group was on clean up so we had to head to the main house to do dishes which was surprisingly fun. We got back and had smores around the campfire and introduced Emily and Marezk to their first ever smore (how they've cone this without one I have no idea). I then had a shower and got an early night as it was an even earlier start the next day with the alarm set for 5:15am!

Museums and Baseball

Thursday morning we got up at 7:30am, showered and all had breakfast which is a great selection of fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereals, bagels and juice brought with the money we all put in to buy meals for the group. We then headed into the city for a free day to explore a bit more of the city. Ashlea, Helen, Paul and myself decided to stick with the free stuff. Our first stop was of course The White House. It was really cool to see but it was a bit of an anti climax as it wasn't as big as I expected. I think I always thought The White House and the capitol building were much closer together. Even so it was cool to see such an iconic building and we sported snipers on the roof guarding the place. Outside there was a man protesting something or other about the president. He had a poem wrote over his chest and was simply standing quietly with his middle finger up facing The White House.

Next stop was the American History museum. We spent such a long time on the ground floor looking at the history of transport in the country that by the time we were done we were to hungry to continue up to the next floor. We ate our packed lunch in the shade on a bench in a small park and fed the birds and squirrels. Next stop was the Natural History Museum which we really enjoyed there were some great exhibitions especially the bugs and dinosaurs! Last stop on the museum run was the Air and Space museum, another cool museum. The highlight in this one was definitely the space section. We saw space suits and rockets and footage of launches. We were chuffed we had fit in so much but we didn't actually finish any of the museum's and just focused on the parts we were really interested in.

Natural History Museum

At 3:30 most of us met up and headed to our first ever baseball game! The game was amazing! We were supporting the Washington Nationals who were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Liz had brought us face paint so we were able to really get into the spirit and we learnt the chants too. We got some amazing food there, an integral part of any baseball experience. Our seats were great and the atmosphere of the whole stadium was phenomenal! The nationals won and most of us decided we would keep the Nationals as our team. Liz even got a photo of us pitch side after the game (we may have used the international card). We then got certificates for our first ever baseball game. It rascal much fun and a great way to spend our last evening in Washington DC.

Go Nats!

New Jersey to Washington DC

Wednesday morning I woke up at 5am, took the subway into Manhattan and got a cab to Newark Hotel in New Jersey to meet my group for my trek. We sorted out a few bits of paperwork and loaded the van (which was an intense game of Tetris with all our suitcases, food and camping equiptment). We then set off for our two weeks of adventures.

Everyone in the group is really great. There's 13 of us and Liz, our leader, in a mini van with a trailer on the back. I sat in the back with two girls Helen and Ashlea and we did get the most space as we have the extra seat. Our first stop was Philadelphia where we saw the famous Rocky steps then went for a Philly Cheesesteak and Fro-yo. Philadelphia was nice, it was a brief stop but it was good to get out of the van and see a bit of the area.

Philadelphia

The drive from Philly down to Washington was about 3 hours but we were able to talk, listen to music and catch up on sleep from our early morning. We arrived at our campsite in Washington at about 5pm but it was raining meaning we had to put up our tents in the rain! We did it though, it's two people per tent however me, Helen and Ashlea decided we'd all share one tent as it was pretty and roomy so no one would be alone and it would be more fun, plus we'd be warmer. Turns out nights are warm enough anyway. 

First tent pitched!!

Once we'd sorted camp we decided to go pick up pizza for dinner as cooking in the rain didn't sound all that appealing. We ate it all together sat in front of the Lincoln memorial looking out towards the Washington memorial. It was quite a view to have whilst eating dinner. After dinner we went around and saw some of the memorials which look stunning lit up at night (by this time it's past 10pm). The WW2 memorial was particularly amazing but the landscape view of a few at once was also amazing! It was past midnight when we eventually got back to camp and we were exhausted! It had been a 20hour day and we'd travelled through 5 states!!

Poozy last couple of days in New York.

On Monday I had a relaxed day. Poozy as they would call it at camp. I spent some time in central park and wondered around the city a bit. I went to dinner at a restaurant called Junior's which is famished for its cheesecake. Unfortunately I dispatcher that far as the main I ordered ending up being enormous even by America's standards!

In the evening I went to see Phantom of the Opera on broadway. It was amazing! The cheap $27 tickets were sold out so I had to get a $67 seat and ended up getting the last one too! It meant the seat was quite far back and was at the far side but the view wasn't at all obstructed. In fact, if you excuse my theatre review, I thought it added to theatricality as the lighting was very angular so to have a similar perspective of the show added to the drama. The thing I didn't like about Broadway though was how busy it was. The theatre was no bigger then a west end theatre and yet it felt way more crowded, especially with security checking everyone's bags on the way in.

I spent my last day with Sydne, we headed into Manhattan to go to a couple of shops but neither of us brought anything (but I did get to do my nails for free in a make up shop). We then went to the 9/11 memorial site. We wanted to go into the museum but it was sold out. I didn't realise museums COULD sell out! Even so it was nice and very touching to see the memorial. We also saw a number of white roses in some of the names, we found out they were placed in the name on the birthday date of that person.

We then went back to Sydne's, had dinner and snacks and watched TV and Clueless and went to bed really late considering I was getting up at 5am! But it was nice to be able to chill with Sydne for my last night in New York.

New York

Sunday was the day I decided to tackle the city tourist attractions full full steam ahead. My alarm woke me up at quarter to 8 and I got ready and headed into Manhattan. I got a New York City pass for $85 which includes a whole load of awesome attractions around the city. My first stop was the Empire State Building. There wasn't much of a line and it went much faster then I expected, the perks of doing tourist stuff on a Sunday I guess. I also found out some really interesting facts about the building including that the amount of electricity used in the building in 1 hour is enough to power a lightbulb for over 100 years!! The view from the top of the top of the building (or the 86th floor at least) was phenomenal! My initial reaction when I first saw it was simply WHOOAA. I decided it was my new favorite place in the world.

New York City Skyline.

My next stop was an On Location tour through Central Park to see where loads of movies have been filmed and there are a lot as it is the most filmed location in the world! I found out loads of facts again about not only the films but about the park itself. During the tour I even saw a skateboarding dog! I then decided that Central park might be joint with the top of the Empire State Building in my favorite places in the world.

I then headed to The Rockafella Building which was eerily quiet. I even got an elevator ride to the top all to myself as there was none else there! The ride up was crazy! The roof is clear so you can see into the elevator shaft as you shoot upwards super fast with these lights flashing! The view from the top was just as stunning as The Empire State Building except this time I got a view of Central Park and was able to see The Empire State Building from a similar level. I might therefore go as far to say as I Preferred it to The Empire State Building. I was also able to get Wifi at the top! Technology is pretty awesome.

Stunning view!

I then went to the Times Square Art of Lego exhibit which was cool. There were some amazing sculptures especially. I then went on a harbor lights cruise as the sun set. It went around half the island and I saw loads of landmarks including some of the fancy buildings from afar and of course the Statue of Liberty. The sunset was beautiful and it was great to be able to see the city all lit up.