Camp Lo

One day, way back when snow was still on the ground, I got an email asking me to come to Camp Lo from Terry, my Boston pal. Not really knowing the fuck Camp Lo was I inquired and I got this email responding to my inquiry-

hey nora,

camp lo is the best time of the year.

charlie or ashley never told you about it?

you should come... seriously,

terry-

So Camp Lo was to remain shrouded in mystery...
After some back and forth with Charley and Jersey (no one I know calls her Ashley...) I figured out it was like a sleep away camp for "grown ups" complete with an arts and crafts table, boating, tubing, hiking, and drinking. Lots of that.
And then I forgot because snow and cold doesn't make me want to leave my well heated apt and think about living on an island on Lake George.

Fast forward several months- the gang's all here, in size order, on a dock.... waiiitttinngg for the mystery boat to pick us up with our gear.
The prep email we all received said something to the effect of
"You don't have to call, just be there by 4 and you'll get on the boat. If you miss the last boat, you don't get to come to the island until the next day."
To pass the time Charley had the really awful idea of playing badminton with himself right on the edge of the dock.
45 minutes later we decided to call.
And our trip was able to begin! Being a city gal, getting on a boat to get to an island where there is nothing really like civilization at all is really exotic. Even if is only a ten minute boat ride tops. And a walkie talkie. And iPods.
The NYC kids (us) were supposed to be on clean up duty after dinner, but I missed the memo and came too late to really help. I contributed by taking photos of Babs cleaning the skillet. She seemed to be having such a good time I didn't want to impede on her fun.
And later that night we played round after round of 13-person-teamed Flip Cup. It was my third time playing. Ever.
I loved it!
We must have played close to 10 rounds of the game. My team won all but 9 of them.
(see what I did there?)
The next day it RAINED every single moment. This didn't stop anyone from going on a boat, tubing, or swimming in the lake. The weather just contributed to making me sleepy as fuck, resulting in the most EPIC NAP EVER! Now that's what I call vacation.
Babs made her beer can carpet all by herself! Babs also loves skull caps and Joe Boxer bathing suits.
And any favorite rainy day activity- FACE PAINTING TIME! By the time I left most ladies had facial hair. Its tres chic indeed.

WTF?

This is the first thing I remember greeting me as we entered Boston.
Allz I gotz ta say is WT Fuck?

Bahstan- part duo

This is Jake. He was one of our hosts, and arguably the most gushy, adorable monster face of the two.

I heard a marching band. I love marching bands. We followed the sound. We ran into the most schizophrenic protest ever. There were signs for Peace, Love One Another, Against the War in Afganistahn, Iraq, Iran, the Gaza Strip. Bring our Troops Home. Create Jobs! Healthcare. Gay Rights. Some guy with the Quran. I don't know, they were confused.
I haven't marched in a protest in a hot minute, and Babs never has (odd hey? I thought all 17 year olds were required). And some very excited high schoolers encouraged us to join in, so we totes did.

In response to "What does democracy look like?" we shouted "This is what democracy looks like!" And we sang "You can't keep the people down!" And all sorts of fun protest cheers. They did thier job and totes cheered us up, made us feel empowered, even if we really weren't. Fun? Yes! Affecting change? Probablly not, but go kids! Tell 'em what's on yer mind!

Then in the Boston Commons we found a Zombie March. Uh-maze-zing!

BBBrrraaaaaIIINNSSS.
BBaaaaahhhsssTTTAAANnnnn.

Bahstan- part uno

Everyone knows, the only way to go to Boston from New York in via bus. The tickets are super duper cheap-o. You can take the Fung Wah, which I hear is an adventure on its own (apparently you stand on a corner in Chinatown, and hope you hear someone violently yell "BOSTON!" and wrastle someone for a seat.) which only costs $15. Charley, Babs, and I opted to splurge the extra 5 bucks and took the MEGABUS! Which is a double decker, and when you get to the front of the line you are a lucky and smart person with the first pick of seats. And if you're not a dumb dumb, you run upstairs and take the very front seats which rewards you with a full front window. FRONT SEAT ACTION. And if you're us, you'll bring vodka, so you can pretend your drunk driving a giant's bus.

Yeah, that's not just cranberry juice we're drinking. It made getting stuck in the bumper to bumper non-moving traffic a little more tolerable. It might have also made us alcholics...

Our friend Jersey was our hostess with the mostest. She brought us to downtown Boston, which I deduced is a big outdoor shopping mall. Thumbs Down.
Big statue of Sam Adams, Thumbs Up! He makes beer, right?

Other things I deduced from Boston, they have very odd things going on everywhere. Just keep your eyes open. Like they have an obsession with nuts...

Yeah, this car has balls. I don't know? There are people who feel like putting balls on thier car is important. They went out, spent thier free time, thier spending money to purchase a car ball sack, and then spent more of thier free time affixing the balls to thier car. I guess everyone has thier prorities.

We also happened upon a go-kart street race. Very dorky. Charley, Jersey, and Babs were into it though.

Why was this photo of a little boy next to the Fro-Yo stand? He's not eating any Fro-Yo in the photo. He looks decidedly French. And he also looks like 1994. None of these things in particular make me want to buy Frozen Yogurt.
I guess we'll never know. It will remain one of life's mysteries.

We also found an old ass graveyard. The stones were super worn and very cool. The dates went all the way back to the 1700's. Perfect for halloween. Spppoookkkkyyyy.

Boston

My favorite picture I took in Boston, and in a while.

Coming soon- the context of from where this picture was taken!