Thoughts by Cheryl

Why aren't there any screens in any windows through out Europe? Walking passed buildings, houses, stores, hotels; windows and doors do not have screens! No we do know that there are bugs around, but why the hell don't they use them?

What's so wrong with conditioner? It is ridiculously hard to find conditioner in Europe, thank god I bought two bottles!

I've come to the conclusion that there are no two toilets alike!

Nobody knows Verizon or Sprint!

People drive like maniacs! Never stopping!

Why don't people like deodrant? Seriosly some people really smell, especially when it's 90 degrees outside!

None of the public transportation in Paris or London uses air conditioning. I'm pretty sure I came close to having a heat stroke. Actually, our hostel and hotel didn't have it either!!!

~cheryl

"by me I mean you"

So tonight Cheryl and I decided we are going to do a blog together…….this was the gist of us trying…

Josh: it’s not been 2 minutes and we already have hit the backspace key more times than any letter…... If you think about that last statement its obviously false unless we sat there and hit it with no more letters left of the screen……..

Cheryl: So it’s been really hard for Josh to keep on the blog, my idea was to do this to get him writing again. So I asked him if we could write a blog together.

Josh: I said “if by we you mean you then yes”

Cheryl: Well I guess my strategy worked because Josh is the one typing….(?) So since we haven’t gotten very far in picking a topic I am just going to pick a random one. In response to the polls we have an update. Today Kup and Josh bought………

Josh: I don’t like peoples BO……

Cheryl: (smelled my armpits) ….bought a guitar and drum and they played in the park.

Josh: I mean random Europeans that walk by. Nothing personal really if I had BO my whole life I wouldn’t know how bad I smell….

Cheryl: Enough…..

Josh: Anywayyy, yes we all got some new toys today. I played in the park for 3 hours since I haven’t been able to play since we left. The idea is that we can play in the park and some street corners to see if we can make some extra $$$ while out here.

Cheryl: Since we barely got to see much of London yet we split so we could go see the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and just strolled through some of the older parts of the city. (Pictures will be uploaded shortly to the webpage.)

London Tower Bridge St. Paul's Cathedral

Josh: blah blah blah, guitar is cooler….Not really, I was actually bummed that…

Cheryl: Well if it was so much cooler then why were you being a bum back at the hostel.

Josh: Listen I played for 3 hours before you came back…..how was that walking tour by the way???

Cheryl: Ouch………….. Literally, my feet were sore that we couldn’t do the walking tour.

Josh: Well I was bummed that I still wanted to see that stuff so I made sure Cher take lots of pictures.

Cheryl: Yea, I took some damn good pictures, watch out Ansel Adams.

Josh and Cheryl: Blank stares……….

Josh: We are trying to think outside the box and keep the blog interesting and just wanted to see how this one unfolded. Hopefully soon you will see some videos of kup and I playing on the street with a heavy hat in front of us.

Cheryl: Watch out for the pictures soon a lot of them turned out really good.

Josh: I concur

Josh: And I concur that I didn’t know what concur’s true meaning was but now I know……it just sounds like a word that is not very agreeable to be agreeable to me….say it in your head….”I concur”….think about it.

Cheryl: Josh is a little random at times but he means well, and maybe like 1 out of every 10 things are pretty good.

Josh: Ok Ok, I admit I typed that last response but honestly, think about it and you will concur.

Josh: Cheryl wants to look at her facebook pictures some more…..still can’t wipe the smile off her face. So maybe if I get the computer back I give you my story about the Dave concert.

Cheryl: Don’t let him fool you, he looks at the Dave photos just as much.

Signing out...

~cheryl and JOSH!!!

Shaking it like a Monkey baby, from Cork to London!!!

First off .. I would like everyone to know that we are not the only travelers in Europe this summer. I just want to give a quick shout out to Taylor, Linsey and Kira! Taylor and Linsey are high school friends and are helping out kids in Moracco ( I Know ... I know... they are great people). Kira is off to Switzerland to explore and have a great time!! I just want to wish you guys a safe and fun filled journey!!!

