T h e   A t l a n t i c   D r e a m Last update: December 4th, 1999

Welcome! This is a page about our Trek America trip along the east coast of the United States in summer 1999. It started at the 26th of June in New York and ended (after a really too short time) at the 10th of July in Miami. To learn more about it, use one (or more) of the links below... You may also DOWNLOAD the whole journal, just click here. Okay, have fun! ;-)       + Members of the party    + DAY ZERO: New York City       + DAY ONE: To Washington DC          + DAY TWO: Washington DC + DAY THREE: To Kingsport    + DAY FOUR: To Ocoee       + DAY FIVE: To Birmingham          + DAY SIX: To New Orleans + DAY SEVEN: New Orleans    + DAY EIGHT: To Panama City Beach       + DAY NINE: Panama City Beach          + DAY TEN: To Orlando + DAY ELEVEN: Orlando.    + DAY TWELVE: To Key West       + DAY THIRTEEN: Key West          + DAY FOURTEEN: To Miami I guess that you all liked this song: Don McLean, American Pie + Best Quality Version (MP3) + Extended Version (Real Audio) + Tour itinery    + PICS: Washington       + PICS: Kingsport          + PICS: Smokey Mountains + PICS: Birmingham    + PICS: New Orleans       + PICS: Panama City Beach          + PICS: Orlando + PICS: Key West    + PICS: Miami       + Contacting Members          + Webmaster

MEMBERS OF THE PARTY David James Gareth Cox Daniel Edwards Gary Martin Patrick Reenan Bert Timmer Karina Neilsen Alexia Brunner Emily Lamb Raphael Bergmann Henrik Rasmussen Steve Jansch Helen Alba Tour Leader: Tyler Flood

Alexia Brunner

Bert Timmer

Daniel Edwards

David James

Emily Lamb

Gareth Cox

Gary Martin

Helen Alba

Henrik Rasmussen

Karina Neilsen

Patrick Reenan

Raphael Bergmann

Steve Jansch

Tyler Flood

TOUR ITINERY

Trip Day	Date	Day	Night Stops.	Accommodation	Notes.	Miles/KM Traveled
0	26 June	Sat	New York.	New York Skyline Hotel.	Introduction meeting.	0/0
1	27 June	Sun	Washington DC.	Cherry Hill C.G.	Monuments visit.	270/425
2	28 June	Mon	Washington DC	Cherry Hill C.G.	FBI Tour, Space/ air museum etc.	-/-
3	29 June	Tues	Kingsport	Warriors Path C.G.	Long Drive.	460/736
4	30 June	Wed	Ocoee	Adventures Unlimited.	Hike to Waterfall	200/320
5	1 July	Thur	Birmingham	Tennehill Historic S.P.	Ultralight flight. White water rafting.	176/283
6	2 July	Fri	New Orleans	French Quarter suite.	Burbon street.	342/550
7	3 July	Sat	New Orleans	French Quarter suite.	Free day	-/-
8	4 July	Sun	Panama Beach	Kampers inn koa	Swamp Tour fireworks	310/496
9	5 July	Mon	Panama Beach	Kampers inn koa.	Pontoon Boat	-/-
10	6 July	Tues	Orlando	Tropical Palms.	Drive/relax	340/544
11	7 July	Wed	Orlando	Tropical Palms.	Disney world.	-/-
12	8 July	Thur	Key West	Boyds C.G.	Drive watch sunset.	360/580
13	9 July	Fri	Key West	Boyds C.G.	Beach	-/-
14	10 July	Sat	Miami	Best Western Hotel.	End of tour party.	170/274

DAY ZERO: New York City.
"First contact!"

First contact between the members of the group was established at 7:30pm in the lobby of the Skyline Hotel New York. Upon meeting Tyler our tour leader we set a precedent for the rest of the trek by heading straight for the hotel's Ten Fifty bar. In all, twelve members of the group made it to the first night with Emily delayed in London. We also discovered that the airport had lost Karina and Henrik's luggage. In order to break the ice each member of the group talked a little about themselves and after the first drink Tyler suggested going to a better bar, T.J. Keanes. After a second drink it was decided that we would go and see a movie in Time Square, however, this proved to be sold out. Tyler left us all alone in New York and so we all made our way back to our hotels. Further drinks were consumed in the bar as we all relaxed, Gareth and David had a few extra because Wales beat South Africa 29 - 19 in the rugby. The weather was extremely hot and humid even at night in New York, thank the Lord for air con.


DAY ONE: New York to Washington DC.

