Louise

*dies laughing* "JURASSIC PARKING!!" .... Bahahahahaha!!!!!

SSSHHHHHHH!!! Damn it, you guys are supposed to support me, not out me!!!

Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood A small group of us headed off to Magic Mountain the next morning... I was endlessly amused by the ticking clock and then the "Celebrate good times COME ON!!!" song at the entrance. I was far less amused by having to run up a giant hill to get to X. I was even less amused than that when I found out that everybody else was all "meh" about X, and even MORE "meh" about running up the hill, so only Guy and I were doing the trek, and I was less amused than I've ever been in my entire life when I remembered that Guy is built like a gorilla with giant arms and legs, and could take strides four times as big as mine. We FINALLY made it!! And thanks to the stupidity of much of California's population ( LOL), we were on the second train out of our side! I liked X!! Aggressive but fun. Kinda how I felt about Eejanaika. The last ten seconds of both rides was kinda unpleasant compared to the rest. I felt so guilty that Guy lost his glasses on this one though. I'm three for three with the Deja Vus (and I'll never get the fourth)! This one was actually pretty good fun. And we managed to get to it before it opened, so not too much waiting around. All in all we really did attack this park, ridiculous number of coasters done in like three and a half hours, and that was with several stops for us to rehydrate and stuff, as the heat was killing several of us... Mainly me as usual. Annoying!! I don't remember which attraction I took this picture at... To be fair though, I have a feeling whatever it was DID actually open at some point, because I don't think I took this at Goliath. Riddler's is so pretty! I really liked this ride. It seems like every stand-up I've ridden I've preferred to the previous, and this one was excellent. Fujin Raijin in Japan had that AMAZING bit of airtime that was like nothing else ever, but as an overall ride I think I liked Riddler's a little better, it just needs airtime like that. Hell, every ride needs airtime like that! A typically Californian horizon through Scream! It seems that my opinion of many of SFMM's coasters was "fun but meh", I liked a whole bunch of them, but was extremely apathetic about this whole day... The park was far better than I expected it to be, but there was nothing about it that really excited me or made me want to stay there. I was happy that we got through (almost) everything in half a day, because I honestly think a full day would have depressed me, despite having fun on a lot of the rides. I was gonna zoom in and crop this but iPhoto is playing up and I can't be bothered waiting. Stupid Goliath. I blame Jahan!!!!! Let's see.... Batman I don't remember, Canyon Blaster was fun for a kiddie, and I was damn impressed that the park sold fresh fruit nearby ("hey Jim, hold my apple!"), Colossus needs to be burned to the ground (and if any of you feel like trying to recover my left nipple from somewhere underneath the track, please do), I *think* I liked Gold Rusher but I also think I may be confusing it with something else(!) (LOL at my apathy towards this day), the Free Fall was like being killed from the inside outwards, I didn't get to ride Goliath or Viper... I don't remember liking Ninja or Revolution much at *all*, and we did Superman early in the day and I loved it, totally energised me. Oh, and seeing Jahan in his uniform at Log Jammer entertained me greatly. I resisted the urge to embarrass him at work. There were really only five coasters at the park I wanted to ride, Tatsu being close to the top of the list... So it finally opens, and we finally head up there, and then when we're about six feet away, it breaks down. Joy. Now I forget who told us what, but I know we started to walk away and I think were told by different people "we don't know how long", and "it'll be back up again pretty soon"... Anyway, long story short, we did eventually make it onto the ride, and I liked it!! I definitely think I preferred Great America's Superman in some respects, but all in all I had no real complaints. Much fun, and I felt it was a needed addition to the park. Hector shows off his ass. Oh, and the UK trip t-shirt he won at the party the previous night! We picked up Jahan (who had just finished his shift), and then headed over to In & Out burger for lunch before driving down to Universal. In & Out was goooood, I liked their burgers almost as much as I like Steak N Shake's! Guy certainly looks happy to be there. And this was his response to me telling him he looked too normal in the previous picture, LOL!! I always loved Florida's Universal parks (and later in this trip fell in love with Japan's), but for whatever reason I was totally anticlimaxed (so not a word) by Hollywood's. We had front of the line passes (because Joey is a God amongst men, even though he was too sick to join us that day ), which were awesome and allowed us to get through the park quickly, but... I didn't hate or even dislike the place. I don't know whether it was the mood I was in or what, but I was just pretty bored by it. Thank God I had such great company. I think, and I had said this to Jahan the night before, that after the party on Saturday night, all my brain power was going into looking forward to Disney on Monday and Tuesday, and I was basically just willing Sunday to pass, I think. So really, my heart wasn't in it. I think I should attempt to go back to Universal at some point but NOT the day before I do Disneyland, as apparently this changes my view of things! I took exactly six pictures at this park, but somehow four of them (including my Kong picture) have disappeared from my camera and picture files!! I don't know whether I accidentally deleted them in multi-delete mode or something... There isn't an awful lot that's memorable about this park though. Except for the exploding lighter. The tram tour was actually fun (our guide was kinda odd though) but it needs to be about a year shorter. I'm pretty sure the people behind us hated me as I giggled uncontrollably through much of it, which is what you get if you sit next to Wes's sarcasm... And Wes. I made the group right Back To The Future which they weren't impressed with, but I needed the nostalgia!! It sucked more than I remembered. I thought the Mummy was okay, though I was told by the rest of the group that that's because I haven't ridden Florida's yet. I had no real issues with it except that it somehow wasn't as "much" as I was expecting, which was possibly explained by Chris shouting "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?!" at the end of the ride. He didn't like the new ending I don't think. I did really well in the walk-through House of Horrors... Until the very end. Stupid Chris was all "there are no knives, you'll be fine!!". Lying bastard, I was scared sh!tless. Ah well, at least I missed Chucky or whoever it was who had a knife halfway through, I happened to not be looking at that. Jurassic Park was awesome as ever, though my memory is fucking up and I'm having trouble distinguishing Hollywood's and Osaka's versions. Was it at this one where T-Rex-with-tiny-useless-arms froze before we dropped?? Slightly less menacing, I gotta say!! Backdraft was pretty cool too! Could've done without quite so much pre-show, and as fabulousy chatty as the guy working the ride was (he studied in the UK!), Chris managed to creep me out about him, so that somewhat damaged my experience... Stupid Chris!!! I was definitely impressed with the fire, though I think far less so than I would have been had I not ridden Templo del Fuego at Port Aventura. Anyway, here is one of the two pictures I have remaining. Taken from the upper lot, after running up the stairs... I nearly killed my lungs and myself, but it was worth it to not have to stand still listening to trivia questions concerning the Friends theme tune!!! Overall, not a great day, but not a bad one either. And the company was unbeatable, so I had a lot of fun anyhow. This night and the next I was staying with Chris and his family, so I said a couple of goodbyes and then off we went. After meeting his parents (who are the nicest most welcoming people I've ever met) we headed out to Denny's to meet Guy, Jahan and Jimmy (who were holed up in a hotel down the street) for a late dinner, and Chuck and Dane (who I hadn't met before) came down too. Having eaten way too many pancakes and hash browns and watched some of the "kids" (Guy and I were parents for the evening ) argue over the bill, we left for an early-ish night, as we had an early start to go to Disney the next morning, YAY!! Sorry this instalment was more than slightly apathetic... Disney will put me back on form, believe me.

