VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Monday.
It’s orientation week so pretty much all of the staff are here.
It rained most of the day.
Yay!
Amy & I had the enviable task of going through all the cabins & checking each bunk for “unsavory” graffiti & any repairs that needed to be done (I’m not sure we did such a great job on the repair part as two staff members have already had their bunks collapse - no serious injuries thank goodness).
We also moved into a different cabin for this week. Us newbies got split up (although I am still with Tim) & I am now in cabin 5 which is on the Row (where the younger kids will end up).
The excitement of the night was playing bingo!
Today I have included a photo of Holly (who is from New Zealand & running the farm) walking the cow.
As you do.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

On Sunday us newbies were taken on a bit of trip around Vermont.
Well actually it was just two places not the whole of Vermont.
The first place was Shelburne Museum which is kind of like Sovereign Hill for those of you who live in Victoria.
Only without all the people dressed in costume.
And without the light show.
And without……..alright it‘s not really like Sovereign Hill.
Well apart from the fact that it‘s an historical place. Lots of old buildings have been relocated to this one site & each one houses different things from ye olden days. Art, toys, tools, wagons etc…. there is even an old boat (kind of like the Titanic only on a smaller scale). The first photo is Tim & I with some old moose that has seen better days & the second is me in the old jail cell.
There was also a gift shop.
I bought a Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream with a biscuit base that is covered in chocolate.
Yum!
We stopped for lunch at ………… somewhere…………& then went to Bristol Falls to go swimming. There was a great spot to jump off a rock ledge into the river which I didn’t do but have attached a photo of Amy in mid jump. The water was really cold so good call on my part to pass (also the knee was still a bit dodgy).
We went over to the girls camp that night for a bbq.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Saturday was our day off & ended up being fairly uneventful.
Bit of washing, bit of sun baking - that kind of thing.
A few more people turned up. One of which is a return counsellor whose name is Tracy (spelt without an E but that’s not her fault). Plus her middle name is Lee (obviously spelt differently to mine), she is helping out in Arts & Crafts with me & she has also had an Arthroscopy on her left knee.
How weird is all that?
That night we all went to an ironworks display (obviously all 3 photos - shame about the Dunkin Donuts cup in the second one) which was performance art done with iron. Lots of smelting. I’m not really sure if that’s the right word but I just like the sound of it.
Smelting.
Smelting.
Smelting.
It actually sounds kind of weird if you say it over & over.
Unfortunately it was raining which sort of put a dampener (ha ha) on things. I think it slowed it all down a bit as the rain made the liquid iron set quicker than what they wanted. At least that’s what I think. If that’s not the case then it was just a bit on the slow side.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

I have pretty much had the main dining room to myself all week & suddenly I am inundated with heaps of people painting the walls, the tables - pretty much anything they can find.
I’d kind of got used to my own space.
Today was the last day of pre-camp so Jed put on a huge Thanksgiving dinner for us. There was soooooo much food but it was sooooooo tasty. The first photo is the table all nicely set with flowers ready for our feast & the second is Tim, Amy & I.
It was also Malone’s birthday (another bloody Michael - didn’t I say they are everywhere - but thank goodness everyone calls him by his last name) so we celebrated that & the end of pre-camp with a party in the lower pasture (the third photo is Liz & Amy & the last is me with Tim & Meg) . Which pretty much consisted of beer, cold weather, beer, bonfire, beer & the girls from the Betsy Cox camp next door.
Oh yeah - and some beer.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Thursday.
Ipod.
Painting.
I am now the resident scribe.
Every time I ask Darcey if she needs any help in the kitchen (laugh if you want to) because I have run out of things to paint or am waiting for paint to dry, someone walks in the door with more signs for me to do.
“Agricultural Department”
“Breeze” - a cabin sign.
“Cat”
“Duck”
“Bunny”
“Calf”
“Chook” - which is really supposed to be chicken but if they ask an Aussie to write the animal signs then they are going to get chook.

Today was Darcey's little boys birthday - his name is Oliver & he turned 2! We have had lots of fun at the supermarket racing around in the trolley. This is him with his Mum.
Amazingly enough I actually went to the pub tonight (photo two is me with Mike & the other is with Tim) - this time it was “Magoos”. Actually if I didn’t go I would have been on my own as even the young guys were allowed to go as long as they didn’t drink. It was a fun night with some “special” dancing from Liz & Mike (check out the clip below).
And lucky me I got to drive home a mini-bus full of drunks, in the rain, on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car.
Well actually I offered so there should be no complaining out of me!