The majority of the group met up at the lobby of the Skyline hotel at 7:30am. Karina's luggage had be found and brought to the hotel but Henrik's was still missing. We loaded the van for the first time before heading to get breakfast at Starbucks coffeehouse. After breakfast we picked up Steve and Helen from their hotel and headed off towards Washington DC. On the way we stopped at a shopping centre in order that Tyler could ring up the airport at New York and find out if they had Henrik's luggage. We were told that it was going to be forwarded to Washington National Airport that night. We arrived at the Cherry Hill campground at around 3:30pm and learned how to put the tents up for the first time and arrange the equipment. The weather was perhaps hotter than New York and no less humid so we all decided to jump into the pool for a cool down. Tyler hastily convened a first night talk in the pool and went through the relevant points about the trip and organised the groups for the chores. We then relaxed by the pool while Tyler went shopping for the evening's meal. That evening he cooked chicken and pasta (with added grass for that extra bit of flavour) at around eight after which we drove into Washington to collect Henrik's luggage from the airport. It of course wasn't there but luckily we arrived just as the last flight from NY did and it was on that. After collecting the luggage we drove into Washington and visited the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in the dark. We went to do a drive by of the White House but Bill must have been asleep as all the lights were off and we couldn't see anything. After a brief site-seeing drive back to the campsite we all sat down with a beer and a pack of cards before turning in for the night..


DAY TWO: Washington DC.

This was a free day in Washington DC. Emily, Karina, Alexia and Raphael got up stupidly early (to some of us) and caught a hop-on hop-off tour bus that visited the sites to see in the city. The remaining group were ferried into the city by Tyler and then visited the FBI headquarters and followed the tour there. After the FBI tour we had lunch at Friday's restaurant. We then walked to the White House, which was closed before heading to the Smithsonian institute museum of space and flight. After an hour or so at the Museum we strolled over to Capitol Hill and walked up the stairs of congress. We were picked up by Tyler at 3:30 and met up with the other group. After returning to the campsite the first group "pasta" consisting of Alexia, Gareth and Gary went shopping for dinner with Tyler. The rest of us went to the pool and devised a game that crossed water polo with rugby. The purpose was to get the ball to touch the opposition's square. Although participants were not supposed to travel with the ball the rules were somewhat broken. The game itself dissolved into a running battle that the pasta group was more than happy to participate when they returned from the shopping. After over two hours of action, the rain, the need to cook dinner and a helpless lifeguard forced us too finish the game. The rain was very short lived and the salad prepared by the pasta group was good. The remainder of the night was spent playing cards and drinking beer till the early hours.


DAY THREE: Washington DC to Kingsport.

This was the longest drive of the trek, 460 miles or 736 km. This was a fairly uneventful journey as most of us slept due to the physical battering in the pool the day before. We arrived in the Warriors Path campground around 5.30 that evening. After setting the camp Tyler and the pasta group went shopping for dinner and firewood. We 'borrowed' some pallets from the food store and made a high-speed getaway in the van. When they returned we set up a barbecue. Minutes after we lit the barbecue the heavens opened and it began to rain hard. There after the dinner was prepared under farcical conditions with Aluminium foil protecting the barbecue from the rain and everyone crouching under the tarpaulin that covered the food while the rain hammered down. The rain conveniently stopped allowing the burgers and hot dogs to be cooked successfully minus the occasional flame ups when the grill had to be tactically removed. Following the meal we lit up a large campfire using wooden pallets we had "borrowed" from the superstore we got the food from. The seat from the van were unclipped and arranged outside allowing us to sit around the fire. The night turned into a high stakes poker night with fortunes changing constantly, in fact the only thing that remained constant was the flow of beer.


DAY FOUR: Kingsport to Ocoee.

With our usual 7:30am start we headed off to Ocoee. Tyler was starting to get a bit concerned at the rate at which beer was being drunk as he'd almost used most of the $150 kitty already. It should be noted that some of us were happy with the achievement notably Gary and David although everyone has made a notable contribution to the kitty's demise. We drove in to the smoky mountain national park to a place called Cades cove. We were held up twice driving down the track to Cades cove when two resident brown bears were spotted walking near the road. The first was a mother and two small cubs walking in the woods and the second was a lone bear crossing a field. Deer were also visible close to the road but this did not cause the cars in front to stop to take pictures. Once parked we had lunch and then hiked two and a half miles to the Abrams falls. These falls were clearly bloated from rainfall and were flowing very high. This did not stop us jumping in and taking a swim. The water was very cold and the currents very strong and it proved good fun catching the current and drifting downstream. Gary scared the crowd by climbing to the top of the falls and preparing to jump but was talked out of it as we could not see where the rocks were. After the swim we hiked back the two and a half miles and drove to Ocoee. As we got within 20 minutes of the campsite the heavens opened again and torrential rain fell on us. The campsite was seriously flooded and was deemed unsuitable by us from the safety of the van. Instead we hired a cabin called the Beehive. Although it had 12 beds it proved a very comfortable and there were no problems with sleeping arrangements. The chicken group cooked spaghetti and mince with garlic bread. The night was spent playing drinking games and drinking heavily. Several of the white water rafting guides visited and it was another late night.


DAY FIVE: Ocoee to Birmingham.