LOL at this whole PTR, so awesome!!! Makes me wish I actually remembered to take my camera with me (and, well, use it) every day on trips, but hell, who needs to when you have friends like Hector who take better pictures of you that you can leech!! Thanks for telling the "Lou thought the window was possessed" story... I'm not even sure what I thought was happening, but at least you didn't tell the "Lou almost got killed by a cyclist and it was all Robb's fault!" story!! Can't wait for more Hector, I'm loving it!! Oh, and this picture/caption combination cracked me up!

That video just made me want to do a Lou Loses 30lbs in 30 days report. That was NOT a flattering angle to film from. But the footage was funny (Jim and the beetle, LOL!!!!!) so I'll forgive you!! =P

^ THANK YOU!!! Oh my GOD that was driving me mad, there was just this big blank spot!!

I don't know many 10 year olds and under who are interested in AAA Three Diamond dining. IMO, I'd go with 14+. Anyone younger need not apply. Agreed. As Elissa stated earlier, as quiet and well-behaved as Kristen is and will no doubt continue to be, Elissa has no desire to take her someplace like this. I can't imagine I ever would either. Have you seen the menu for this place?!?! Who takes their kids someplace where there's a smart dress code and where $200 caviar and $100 steaks are served? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't dream of taking my kids someplace like that no matter how well behaved. Even if they actually ate stuff on the menu, I would assume that other diners in a place like that wouldn't want my children around even on the off-chance that they might act up or be loud. Some places are just meant to be child-free. Disney is one of them.

