Warren

"DESIGNWORKSUSA" is the BMW's Los Angeles based studio. Take a look of the BMW touch on the Embraer's medium-range jet aircrafts!

If Dad were truly in fine fettle he might then render a charming version of "The Zulu Warrior" a South African camp fire song he had learned as a child in South Africa. (the family was there for 4 years while his father conducted business for Sunbeam Sheep Shearing Divsion).

"ZULU WARRIOR

Sung as a round. Recorded in the 1950s by Josef Marais and Miranda, although it may date back to the Cape Frontier Wars of the 19th century.

I zicka zimba, zimba, zimba
I zicka zimba, zimba, hey
I zicka zimba, zimba, zimba
I zicka zimba, zimba, hey

Hold him down, you Zulu warrior!
Hold him down, you Zulu chief,
Chief chief chief...

Another variation of this song goes as follows:

I kamma zimba zimba zi-yo
I kamma zimba zimba zee
I kamma zimba zimba zi-yo
I kamma zimba zimba zee

See him there, the Swazi warrior!
See him there, the Swazi chief,
Chief, chief, chief"

Such rousing calls to rise certainly drew his towheaded crew from their beds! I tried this a few times with my family but was met with groans, boos and lack of general response. Must have been the way Dad did it huh?

Louisville's Cabin is this week's artist who took 5 for Kentucky.  Cabin is a highly talented band consisting of Noah Hewett-Ball (Vocals/Keys/Guitar), Dave Chale (Drums), Billy Lease (Bass) and Sarah Welder (Violin, Keys, Vocals).  Their music is beautifully composed, filled with catchy hooks, and melodies on the keys that get locked in your head (see the title track of the I Was There EP).  Even Sufjan Stevens said that Cabin is "a band you need to check out."  I see big things in the future for this band.  They are just too damned talented and fun to watch not to win over every listener they encounter.

They will be playing in Louisville at the Forecastle Fest this weekend, on the East Stage (7/27 @ 4pm).  It will be a show you don't want to miss.  Here is frontman Noah Hewett-Ball's responses to our 5 questions...

Noah (Germantown sort of) Sarah, (New Albany) Billy, (South Louisville) Dave, ( is from Maine)

CABIN started in 2004  I met Sarah, Dave and Billy in the summer of 2006

Our first show was at Gerstle's in Louisville.  It was mostly friends and family and we were pretty shakey.  I actually played drums on one song and was excited that I got to work in a stick twirl in the middle of a fill. Ha!  We have it on video tape but no one gets a copy of that until I see some big dollars.

I believe it was St. Louis and I think it was booked through a friend of a friend.

Rodan or Slint......The greatest band to hang with is or was the October.

Here are a few downloads courtesy of Basement Tapes (there is also some video of the session and an interview here)…

Cabin – I Was Here
Cabin – Musical Seats
Cabin – Cover Your Eyes
Cabin – Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears For Fears cover)

They have delicious donuts here.

The food was delish! The entertainment was fascinating! The accommodations were luxurious! And the price was certainly right!

I hope they'll invite me back!

Friday, my cousins, Barley, and I headed up to the lake house after work. We met my parents and brothers who had been camping up on the North Shore (of Lake Superior) last week, and my aunt and uncle who were already up at the cabin. We didn't get to the cabin until late, and ended up sitting around a campfire for a while, roasting marshmallows and whatnot. Then, the kids (myself included) and Barley retired to the bunk house for some much-needed sleep (at least, I needed it... I can't speak for anyone else).

Saturday was a bit cold and rainy in the morning, but cleared up enough for us to go tubing in the afternoon! Tubing wars were a blast (tubing wars means there's 2 tubes dragged behind the boat and you have to knock the other person off of their tube)!! Even if I lost to cousin Catherine, she proved to be a fierce opponent!!

Look how tough Catherine is (she's on the green tube)!

Robby takes on Catherine (this time she's on the blue tube).

Saturday night, we went mini-golfing. I'm not that good, but I can talk a big game. And! I got a hole in one on the "secret hole" and won a free round of mini golf (guess I'll have to visit again to claim it...).