We had to get up very early in order to get all the ultralight flights in. The group was split into two the first group had to get up for seven and arrived at the airfield at 7:10am. The first groups flights went well apart from Karina's which she found that she was unable to breathe once up and the pilot was forced to land in a field. Karina had to walk back about a mile adding more bruises and cuts to her already bruised legs. The pilot had some difficulty taking off again this delayed the flights somewhat. The two pilots took us around the local area up to the lake at ocoee and over our cabin. Both pilots proved a great source of amusement with their southern drawl and their laid back attitude. This included smoking whilst refueling the ultralights. The second group arrived at around 8.00am and was separated into two groups, those who wanted a wild ride and those who preferred a gentle flight. Dan chose the wild pilot and shortly after takeoff badly burned his elbow on the exhaust pipe of the ultralight. The exhaust pipe is situated right behind the passenger seat and next to the elbow and we were not warned about it. He carried on his flight regardless and received treatment once on the ground.
Following the flights the group headed back to the cabin, changed into swimwear and walked down to the "Adventures Unlimited" white water rafting centre which was situated on the campsite we stayed at. A bearded fellow, David Klein who reminded many of us of actor Sam Elliot greeted us. We were split into three groups two of six and one of two. After brief discussion on what was going to happen we all collected a paddle, a helmet and a life jacket from the stores and got on board an old American yellow School bus. As we drove to the start point we began to worry about the quality of the white water as the levels were painfully low and barely flowing. However as we neared the site we spotted some rafts on good water and it quickly became clear that the authorities had only just open the dam that regulates water flow into the river. We then received instruction on how to sit and what would happen. We were told to keep our legs high in the water if we fell out. David and Tyler were in the raft with David Klein whilst Dan, Henrik, Alexia, Emily, Gareth and Rafael were in a raft with Richard, who guided us with stitches in his lip. The other six were on a raft with Rob. We first had to carry our raft down to the water's edge where we practiced the maneuvers. There were several other rafts in the group and we waited in the water until all of them were launched before heading off as a group. To ensure safety several guides were in Kayaks to help with any problems. The rafting began well and the course that was used in the Olympic games several years ago proved great fun. Gary and Steve provided the first major incident of the trip when they got to the washing machine rapids. Steve fell out of the raft and Gary lost his paddle. The paddle was not retrieved so Gary was able to sit back and let the rest of the raft do all the paddling. David Klein made Dai and Tyler smile in their boat by proclaiming loudly "I am the Master!, I am at one with the water! It's a Zen thing!" Several members of each raft were able to ride bull. This meant that they climbed onto the bow of the raft held the bowline and rode through the weaker rapids. During the second half of the trip whilst passing through a large series of rapids Dan fell out of his raft. The fall was assisted by Alexia, who was next to him at the front and provided the final push by falling onto him. The rest of the rafting provided excitement and thrills aplenty. At the end of the trip once we had returned to the campsite we were able to view a video and photographs taken of our trip. We then collected up our damp and mucky clothing and shoes for storage until they could be washed. There then followed a 200 mile journey to Birmingham Alabama. We had pre-booked a restaurant "The Mill" which was a bakery, brewery and bar/ restaurant. After a pleasant meal we drove to Freedom? Park????? This was a park dedicated to the memory of the black activists who fought for the civil rights movement. The park has some very interesting statues that reflect the battle they had to wage. The statues showed dogs being set on blacks by the police. There were also statues of water cannons and Martin Luther King. We left the city after 9.00pm and headed out to Tannehill Hill Historic State Park. Even though it was late when we arrived it was extremely humid. With the campsite in woods there was a loud insect presence deafening us as we set up our tents under the light of the vans headlights. This proved distressing to several members of our group who took a dislike to the grasshoppers and crickets that visited us. A further bone of contention was the single key to the rest room that we had to share. Most people were too tired to do much more than grumble and it was not a very late night.


DAY SIX: Birmingham to New Orleans.