As you all already know our trip has just kicked it up a notch... having met Stefan and Dave Matthews!!! I have to say that I was a little more star struck then I thought I would be. I was not prepared with what to say to Dave when we talked. This was do to him coming up to talk to us instead of us going up to him. It def. caught me a little off guard, but made it that much sweeter. Having met them I must say that I am happy to report they are fantastic people. Stefan has a great sense of humor and was a really great guy! Dave... well... Dave was awesome. He is probably the only married man that could ever take my breath away! It was great! This experience was memorable to our trip, but is only one piece to our puzzle... a big ASS fucking piece... but just a piece.

Stefan and Me

Since I haven't gotten you guys caught up on my adventures in Cork... here they are:

Top Fav Moments:

1- This moment wasn't actually in Cork, but our last night in Limerick.

So have any of you had a sleep over with a number of friends and play pranks on the first person to fall asleep? If so... you are in the same predicament we were in. Josh crashed while the night was still young. Then there we were the three of us with a full can of shaving cream. We put some in his hand and ticked his cheek with my hair. It was hilarious. The first time he went to scratch his face he completely missed his head with the shaving cream. We almost died. We still have no clue how he avoided getting the shaving cream on his head. Although apparently the second time is a charm. It worked like it was straight out of a text book.

Nothing beats Cheryl and I tip toeing around the room with shaving cream, trying not to wake him.We felt like we were 12 again. It was a good time!!!

2- Irish Dancing - I was a little nervous about this, but it was fun. There is something to be said for being a twin. The instructor took Cher on the dance floor first to demonstrate. Then right after he went to get another volunteer and he grabbed me. I guess you have to be fair!!! It was fun to do some traditional Irish Dancing. In the contest at the end Josh and I kicked butt together. We didn't win, but it was def. a good try. Kup was jinxed from teh begining of the competition. His partner was half cocked, but I have to say it was hilarious to watch. Kup got pretty frustrated. Cher did good too... she had to carry her partner through the competition, but at least he was kind on the eyes.... if you know what I mean.

3- Ringing the Bells at St. Annes. - Yes Cher was the only one to make it to the top.. do to a stifling 5 Euros to enter, but the experience was memorable!!! Especially the part where they guy who was watching the door to the church locked up and left... saying "you will be ok being the only person here.. yay?". I try not to be the person who imagines things or freaks out... but I sure was thinking this could be another sequel to Hostel. Needless to say we made it out. It was a creepy church. hmmm... now they restoration donation bin makes a little more sense. Wish I donated!

4-Last night of Traditional Irish Food - Now we are figuring out how Cher and I are saving a little more money then the boys, we share everything. Including our kick ass 3 course Irish meal of a steak sandwich, Irish chicken wings, and apple crisp. We couldn't even finish it.

**** (Side note) Dad, this sandwich had that black pepper sauce that you use on that English muffin steak ... you know... the one I always forget the name too... well I just wanted to let you know this was great, but not better then yours!!!! It is now just making me crave it more!!! I know what I am having when I come home!!!!

5- Blarney castle - It was beautiful!!! Check out the Pics and the Video!!!

LANDING IN LONDON!!!!

London is beautiful!!!.. Its a great place, but there is something to be said for the littler cities. Cork was beautiful and is my favorite city... thus far. The flight we came in on was on time and we met Tina, are friend from philly, at the airport. It couldn't have gone any smoother.

The way to the airport... well... you could say that didn't go as smooth. Below are the actions of the morning:

(We packed the previous night)

8:55 - Cher woke up and woke me up. However, she remained in bed.

9:00 - I got out of bed.

9:05 - Woke the boys up, told them we had to leave and to meet me downstairs.

9:20 - Took my bags downstairs. I wanted to have breakfast before we left.

9:30 - Cher came down to eat with me.

9:40 - NO BOYS!!

9:50 - NO BOYS!! So I went upstairs to tell them we needed to go we had 5 mins. This was right when josh was turning to go down the stairs and Kup was finishing zipping up his bag. Did I mention our bus for the airport departed at 10:00 am and we still hadn't checked out.

9:53 - Kup comes down stairs... Josh is opening up a peanut butter jar.

9:55- I get Kups key card and check out, see everyone sitting down and got a little pissy. The way you get the ball rolling with one of us is you just leave and hope they follow. So I went in the dinning room with my stuff and said the bus leaves in 5 min. and just walked out the door. Cher grabbed her stuff hastily and followed a little behind.

