August 4 Diary
Hartford, Conn.
"A funk of a day"

Bad day all around for me. It just started out wrong and didn't get better until later that night when I found out we were going straight into New York City and getting into our hotels right away. That never happens so I was very happy to have a real bed, and wake up in the city.

I had an excellent massage therapy session which I have Jess to thank for. There was an amazing woman on site and word got around about how great she was, so by the time I got there to sign up for an appointment it was all booked up. Which, of course put me in an even worse mood than I was already in. Anyway, Jess was nice enough to give me her slot which I was very greatful for, it took care of some neck and back problems I was having. That should have put me in a better mood and it sort of did, but not really.

By the end of the night I was in better spirits and actually having some fun hanging out with everyone outside of our busses before we left. Pretty much every night there is a parking lot congregation in the surrounding area of our busses. Most of the village people, meaning non-profits, sponsors, and a couple of vendors take that time to chill out, drink a couple of beers and just generally unwind after a day's work.

The usual Daiquiri Night didn't happen because we were all leaving sooner than normal and it takes quite a bit of preparation to make daiquiris for 170 people. Once on the bus we all tried to stay up until we got to the city but after about five minutes people started falling asleep. We were all piled up in the front lounge with our comforters, listening to some great music that Bob had brought back from Vancouver. After Jess fell asleep we decided to play a prank on her. We stuck some beers and slices of pizza right by her face and took lots of pictures. We then removed them all so she didn't know about it until later when Al, the photographer printed them up and stuck them on the fridge. So after that I REALLY didn't want to fall asleep. I was one of last people to go but I did (fall asleep) for a little while. We finally got in around 3:30am, at which point we all drifted like zombies into the hotel, went straight to our rooms and crashed.