Not-Too-Ghetto Fair and about three pictures from the Party! So the next morning despite very little sleep and waking up lying on completely flat air mattresses (we are such fat bastards) we all got up pretty early and a few of us headed over to a local coffee place for coffee and to pick up a couple of things on the way back. An iced chocolate drink and an oatmeal and raisin cookie... Damn good breakfast! I love that Jimmy looks drunk even at 8am... Though to be fair, it's Jim, he might actually BE drunk at 8am. The rest of the group for the morning met us at Hotel Alvey (which by the way gets 5 stars and comes complete with cute baby) and we piled into cars and headed out... ...Obviously stopping for caffeine, snacks, and FROZEN COKES on the way. We were going to the Antelope Valley Fair, which I wrote earlier was in Palmdale, but I just checked and was actually in Lancaster. Did I just pull Palmdale out of my arse or did we at least drive through there or something?? After getting out of the car and borrowing sunscreen (as Wes pointed out to me, I was already looking burned and I'd been out in the sun for exactly 46 seconds by this point), we headed in.... It was really nowhere near as ghetto as I had expected, though they did have a lot of those "world's smallest horse", "world's biggest gator", "world's biggest pig" exhibits, and some slightly frightening rides, which are integral to ghetto fairs, really. I'm slightly fuzzy on what we rode... WOW it was hot. Seriously, the thing I remember most from the day was going to a stall to buy a giant Sprite (though I ended up trying some other soda which was the most disgusting thing I'd ever tasted) and talking to the vendors who were asking me where I was from, and saying they bet I missed the weather back home. That day I really did. There was a scary-ass mouse coaster with an op who only charged some of us and charged others different numbers of tickets, and I seem to remember them only checking some restraints too... I was somewhat surprised that we survived this coaster! They had some somewhat decent stuff... The Falling Star was fun, the Spinning Dragons desperately needed air-conditioning, and Chris and I rode the Zipper of death (I'd never ridden one before) and almost died when his keys flew out of his pocket and tried to impale me. They also had REALLY good corndogs. Mmmmm. Kyle, Carl, Jimmy and Hector... So beautiful isn't it. Hector looks like an alien, what kind of tulip has antennae?!?!?! On the Tilt-A-Whirl! I'm so pink! I was convinced I was burnt but a lot of it was just the heat... I could never live in the desert. And I'm so sorry I cut Kyle out. .... Actually, I'm not sorry at all!! Check out the reflection in his glasses!! Hector is "helping" me take the picture by turning the camera towards him and cutting Kyle out!! *gasp* We had watched the ride a couple of times and it looked pretty good, so we used the last of our tickets... And it was LAME!! Then we realised the op was just trying to figure out the speed at which we could spin the most... THEN it got better. And we got a really long cycle too! I loved the sequinned disco backdrop in the cars!! Back at Robb and Elissa's, Robb and I took a rather graphic picture up Guy's shorts which I don't think needs to be posted but I felt that story needed sharing. They'd invited a few people over for food and Wii so we starting trekking over to the clubhouse with supplies... Pretty artwork! "I'm in a kitchen.... What the hell do I do now?!?!" "That's right, I take beer out of boxes!!!" My contribution to setting up involved carrying wire around my neck and taking annoying photographs. Gotta love what the heat does to my hair. I need to get that straightening thing done that Wes should totally promote. I didn't take many pictures this evening, I was too busy yelling at Robb over trivia questions, eating too much unhealthy food, and taking advantage of being on the same side of the planet as a bunch of my friends for once, but I did get this great shot of Robb doing.... God knows what. Notice Jeff's sign doesn't say "Exit ONLY"... Later on, Chris and Jim decided to play with fire... Wait, no, that's not right. Ice. They decided to play with ice. Ice. Baby. After Chris got burned, he switched to using tongs... "DRY ICE, COLD!!!!" I never knew dry ice fumes were hallucinogenic. At least, I hope they are. If not, these guys really have NO excuse... I love that so many of Chris's poses match his noises: They're all extremely dinosaur-like. I won't go into the story of what happened with the rest of the dry ice... But I will say that I had nothing to do with it. Boys. The next day it was time for the two best parks of my trip! SFMM and Universal!!

^ Give me an hour or two! I have a great one of you pretending to be a flower...

^^ It freaking cracks me up that in 23 pages that's all you've needed to comment on, I love it! ^ Ugh, Indiana Beach SUCKS for that. Changing opening hours is just not acceptable when I have a Panther date!

^^ It's hard to even describe it as a park really, there isn't that much to do!! It has a nice setting and a relaxed atmosphere though, and the breeze off the water is nice. It was also cool for me to see it as it's been featured in like every movie and tv show ever. I didn't even realise it was "the place from the movies" until Robb told me on the way there. I think if somebody were to go expecting a park, they'd be disappointed. If they were just expecting a nice-ish pier with a pretty view and a few rides, they'd love it. It's allllll about expectations. ^ LOL!!! Thanks. It seems like throughout the trip my pictures got more extreme: they were either much much better or much much worse. I think the new camera makes some of my crappy shots into good ones!!