Jennifer and Trevor get hungry on the mini-golf course.

Sunday morning was more of the same - rain and cold. A thunderstorm came through early in the morning, and wimp dog was freaking out. So he crawled under the bed (I still cannot figure out how such a big dog squeezed into such a tiny spot!).

Barley hides under the bed in the bunkhouse.

But it cleared up in time for us to go waterskiing. Jim and Uncle Doug barefooted, Trevor showed off his waterskiing (he is REALLY good), Jennifer wakeboarded, and I tried slalom (one ski) skiing. It was tricky! I think I've only been waterskiing once before, so I fell quite a few times...

Jim waterskiing sans skis.

Trevor shows off his waterskiing skillz. He was even zooming back and forth, in and out of the wake!

Jennifer is super-awesome at wakeboarding... much better than my unsuccessful attempt in Kentucky!

Check it out - don't I look like I know what I'm doing!?! (ignore the ugly face I'm making... not sure what that's all about...)

30 seconds later... crash!

Then, Sunday night, we had to head back to the city. But not before we talked the land dog into trying his hand at water. He'd only go in until his belly touched the water...

He's a water dog now!

The rest of my pics from the weekend can be found here:

Woman Lake

I was recently told about the Queen Mary 2. It is 6 day cruise from Southampton to New York which not only allows pets on the deck, but has a luxurious kennel experience for dogs, so much so that they get pampered by their own "Kennel Master" and get given "gift bags" which include a coat. :)

One would think that a 6 night cruise across the Atlantic would cost a lot more than an 8 hour flight, well not so. The total price for two people is $1,900 and that includes all meals, free drinks 24/7, a 1 bedroom suite, all entertainment and an overall brilliant experience.

In an age where flying is becoming more and more expensive, the cheaper option to move from London to New York is to sail. Did I mention you can bring as much luggage on board as you need? Well that in itself is fantastic, since nowadays you are only allowed 1 suitcase on a business class flight without paying extra fees.

If you are moving from England to America, need to bring 2 or more pets, have an enormous amount of luggage, want your experience to be as stress free as possible, missed your last holiday because of moving plans and like cheesy cruise ship entertainment, the Queen Mary is definitely the easiest option for you!

Makua playing in the cabin. It was sooo much cooler in there than outside.

One of the activities we did was called The Swing. I pictured a big playground swing of some sort. Boy was I wrong. Here's Carrie...the first soul to brave The Swing. I was one of the last people to go. No one before me screamed. Not even the little kids. I screamed. I screamed A LOT. I know- I'm a chicken. :P

The towline in action. This is how you got pulled up to the top.

Up at the top. You pull the lever to release yourself and start swinging.

Carrie hanging on for dear life. What a brave soul.

Chris suited up for The Swing

The babies (Makua and Abigail) playin' cards with the big kids.

This is another activity we did. We had to get a container of water at the base of a tree that was surrounded by a log "fence." We only had a rope and we couldn't touch anything inside the perimeter of the fence. This is what we came up with. Yay for Madison's rope skills!

Sorry that is has been so long since my last post.  My family and I spent the last 10 days on a vacation to Minnesota.  Our family has a lakehouse there that we try to get to once a year when possible.

We had a wonderful time this year!  Very relaxing.  The mosquitoes were annoying, but the cool weather made up for that (at least for me).

My oldest son stayed behind with my parents for another 4 weeks.  It is a win-win for everyone because he gets to stay with Nanny and Poppa at the cabin, they get to keep him, my younger son gets some personal attention, and my wife and I get a break from having 2 kids!

Anyway, now that I am back to the routine, I will try to get back to regular posts.

It was a very nice vacation, and yes, we windsurfed.  Well, not me, I had some sitting around to do, but I watched, and volunteered to join the canoe rescue/towing operation when it was necessary.

It was a great trip, and I got to go to the flea market, and knit for hours, and read a few books, and I'll tell you about that later.  I'd like to update you on the water situation, first.

