End of week 1

On Saturday, all the people from this week's cruise left including my favorite couple, Robert and Kathy.  They are truly genuine people who know how to have a good time!  I'm so glad I met them during my first week!  

We were in port at St. Louis, but I went to the Cahokia Indian Mounds with one of the entertainers on the boat.  There was a museum on the grounds that depicted what the Indians would have been doing on the land during their time and it was pretty interesting.  Then we walked up the largest mound, which was 100 feet high!  

View of the arch from the top of the mound

Bats in the cave!

Today, I went on another tour in Hannibal.  I went to the Mark Twain Cave's.  It was really cool!  They say that Jesse James hid out there, but no one can be sure.  They cover 6 acres of land, so they are pretty big!  I would have loved to go exploring on my own there, but who wouldn't?!  

One of the passengers, Nicki and I were taking a lot of pictures in the cave, looking for orbs or ghosts of Huckleberry Fin!  We found a bunch!  (There's even a small on in Jesse James Hideout)

Tom Sawyer and me!

Nicki and I as Huckleberry Fin and Becky Thatcher!  

:-)

My first tour

Today, Kathy and I went to Fort Madison on a tour.  We went to these old houses that captains from the civil war use to live in with their families.  It was pretty interesting but, I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't pay much attention to the guide talking.  It was really good to hang out with Kathy while we were not working too.  We had fun!  We also got to go to a winery and taste wine.  

A Change in the Plans

Today, we made an unscheduled stop in Clinton, Iowa.  One of the railroad swing bridges we needed to get past was unable to swing open so they docked the boat and we got some more free time.  The whole crew was really excited because they got to see a town they had never seen before.  Almost everyone has been on the boat since February or March!  I decided wander into town again.  It was old and kind of run down with a bunch of vacant storefronts, but I enjoyed the time alone and took more pictures.

There were plenty of funny looking animal fountains like these on each and every corner!  There were also 4-5 'antique' stores, which looked a lot more like thrift stores to me.

There were a couple cute, mini lighthouses by the river that made great scenery for my Holga panorama's!

Tomorrow, Kathy and I are supposed to go on a tour called “Beyond The River”.  I don’t really know anything about it but when Kathy asked me to go and said it ended with wine tasting, I was sold!  Hopefully we will get to the port soon enough to go!

A Six Flag's City

On Tuesday, we were in Dubuque, Iowa again (where we were bussed to the first day), but this time we got a chance to stay for a few hours.  Kathy and I had to be on the gangway at 7:45 a.m. to take photos of the passengers in front of the ship as they left for their tours.  It was really funny, though, because I ended up in the background of every picture!  We knew that was going to happen because I was directing the passengers while Kathy was taking the photos and everything moves so quickly, there is no time to get out of the way on the narrow gangway.  We were laughing so hard when we were printing them!!  

We were done taking photos at about 9:00 a.m. so I decided to wander into town to explore and go to the post office.  I’m so glad that my GPS still had some charge left in it!  I’m so lost without it!  I’m going to have to try to find a wall charger for it soon.  Anyways, the town was really cute.  The houses and shops all had cute Victorian style architecture so it was a great place to take some photos.  I took a few rolls of film with my Holga (thesis camera) and some with my tiny digital camera. 

I was so excited to see the beginning of fall!  After all, I thought I was going to be in Florida and miss the leaves changing color so I'm very happy!!

Disco anyone??  I think its an old factory converted into a club.

Apparently, the city counsel didn't think this town was good enough for the sixth flag, but I think it is!!!

My first day

On Sunday, I started taking pictures!  I first shoot the safety check where all the passengers had to put on their life jackets.  It was pretty funny!  Here's a photo of me with my life jacket on!

Then I got to play a calliope, and I even got a certificate with my name on it that says I can play signed by the captain.  It was really, really, really loud!

I am in LaCrosse, Wisconsin right now and I'm not quite sure where we are going next but we are at port now and we don't take off until 1 p.m. so thats when I have to be at work.  Pretty nice!  I got to sleep in for a bit.  I am sitting on the front deck right now, looking out at the water while writing this blog.  

So, apparently, being on this river boat is a pretty special thing because whenever we go through a lock, or any time we dock or take off, or any random time along the way, there are people lined up by the water waving and taking pictures of us.  Its REALLY weird!  Kathy, my roomate, said that when we get off the boat to go shopping or something, its even more strange because all the town people treat you like a celebrity.

Hopefully I will have more pictures for you guys in my next post.  What my room looks like and what some of the ship looks like.  I am going to go on a few side trips this week too!  I am still missing being in Florida or Michigan, but I am having a good time for the most part.  Thats all for now.  Have a fantastic day!

A long day for a garbage girl

Saturday was a very looong day!  We didn't end up getting off the bus until 9 p.m. and when we arrived in Iowa, the old people were very cranky!  From the time we got on the bus till the time we got off, all they did was complain about being there.  Every bump, every sharp turn, every minute!  Paul said its because they are old and they have a lot less time left in the world, so they are more conscious of how they spend it!  He's got a good point!  I got really lucky though, because there was a couple sitting in the row behind me that were very funny!  They kept me laughing the whole time!  They were great!  I'll try to get a photo with them before they leave.