Arriving in California!! Friday morning, I left Chicago, and after another horrific flight (actually, this one was the flight with the aerophobics, the Manchester to Chicago flight was the one with the horrendous turbulence that meant people were being sick and spilling drinks, if they ever got a drink, but anyway....) I landed at the joy that is LAX. My first shock was getting to baggage claim to find that the carousels were next to an exterior door where people could just walk in, grab my case and leave... I'm not security obsessed or anything, but this seemed odd to me. Anyway, Robb picked me up, we stood and were harrassed by crazy people for a while, and then we made the 80-minute 9-mile (gotta love LA traffic) drive to Santa Monica Pier, where there were a few friends old and new for me to meet!! Yay, a beach!!! It upsets me that some of the West Coasters don't find a lot of the California sights beautiful. I was fascinated by all of it, and loved everything. I guess it's always the way when you live someplace though, you never see it the same way as first-time visitors do. Apparently this is how the beach looked in 1950-something... New ocean for me!! Had never been within a thousand miles of the Pacific before. The group who were already there when we arrived... From left to right Carl (ImVBallGuy), Lindsay, Jon (DegoRed), John (CreativeForce), Jimmy (JimmyBo), me, and Kyle (RaptorBoyASU). And with the rest of the gang... Hector, Guy, Dan and Joey. Why is it that the initial picture was all normal and smiley, and then Guy arrives and all hell breaks loose? (Love you Guy!) We bought wristbands as it was the cheapest way to get our ride on. Robb fashioned the little sticky peel off bits into nipples for me. Such generosity. I figured I'd better return the favour and give him some nipples back... This picture disturbs me greatly. It had been all of 7 weeks since I'd seen Hector... We hadn't forgotten how to pose. View from the Ferris Wheel. This is such a horrible picture of almost all of us, but I love it so I'm including it anyway, it makes me laugh. I'm just sad I didn't capture Jimmy's pole-dancing skills... We tipped him. This picture seemed like a good idea... Until I blinded myself. The guys in the other car. Only Joey looked at me, the rest ignored me and looked at Robb. And Joey's reflective glasses ruined my shot anyway! I loved the clouds in California. I don't know whether it's the pollution or what but they always looked awesome at this time of day. The silly boys went and bumped each other for a while... Guy and I sat this one out. I have an aversion to pain, but it was fun watching them. I think that poor woman and her child were the only non-TPR crew on the cycle!! I love how Carl appears to be cheating and pushing John's car away!! Peach sky. I must say, I'm actually rather proud of this picture, it came out (for once) exactly as I wanted it. That was taken as we went up to ride the coaster for the second time... It was actually pretty fun, definitely a nice pop of airtime in the back as you come back into the station, that was a nice surprise!! Listening to Hector scream for as long as possible can always entertain me anyway. I'm sure we rode something else too, but all I remember is the ferris wheel and the Scrambler, which I rode with (I think) Joey and Robb, sitting between them... And I almost died. I also think I further injured my elbow which was still pretty sore from Indy Beach. Anyway, it was damn funny. Before we all drove off, we grabbed a coffee (the girl behind the counter spelled my name "Luis", which I am endlessly amused by, me not being Mexican and all), and walked out to this. This is what LA traffic looks like in the dark through the eyes of a REALLY poor photographer. I actually kinda like it!! That evening, 17 of us had dinner at a really cool Italian place which had this Lazy Susan with the Pope on it... In the Pope room... Which for those of you who haven't seen it in previous pictures, is basically a little circular room with a Sistine Chapel ceiling, with pictures of the Pope and Catholic artefacts ALL over the walls. And the Pope in the middle of the table. People kept spinning him to face me because he creeped me out. Looks like he should have laser beams for eyes. Oh, and if the actual Pope could hear our conversations in that room??? I think we're all going straight to hell. I wish I'd taken more pictures at dinner, but a few people I hadn't met before had joined us, Jahan and Mike and Wes and maybe one or two others, and I was having too much fun to take pictures. Wes and Robb talking via the domed echoing ceiling was a highlight, as was any part of the conversation we had with the hot waitresses. We also all ate a whole ton. Robb ordered for like 30 people..... ...which is why Dan ended up taking home all these leftovers. Honestly, I'd forgotten just how much fun this first day was until I wrote this. I laughed so hard at dinner!! Robb and Elissa were very kindly playing host and hostess to myself, Guy, Hector and Jimmy, and despite having a spare futon, the four of us all ended up crashing out on the floor (well, on air mattresses, but with our weight they deflated within an hour) just having stupid and funny conversations until about 4am. Five days into a 38 day trip and I was already sleep deprived but it was sooo worth it. Next morning, a fair in the 4,000,000 degree desert!

^ I'd completely forgotten about that evening temporarily until you posted a picture from it on the Europe board and then I went through these for here. We need to make Frank come on the Europe trip, if nothing else for the fact that I think he has the most contagious infectious hysterical laugh of anybody I've ever met.

Wow, Jahan loves Matt more than he loves me. And he posts this in my own trip report thread! You cut me deep, Jahan. Way to kick me when I'm down, add insult to injury, pour salt in the wound. Men are pigs. If anybody needs me I'll be sobbing in a corner and trying to make sense of my California photos whilst deleting any that have Jahan in them.

^ It makes me quite happy that somebody (and even happier that it was Jahan) picked up on the actual point of the photograph. Yes I am THAT immature.

I've just updated the original post with a list of links to each update so people can find things if they want to. Oh, and Rich, LOL!!!