As you have gathered, I visited a lake in WI.  (See above.)  While at this lake, I stay in a tent, and I gather with my family in a one-room cabin, having a fireplace, a few electric lights, a food fridge and a drink fridge, and 3700 decks of cards.  We sunk a well ourselves in the 90s, but that's as close to running water as we get.  Bathing, when it is done, is done in lake water, and generally directly in the lake.  We did build a shower, just a wooden frame wrapped in privacy tarps with a trash can o' water and a little tube and pump inside.

Given that we've been vacationing as a family on this lake since 1940, we have a vested interest in keeping it nice.  We've raised squads of cousins to pull out encroaching lily pads, and just this summer an Uncle engineered a muck-sucker to clean up our swimming area.  The Auntie police have been making sure we cousins were using biodegradable soap and shampoo for generations.  Fortunately, given all this hippie stuff I'm into now, the shampoo I'm using at home is biodegradable already.

New rule:  If I wouldn't put it in my lake, I won't put it in my shower drain.

It all gets into the water supply again sometime, and while those chemicals might be great for the bounce and lustre and whatever of my hair, fish don't have hair.  Neither do helpful aquatic plants.  Biodegradable materials are ones that are made to break down completely into relatively harmless parts when it gets exposed to organic matter for a while.  They're usually made of more natural ingredients- if it's harmless to begin with, it's easier to break it up harmlessly- and lots of them don't do so well at actually cleaning your head nicely. Finding the biodegradable ones that do clean you to your desired degree is the trick.  Herbal Essences used to be biodegradable, at least- haven't used them in years, so I don't know now- and camping stores usually carrying mysteriously opaque bottles of some safe all-purpose soaps.

I'm using Kiss My Face Green Tea and Lime Shampoo and Conditioner, and it smells nice and leaves my hair clean and nice-feeling after (add shampoo ad adjectives as you wish- silky?  full of body?  some other ridiculousness?  Whatever.  It looks nice, which is no mean feat after a couple days in a tent).  It's got a little 100% biodegradable label on the back, which is reassuring, and about 90% of the ingredients were at some point plants.  It feels a bit different than other shampoos- it won't get as sudsy as they will, but that doesn't seem to hinder the magic.  Plus, suds are an indication of soapy chemicals- not what you want in a cherished family water body, or a local stream, or the ocean...

So check for the biodegradable label next time you find a new shampoo.  The switch to one with fewer chemicals might be startling at first- and indeed, many of these earth-friendlier hair things aren't so much hair-friendlier- but if you don't, the Aunties won't let you in the lake.

So, today was our "down-time" day, right?  I believe I made that pretty clear in my last post.  Well, you know about well-laid plans and all that, I'm sure.

This morning I figured Mom and I might get up and go down the road a few miles to the little village of Tryon to investigate some antique shops and an architectural salvage place we saw as we drove around yesterday.  That way, the kids could swim and the hubby could do whatever hubby wanted to do... but instead, we all piled into the van and headed to Tryon.

We stopped at a fantastic shop called Simply Irresistible that was next to a metal forging business.  The shop was run by a woman who paints tiles and other items, and she features local artists as well - many of whom recycle and repurpose trash to create their pieces.  I was totally inspired!  The girls were busy outside taking pictures of some of the things lying around in the yard, and got some great shots.

We ate lunch at a pizza place that the owners of the lake house recommended and it was great.  Aside from some teenaged drama, we got through it pretty well and had some yummy leftovers to show for it.

Then, this afternoon (still a "down-time" day, remember) we thought we'd take a short drive northwest to some waterfalls we found online.  It was close to 4pm by the time we got on the road... a little later than I would have planned... but this was the day to have no plans, so I guess it worked.  The kids waded in a great swimming hole at Hooker Falls.  Funny how that name reminds me of the Motel 6 in south Nashville... Then we hiked for-EVER up to the rest of the falls.  It was gorgeous!  Lucky for us, the weather was cooperating nicely.  The forest was thick and green with native hydrangeas and rhododendrons everywhere. 

I have to say here that Griffin was a truly big boy today!  He ate like a horse at lunch, then on our hike he only gave out at the very end.  Mommy was happy to pack him out at that point. I needed to work off that pizza.