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Mid week & I still need to keep off my knee (a bit of improvement has saved me from having to go in for an MRI).
And it’s back to painting & my ipod.
Today I did three “Beep” signs, re-vamped the woodshop sign & finished off the Risk board.
That was after helping Darcey for a few hours in the morning to clean out the kitchen. Which was desperately in need of it. This is a really old farmhouse that gets closed up after summer & only inhabited by the local wildlife (raccoons, chipmunks, mice etc.) during the cold weather so you can imagine that a good clean out each year is essential.
The baby ducks also turned up today!!!!!
In a box, via the mail.

This is Holly - she is from New Zealand & will be doing the farm.

Poor girl, as soon as the cow gets here she has to get up early each morning to milk it.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Tuesday morning, what can I do sitting down? Oh yeah - paint some signs. Well actually today I re-painted the Risk board. This is a game that all the campers love that most of the international staff have never heard of. It involves armies of soldiers & world domination. Hence the reason all the boys love it. It’s a real board game but years ago someone painted up a big version of it & it was looking very tired so I spent the day (listening to my ipod) re-doing it.
All the Aussies here think it’s really funny that New Zealand isn’t even on the board.
The hand made version is done so that the U.S. is massive in proportion to the rest of the world.
Obviously it was originally done by an American.
After watching the boys play a bit of soccer (which was meant to be the Americans against the rest of the world) I stayed in while most of the others pubbed it again. But it was a good way to get to know a few more people - Jenny who is from Scotland (& who is one of the friendliest, happiest, loveliest people I have ever met) & Matt, Hanno & Sam who are some of the young counsellors (& ex campers).

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Monday morning everyone tootled off to their respective jobs (or to life saving training) & I was found a job that required me to sit on my bum as much as possible.
Which consisted of painting signs.
I gave a stop sign a facelift.
Painted 4 new ones which say stop on one side & go on the other.
Two new “Slow - 15Mph”.
All while sitting out in the sun.
Oh yeah - I also had a trip into town to pick Darcey (the cook) who dropped off her rental car & then we went to the supermarket. In America they have 20 million varieties of cereal but nothing in the way of instant caramel latte sachets or anything remotely like that.
While everyone else went to the pub that night I stayed in with my leg up (in the cold) & watched “What Happened In Vegas” on my laptop. But Tim stayed with me which was great.
The excitement of the night was a raccoon came into the main house. Only I couldn’t get my injured little self out of my chair quick enough to have a good look.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

So things were going great on Sunday night until we decided to play a game of basketball. It started out as a half court game of two on two which stretched out to four on four. The girls were doing pretty well (apart from the fact that we are netballers & forget that we can actually move with the ball & dribble - which meant we were constantly yelling out to each other “Remember, you can run with the ball!!”) until some of the tall guy started playing. Damn those 6 foot guys! Although the girls tended to get more baskets as we don’t rely on the backboard to score.
I like to call it skill!
Rob was playing in bare feet.
I like to call that stupidity.
Or it could be because he’s a boy.
And English (sorry Amy this is no reflection on you - it’s not your fault where you were born. And yes Amy‘s family, you can retaliate).
I came unstuck somewhere towards the end of the game (or it could have ended due to me) by pulling a muscle (at least that’s what we think I have done) in the back of my knee. I could manage to walk if I stayed on my toes but anything more than that was a no go.
Excellent!

I have no photo of the basketball game but feel compelled to put a photo with every post, so I have included one of Amy getting her breakfast.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

It’s the weekend!!!!!!!!
We walked to the post office this morning only to find it had closed an hour earlier - we were incorrectly advised on the hours. The walk was good though (we need it as we keep going to Wal Mart & buying M & M’s) & there was a huuuuuge hill to climb - very good for the calf muscles! The rest of Saturday was spent kayaking, sunbaking & going to movies (saw the new Pixar movie "Up" which was a great kids movie).