Day Six chapter 1, We left Tannehill Historic State Park a humid bug infested nightmare to some of us who were happy to be out of there. We stopped off at Wal-Mart to get some groceries, Tyler said that it has everything; groceries, garden stuff, toys; car parts. It turned out however that this particular one didn't have any groceries so we had to go elsewhere. We ended up waiting for Raphael because he went to McDonalds for some food, he also took the key to the van and so we had to wait outside the van in the heat for him, it was decided that a good beating was called for. We arrived in New Orleans at 5:30pm and after unpacking our stuff headed straight for the launderette to do some washing. Getting ready to go out Gary spent 10 minutes trying to iron his jeans without the iron plugged in. As Karina put 'that was stupid', it could be the Irish influence me thinks. We headed down to Bourbon Street at around 8:00pm for some dinner stopping of at a bar for some alcoholic squishies on the way. The Secret Garden was a small restaurant but very nice. We ate out back in the garden, some of us braving the local beer, which was a bit weak and watery but drinkable. The food was excellent, everyone enjoyed their meal and just about managed to finish their dessert as well. After we had eaten we headed back to Bourbon Street for some partying. We walked down the entire length first before splitting up to check out different places. Tyler and Henrik were the first to disappear followed by Dan, Dave and Gary who headed back to the hotel to get changed. We were meant to meet them in this bar but we got kicked out because we didn't all have I.D. This was the general pattern for the night as we went from bar to bar each time being told politely that we couldn't stay unless we had some I.D. In the end we all legged it to an Irish pub on Toulouse street called Flarhetys, bit of irony there for you. It wasn't that great but at least we got served. Patrick wasn't impressed by the music especially when they wouldn't play Roy of the Rovers for him. We left about 1:30am, most headed back to the hotel but Bert dragged Gareth to a strip club where Dan, Dave and Gary were planning to go. After a few expensive drinks and some admiring the scenery they headed home. Meanwhile Dan Dave and Gary had got changed quickly left Tyler and Henrik to sleep and returned to the bar we had planned to meet the others in. When we got into it after ID checks we discovered the others were not there. We began looking in the bars up the street before Gary led us into a small innocent looking bar that turned out to be a strip club. After buying a drink for $5 we sat down to finish it planning to go on the search after the drink. However as with all plans made in pubs, they get waylaid. To paint a picture of this club would be to describe it as rectangular with a stage taking up one wall and seating in the free space. The first bad sign to warn us it was not exactly top notch may have been the fact that it was deserted but for an overweight New Orleans cop propping up the bar and fondling an overweight underdressed woman. The second bad sign was the quality of the dancers which was frankly poor. Two out of the 10 or so there rated above average with at least 5 of the others below average. One or two could be rated scary with no difficulty. The third bad sign was when three came over and sat with us. A large woman came over and asked us individually if we would like to buy the lady a drink. We politely obliged her and the drinks arrived. The girl beside me informed me I could buy a small large or medium drink. The large drink meant that I got to go out back and have a private lap dance. Assuming we were still leaving to find the others I did not get her a large drink and for that I am grateful. The price of the small drink that was brought turned out to be $20. This was enough to send the warning bells ringing for me. I turned to warn Dave and Gary this was a big rip off but it was too late. Each had a girl sat on their lap and was reaching into their pockets to tip each girl that came off the stage and asked for a tip. I realised they were not going anywhere and hastily said my good-byes. After a fruitless search for the others I returned to the suite it was about 1.30am. Dave and Gary returned 10min later changed again and went out once more. They were clearly more wasted than I had thought and that was pretty wasted because they searched the clubs again and then went back to the strip club. Returning after and hour or so each having spent over $200 both appeared somewhat plastered and each cursing themselves for going back to the club. The others arrived around 1.45am without Gareth and Bert who had gone to a strip club. After deciding not to go out again the others decided to go for a swim in the pool. Gareth and Bert got back and went down to the pool to join the others. About 3:00am it was decided that enough was enough so we headed back. We found Dai stumbling around outside the hotel in the street looking for the pool. We couldn't dissuade him from taking a swim but failed so Gareth went back with him to be safe. Finally everyone turned in about 4:00am to sleep/pass out depending on their blood alcohol level.


DAY SEVEN: New Orleans.

Finally able to sleep in we all got up quite late (for us) around 9:00am. The majority of the group (12) decided to go on a New Orleans walking tour at 1:30pm. The plan was simple go on the walking tour, then go shopping, then go to the pool then have takeaway pizza. The only minor problem occurred when the tour bus appeared not to pick us up at 1:00pm when arranged. We waited 20minutes then asked the hotel clerk if he knew why it was not there. He told us it was too early and it became clear that we had passed into a different time zone without realising it. In fact since we arrived in Birmingham the time was one hour behind. This caused some amusement when it was noted that we had apologised for being late for reservations and had rearranged times several times over the past two days. When we finally caught the bus after half an hour in front of MTV we were driven to the super dome the large stadium home of the New Orleans saints. We got our tickets and caught a tour shuttle that drove us back to the French Quarter. We met our tour guide, Katie a large and eccentric American woman. Starting in the lobby of a plush hotel she explained New Orleans' history. There then followed tour of a large town house with Katie's slightly obscure commentary, followed by a tour of the streets stopping in locations of historical significance. The tour concluded shortly after 4:00pm. The majority of the group went to see the Mississippi River where the millenium peace bell was on show. We then headed into the shopping mall and searched out the food hall for lunch. After lunch we split up and went to do our individual shopping and planned to meet back at 7:00pm. The early evening was spent resurrecting the pool game and sustaining injuries. After a couple of hours in the pool we went back to the suite and had pizza. After dinner Gary went down stairs to the tattooing shop below and had his tattoo "improved" two and a half hours later he returned bleeding and in pain $200 worse off. The rest of us sat watched TV and played cards for most of the night. Bert went out to Bourbon Street to see what was happening, he arrived back with a frozen margarita which was really nice. Midnight came and someone suggested going for some strawberry squishies from the bar we went to yesterday. Patrick and Alexia volunteered to go get them while the rest of us took it easy and played some more cards. They took their sweet time getting them to say the least but finally made it back. The machine in the bar was bust so they had to go find another bar. The ones they got weren't so frozen and had had little 'kick' in comparison, which was probably a blessing. We turned in after these for some sleep ready for tomorrows' early start.