Tomorrow we hit the gem mines for our first of two visits.  I'm sure I'll have tales of happy hijinx to share tomorrow evening... and a dollar amount of the value of our haul.  Oh, and we have that lottery ticket still sitting in the car that's worth $25 Million...

Dan and I spent a relaxing Fourth of July at the family cabin in Heber. It was great to get away for a day or two and just relax after the last few months of being crazy busy. We saw several deer but not too many other animals. We even went into town that night and watched some fireworks. Because of the harsh winter, things at the cabin were much greener that usual for this time of year. Here is a little taste of what we saw.

It came to this Bastard reporter’s attention, while sitting in first class aboard Delta Flight 123, sipping an iced tea and reading the day’s news on my laptop as I casually glanced out the window from time to time, that we were in fact about to collide with another airplane.

As I braced for the impact and tried my damnedest to keep from pissing myself, I only had one thought on my mind:  ‘How can this happen?’

Once we passed the other airplane, that I later found out was Comair Flight 1520, and I had managed to control my bodily functions long enough for the plane to land so I could race to the in-flight restroom, I went directly to the Captain and Copilot for answers.

The conversation went as such:

“What the hell was that all about?,” I yelled at the Captain.

He turned around in his seat, glass in his hand, alcohol on his breath, and asked me, “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”

Not knowing how to respond to that, and recalling this very airplane scene, I simply departed the plane and went in search of the nearest Delta Customer Service counter.

The answer I got from the off duty sloshed pilots at the counter chilled me to the bone.

They simply slurred at me that pilots are overworked and overstressed and need to blow off a little steam now and again.

This leads to games of ‘chicken’ on the runway!

As I was told:

The crew of one airplane drinks as many in house alcoholic beverages as they can and radios other planes in their vicinity.

The crew of the second plane gets shit faced as well and the game of chicken is then on.

When I asked about the lives of the passengers aboard, I was told that I ask way too many questions and that hardly anyone ever gets killed doing it.

And should anyone die during a game of ‘chicken’, that’s what the Federal Aviation Administration is for:  To keep the game under wraps and delude the public.

Needless to say, this Bastard reporter will be keeping both feet on the ground from now on.

Friday, I got done with work a bit early at 4:00 and ran around town getting the final things together for camping. Around 5:00 Amy, Alycia and I headed out to the campground. Alyssa, Jack, Bonnie, Ali, and Chelsea were already there. The tent (a three tent-connection type one with one main tent and 2 smaller ones) was up and everything was going pretty well. After we had a delicious dinner of chicken-fettucini alfredo, things started to go downhill.

We began prepping for rain as we saw storm clouds approaching from across the lake.  We got most of the food/screen stuff put into cars then we added a few tarps to our tent and went inside. It began to rain while we were figuring out sleeping situations and moving blankets/sleeping bags around. It QUICKLY turned from rain to storm. All of a suddent Amy and I were in our small tent literally holding it down against the direction that the wind was blowing with all of our strength, arms spread out as far as possible. Jack and Asleigh, and Alycia and Chelsea were all doing the same. Rain was literally coming through the fabric of the tent.

After holding out for a good 5 minutes, we decide that it isn't going to let up and that we needed to leave. So, in one big move we all stopped holding the tent down, grabbed whatever we could in front of us and ran to the cars. We took a few runs back to the site to put out the flaring up fire and grab a few other things and got outta there. We left behind whatever we didn't grab including the tent, screen tent, propane tank, burner, etc. Between soaked clothes, fallen branches, and relentless rain the drive home (Alyssa's) was quite the fete in itself. When we got to Alyssa's we took all the wet stuff outta the cars, figured out what just happened then went to sleep.

Sunday morning came with the news that Ashleigh got in a car accident. Ashleigh and Alycia had to work in the morning, so Ashleigh took Alyssa's car and dropped of Alycia at her car then was heading back, going north on Ellis. A man in a white Aztek ran the stop sign on 8th St, went through the south lane on Ellis then t-boned Ash. The man had a revoked license, was drunk, and possibly has no insurance. Luckily, Ashleigh only had got a cut up arm. Unluckily, Alyssa's car is definitely smashed borderline totaled. Amy and Alyssa went to get Ashleigh after she called then came back to the house. After looking at the cuts some more, se decided she should go to the ER since there was glass/metal in a few of her cuts.