^ I know, it made me so sad too!! In an ideal world, nobody I want to hang out with should have a job. Stupid careers only interfere with having fun in many cases.

^ Very true. I believe I mentioned that in my last update. (Love ya Matt!) My Fourth Day "In Chicago": Indiana Beach!! After the world's longest day (in a good way!) on the Wednesday, Thursday had been dedicated to getting me a new state credit and heading over to Indiana Beach! Moo and Oink. Moose and Squirrel. The first half of the journey pretty much looked like this. That is a huge pile of salt. YES, new state!!!!! Supposedly there's more than corn in Indiana, but the second half of the journey looked entirely like this, so I'm not convinced! Yeah yeah, everybody takes this picture, and apparently I'm just another photographic sheep! The approach to this park is all so photogenic, especially on a beautiful day like this one. Almost as uncomfortably hot as the previous day (though not quite, plus today we had misters... And we weren't just letting them mist us, we were staying in there until we were soaked), but beautiful to look at. We met up with Paul inside the entrance, and went over to the Falling Star... So good!! This park really runs its flats well. Being kinda pathetically weak though, I ended up *slamming* from side to side, and had a huuuuuuge ugly bruise on my elbow for the next week. We also went over and rode the Scrambler.... I felt soooo sorry for the ride-op who was running both it and also whatever was next to it... Paratrooper, maybe? He was running back and forth like a madman, pouring with sweat, I was frightened the guy was gonna pass out! First coaster of the day... Lost Coaster. Oh my God this thing was awesome. Look, photographic proof!! My first ride, the gits obviously made me ride backwards, and I ended up sitting on the floor. Second ride later on after Scott had joined us, and I faced forwards. I love that feeling of uncontrollability and how aggressive it is on the corners. I laughed. Vile as this picture is, I include it because it was my first corndog of the trip, and oh my GOD was I happy to have one! I freaking love corndogs and never see them here. The fact that in the US and Asia I was able to get them pretty much whenever I wanted for like five weeks was heaven!!! Oh, and right after this I believe I kicked Paul's ass in the shooting dark ride. These fish were cannibalistic and terrifying. I wanna make a comment about Cameron biting Paul's sausage but I can't bring myself to do it. Wait, I guess I kinda just did... Oh well. I've been slated by some people for saying this, but I really *really* liked Hoosier Hurricane!! Don't get me wrong, once I'd ridden Cornball I thought that was FAR superior, but Hurricane still stands up for me. Though I suppose you should bear in mind that I've only ridden like 30 woodies and I've only actually liked about 8 of them. Wooden coasters need to be "fun" for me, and this one definitely is, and I'm also a big fan of coasters who have that whole package, cool views etc, and seeing the water through the track on Hurricane was a definite plus. But, as I say, Cornball blew it out of the water, so to speak. Definitely right up near the top of my list, behind only a few! I can't say too much about Fascination (I mean I could, but I won't).... Except that it's the most addictive game in history and I could have sat and played it all day. Seriously, I'd almost rather play that than ride a coaster! Every park on the planet needs to have this game. At some point around here, Cameron pointed out we were due to go and meet Scott (Scaparri)... My watch was still on Chicago time, so I was thinking we had another hour. Scott was pretty much the first TPR member I ever had any contact with back in 2005 or 1976 or something so it was great to finally meet. The park's Double Shot was fantastic, I loved it. Airtime + view over the water = happy Lou!! And the guys operating the ride were awesome. That dinosaur simulator that appears in a lot of places... But Indy Beach's is special because a) the staff actually seem to care and have loads of contingency plans for if you get sick, and b) it's in a little heated box instead of a theatre. I do love this picture though. As for the two steel coasters... Also good!! I seriously don't think there was anything in this park I didn't love. Galaxi was fun, though not as memorable as the other four coasters at the park, and Tig'rr was great, even though I had to promise the boys to never reveal our seating arrangements. I adore that feeling that you might die at every turn. On the ferris wheel, Scott takes a picture of me taking a picture of Scott taking a picture of me taking a picture of Scott taking a picture of me taking a picture of Scott..... I love how CRAMMED this park is. So full of stuff, in such a great way! Cameron looks kinda buzzed here! Being near open water is like crack to me. I'm not a big swimmer or anything, I just love to be close to it. One of my favourite things about the park was some of the rides being actually OVER it too. Cameron joked with me about wanting to live in one of the houses on the water, and I'm totally intending to buy one for him (and another one for me!) if I ever win the Lotto. I am constantly amazed by my own photography skills. The timing, the framing.... David Bailey eat your heart out. Taking the skyride back up to the other end of the park. Paul and Cameron... Awwwww. And Scott and I. I don't think I've ever looked so hot. By which I mean hot in regards to temperature, obviously, as in the other respect I don't think I've ever looked more like a sweating curly-haired freak. Mmmmm, track. (And this is as geeky as you'll get from me.) My Dad was confused by the park being called Indiana BEACH, so I took this picture to prove a point. I was actually somewhat jealous of the people in bikinis cooling off in the water jets. After some more games of Fascination, we headed back down to ride the Himalaya... All the flats down this end of the park were playing great British music, which entertained me but I thought was kinda odd. Keane, Amy Winehouse... It was surreal!!! Cameron decided to sit this one out and laugh at Paul getting crushed. He apparently entertained himself by drinking Powerade (or maybe Windex?) and using my camera to photograph his tongue. Paul still looks *fairly* comfortable at this point... Not so comfy now... I'm trying so hard to not let him die!!! At this point it looks like I was laughing to hard to even try, LOL! Poor Paul. It makes me sad that this is probably the nicest picture ever taken on my camera... And it was taken by Cameron. So pretty!! CHAIROPLANE!!!! Apparently putting the giant shades on made me feel less straggly and more posey!! Oh my God, in some respects this place couldn't be any more like Blackpool if it tried. I won't bother saying who this sign made me think of... Paul's car does good charity work!! I said a sad goodbye to Paul and Scott, and then Cameron and I headed back to Chicago. Craig had invited us over for dinner so we were stopping there before going back to Cameron's for me to pack... The skies were cloudy at this point, but it didn't look too bad... Listening to Cake's Comfort Eagle ("He is calling you DUDE!!!"), Cameron and I had to stoop down to an ooooooold and dead joke just one last time. A little more ominous... And then the rain starts. Bear in mind that the pictures from this point were all taken over a pretty short period! Sky getting darker... At this point my camera and I start failing at life. Sky getting scarier... I started filming on and off around this time. If I can be bothered (and figure out how... ) I might try and cut down my footage and post it, the rain is so loud!! Later on, it looked like we were driving into the apocalypse. And then suddenly it was black!! This was some of the heaviest rain I'd ever seen by the way, and I live in what is pretty much the rain capital of Europe, and have spent enough time in Florida storms in hurricane season to not be frightened too much by this stuff. But this was damn heavy! Thank God I trust Cameron's car and his driving skills or I would've been terrified! So many people pulling over, and the lightning was so bright that the streetlights were thinking it was daytime. When we reached Craig's neighbourhood, there were trees and stuff all over the road, and Craig and his buddy Frank had gone out to pick up the pizza. This is what it looked like within five minutes of their return. Biggest pizza I ever saw, too! "Craig, that's a great picture of your chins!" *Frank dies laughing* This was about twenty seconds before Casey made Cameron pour half a bottle of water all over himself. On the way back to Cameron's I figured out how to make my crappy photography skills and useless camera take cool abstract shots. Ooooooh!! Again, taken by Cameron. *sigh* Makes me think of Peter Pan. The next morning, Cameron drove me to the airport... With no traffic lights, as they were all down from the rain!! I was excited to get to California, but so sad to leave!! Cameron, I can't thank you enough for giving me a place to stay and driving me around and being the world's best and most accommodating host! Seriously, I owe you bigtime!! And thanks to Paul and Matt and Scott and Craig and Frank too!!! I had such an amazing time. Up next, Lou arrives in California!!