DAY EIGHT: New Orleans to Panama City Beach.

Independence Day, we had big plans for tonight and it was certainly an eventful day. We got up, unsurprisingly, early (7:00am) and packed up ready to head for Panama Beach. We left the hotel with a sense of regret, the prospect of sleeping under canvas on the ground compared to air con. and a bed explains all. We headed for the swamp once we left the comfort of the hotel. The tour itself was excellent, we saw a few alligators and even the odd frog. Mr Denny pointed out various ecological features of the swamp, it was almost like being back at school! The word for the day was 'aye-eee' , not quite as good as 'yee-haa' but a close second. We ended up at the moonshine tree and had a break there for a bit. The swamp was full of bugs and everyone was slapping the bastards left, right and centre. We paddled along to the continuous chirping of the bugs and the backbeat of hands being slapped against exposed skin. The paddling was hard going at times but we managed to turn it into a bit of a laugh with some racing between the two boats. The two hours passed quite quickly and we were back before we knew it. Once back our guide stroke host took us in to taste some moonshine. It is definitely an experience we won't be forgetting in a hurry, the stuff was LEATHAL, 190% proof. I think it was the way it evaporated as you drank it that made you realise just how strong it was. I'm glad there were no naked flames in the room when we tried that stuff given all the fumes we were breathing out. After the moonshine we had a group photo on the steps before hitting the road again. As usual everyone slept (or tried to) for the majority of the journey. Towards the end we all woke up and played some cards, it has to be said that we all looked pretty dumb with cards stuck to our foreheads!

The campsite in Panama Beach was opposite the beach, which was cool. We put up our tents and then went to check out the beach. It was covered in beer cans, which ruined it so we headed back to the campsite and the pool a bit disappointed. The pool was nice though and while Steve cooked our steaks we all took a nice cool swim in the pool. Dinner was tasty and after the washing up we got down to some serious drinking. It eventually degenerated into singing (badly in general) and American Pie was performed in a way never heard before! We played '21' for a bit with a cup of wine as the forfeit, unfortunately the wine didn't last very long. No one was very sober after that and so when at some early hour in the morning someone suggested that the beach would be a nice place to take a stroll everyone jumped up ready to go. When we got there the beach was still pretty crowded with Americans celebrating. We drifted down to the waters' edge and then someone decided to go paddling. Paddling degenerated into a water fight, which then degenerated into general mayhem and almost everyone ended up in the sea, willingly or not. I think we were just about the only ones in the sea and we got some very strange looks from a lot of the Americans there, some even went so far as to take pictures. After our 'morning' swim we all headed back to dry off. I managed to spill hot wax all over myself when I tried to move one of the bug candles, a bit stupid of me really. We sat around for while talking about stuff, can't remember what but then you normally never can. Gary and Bert turned up after a while having been to the club, Gary was of course off his face. Everyone decided to go to bed and so we all drifted back to our tents. Just as I was drifting off to sleep Gary decided to come and convince Dai to go back with the club with him. Dai decided not to go but after few minutes and with Bert joining in trying to get him to go he caved. Dai managed to spill aftershave all over the tent and so I gagged all night. I haven't a clue when they got back, Gary was so pissed he fell asleep sitting at the table and apparently he fell asleep in the club as well. And that was Independence Day.


DAY NINE: Panama City Beach.

We weren't in a rush to get up this morning especially after last night. Tyler was up making blueberry pancakes fairly early and there were a fair few of us up already. Gary finally emerged looking pretty rough to say the least; nobody looked particularly good come to think about it. Thankfully no one was sadistic enough to get a camera out (they probably would have been lynched anyway). Everyone was ready by 11:00am to go pontoon boating, I was looking forward to a lazy day lounging in the sun. Some of us hired snorkels when we got there and once everyone was ready we set off. It was a lovely day and after a swim we sat down or some lunch and just lay around doing very little. After a while Tyler decided to move some where else. When we got there we went for a swim and after that decided it was time to try the human pyramid again. After a few unsuccessful attempts we came very, very close to getting there but Emily couldn't quite get upright and the whole thing came crashing down again. Somehow no one got hurt (miracles do happen), everyone else around just stared at us in amazement. I think they thought we were all insane and most of them had a good laugh at our expense, we enjoyed it though. After that we lounged about a bit more then started to head back. We stopped for a bit of diving and unfortunately a jellyfish stung Bert and so that put an end to that.