While she was at the Hospital, I dropped off Ali and Chelsea at Chelesa's house then went back to Alyssa's to clean up the house/do everyones wet laundry. Around noon, the moms (Alyssa's Marissa's and Ashleigh's) came in from the cabin and Ash was done at the hospital so we went out to eat at The Golden Glow. After everyone took showers, we headed back out to Herbster to attempt camping again.

This time we staked the tent into the dirt (after we found all of it), kind of in the ditch, at the campground and it was Me, Jack, Amy, Alyssa, Marissa and Ashleigh. We ended up setting everyhting up then went to visit Mrs. Branham and Mrs. Woodworth. We stopped at Branham's but she wasn't home so we proceeded onto Bayfield to see Liz (Liz Woodworth). We hung at her house for a bit, caught up on our lives then stopped at the candy store and headed back to the campground in Herbster.

We got back and started cooking dinner then saw the same sight over the lake as Saturday. The sky was dark, it was super windy, and was raining over the lake. We decided we didn't want to have another Saturday experience so we packed up all the stuff, and headed to Jack's cabin in Iron River. 

It worked out really well once we got there. We made beef-chicken-pepper-onion-mushroom shish kabobs, corn on the cob, and fried potatoes. It was super tasty. After dinner we just chilled at the cabin. went for a night time pontoon ride then went to be around midnight. Jack woke up early today to go back to camp so it was just Amy, Ashleigh, Alyssa, Marissa and I in the morning. We cleaned up the cabin then headed into town. 

Amy, Alyssa and I went to Alyssa's where we dealt with al the camping stuff/cleaned up the house a bit (Alyssa's family was home from the cabin). Amy worked at 4:00 and I came home to deal with laundry, and computer stuff and my car and yadayada. 

Now I'm just dreading work tomorrow and am very tired. I have to admit, this year's camping adventure is not going to be one to forget. 

I uploaded lots of pictures to the Flickr, here's the link! 

comment, comment, comment!

Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. we loaded kids, food, clothes, some reading materials and the must-have electronics into the van and headed east.  Saturday evening around 5:00 p.m. we arrived at a lovely cabin on a lake 30 minutes or so outside of Asheville, N.C.

We stayed in a Motel 6 in the 'hood in south Nashville Friday night. The mattresses were about as comfy as something you'd find... well, in the 'hood of south Nashville.  I have to say, though, the pool was crystal clear and warm and the fact that we were directly below the approach pattern for the Nashville airport was a big plus as far as the 3-year-old was concerned.  We just chose to find it "quaint" that a woman at the pool set up an appointment with a couple of *ahem* gentlemen in room _____ for later that evening.  Oh, and the guy that hung over the 2nd story railing in front of his room all evening went to bed by midnight... so maybe he wasn't really a drug dealer or a pimp or something... he was probably a neighborhood watch representative.

Vacations are for seeing things you don't see at home, right??

Before we left Tennesee, we made sure to buy lottery numbers for Saturday night's drawing, but we haven't checked them yet.  If you have heard that the winning numbers were bought in a gas station in Eastern Tennesee and the winner hasn't come forward yet, let me know!

As soon as we got to the house we made ourselves at home nosing around the property.  The kids and Rick headed for the water and the girls jumped in the paddle boats.  After about 2.73 minutes they decided that was way too much work, so they headed back to the dock.  Mom and I found blackberries and started picking.  Now we need to make some cobbler...