Did I make a lot of mistakes??? I'm so confused as to why that song!!! Oh, and ^ LOL!!

^^ Nicole beat me to it, but yeah, if you live with it it's easy. When I was in California there was a night when it dropped to like 50 or something and I was still happily walking around in a tank top enjoying the warmth while Jahan was sitting there shivering in a hoodie!! People are natural adaptors, we acclimatise to our environment. ^ Dude, the turtles at the aquarium were awesome!! I think I actually have turtle video somewhere... I KNOW I have otter video!

Thanks for the comments as always guys. Anybody who hasn't been to Chicago must go immediately, it's seriously one of my favourite cities. I was lucky enough to go to a bunch of amazing places this year, a few of which stand out more than others, each for a different reason. Chicago is definitely near the top of the list, I just adored the atmosphere and the culture and architecture. Craig, in one picture I'm obviously, erm, readjusting my bra (and why do you look so emo and serious in that shot?!?!), and in another shot I'm in pain! I have no idea why Cameron is "helping", LOL! Divv, glad my pictures brought back some memories! Did you go to Chicago before/after the Midwest trip?? Nicole, glad somebody else noticed the prison, that cracked me up! Matt, it was ridiculously hot... But after a day in Palmdale and several weeks in ridiculous heat and humidity in Asia... Seriously, it pales in comparison. I'm still amazed that I never passed out on this trip, and that I was only ill once! I don't deal well with heat, generally speaking. Chrissie, you have no reason to be jealous, you spent three months working at Walt Disney World this year!! I'm jealous of *you*! I can't sleep, so Indy Beach is probably coming up pretty shortly!