Sunday - cold & wet. Did some washing, a trip into Rutland for Wal Mart (got some sheets to make my bed more comfy) which was good driving practice & updated my blog as I was very obviously behind & had got a few emails asking what was going on. Just so everyone knows, it is hard to get to the internet so I will try & update each weekend. At least until the kids get here & then who knows when I'll get the chance.

VERMONT - CHIPMAN POINT

Friday it was back to the boats only this time they were in the water & we were going sailing. We had a great day - did a bit of sunbaking & then got sailing lessons.
Pretty stressful!
We also stopped off at some town on the way (can’t remember where) & got this photo of Amy & I in something made out of old tyres. Not really sure what it is but just wanted to put this photo in.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

The next day Amy & I were back to the chook shed. We had already done the basic painting & now we were decorating. It was a “Chicken Run” theme. Amy drew the pictures (because let’s face it, I’m crap at drawing), we both painted (I did okay but Amy is very good at this kind of thing) & I did the writing. Everyone is so impressed with it (I must say we are pretty chuffed with it ourselves) that they think it’s too good to use for the chooks. It’s probably the best made & decorated thing at camp.

Today was also the day I took my driving test to be a camp driver. Which consisted of me driving one of the vans to the hospital with Gary sitting in the passenger seat. Basically you need to be able to get to the hospital & back in case one of kids injures themselves. It's also handy when you have a day off & can borrow a van to go out sightseeing.

Or being the designated driver (which I am very used to) after a night at the pub in Rutland (this only happens at pre-camp, not when the kids are here).

It's also good practice for when I do my road trip with Nicola in October.

VERMONT - CHIPMAN POINT

Tuesday & Wednesday Amy & I went to the Chipman Point marina with Fila, Farny & Mike (not New Zealand Mike but Mike Byron who is the director of the camp) to clean boats. The camp has two 24 foot racing yachts as well as two larger ones. We were cleaning the smaller ones.
On the way home each day we stopped for icecream. Vermont is the home of Ben & Jerry’s which, tragically, we don’t have in Australia. The icecream we got wasn’t actually Ben & Jerry’s, I just wanted to mention the Vermont connection.
And the fact that we don’t have it at home.
So the first day I had cookie dough in a waffle cone with hot chocolate fudge & the second day it was vanilla with chocolate coated peanut butter bits in the shape of a panda paw with hot chocolate fudge on top! It was heaven in a cone. Why don’t we have this stuff at home. Australia is seriously lacking when it comes to icecream.
Interesting fact - today I learnt what a buffer is.
I just don’t want to explain in case any kids are reading my blog.

NEW YORK STATE - LAKE GEORGE

On Monday the five of us from the train as well as Farny, Fila, Gary, Liz & Meg all went to Lake George in New York state to play mini golf (we had the day off because we worked all weekend). We grabbed lunch first (Amy & I shared some strange looking nachos - there were yellow, black & red corn chips & had no guacamole, I won’t be rushing to have them again. It's also good to share as everything is supersized here. Not sure if Americans have ever heard the term "portion control"). The mini golf place we went to was apparently voted by FHM as one of the top 5 crazy mini golf venues.
It was fun but personally I didn’t think it was that crazy!

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

On Sunday we continued on with the chook shed (the stunning photo of the half finished product) - we are going to paint it too & it will be the best darn chook shed in the history of camp.
It was also a weekend where some parents & campers came up to help out with some of the projects.
And the weekend that I got chatted up by a 12 year old named Corbin.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

One thing we didn’t realise was that we were here nearly three & a half weeks before the kids arrive. Not all staff & counsellors are here yet but they get some in early & have them do repairs, maintenance, that kind of thing. We are all really happy we’ve arrived early as it means we get really comfortable with the camp & get to know everyone before we are descended upon by a bunch of young boys.
Not to mention the fact that we get paid extra for the work which is fabulous!
The first project I worked on was building a chook/duck hutch with Amy & Farny. Farny (aka David Farnham - & yes he is related to John, distantly) is on staff & has been coming to camp for 22 years - he is also an Aussie. As you can see from the photo my experience with power tools has come in handy (although I must admit I almost cut through the power cord with the saw). The hutch is in two parts so that it’s easier to carry as the old one they have is kind of heavy. The chicks come in a box in the MAIL!!!!! when they are one day old. Can you believe that?
That night we went to see a local performance of Rocky Horror.
Interesting to say the least.
It was kind of scary how many of the guys had never heard of Rocky Horror. I mean it’s a cult movie for crying out loud!
It made me feel very old.