At the top of the big ass hill... between our hostel and the bus stop.

9:58 - Cher and I were running down the hill going where the hell are the boys... why aren't they following us. Well when we got to the end of the street we hung a right. (Later we found out the boys hung a left and were only a little further behind us then we thought). The bus stop was only a little ways down and the bus was just pulling up. We had to make a split decision. Do we get on or not! Having missed a Ryanair flight before... I didn't want to pay an extra $100 to catch the next one out. We got on the bus... but was hoping the boys were right behind. Cher and I did everything we could to stall. We dropped our change gave him the wrong amount, but still no boys.

10:03 - The bus leaves... As we go by our hill... we still don't see the boys. I honestly thought they intentionally missed the bus... or well ... at least Kup cause he was still a little pissed about the Chocolate incident the night before. Really though you can't come between Cheryl and her chocolate. She will rip your head off.

This pretty much sums up the situation!!! LMAO!!!

(Click to make Larger)

10:30 - We get a facebook message from Josh saying they ran to the bus station and couldn't find us, but they are on their way to the airport and would be there by 11.

10:58 - Rob and Josh walk through the airport doors. The exact ones Cher and I were watching like a hawk. (It helped that the airport was tiny!!)

In the end... at least everything worked out!!!

As an added bonus Josh and Kup found a capo for the guitar in the parking lot.

ok... Next post I will tell you more about London

Don't forget to shake it like a monkey baby!!!

Catch ya latta!!

- Chris

Cloud 9

So today was one of the best days I've had on the trip to date. We started it off with a nice continental breakfast by the hostel. This hostile is by far the largest hostel we've stayed in. There has to be 20 people in our room alone. After we took a walk to Buckingham Palace (the video needs to edited then uploaded). The changing of the guards will be blogged on in more depth since it seems to be the popular vote in the poll. As you all may know, Michael Jackson passed away therefor the guards performed Thriller and Mirror Man in honor of his memory. AMAZING. We then walked to Big Ben and let's just say it's BIG!!! I took so many gorgeous pictures that still need to be uploaded. Thank god for digital cameras, no more film to develop or batteries to buy!

To finish the day off, we had to hurry to the Dave Matthew's Concert (the boys will go into more detail.) The concert was mind blowing, I've never been so close to the stage, about 20 feet or so. We were told that they were using this show in a DVD. I'm soo in it at the end! Dave performed a mind blowing show despite the exhausting high temperatures. That and some tall ass guy kept standing in front of me!!!! Nevertheless it was all worth, specially at the end of the encore when I sat on Kup's shoulders to try and catch Carter's drum sticks. Unfortunately, we were too far and I wasn't able to catch them! :( Don't worry, it was all worth it when we sat outside the show for over an hour. I didn't think they were coming out at all, Dave was already out earlier signing autographs and taking pictures. After talking to the security guard, apparently there was a weapons threat in a car so his leaving was postponed. Leaving us with an opportunity to meet him. After an hour of waiting and debating whether or not to leave (since the tube stops running at 12:30am), Jeff and Stefan came out. Christina got her picture w/ Stefan and we met the guys! Then about 10 minutes later Dave came out. We waited patiently as his producer or manager told us not to worry he'll get around to us. So I stood next to Christina on the outer edge when Dave looked up and we caught his eyes! You could def. tell he noticed us when he looked up and smiled at us. He immediately told the other people in the crowd that he needed to get to the other side and walked directly in our direction not paying attention to the other fans. He walked directly up to me and Christina and put out his hand while he looked me in the eye and said "Hi." Oops I didn't really think I was going to meet him, so I didn't prepare anything to say. So I blurted out "Hi, I'm going to see you in Amsterdam." Then he talked to Christina, while I gathered the boys so he could take a picture of the four of us! He was so sweet!!!! After I left the circle I went to the other side of the street near the parked cars so other fans could have their turn. As he made his way to his car, Christina and I must have caught his eyes again because he looked at us and said "Sisters, I have to give the sisters a hug before I go!" Then he reached for me and gave me a huge hug, then reached in for Christina. Talk about an embrace, he nearly picked us off our feet. Thank god for Tina, because she was standing right there to yell and snap a quick candid! I still can't get the smile off my face!

I love life right now!