So we started the week in N.C. today with a road trip to Grandfather Mountain to the site of the 53rd annual Scottish Highlands Games.  Unfortunately, we spent an extra half-hour on the raod due to some direction and navigation mix-ups, and were only there about another half-hour before the lovely Carolina skies opened up and drenched us.  But before we all got soaked running back to the shuttle bus pickup site, we got to see a wide variety of characters wearing kilts and other bits of tartan.  We also followed the sound of drums and music to a little grove where a concert stage had been set up and the final set was being played by the Killdares, Barley Juice, and Coyote Run.  The piper from Coyote Run was wearing a Mother Grove shirt that said "Kilt Rock" on the back - it was great and I want one.  If you haven't heard any of these bands, you need to go find them right now.  Don't even finish reading this blog!

Well, maybe you could finish reading... but then, definitely go find them!!!

The cabin we're in and the lake and property it sets on was won in a poker game.  It's full of all kinds of interesting little things.  There's a collection of models of tall-mast sailing ships, some antique photos of someone's family, a hornet's nest hanging from the living room light fixture (made from a wagon wheel).  All the comforts of home, really.  The master bedroom looks over the lake, there's a hot tub on the deck, and there are paddle boats.  What more could we need?

Tomorrow we're going to have a "down-time" day to run around a little, or just swim and fish, then we have some gem-mining and touristy things to do.  I'll keep you posted, and photos will be joining the party soon!

Anyways while I was camping I did somethings I had never done before.  First off on the first day I took the smallest boat out in the lake.  It's real small and doesn't go very fast.  You have to steer from behind and so I thought I wanted to give it a try.. Well it was my first time ever operating a boat by myself.  I was ok for a while going back and forth and back and forth but then I thought that I could go further out into the lake. Well that was a bad idea because no sooner that I decided that I wanted to come back does it run out of gas and I'm stranded out about 200 yards from shore! Someone had to take a larger boat (no much larger) and tow be back.  So much for boating...

The next day I went water skiing for the first time and wasn't all that bad.  Even though it took 6 or 7 times to acctually get up and stay up it was fun aside from the bruied knee and the huge knot in my back.  I was surprised that I could actually get up the first time, but I couldn't say up..

The next day I went fishing for the first time and caught some pretty nice fish.  One of them was a large mouth bass and some other small fish. 

After that I went back home slightly tanner and covered in mosquito bites... I'm itching one now as I type. The campfire that lasted until 1 in the morning was also nice amidst the half cooked marshmallow fight.

During the summer there is a mass exodus every weekend as people head up north. The weekend of the 4th of July is no exception. Even though there are over 10,000 lakes, everyone seems to have a particular one in mind. There is a particular lingo that goes with it too.

We all go to the lake not a lake. We talk of the lake as if it is our own. We all have a different experience when we go up north. Some go to what could only be called a second home. Some go camping in tents. Some are in a trailer or RV of some type. Some go to a cabin.

The amenities at each are as variable as the 10,000 X places on those lakes. Some have the bare necessities. Some are luxurious. And there is everything in between. They usually all have a few things in common. There is water nearby and there are plenty of these:

This one is dead. Fortunately, they move fairly slowly so you can slap yourself silly and be quite effective. Of course, there are lots of other bugs besides mosquitoes. They're a little harder to photograph...

My particular experience involves a cabin. We've been going to the lake for almost thirty years. We started out tenting it. Then we graduated to a camper. My dad then built a cabin. Throughout the years various amenities have been added - a wood burning stove, insulation, electricity, running water, and the list goes on. For a long time we didn't have running water. This discouraged the not so serious camping folk. You can get cell service there. But there is no phone, no television, no wi-fi.

The lack of high tech entertainment allows for good conversation, good food, lots of time outside and the ability to catch up on all of that reading you haven't had time to do or have been too distracted.

And of course, you can't help but have a few of these:

You can't have just one s'more. It's impossible.

I don’t want to take anything away from the fabulous vacation, but driving home I realized that I’m not a lake guy. Katie grew up at the lake with her family so the whole routine at the lake was second-nature. Not so much for me and I don’t think I’m alone.

Here’s my theory. When the vast majority of lake cabins were built – for our purposes let’s say more than 40 years ago – the cabin itself was pretty similar to the regular home (kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc.) The great amenities of the place were the lake, dock and beach (you don’t get those in the suburbs). These places are still being handed down to the next generation who grew up on those same shores.