On the way back to camp we stopped off at the bungee centre for some a laugh, as you do. Dai, Gary and Henrik all did a bungee jump and they all loved it. Most of those who didn't do that did the bungee catapult, which was brilliant, although there was a fair bit of screaming involved. Back at camp we headed straight for the pool. After dinner we went and played some crazy golf and got accused of being a church group! We played in our cooking teams and Helen, Steve and Patrick took first place. Individually Gary thrashed everyone, it was a good laugh though. After strolling back to the campsite we sat down, had a few drinks and played a few hands of cards. We didn't stay up that late as we were all pretty tired from the night before.


DAY TEN: Panama City Beach to Orlando.

My memory is not that good of this particular day so I'd appreciate it if people can fill in the gaps I've left. We got up and packed up camp in short order and then set off for Orlando. It was a fairly long drive to Orlando and I don't think we got there until early evening (?). After setting up camp everyone showered and got ready to go out that evening. We kicked a ball around waiting for dinner but it was to hot so we gave up after a bit. After a delicious sweet and sour chicken dinner (with crunchy veg.) cooked by Emily & Co. we headed for Universal Studios to catch a film at the Cineplex and have a browse round some shops. People saw different films and we all met after the last one had finished. Everyone enjoyed their film, especially those of us who saw Phantom Menace. When we got back we had a few beers and played a few hands of cards well into the early hours of the morning. Some of boys decided it would be a good idea to go swimming at some point but it didn't last long as they got kicked out for being too loud. While they were swimming I had the brain wave and though it would be a good idea to get up early and go swimming in the morning. The only other taker was Karina, everyone else thought it was a rather stupid ides. They were probably going to be right come tomorrow morning.



DAY ELEVEN: Orlando.

Got up stupidly early to go for a morning swim before the local brat pack invaded it. Went and got Karina up and Emily decided to come as well, even after telling us we were mad going swimming at 7:30am and that you'd never catch her doing it. As planned the pool was completely empty and it woke us up in short order. By the time we got back life was gradually beginning to emerge from the different tents and breakfast wasn't far away. We headed of for Universal Studios at 9:00am. We went to Twister first off trying to beat the queues but it was closed due to 'technical difficulties'. Dan became our unofficial tour guide as he' been here before. We headed to Kongfrontation as it was just around the corner from Twister and there we found the first commandment of Universal Studios. THOU SHALL QUEUE. It is quite fair to say we spent most of the day queuing with little breaks to go on the rides. The ride itself was good but nothing special, the heat from the fires though was intense and it was damn bumpy in places. Back at the campsite, everyone went swimming except for Emily Tyler and me. We sat down and had a few beers and talked. Sometime after midnight four girls from another Trek group who were staying at the site dropped by to say hello. We talked a bit about each other's Treks' although they were only just starting theirs while we were coming towards the end of ours. For a group that had just met they had broken the ice very quickly and seemed to be getting along very well on the first night. They asked about our group and thought Emily and the rest of the girls were very lucky to have 10 blokes in their group, I thought it went without saying. Their group consisted of 8 girls and 2 blokes I think, wouldn't we all have hated that eh? We told them that everyone else was down at the pool, they thought it sounded like a good idea and so went to get changed and go down there. We strolled down to tell the others they were coming down. When they found out they were mostly women the sharks started to circle. There wasn't that much mingling between the groups for some reason, the odd remark was passed but that was about all. Someone mentioned about introducing them to the pleasures of water ball, or whatever you want to call it. You got the feeling it would or could, quite possibly turn into 'grope' ball. People started drifting of to bed after a while as nothing much seemed to be happening. We all finally made it to bed.


DAY TWELVE: Orlando to Key West.

Got up stupidly early again to go for a swim, this time though Tyler joined us as well. The swim woke me up and then we got on with packing up for the drive to Key West. We managed to get going at 9:00am and arrived at the shooting range in the Everglades at about 1:30pm. We ended up having lunch at an Indian reservation casino before going back to do some shooting. Tyler and those who didn't want to shoot went to do some shopping while we all played with the guns. Everyone had a great time although it was very hot. The shotguns had a satisfying pump action and the spent cartridge even popped out as it does in films. The shooting carried on for longer than expected and so we were later than leaving than Tyler expected but it work out for the best in the end. An accident on the road leading to Key West had blocked it for a large part of the day so we probably been stuck in traffic anyway. As we travelled down we stopped off for some beer, Tyler revoked the rules and let us drink in the bus and we had a little bit of a sing song as we went. Whether it could have actually been called singing was open to debate, 'noise' would probably be more accurate! We stopped on one of the bridges to watch the sunset over the sea. It was a beautiful sight although it went incredibly fast, you could actually see it sinking below the horizon.