I love this!! I tend to like most of my friends' kids, but strangers' kids I have really low tolerance with, and as stupid as it sounds, even at Disney I'm not a huge fan of being surrounded by them! I love seeing their little faces light up when they meet Mickey, and as long as their parents actually have parenting skills, being around them in the parks is generally fine, but if I was spending a week or even three or four days at a Disney resort I would totally appreciate being able to have a meal in a safe haven which is completely child-free. Having said that though, as others have mentioned, there are other restaurants in all the resorts where there are very few kids just because the menu and atmosphere doesn't cater to them. I don't remember seeing any kids in the Blue Bayou when I was in California, or in either of the more upmarket restaurants I ate at in Tokyo's Resort. Who has children who eat Shrimp Gumbo or a Monte Cristo in that big a portion?! Way to go Disney, they might just have confirmed my reservation when I get back there in.... ten years.

WARNING!!! -- Many many pictures, so this page may take a little while to load.... Having arrived on the Monday and hit SFGAm on the Tuesday, Cameron and I in our many scheduling conversations had dedicated Wednesday to being tourists. My dad spent a lot of time working in Chicago when I was little, and I had once visited friends in the outskirts when I was pretty young, but I remembered nothing of my visit (only the airport from various layovers) and only had my Dad's many stories to go off. Basically, Cameron being the awesomeness that he is (he's gonna get so much praise in this report), I sent him a massive list of things I was interested in doing, and he figured out what we had time to do, what was worth doing, added bits, scrapped bits, and generally figured it all out for me. I'd pay for service like that! So, after breakfast, Matt and Paul drove over, and the four of us headed over to the El train, which I was extremely excited about a) because I love trains, and b) because I'm a *huge* ER fan. By the end of the day I was cursing the speed (or rather lack thereof) of the damn things, but it was still a fun experience. Whoo, Wrigley Field! Didn't get to see a game, but maybe next time. Random road shot from the train. We got off the train, coming out from underground, right onto a busy street, which I *loved*. None of this knowing-what's-coming crap. Walked a few blocks with the two locals pointing out buildings and sights to Paul and I. Paul took some touristy pictures but for the most part I was too busy chilling out and taking in the city (I love cities) to bother, until we reached... The Sears Tower!! I was so pleased to be here, I love skyscrapers, love cities, love observation towers, love impressive views... Not such a fan of the educational pre-show, but okay, I'll deal with it. We walked past a little way before actually heading inside... This would have been a much better shot except that the human race was irritating me, and it was too hot, and I have the patience of a bear with a migraine. No idea what this building is, but I really like this picture for some reason. In the "elevator" on the way up to the ticket office in the Sears Tower. This picture makes me laugh because I always wonder "how did I take the photo?!", and then realise that one of those hands isn't mine! I have literally like fifty pictures taken from the observation floor, but I'll try not to post too many. General overview from one side... I love coastlines from a great height. Ginormous roads and buildings look so teeny from up here! Awwww, the other skyscrapers are so little!! You can see miles into the distance, would be even further if the air was clearer. The John Hancock building stands well above most of the others, but still far beneath the Sears. LOL at how much I'm being to sound like the informational video pre-show which REALLY struggled with the fact that the Tower is no longer a record-breaker. I thought this building was really amazingly gorgeous looking.... The triangular one I mean. Turns out it's a prison! Check out the inmates playing football or something on the roof. Cool sculpture I would've liked to have seen but we weren't walking that direction. Cameron's finger was pointing out.... I don't know what. Mmmmmmm, Harrison Ford. In the elevator going back down... Our reflections, plus some of our bird guides. The boys made me re-take this in the street (the first one had fellow pedestrians in the frame) right before the cars started moving... I was scared!! It isn't dead centre but I like it anyway. In the blinding heat, we headed over to Grant Park. More city views on the way. Paul was hot too. And half-blinded, apparently. Buckingham Fountain... "in full spurt". Me and Cameron striking a pose. This is a useless angle for a picture, but I loved the details on the fountain. Matt's all "I'm a local and can't even deal with the heat! Yeah, I'm pretty much a p*ssy". I love the sight of cityscape behind park. No idea what Paul is doing.... Landing, I think. I think it was around this point that I decided I wanted to live in Chicago. It's seriously one of only a couple of cities I've been to where I've felt like that. Sooooo pretty!! I'm a giant aquarium enthusiast so we just HAD to head over to the Shedd Aquarium, seeing as it is (or at least was) the biggest indoor aquarium in the world. The turtles on the lobby ceiling made me think of Derek! And here's the real version!! I dragged the boys into a 4D movie because it sounded like it was gonna be good... We were a dolphin!!!! Unfortunately, not only was it crap, but it also came as a double feature with Spongebob Squarepants, which I think all four of us despised. I felt bad for making other human beings sit through that.... On the plus side, there were