~cheryl

Stop and Smell the Roses

As it turns out one of our favorite things to do in each city is sitting in the park. In Ireland on a bright sunny day like today you’ll find all the locals taking their lunch break. Not only is it a fabulous way to enjoy our current surroundings but it’s super cheap too! For instance Christina and I bought our lunch at the grocery store for under 3 euro a piece. If you ask the boys they’ll tell you that they could have done it cheaper though. Although it didn’t help that after we walked the 2 blocks to the park, took out all of our stuff did I realize that carbonated soda works just like in the US. Christina spilled it all over everything!!! Gross!!!! We didn’t let that stop us, we were determined to see the jail. Except that after a ½ hour of walking we realized that we were holding the map upside down! OOPS!!!! (I swear that I’m not making this up!) Well at least we saw the residential side of Cork! I must say Cork is one of my favorite cities in Ireland. Not too crowded and a ton of things to do. Not to mention everyone is super friendly. The pubs are very welcoming, the first night we were there we went to Clancy’s to listen to Irish Music and learn to Irish Dance. I am very proud to say that I participated in all the dances even though after three of them I wanted to vomit because all they do is stomp their feet and turn around in circles really fast! I didn’t dance with anyone who spoke English! They were from France or some other country. So it is official I know how to dance the “Devil is Dead.” Of course we listened to a ton of Irish music and finished the trip with a traditional Irish dinner at Clancy’s. Out of the entire trip to Cork, my absolute most memorable moments (besides the Blarney Stone) was when I went to St. Anne’s Cathedral in Shandon. I had read in a travel book that you can ring the bells. So of course I had been bugging everyone to do it since Dublin! Although when we got there for the second time, the first time it was closed, we realized that it cost 5 euro. Neither of us wanted to shell out the cash, so the gang was super sweet and chipped in so that I could go by myself. So worth it, it was super scary. I was the only one in the Cathedral, Christina waited at the bottom for me while the boys went shopping. Not a soul was in my path. The silence of the cathedral was wary and every step made a creak. I proceeded with caution when I met the ropes to ring the bells. I set my camera on the ledge to put the timer mode on so I could take my picture. I tried my best to play Crash on the bells (DMB song), I don’t think it sounded right though. Christina took a video from the outside! When I reached the actual bells I was greeted by a group of pigeons flying at me. It literally made me jump. I thought I was going to fall down the long narrow unwalked steps. After a minute, I decided to climb the stairs around the bells. As my legs shook I continued the climb to the very top. I opened up the worn wooden door to the most beautiful peaceful view of the city of Cork. Breathtaking, I gathered my camera and took as many pictures as I could. The church was closing soon, so I had to hurry out. So worth the 5 euro!

I love Cork and according to my sister, this is where part of my family originated!

Cheers!

~cheryl

The Poll to Your Right!!!

Ok....ok!!! Some of the options to your right for the poll in London may need some more explanation.

Option 1: Gay Bar Bingo - ok I think this one speaks for itself. All four of us would go to a gay bar to play bingo.

Option 2: On Sundays in London there is this "festival" of sorts called The Church, not to be confused with the religious sense of the term. There is drinking and crazziness at this "festival". It is perfectly normal and acceptable to act a little wacko!!!! If you were to vote for this Cher and I would dress like men... but better yet Josh and Kup will dress in our clothes.

Option 3: The Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Yes, this a must see, but only if you tell us that!!!!

Option 4: Scavenger Hunt: Boys vs Girls;
Cher, Tina, and I vs Josh and Kup. We will be given a list of 7 items or ideas we need to complete throughout Sunday in London. The first team to successfully complete this wins (or has the most completed by a certain time). What they win is still up for discussion, so ideas are welcomed.

List of Scavenger Hunt Items:

1. Finding out a Authentic English Drinking Game (something tells me that they might not play Beer Pong)
2. Finding 5 DIFFERENT English Beer or Liquor Bottle Caps.

3. Get a Picture of your team togeather in a Red Phone Box!

4. Find Something Beetles (the Band) related.

5. Convince one person that we are NOT American (I am really trusting my British accent on this)

6. Take a picture with Peterpan!!

7. Find the tallest building in London.

Anymore ideas? ... You can e-mail us on the contact page!!!


Christina

Limerick will make you sick!!!!