We arrived in camp in the dark and so ended up setting up in the dark again, it wasn't too much of a problem. The campsite was cool; we had our own little pier next to what you could loosely call a beach complete with palm trees. After a quick pasta salad for dinner we got out the beers and got down to business. We got out the 'Beer Bong' and everybody had a go and funnelling some beer, which was a good laugh. Gary got steaming on a bottle of gin and was also helped along by some beer. He ended up on top of the van, very much the worse for wear and definitely not in complete control of all his facilities! After we got him down we were sat around having a good laugh, talking and drinking when the next thing we know the Sheriff arrived in camp! We were enjoying ourselves a bit too much and the people in the houses next to the campsite had complained. After that slightly nervous moment, we decided to move to the end of the pier away from the houses. It was nice and cool out by the water and we carried on where we had left of. At one point one of the campsite employees came to reprimand us about the noise again as we were keeping a French family awake. Gary and Dai tried to bribe him with beer but he declined and went on his way while we carried on. At some point I fell asleep and woke up to everyone laughing. Emily had fallen asleep and then fallen on me or something like that, I don't really know I was asleep! Luckily no one had a camera and so I just carried on drinking. 3:30am and we were still going. Someone had the brilliant idea of sleeping on the pier but I can't remember who it was. Not everyone was up for it but me, Karina, Patrick, Emily and Alexia decided to while everyone else chose their tents. Gary didn't really make a conscious choice, he just passed out on the pier instead! It was nice and cool out on the pier and everyone was asleep before they knew it, what a wonderful thing alcohol is.


DAY THIRTEEN: Key West.

We woke up to a glorious morning, the sun was shining across the water and the waves were gently lapping against the pier. It was a bit of a shock to wake up to see Bert standing over us with a camera taking some mandatory pictures of us sleeping on the pier, but not enough to actually make us get up! We finally got up about 8:00am as Tyler was cooking breakfast and it smelt good. After some delicious French toast (eggy bread to us common folk) our group was stuck with the washing up from the night before and breakfast. It was a bit of a nightmare and Gary 'conveniently' managed to disappear, we didn't actually notice until we'd almost finished and so decided that he could do the evenings washing up on his own.

We headed into Key West around mid-morning to have a look around. Some of the group had a look at the museum, which was meant to be really good, but we didn't all get the chance. We spent too long looking in the shops and wandering around, we had intended to go but spent too much time being tourists and buying presents and souvenirs. After that we took a trip to the 'Southern Most Continental Point of the United States of America'. We 'mugged' some poor bloke into taking a group photo for us, he ended up taking about 13 of them. After that we hit the BEACH! It was hot, the sun was shining, there was a cool breeze and we even had white sand. It was almost too good to be true, unfortunately the sea was a bit of a nightmare as it was very rocky and shallow but you can't have everything I suppose. After we'd messed around in the sea for a while we had lunch on the beach just relaxed for a bit. We had a game of volleyball although that's probably stretching the truth a bit. We tried to play a game of volleyball but we weren't very good, we had a good time though complete with theatrical diving as well. After an hour of that we'd had enough so cooled of with some cool fruit smoothes and had a bit of a sun bathe. Soon after that we headed back to camp to get changed and some dinner before going to watch the sunset. We ended up diving in the pool, it was too hot to do anything else! As we were getting some more beer for the evenings entertainment one of the pest control planes came soaring over. It can't have been more than 150ft above us and scared the shit out of me the first time it came over. I think we spent a bit too long in the pool as we ended up postponing dinner until after the sunset, unfortunately the barbecue was already lit and burning away quite happily.

We watched the sunset at a bar on the sea front that provided a picturesque view of the sun setting between two islands. Unfortunately the weather wasn't in on the act and cloud blocked out view of the sunset, at least we got to see it in all its splendour yesterday. After the sunset we stayed in Key West for a bit, some watched this street performer while others went and found a bar. We finally made it home at 9:30pm after stopping for some more charcoal and ice cream. We finally got to eat dinner an hour later we had some tasty kebabs and baked potatoes. After we'd finished we decided to leave the washing up again until the morning as it was too late to do anything about it then. We decided to just sit out on the pier and relax. Everyone was looking pretty tired and so it was somewhat subdued out on the pier compared to the normal ruckus. We were up talking until about midnight when everyone grabbed sleeping bags and crashed out the pier. It was a bit windy but it was bearable and it took some of the heat out of the air. Some people managed to stay up until about 1:30am but after that everyone was dead to the world.


DAY FOURTEEN: Key West to Miami.

We woke up around 7:00am to the sound of the waves lapping against the pier again. It wasn't quite as nice as the day before but it wasn't bad. The wind was a bit stronger so the waves were splashing against the side of the pier and we were getting a bit wet although it was only a bit of a spray. Those of us who were sleeping at the far end of the pier had a slightly ruder awakening. All I heard was Karina waking Gary and Dai up and then some colourful language. Apparently the water had gathered at that end of the pier as the waves had been splashing against the pier and they were all sleeping in about two inches of water! No one seemed to have slept well that night. Gary kept us awake with his snoring which was loud enough to be classed as noise pollution, Alexia was talking (and even arguing at one point) in her sleep and Emily almost ended up in the sea and so gave up and went back to the tent.

