So I know I have been seriously slacking on the blog front – sorry!! The last week of camp seems so long ago now but it was really good but pretty sad to say goodbye. I was in an adult male cabin again and had some great characters there. That weekend, we had a staff banquet where we all go to a function type room in a bar in fancy dress and say our goodbyes to everyone. Tora, Alana and I went as the power puff girls! It was a really fun night followed by an entire day of jolly chores cleaning every inch of camp.
On the Monday the majority of us flew to Las Vegas which was amazing. So different from any normal place! Pretty much run on alcohol, money and poor decisions haha. We stayed at the nice chavvy Hooters hotel but it was actually pretty nice with a good pool and so close to the main strip. We spent the evenings wondering around the casinos and hotels which are just in a completely different league of their own. So massive and so grand! One evening we booked to see a Cirque de Soleil show called Zarkana which was supposed to be mainly acrobatics but also kind of creepy. It was amazing! I’ve never been to a show like that and the 90 minutes just flew by. I spent the whole time on edge convinced that someone was gonna fall off a giant ladder or spinny thing or rope and fall but obvs they didn’t. We also drove to the Grand Canyon which was an amazing sight but a pretty intense 5 hour drive each way for me as no one else in my car was over 21. The photos we got were incredible though and I’m glad I got the opportunity to see it. I didn’t actually gamble until the last night but it was fun too! I had no idea what I was doing so me and a friend put our $20 together and went to the roulette table. First go we win $70! We put another $40 on from that and win $70 again! 3rd time round wasn’t so lucky but we still walked away with $100 dollars which I thought was pretty good for my first time trying! (Because obviously gambling is all about how you play, nothing to do with luck right?!) The next morning we headed to New Orleans….
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about New Orleans, I’d heard lots of things about it being pretty dodge and sketchy but I actually fell in love with it. I think it is one of my favourite places I’ve ever visited. If you’ve ever seen the Disney film Princess and the Frog, it’s just like that! The streets are just beautiful and have lovely little balconies, the cafés sell gumbo and beignets which are like these amazing flat donuts covered with the most amount of icing sugar I’ve ever seen. There’s people bursting into jazz on every corner and music everywhere. It was a good time to visit as the night we arrived there was a big festival going on so the nightlife was on top form. It was in aid of abused women so all the men had to wear red dresses which was hilarious. Out of our group not many people went out so it was just me, Tora and 3 of our guy friends who obviously didn’t have anything to wear. So in the end we had one of them wearing my red spotty dress and the other 2 in shorts and my pinky/red bikini tops, the looks they got walking into town was hilarious and it was just a great night. The next day we wondered around the French market which was full of things and went around the parks watching people get their palms read and seeing voodoo shops and all sorts!
From New Orleans we took a 9 and a half hour drive to Orlando, the drive was more evenly split up this time so I only had to drive for about 4 hours. I’m a pro at driving on the right side of the road now! (Also how EASY are automatic cars?! No wonder dad has one, you don’t have to do anything!!) Orlando was typically touristy but amazing still. We spent the first day shopping in the outlet and catching up on sleep before a busy 2 days to follow. We bought two combined tickets for Universal and Islands of Adventure. I love theme parks and it lived up to expectations – Harry Potter world is amazing! And it was just super fun. I’m now on my flight to Chicago where I’ll spend a dew days before flying home. It was pretty sad and emotional to say goodbye to the group we’ve been travelling with this whole time. Not too bad for me though as even the ones that live in Australia and New Zealand I’ll be hopefully seeing in a few months!
Enjoy the photos, sorry this has been such a long post. I’ll do one more at the end of my trip 😦 I’m so sad I don’t want to go home to normal life even though I’ve missed you all! Speak soon,
Abby
Abby Goes Travelling! 