Or so says the book angelas ashes (the only reason i went to limerick anyways). lemme catch u up to y we went there. about a year ago i read the book angelas ashes and i fell in love with the city, as much as frank mccourt (the author) bashes that city it made me want to go there to see what he went through as a kid, if ur not into reading watch the movie and u can see the actual city how it is today, just made to look a lil older with sand in the streets and shit like that. but anyways that is why we went there. we arrived in limerick and had to walk about 2 kilos to get to our place, so needless we were not in the city center which bade it hard to get out. i have to say in the long run it was deff for the better, if i were there and partying each night i would not be able to handle the leg of the trip comming up especially the nights i have had in cork (stay tuned for more posts on these nights in the next few days!!!!)

Blarney Stone!

Hey Guys, per your request on the poll Kup and I went first but there was an oops with the camera so we had to do it again. Although this was good because it turns out I didn't really kiss the stone the fist time. If you look carefully in the picture that actual stone is the dark blue stone at the very bottom of the wall. So of course the second time I nailed it! Here are a few videos and pictures to show you the adventure. Check the website for more pics (coming soon)!



Facts:

There was a Sherlock Holmes story that involved the Blarney Stone, (this was before the grab bars) they put grease on his boots and he fell to his death.

There are several myths to why the Blarney Stone is placed where it is,
was part of the wailing wall in Jerusalam brought to Ireland during the Crusades.
was half of the original Stone of Scone, it was a pillow for Jacob and brought by the prophet Jermiah, this was the rock that Moses struck with his staff, and it's said to be the "Stone of Destiny."

Apparently, Texas Tech University has piece of the Blarney Stone but it has not yet been proven!

By kissing the Blarney Stone we should now have the gift of gab very different than Baloney (as it's written all over the castle walls)!

~cheryl

The Calm Before the Storm

HAPPY FARTHERS DAY TO ALL OUR DADS AND GRAND DADS!!! – From the RALLEY IN THE VALLEY!

FIRST OFF!!! Dublin was awesome, I had a great time! I know everyone has filled you guys in on the activities that took place, but I will just talk a little further from my perspective. Cher and I went on an adventure on our own to the National Gallery and saw The Taking of Christ painted by Caravaggio. It is one of the most famous paintings at the museum. I was very impressed having studied the painting in my art history class in college. We also saw a number of paintings of Thomas Roberts, an Irish landscape painter. Cher mentioned below the work of Yeats and yes it was magnificent!! I was def. not disappointed. We had lunch in the park with the boys, and if you ask the boys they will tell you they had lunch in the park and we digested ours (In our defense it was cold and subway had indoor seating). As soon as the boys showed up in the park the sun came out and it was great!! We then continued our adventure to the castle.

The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio

One of the funnest (no this is not spelled wrong) times I had in Dublin was the Pub Crawl!!!
At one of the bars there was salsa dancing on the upper floor. I have to say we all captured the beat and thank god we didn’t video tape it… I kind of have a feeling the beat may have been more in head then in our feet. Regardless it was a fantastic time!!!!

We have now been in Limerick, Ireland for a few days and will be heading out to Cork tomorrow morning. Limerick is fun and has been the calm before the storm. We are actually staying in a pretty nice hotel with a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi. We have been taking every advantage of the facilities. Yesterday we went to the Castle of King John. The Castle was fun, nice and informative. We went to an authentic Irish Pub at night and by authentic I mean a bud light serving Chris Brown playing pub. It is def. very Americanized here. If you take away the wrong side of the street driving, funny road signs, and the accents you might as well be in upstate New York!!! Well… maybe not quite, but a lot more so then we expected.

There is this crazzzzyyyyy fast food restaurant here called Chicken Hut. Kup loves it, we aren’t as found of it. I have another sneaky feeling Kup may be flying here in the future just for their burgers. I know… I know it’s ironic, going to Chicken Hut for a hamburger, but it works for Kup.. Before we leave here Kup will be a well known name among the Irish folk… as Cheryl said he is the mojo of the trip. Kup could make friends with a deaf blind mute in a roller coaster (don’t know if that makes sense, but you get the idea).