We had breakfast at this diner in Key West; we got there early and so ended up taking a walk around the block, which made everyone even hungrier. The food was really good, although I suspect anything would have tasted good, as we were so hungry. After we'd finished breakfast we headed back to camp and broke down all the tents and cleaned all the equipment. Everyone had their own little tasks to do so it didn't take that long. It was boiling hot during the morning and by the time we had finished most of us were stinking. We all piled into the pool to cool down and relax a bit. Tyler didn't mention a time for leaving but it was so hot that no one really wanted to leave the comfort of the pool, so we didn't. We played around a bit for a while and there were these two little kids messing around with water pistols as well who kept squirting people. We finally managed to drag ourselves from the pool and get ready to go to Miami. We left mid-afternoon and headed back across the Florida Keys stopping at a 'gas' station for some lunch. There was a Subway place there so we all piled in, the waitress was crap and unless you were one of the lucky few at the front of the queue you ended up waiting about 30 minutes for a sandwich. A group of kids turned up at one point and started playing clapping games and the already stressed waitress lost it completely! After lunch we stopped at another petrol station to clean the inside of the bus. We took all the seats out and the carpet, it was very hot and sweaty work to say the least and I longed for the hotel in Miami and a nice cool shower.

We arrived in Miami at around 6:30pm and time was getting on a bit. It took us another hour to find Steve and Helens' hotel, at one point Tyler almost got us all killed going the wrong way up a one way dual carriageway. I suppose he was lucky we had filled in the questionnaires about the Trek and his performance at breakfast! Patrick's was unhooking the bungee cord to get Steve and Helen's stuff down and making some very strange faces. Our attempts to capture this on film where a complete disaster, he either moved or I left the shutter closed! We finally arrived at the Best Western (our hotel) and unpacked the van for the last time; no one was too cut up about that.

After a shower and change we all met in Gareth's room at around 8:45pm to finish off our left over beer. Dai the last to get ready, although that wasn't really that much of a surprise. When everyone was ready we walked up the street to this little Jewish restaurant which was quite nice. The food was in monster portions and was really good; unfortunately a few of us spent most of the meal waiting for their food to arrive and even then didn't get exactly what they ordered. After the food we stopped off at the Kwiky Mart for the nights beer supply. As soon as we arrived back at the hotel Steve and Helen decided to head back to their hotel to get some sleep before their flight. It was sad to see them go and kind of put a bit of a damper on things. After they had all gone we headed back up to Gareth's room to see to those beers we had bought. We played some drinking games for a bit (BIG-titty cowgirl!!) for a while but our hearts weren't really in it. Instead we ended up just sitting around drinking and chatting, it was quite relaxing and a few people even started to nod off. Alexia started to get a bit dru…, I mean 'funny', and everyone started to wake up so things picked up a bit. Just as we were all getting back into it Tyler went, it kind of knocked the wind back out of us. We decided to go down to the beach chill out by the sea, although we decided that there would definitely be no swimming this time. It was perfect down on the beach; there was a nice breeze making the heat bearable, the surf was crashing against the beach, you could even see some stars. To top it all off there was even thunder and lightning visible on the horizon. A couple of us headed south down the beach, it must have been miles long and stretched as far as we could see so we gave up and headed back towards the others. We lounged around on the sun beds until the storm on the horizon started to get ominously closer, it seemed a good idea to go back inside at that point. We sat around for ages talking and messing around. At one point Alexia started to drift off so we dripped some beer on her to wake her up, she wasn't impressed!

Slowly but surely everyone started drifting off to bed, we were all getting tired and after saying goodbye to a few of us I think everyone was a little to down to stay up much longer. That is of course except for Alexia, Karina, Dai and Gary who stayed up to watch the sun rise at 6:30am. I think Dai told me that one of them fell asleep and missed it, if you're curious you'll have to ask them about it. But then again there were clouds covering the horizon and so there was very little to see! C'est la vie.

And that was our Trek. I think it's more than fair to say that everyone enjoyed themselves and if it's not tough. It was an excellent two weeks and easily a highlight of my life to date. I don't know whether it was just the fact that it was America or whether it was the company (I think it was a combination of the two) but I'd gladly spend the money to do it all over again. I'd like to thank you all for a great time and I hope we all get to meet up again some time…I believe I heard someone mention something about 'gay Paris', why don't we see what we can do…….

To be continued?!


PICS: Washington


PICS: Kingsport


PICS: Smokey Mountains


PICS: Birmingham


PICS: New Orleans


PICS: Panama City Beach


PICS: Orlando


PICS: Keywest


PICS: Miami


Download the journal...
Here you can download the nine parts of the journal as *.DOC-files...

   [ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 ]



Contacting Members
I won't give the adresses of the Trek America members at this site, if you lost the adress of one (or more) of them please email me...

	© 1999 ZeRoZ