According to Forbes, vacation home sales declined 30 percent in 2007. Sure it could be the Bush-wacked economy, but I think it’s the beginning of a larger trend.

The lake isn’t the draw it used to be. My generation is so plugged into the world that shutting off that constant feed of information and entertainment is hard. We make our homes into modern-day palaces with every available amenity built in. Satellite TV, high-speed Internet, theater systems, a pool and hot tub, wine cellar – you name it, we’ve gotta have it. Our homes are so great – why would we want to leave for a two-hour drive and the rustic-charm of a stinky outhouse in the woods? (Our friend’s place had a regular toilet – so no worries there).

If my family had a cabin and it was passed down to me at some point in time, I’d certainly not turn it down (long-lost uncle so and so, please e-mail anytime). I imagine most people would jump at the chance to have one. But I cannot possibly conceive of taking out a mortgage bigger than my regular home’s value to buy a lake place on my own.

And that’s the point. I’d rather deck-out my home, where I spend 100 percent of my time, rather than a vacation home that only gets used on the weekends or occasional summer getaways.

Would I change my tune if I had a large amount of discretionary income? Maybe, but I dare you to find that guy in my age bracket with two kids. Oh, yeah, he’s probably at the lake - repainting the deck.  

P.S. Gollas, thanks for a great weekend, we really did love it.

Wrapping the blankets around me, i found they gave me little warmth and were instead course and itchy. I laid back and being tall, could not stretch but had to draw my knees so they were bent. Leaning my legs to the side meant they were already hanging way out of my bunk. Looking to my right a smile came over my face as i once again saw the two large seat belt straps clipping from the top to the bottom of my bed. Believe it or not they were designed specifically to stop people from turning over in their sleep and falling to the floor, yet they were so widely spaced that you were more likely to fall through the middle, get your foot caught in them and end up hanging in the walk way by your ankle.

The continuous shaking of the carriage was so monotonous that it became almost relaxing. With thoughts of the following days adventures running through my head i shut my eyes and tried to sleep. I felt happy and content, as i began tof relax after a busy day. However, having entered a slumber my dreams of staying in jungle huts and trekking through the wilderness were soon over taken, as i boarded a vigourous roller coaster ride. Speeding over old rail tracks i was thrown from left to right repeatedly. Having been thrown sharply to the left i tried to calm myself only for the train to run over a bad join on the track. The jolt sent me flying to the right, but this time bouncing me high into the air. I longed for the ride to finish, yet it just kept on going, faster than lightening through a never ending, dark tunnel. Panic set in as images of the carriage caving in entered my mind.

Waking up slightly, feeling frightened and confused i looked up at the ceiling and remembered once again that this was a sleeper. Remaining in a fatigued state, my body was frozen and my hands gripped the side of the bed, knuckles white due to the fact i had clearly been holding on for some time. I still was unable to comprehend what had just happened and was convinced that i was on the death train from Hell. Why was no one coming to tell me we had to exit the cabin immediately? Gathering a little courage i was able to move enough to poke my head out of the curtain to take a look around the train. I was convinced there would be many worried people like myself, awake and seeking reassurance. However, to my absolute surprise, there was not a sole awake. They were all still sleeping soundly. Nausea welled up inside me, as i simply couldn't believe that we were not all fatally plummeting into a dark abyss. This feeling was soon over taken by a sense of stupidity, as i began to reason that my sleep had enhanced the movements of the carriage, turning it into a nightmare. Eventually i was managed to muster a smile and maybe a little giggle, as i recovered from my own personal adventure, relieved i had survived Thailand's newest theme park attraction.

I managed to get a little more rest that night, however, in the morning i still could not help but check if other people had been woken up by the ride. Most people slept soundly, whilst others said they had been awake all night, but had just been reading. Feeling a little embarrassed i shared my night adventure with the group, which entertained them for many hours, as we made our way to Kaoh Sok National Park.

Sandi and I even got to sleep in our new room on Saturday night, although we did have to use an air mattress.  I don't how soon we'll buy a new bed.  After spending all hat money on the addition, I'm feeling kind of poor right now.  :)

Jane