So far Kup is enjoying the short skirts of the Irish girls and we learned he loves leopards (or so he tells all the girls wearing leopard print), Josh is in desperate need for a guitar, Cheryl doesn’t want to eat exotic foods such as BBQ potatoes chips and I … well… I decided my Irish accent is more British… no matter how many times I hear it.

The song of the trip thus far….. “Shake shake ah shake shake shake shaaaake ” by Metro Station. Complements of a drunk British woman trying to request a song from an Irish guitarist.

Great times conquered… MORE ANTECIPATED!!!!

Till next time!!!
Chris

Lazy Dublin Day!

after a night of fun in dublins fair city where the girls are so pretty we (tef and i) took a little longer to wake up than usual. (it was a good night lol) after eating at the hostel's lame ass breakfast tef and i took off for a walk. as we were walking through the streets we bobbed in and out of shops to check out what dublin had to offer. low and behold i stumbled upon a few head shops where i purchased "legal bud" i walked and smoked got a lil high but nothing like "real bud" this shit made me tried, we went to city hall waked around and then to dublin castle. that is where the high wore off and i wanted to pass out on a 17th century sofa but i have a feeling i might have been shunned had i sat on the artifacts. it was pretty cool to see old castle walls from the Early13th century and an old viking castle wall from 1000 years ago. i walked on the same steps as servants did in the 1300's amazing when you think about it. after dublin castle tef and i proceeded to grab some lunch and meet the girls for a snack in the park. we ate gyros and had a coke. it was delicious because it was the cheapest meal yet. the girls took off to dublin castle while josh and i sat in the park waiting for nothing. i napped under a tree while josh read for a bit then napped, i got almost a 3 hour nap in, St. Stephens green is the place to be around lunchtime. people everywhere, sitting, chatting, eating, and enjoying life. after our naps we walked around the south side of the liffy(the river separating the city in 2). i had to pee, we went to the history museum but it closed at 5 and we were too late. i was hoping to pee there but unfortunately i had to continue my search for a Lou (bathroom). lucky for me they were holding a bike race/rally today and i got myself into one of the port-o-Potty's just in time. granted there is a MacDonald's on every corner here, there was not one in the location of the museum. we decided to head back to the hostel to make dinner with the girls. josh and i had dinner for under E2.00 each. grocery stores are saviors!! josh cooked a delicious meal and i did the dishes. now here i sit waiting for the girls to get back from the shower so we can go out and listen to some traditional Irish music.
Until tomorrow!!!
Cheers!
~Kup (coop) for those of you that dont know me! and sorry for my language and dirtiness it just comes out sometimes.
p.s. miss all you guys back home!

Today is the Greatest Day!

we arrived!! about 8 hours too soon! (thanks chris jk) we got in around 6:30 and went to our hostel to find out we can check in at 2. so what better thing to do than drop off our bags and wonder the city. we got to enjoy the morning commute of Dublin's workers and every paper person (im being PC) on the corner tried to shove the metro in our faces i gotta stop being polite and just walk by them or wave the papers i already had in their faces but i was in awe of the city so i wasnt in thinking mode. we got some lunch and decided to chill in the at st. stephens green where josh and i passed out from our flight, that is where i saw charlotte for the first time, she spread her wings for me and showed me that swans can be friendly creatures. i pet her tail feathers ;) we later returned to check-in to the hostel and grab our 14 mixed person room. i would continue on but cher already nailed some of our experience and we dont need this getting repetitive. let me go to the night, tefel and i bought 4 polish beers each to grab ourselves a buzz, the beer was wheaty and good at first but became tough to swallow after the 3rd one, we played asshole to make it go down quicker. after dinner and a few rounds of asshole i was primed and ready for a Dublin pub! the girls took off to bed and tefel and i decided to seize the night!. we headed off to the drinking center of the city, Temple Bar district. There we went to The Temple Bar. it was around 12:30 when we arrived and closingtime was at 1 so we had our first pint of Guinness for E6.10 roughly $9 american and got cycled thru the different rooms of the bar till everyone was pushed out the door. b4 leaving we managed to make friends within the last 10mins Brige and Grace both from the midland if Ireland. after temple bar we headed to an after hours bar where we continued to drink the greatest Guinness's' of my life. the girls were cool, we chatted the night away with them till we parted ways around 3. (i think i may have made a new dmb fan out of someone) drunken' we walked back to the hostel in the Irish rain to put night one in the books. tomorrow hopefully adds up to what today brought.