Oh yea, I almost forgot, after about an hour of being on the bus, I had a bunch of garbage to throw away from the boxed lunches they gave us.  So I got a garbage bag and went down the isle to see if anyone wanted to throw anything away.  I was obviously just trying to be nice and helpful.  I did it again about an hour before we got off the bus.  Well, now, to all the passengers on the boat, I am referred to as "the trash girl".  No lie!  I hear it about once every 10 minutes or so...

"Ohhh, your that trash girl from our bus!"

"Hey, I think thats the trash girl that Betty was telling us about"

"Hey, trash girl!  What are you doing with a camera?!"

"If your going to be the trash girl, you need to know if you recycle!  Do you recycle?  Do you?"

West Palm Beach fun!

Hello from West Palm Beach!  I really like this city!  I am sitting in the airport right now waiting for my flight to Atlanta, GA which will take me to St. Paul, MN.  Once I get there, I will get on a shuttle bus to Dubuque, IA which will take about 4-5 hours.  The lady who hired me told me to make sure to bring a good book!  I am just starting a new one today called Year of Wonders.

I ordered a bunch of film on ebay for my trip so I got to pick it up when I got to my Aunt Jane's house on Thursday.  One of the packages was coming from Hong Kong and it looked very suspicious!!

Yesterday, my friend J.P. and I went fishing.  It was really fun!  Well, after I got over feeling seasick.  I even caught a fish!  It was a yellow tailed snapper and it was very pretty!!

J.P. caught a fish with really big blubbery lips!!  The guys on the ship said he caught Angelina Jolie!!

The river is high!

Today I was very busy running around, getting last minute things for my trip and packing everything to go.  I went to some thrift stores by Paul's house and I got to see some pretty interesting people.  I kind of felt like I was in Kentucky!  The lady who hired me to work on the ship called me to tell me that I may not actually be flying to Red Wing, MN on Saturday.  Apparently, the Mississippi River is very high right now and the boat is unable to fit under the bridges so it can't get to all the ports.  I guess I will be flying to a different port on Saturday, or possibly Sunday, or possibly Monday.  I will hopefully know more tomorrow.  I wonder what the boat is doing since it can't get under the bridges...I mean, there are still people on it, so do they just say "Attention guests, although we are scheduled to go to MN, we will now be going to St. Louis."  Weird!  

I saw some interesting graffiti today.  I think it was a message written for my brother, Bill:

randomness...

If I had to guess how hot it was when I walked out of Paul's house this morning, I would say 300 degrees.  If I stood on my tip-toes and reached up really high, I think I could have touched the sun!  

I went to trade in a few items of clothing I don't wear anymore to Plato's Closet today.  To my surprise, they actually bought most of my stuff!  And they gave me more $$ than I thought they would.  I ended up leaving the store with a cute new pair of dress pants, a cute olive colored purse and 2$ more than I walked in with!  You can't get much better than that...

Today, for your viewing pleasure, I have supplied a photo of the cutest kitty in the world, Sadie. I miss her so much and I thought about her all day!  She is staying at Paul's parents house until we can drive back to Grosse Pointe to get her.  In this action shot, she is smelling the breeze coming in from the window.  I love it when she does this, its so cute!  And for the record, I am a dog person, not a cat person, but its impossible to not love Sadie. Anyone who has met her will most definitely agree!

Huckleberry Rin

In 8 days, I will embark on my journey.  After about 3 months of looking for a job, I finally got lucky!  I'll be taking photographs on the American Queen Riverboat, which trek's its way down the great Mississippi River.  I will start in Red Wing, MN and I will end up in New Orleans, LA, 8 weeks later.  It looks like its going to be a lot of fun!  I'll get to see a bunch of new places and I'll get to see the best and brightest colors of fall, which is my favorite season.  I'll be able to take oodles of awesome photographs; of course I am bringing my Holga with a bunch of film!  I'd be lying, though, if I didn't say I was nervous!  

Will I get motion sickness?  

Will it be cold?  

Will I like my co-workers (who I'm bound to 24/7 for the next 2 months)?  

Will I like my job? 

I think my mom gave me the best advice when she said "Treat this job like a class in school.  You liked some, you hated others, but you worked your hardest in all of them.  At the end of this class, you will have gained experience instead of an A.  Then you can move on to whatever the next class may be."  

Out of all the people I told about my new job, about 65% of them said "Your going to be like Huckleberry Finn!!".  Hence, the title of this entry provided by the wise and witty Paul Garvey, himself.  Its been a really long time since I've even seen that book, so I am compelled to go buy a copy to read on the ship.  I'm not really going to, but it sounds like a good idea...

In related news, I must be a psychic of some sort.  Honestly!  A couple of months ago, I went out to dinner with my friend Devin to the Red Coat Tavern.  While we were talking after dinner, I crafted up this amazing ship from items remaining at our table.

www.americanqueenriverboat.com if you feel like checkin it out.

numero uno

Hello to all who are cool enough to read my blog!  Since this is my first entry, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for reading the sometimes mindless ramblings in my head.

(pause)

ok, now thats taken care of...

on with the shenanigan's!