bubbles! And they weren't poisoned Six Flags bubbles either, they were clean and safe bubbles!! Considering they were about to watch a Spongebob Movie and some crappy dolphin show, they look pretty upbeat!! Haha, slurp chomp and gulp. From an educational video. Finding Nemo was a great movie, but has a lot to answer for. My camera has some weird modes which make me seem to get lucky with great shots sometimes. This one is rather funky. This one didn't come out so well, but still a cool creature. Waiting for the dolphin show. "Is it a myth that this show runs about ten minutes too long?" Cool glowing jellyfish. *bounce* I found Nemo! He's blurry, but it's *definitely* him! I have no caption for this. Shortly before we left the aquarium, Matt had to leave us as he was heading off on a business trip the next day. Thank you so much for hanging out with us Matt, it was so great to finally meet you!! After leaving the aquarium, we grabbed an ice cream (after spending several hours in air-conditioned heaven, going outside was torturous!) and walked along the water to Millennium Park. Bunnies!!! All the art and sculpture and architecture is VERY f*cking cool, I loved this place. Everywhere you turned there was something cool with an awesome backdrop. More coolness. I sooooo wanted to go and jump on this stage! Further along in the park we found these incredible sculptures/fountains. They're made out of glass bricks, with giant video screens behind them. Water pours down the glass bricks, and every once in a while the face behind the glass will smile and then pout and pour vast amounts of water out of their mouth all over the waiting kids. It's really cool, and not only is it a brilliant thing for tourists and locals to look at, but acts as a free waterpark for the kids in the area. For me, I didn't want to get soaked and then have to eat in a restaurant and get on a train, but even dipping my feet in it felt pretty good. Next time I'll wear a bikini. From a different angle it's easier to see the structure of the sculpture and the wall of water pouring down the side. At this point, my camera battery died. Paul has kindly donated his pictures to me, all photos hereafter are therefore credit to him!! Thanks Paul!! Another of the cool faces. This one looks like one of my old university lecturers. Looking back towards Grant Park. THE BEAN!!! Probably my favourite piece of art from the whole trip, this thing was so awesome!! Hi there!! Cool view of the city (and us) in the Bean. One of my favourite pictures, I think it's great. Paul, you got some GREAT shots, I love this one too. Everywhere you go in Chicago there are nice-looking buildings, many of them unusual. One of the things on the original list of ideas I sent to Cameron was Navy Pier. The attractions are expensive, and it's a lot more touristy that many places, but I still wanted to go down and see what it was like, mingle in with the other tourists, and be by the water, which I love. So we walked down there... I don't know how far it is, in a more friendly climate it probably wouldn't have seemed a long walk, but Paul and I were really flagging by the time we got there! I'm telling you, the huge glass of Coke with ice I got in the bar/restaurant on the Pier was the best drink I've ever had. This place had a really nice atmosphere to it, all quite chilled out and everybody happy. I liked it very much. Still so in love with this city... After dinner, we walked around to the side of the Pier and sat on the wall for half an hour or so, just chatting, taking pictures, and enjoying the breeze. Watching the sun set over the city was another thing to add to my list of highlights. I'm so glad Paul was there, his photos are so much prettier than mine would have been. Walking back to the train station we walked along part of the Magnificent Mile. Almost everything was closed, but I loved walking along drooling in the windows of so many stores. Probably a good thing most places were shut or a huge chunk of my spending money would have disappeared in this one evening. We passed this water tower (which I believe has a lot of history surrounding it) somewhere along the way. The train ride back to Cameron's is one of the few bad memories I have of my whole trip. At some point in the last hour or so I'd developed a horrendous headache which was making me feel sick to my stomach. And of course, right near us on the train were some of the loudest most obnoxious people you could ever hope to sit with on public transport. Thankfully, a cold shower and a double dose of painkillers back at Cameron's dulled it enough that we could still stick with our evening plans to go to this AMAZING little jazz bar called the Green Mill. The band, Alfonso Ponticelli & the Swing Gitan, were really cool, and I fell in love with the bar. I love places with history, and hell, Al Capone used to drink there! It was really nice to get to go somewhere that for the most part is locals only, with just the odd tourist arriving here and there. So this ended up being a loooong report, but it was a long day!! Thanks Paul for filling in the gaps!! Up next is Indiana Beach!!

^ Thank you so much for that!!

^ I've never seen those Calippo things, but they look very similar!! It's basically tiny tiny little balls of ice cream... I think they're frozen into shape using liquid nitrogen actually, though I'm not scientifically-minded enough to know how this works. You do look a bit pink in that goodbye photo, Tomi!!! You should see the pictures from Japan though, where EVERYBODY looks burned, red, hot, sweaty, ewww. I love how messy everyone looks at the end of a trip. You BASTARD. That was torture. But quite funny. I don't always drink milkshakes, but I often had one at Steak N Shake for dessert.... That one looked yummy. *sigh* Need to come back to the US soon, if only for the food.