Sexy Motha' Fucka' Shakin' that ass, shakin' that ASS!!

Well, I'm finally going to post something on here and I shall sum up my trip beginning with leaving for SPAC and the DMB show. First things frist, i type wierd. i wont capitalize what needs to be, so dont be too criticle, i dont use apostrophies either! glad we got that out of the way. Anyways dave weekend was yet aother to remember night one consisted of an amazing set and the arrival of most of my crew, although i did enjoy the friends that toddo brought along. the next day i proceeded to get royally messed up for the show and what a show it was, probably the best set followed by the greatest encore i have heard to date. so to sum it all up, TO THOSE OF YOU THAT DIDNT GO TO THE SHOW... (THOSE IN BUFFALO AND CNY) KICK YOURSELF IN THE ASS IT WAS HANDS DOWN AMAZING! we still have london and amsterdam to try and top that but i believe that is highly doubtful. after the show we went back to camp and proceeded to continue the fun. despite losing my voice and mind tefel and i played some tunes for our group when along came a traveling man with a guitar, i borrowed billys drum while tefel and the traveling man jammed out quite a few tunes. with the addition of the drum we rocked out till the sun came up. the weekend was over but the trip is only beginning. once we woke up, we said our goodbyes, and took off for NYC where we would spend a night with the twins sister and brother-in-law for a night then we would catch our flight on monday.

~Kup

Dave Matthews Concert

Hey All!!!!

So not too much time to write! Talk about your last minute craziness!!!! The Dave Concert was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!! However, we did have our rough moments as Christina has previously mentioned. Since we arrived soo late on Friday (mostly because I needed to get my hair done and eat my favoritist pizza in the world) we didn't arrive in Saratoga until 5pm leaving us no time to check in to our expensive ass campsite! The concert was obviously mind blowing, so frickin good! But when we got back to our campsite after we left our gear full car in Price Chopper parking lot, we were greeted with the wetlands!!!!! Due to the overwelming number of cars (Lee's Campground only gives out a few parking permits) we had to carry what we could into Sarah's car. Leaving us only with half-assed tent, one blanket (thanks chris, when I asked if you had the blankets I meant more than one!), and a twin air mattress! Did I mention it was like 40 degrees and this had to cover four people!!!! Haha... we froze our asses off! The next day wasn't as bad, of course I went shopping all day! (Have I ever mentioned my hatred for Verizon) I pretty much spent the entire tailgate party in the back of Lindsay's car while it poured working on the two signs the boys wanted to hold up while Dave's bus drove by! I have to say considering I had nothing but a pencil, marker and poster board I made a pretty decent sign. One sign said, "Can't Wait to Jam in Amsterdam" and the other said "Jeff, Hope we popped your cherries (w/ a pic of cherries)" Yeah I know thanks for the ideas Justin!!! Christina had to leave, unfortunately causing her to miss the greatest DMB concert of the tour!!! And she wasn't able to hold the sign in the pouring rain did I mentioned it rained the entire concert! It was so worth it. The $5 for the cotton candy was so worth it too. The second night at the campground wasn't as bad because we brought more blankets this time. But since it rained all day our tent was soaked! It wasn't too bad though, I toughed it out.... I hope I don't get sick!

1) I have to agree, Kup's hot dog was one of the funniest parts of the trip.
2) I've never felt so dirty in the rain.
3) Who the hell would ever buy a twin air mattress (JOSH!!)
4) Never just leave a tent behind just because it's muddy!
5) NEVER put an unopened bottle of beer in the fire and not expect at least one person to get cut when you throw stuff at it to explode!!!!
6)Don't just leave your wood around the fire because some 16 year old annoy DMB wanna be's will steal it!
7) And just remember, It's funny the way it is!

~cheryl

Passport

Yay!!!!! I received my passport today!!!!! I liked the picture on my old passport way better, grrr.....

~cheryl

Time is not on our side....

Less than a week away and all anyone can talk about is the Dave Concert. I totally forgot to pack for that!!! Two days and I'll be hitting the road to go to NY. Can't wait to get this party started!