VERMONT - PITTSFORD

Our first full day here - once we got could drag ourselves out from under our millions of sleeping bags & into the cold - was spent being shown around camp in the morning & then after lunch we went into town to go shopping for camp essentials. I was desperate to get something warm to wear but was happy just to get a waterproof coat to keep off the rain & wind. This photo is of the outside of our cabin. Can you see the missing panes of glass? Looks cosy doesn’t it? Funnily enough it feels like home now & that we are a kind of weird disfunctional type of family. My nickname (I don't usually get them) is Bear or MB which is short for Mama Bear. I don't actually feel out of place here as there are other staff older than me but in our little group of newbies I am definitely the oldest & have naturally assumed the grown up role. It's kind of strange for me as at home I am the youngest in most situations.

AMERICA - NEW YORK TO VERMONT

On Thursday Fiona had another whirlwind morning of sightseeing planned that I managed to talk her out of as I will be coming back to New York after camp. It was a good idea (well of course it was!) as we could spend the morning relaxing, picking up any last minute things for camp & packing. Which included a packed dinner Fiona put together for me as she was sure I would get hungry on the train - such a Mum thing to do (sorry, should have said Mom). We also went through my plans for after camp which Fiona is a bit stressed about because of the big chunks of time I have with nothing actually organized yet.
But the new spontaneous, living in the moment type Tracey is absolutely fine with it.
Absolutely. Definitely.
Kind of.
Anyway we caught a taxi to the train station & Fiona waved me off through copious amounts of tears (actually that‘s a lie - at least the part about the tears). Funnily enough I was sitting right at the back of the carriage & a group of people came down who just happened to be the other guys who were traveling to camp. Bizarre huh? I mean, they could have sat anywhere in the carriage. So anyway there was Amelia from Sydney, Mike from New Zealand & Amy & Tim from Britain. We spent the six hour trip talking & getting to know each other. As well as being offered a joint by the guys sitting in front of me that I had been talking to before the others got on the train. I find that really odd as I don’t imagine I look like the kind of person who would partake.
But then maybe they were just nice polite boys whose Mum had taught them to share.
We were picked up by Jed & Meg from the train station which is about 15 minutes from camp & it was soooooo cold. I didn’t really pack for cold. They told us that this was the coldest they had experienced at this time of year.
Which is just great!
Now we all knew that Camp Sangamon was rustic but when we got there they drove us up to a cabin that had panes of glass missing in the window. Jed said “Don’t worry, we’ll get around to fixing that.” Amy just laughed as she thought that it didn’t matter as surely we weren’t going to sleep in there.
But we were.
We laugh about it now (sounds like we have been here forever doesn’t it) but that first, freezing cold night I think there were a few people in shock. For me it was mostly the cold that freaked me out. We all ended up sleeping in our clothes under about 4 sleeping bags.
The first photo is of the lower lodge where we have a fire or watch a movie & the other two are of the inside of our cabin (the last one is my bunk). At this stage we are all in together & later on, when we choose what age boys we want to be in a cabin with, we will move.

AMERICA - NEW YORK

My next day in New York was as busy as the one before. Fiona got up early (which according to her husband is a minor miracle) & we tootled off to Times Square (the only photos this time). The plan was to try & get cheap tickets for a show on broadway that I wanted to see called “Next To Normal” but when we got there the cheap ones had gone. So we lined up in the 50% off queue in the middle of the square to see what bargain tickets we could actually get. This was a first for Fiona as apparently no self respecting New Yorker would ever do that. We wound up with tickets to the matinee for “9 to 5”. We had some time before the show started so we went to Penn station to get my ticket to Vermont for the next day, then dropped into Bob’s office before grabbing a quick lunch & heading back to the theatre. While we were at the office Bob was appalled to hear we were going to a matinee as we would be watching the show with all the oldies which was just not okay. I didn’t mind but I guess that’s not a very New York thing to do either so he jumped on the internet & treated us to tickets that night for the show we had originally tried to get seats for.
Anyway the matinee was fine - although I did have a strange guy sitting next to me that commented on everything & had a laugh like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons. After the show we did a bit of camp shopping - shoes, towels, pillow etc. before we went back to the apartment, dumped all the stuff & headed back out to see our next show. We had fantastic seats thanks to Bob but this time Fiona had the weirdo sitting next to her. A very large lady (not that there is anything wrong with that it’s just that she took up some of Fiona’s seat as well) who basically sobbed & gesticulated her way through the whole performance. I guess it was only right that we got one weirdo each. As Fiona pointed out it would hardly have been fair for me to get both of them especially as I was the visitor.
The show was great (had the same Director as “Rent” did) although slightly intense & emotional. I must say the last 10 years of my life have equipped me quite well for watching a show about mental illness.

