Outer Banks, North Carolina Madness!

I came to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to see my cousin Jo who's been living here for around 20 years now, I very rarely see her so it was a good opportunity to get to know her better! Her son, Parker is about 5 years older than me and now nearly as tall, I last saw him when he was my hip height so it was a strange sight to say the least.

During my stay we caught up on family crap and basically relaxed, except for this one huge piss-up out on the town. It started in a bar, then to Kelly's night club in Kitty Hawk and the party ended up as a house party. This was all well and good, except I was 21, so Jo's friends decided to get me wasted. The sad fact was I hadn't slept in 38 hours by the time 5am came by, so it came as no suprise when Jo found me asleep in the Yard, yes, drunk, but mainly heavily exhausted (pffft).

Jo and me in Kelly's Nightclub, Kitty Hawk, NC

Snoooozin'

After a hangover cure in the form of fatty food the next day parker and myself went out on Chad (Jo's husband)'s boat for some Wakeboarding. Ironically, I can teach it but could not perform when it came to trying first time! After a few tries I got the hang of it, and after 2 sessions across 2 days of it I was feeling pretty comfortable! Afterwards we went outfor some tubing and to collect some of Chad's crab pots (he's a Commercial Fisherman and runs a Crab Charter), which was pretty interesting to see. It's a shame the weather didn't hold up since before I arrived it was nice and sunny, however of my 5 days there, 2 of them were pouring rain! I of course got the blame for the bad weather, and sods law that it improved as soon as I got to the airport earlier today to go to Huntsville, AL!

CRAB!

Washington D.C., History, Monuments and running out of Breath!

So I just spent the day walking around Washington D.C., looking at all the memorials and important buildings. I wish I had time to visit the Smithsonian museums however I arrived here at 5am and had to catch a bus to Norfolk, VA at 3:40pm. In that time I had to drop of my bags at a storage location situated a few miles from the bus station, however I bought a subway day-pass in order to make life easier!

The day was pretty relaxing, just walking around and grabbing food now and again whilst taking everything in. I visited the Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial etc however out of everything I managed to fit in that day, Arlington National Cemetery had to be the memorable one. A vast landscape covered with pure white gravestones of fallen heroes and late veterans, governors and presidents. Among these were John F. Kennedy, a mass grave of 2,111 civil war victims and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - a tomb dedicated to all those U.S. Soldiers ever lost in battle but not identified. It is guarded round-the-clock by a guard rota, a position that is considered a great honor by those serving personnel who are given the opportunity.

Washington Monument from the Capitol Building

White House (Rear)

Looking down towards the Lincoln Memorial

Reflection Pool (drained) and Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial - Very Impressive

Civil War grave in Arlington National Cemetery

New Grave for another Veteran or fallen Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its Guard

The switching of the guard is very impressive, I got it on film but I can't upload it so here is a YouTube video:

Off to Norfolk, VA now to spend some time with family in Kitty Hawk! Had a bit of a rush to collect my stuff from storage and get to the bus station, my own body weight and a few miles of jog/sprint!

New York - Travel Starts Here!

So I've just left New York and am now on a Greyhound Bus headed for D.C. and what an experience the city is! It's a definate change from the remote and underpopulated regions of northern New Hampshire that's for sure!
Myself and Pete (from camp) spent two days in the city, from the 15th to the night of the 16th, throughout our time here we went to Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, saw the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry, went to the 9/11 memorial and took in all the other sights there were to see.

Out of the whole few days, the most interesting part must have been the memorial, I remember seeing it on TV as a child back in '01 but at the time could never have fathomed the scale of the disaster, even until I visited the place where it happened I never could fully imagine the huge impact it had.

Downtown Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

The new WTC 1 under construction

The eerie space of sky in the middle of WTC Plaza where the Twin Towers once dominated.

Times Square!

Brooklyn Bridge

9/11 Memorial Fountain (1 of 2)

New WTC 1 under construction

Summer Camp '12 - Camp Moosilauke

So after being here for 8 weeks it's time for me to go! There has been a distinct lack of communication with the outside world (especially the internet) so I suppose I should condense it to a blog post!

Firstly, I had my Birthday (21st June) here in the states, I turned 21 (thank god) which meant I was legally allowed adult beverages, yippee! Prior to the kids getting to camp the waterfront staff underwent lifeguard training which was really good fun! The lake was picturesque and warm, so jumping in was just plain comfortable!

There was also some cute wildlife!

Chipmunk!

After that, we got camp ready for the arrival of 120 children and then had a bit of a party at a local village called Warren, NH. It was a little redneck but pretty good fun, a Lynrd Skynrd cover band were playing all night and they weren't half bad! We got a ride there in a classic US school bus which made the whole experience worthwhile, little did I know i'd be spending a fair bit of time in one!

:)

Beer!

Warren - not sure where the rocket came from!

I also had to do a small camp driving test to be able to use one of these on my days off and for taking the kids on trips!

GMC Suburban, 8.1L V8 - Slow as shit.

It's a miserable vehicle to drive! But it makes a lot of noise....

Once the kids arrived, our jobs were set and our daily routine's were planned out. My job was to look after a set group of kids assigned to my cabin, Lifeguard, Drive the powerboats and teach Wakeboarding and Waterskiing, all in all a very pleasant job!

Throughout the weeks of camp the counselors had 2 nights off and 1 whole day and night off per week - not a bad deal compared to some camps! We tried to make the most of any of this time so travelling around the local area was common, either messing around, hiking, climbing, swimming or relaxing at waterholes.

Mt Cube - 2909ft

Mt Moosilauke - 4802ft (camp trip)

Climbing at Rumney, NH

Pioneer Camp Watering Hole

Mt Moosilauke looking south from Summit

All the things I needed for rest hour!

Tilton Police Cheif

=P

Weirs Beach, NH on Lake Winnepesaukee

Maybe a little too small for me =(

Baker Cliffs

"Messing around" at Weirs Beach

GUN

Nearing the end of camp, the whole camp (staff and campers) had a hog roast - a real one! The pulled pork was delicious!

Overall working at Summer Camp was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I did it! All I can feel now though is the excitement for my travels ahead! Next stop, the Big Apple!