Passport Crazziness

Unfortunately the deadline has come and I have yet to locate my passport. :( My appointment was at one of the very few offices in the country for 12:30 so I figured I would get there early to not delay the process. To my surprise getting my passport would be like the long yard dash with several hurdles to successfully jump before I would be able to cross the finish line. The entrance was blocked by several security guards preparing people to go through a metal detector. It was as if we were boarding a plane for Europe already. To my disappointment when I rounded the corner to my destination I was welcomed by a large line. This is when I would meet my companion for the remainder of the afternoon. Her passport had expired and she needed a new one because her flight leaves next week to Jordan where her family lives. She was American born but its been about 10 years since her last visit to 100+ first cousins! During her visit she'll go see Lebanon and visit some of the more cultural spots. We were both very naive at the passport process because we had both driven down on our lunch breaks thinking that we would be issued a passport in less than an hour since we had an appointment and all. Ha... it took us about an hour just to get checked in! I highly suggest if anyone ever has to do this either go really early in the morning or just wait until late afternoon. Lunch time is by far the worst time to go!!! As I was being checked in I was a little concerned because my driver's license did not have my current address (the update PennDot gave me was lost w/ my passport.) The supervisor had to be called over to accept my picture because apparently you can't be smiling, your head needs to be straight and the color was too light. Luckily for me she said that it would be fine. As the woman reviewed my birth certificate I had to take a deep breath because it was so tattered that she were unsure if they could accept it! (For a few bucks you can have your birth certificate mailed to you, I soo should have done that!) After I was approved I was given a number (123) and told to wait. I looked at the board that read 88. I figured no big deal another hour and I'll be out of here, so as I took my seat my companion followed. We talked of each other's jobs and took bets on who long this process would be when a gentleman to our left began to laugh. We both hesitated before we could ask anything, he said, "I hope you guys don't expect to go back to work today, I've been here since 9am and I still haven't had my number called!" The girl and I took a deep breath as we looked at each other, we both needed to make some phone calls. An hour went by and the number had only reached 95, by this time the three of us had gotten to know each other pretty well. The gentleman that had joined our conversation was from NJ and spoke four languages. He travels for his work and had recently had his identity stolen so he had to bring his yearbook and other documents to confirm his identity. When 96 rolled around it was his number, he eagerly deserted us. After a few more moments, my companion and I had moved to the other side of the room where an older gentleman sat. He had arrived at 1pm so he had to wait a little longer than us. Talking to him was fascinating as well, his travels were to China for business. He told us of stories from previous excursions and which airlines were his favorite, apparently Chinese airlines are very hospitable. My companion and I watched the numbers slowly climb until it finally reached 123! 10 minutes later I was home free, the clerk accepted my forms, ID, and itinerary. Unfortunately, had I waited until the week of the trip I would have been able to receive my passport immediately. Instead I have to wait to receive my passport in the mail by June 10th, which is calling it very close because I leave Philadelphia June 11th! Four hours later and $160 lighter; a few more meters (days) and I will be able to cross that finish line...

Silverlining... I live near the Passport Agency, I have a passport, I met some cool people and I learned what to do in the event that I loose my passport or birth certificate!

HEY!!!!
Ok... I have never blogged before.... but... if I have to think of anything to say about the trip its.. .DITO!!!

Its pretty much all summed up in the blog below... by Cher.

I am super excited and extremely nervous. Excited for the trip... but nervous for the time before we leave.

I still have to get a ton of stuff!! These next few day will be soo long and not long enough (if you know what I mean).

Today is my last day of my second job, and tomorrow is the last day of my first job! I will def. be celebebrating!

So... from 11 days from now we will be in Ireland!!!!! YAHHHOOOOOO, can't wait!!!!!

Adios!!!

Christina

Passport Issue

Well, less than 14 day's until take off and I have a problem. I can't find my passport anywhere!!!!!! I've pulled my entire house apart and nothing. What the hell happened to it? I had it when I went to the Post Office a few weeks ago and after that my mind draws a blank. I have until Thursday, June 4th to find it or else I have to re-apply but I'll have to do so in person down at the Passport Agency in center city Philly. Grrr.... there goes another $200. My first lesson learned and the trip hasn't even started.

Tip: Always... always keep your passport in a safe place!!!! (That and your birth certificate, damn where the hell did I put that thing???)

~cheryl