AMERICA - NEW YORK

My first full day in New York was packed full of sightseeing. We walked up 5th Avenue to Rockerfeller Centre (would love to go ice skating there in the winter) & went into St. Patricks Cathedral by which time we were freezing cold. The day before had been really warm & I had not really checked the weather for the next day - big mistake. So into The Gap we went, although all the summer stuff is out so we had to settle for a three quarter sleeve cardigan thing (it feels a bit Nana-ish) & a scarf from a street stall (which has actually come in quite handy) & then a quick stop at Barneys which is way out of my price range.
Then Fiona treated me to a pedicab tour of Central park which is a huge & wonderful place (photo 1 is us on one of the bridges in the park). Both in the park & viewing the city from the park you can see so many familiar scenes from so many different movies. We walked through Strawberry Fields which has the dedication to John Lennon (photo 2 is the Imagine mosaic), stopped by the Guggenheim Museum (just for the architecture not the actual art - photo 3), the Museum of Natural History (we just went into the entry to look at the dinosaur - photo 4) & the Metropolitan Museum (to look at the Impressionist paintings).
After that it was a latte at Sant Ambrose (hope I spelt that right) which is THE place to go, jumped on the subway & dropped into Bob‘s office (he‘s an architect & no-one there can understand how I am allowed to design houses if I am not an architect). Fiona then took me to my first yoga class where I am pretty sure I saw Rachel McAdams (google her if you don’t recognise the name & you should know who she is). I am not so great at yoga. I am okay with the movements but my mind keeps jumping all over the place as I am not very good at focusing, meditating or relaxing. There was also a lot of breathing involved which was kind of hard as I was stuggling to breath thanks to my allergy to Squeaky the cat.
Yoga was followed by way too much to eat at the Japanese restaurant over the road from Fiona & Bob’s apartment. Very yummy though - just ordered too much.
Fiona’s fault.

DENMARK TO AMERICA

It was another early rise for my next flight & I was on the train at 6.09am. Bec walked me there as I was anxious about catching the right one & it being so early (imagine how scary it would be to catch the train from Frankston at 6am). But I coped quite well & even managed to change trains halfway & make it to the airport on time. I had to fly via London (again) & it was packed this time so there was no sitting around waiting for the connecting flight as it took ages to go through security. I was only at Heathrow to transfer to another flight but the security screening is so much more intense than anywhere else I have been so far, even the U.S. (you may have guessed that I am a bit behind on my blog, so while I am writing about going from Denmark to America, I am actually already at camp & trying my best to get this up to date).
So the flight was pretty normal - food, movie, movie, food - that kind of thing. When I got to immigration & I told the guy about going to camp, he laughed & said something like “Right, well have fun then” with this grin on his face. What I think he wanted to say was “ARE YOU MAD?”
But finally I was out & Fiona was there waiting to meet me. It was so great to see her after so long & I’m not just saying that because I have to just in case she reads this.
Well maybe…………..
Only joking - it was FABULOUS to see her. We caught a taxi back to her place (the photo is of the awning to her apartment building - she even has a doorman) & we went for a walk around the West village & Greenwich village which is around Washington Square park. We also went to do some food shopping at this large (mostly organic supermarket which Bec & Stephan would love). It was over 2 levels & the shopping trolley had it’s own escalator right next to the one we were on. It was really bizarre, I’ve never seen anything like it - I wish I‘d had my camera with me to take a photo - but then maybe I just don‘t get out much. Apart from meeting Fiona’s husband Bob & their gorgeous little girl Kiki (& the cat Squeaky that I am allergic to but who seems to want to hang around me - probably because she knows I am allergic) my day was done. Another time zone to adjust to - at least I will be in this one for awhile.