lostxcloud

[lostxcloud]

2024 Lanzarote Spring Sun

Wednesday 10th April

Today was nothing day. But that was a lie. I'll explain now.

At around 10ish all of us had been up for like an hour (except my little brother who was just getting up) and my parents and I had done a stock check and determined we needed water amongst other things. We set off towards Teguise (not Costa Teguise where we are staying), to Cafe Maria (Tahiche) to do a recce for a later meal.

It was interesting. Clearly a local watering hole, mum had a wine, Dad had a coffee, and I had a smaller Fanta :(. It seemed interesting but we decided against eating there. I was also bemused by the local university (of tourism) and the British school of Lanzarote.

Anyways, we headed home to get my younger siblings and check out a local eatery that was on our list, only to find out that the local eatery was rammed. We booked seats there tomorrow and headed onwards to Costa Teguise's Restaurante Bacchus. We had to take a table around the corner (to dodge the wind) and kept getting hit with the smell of sewage. There were foil surfers (with kites) all over the beach and on the waves. My sister and parents had the 14 euro deals (starter, main and dessert), having Bolognese, lasagne and squid as their mains. I had a sea bream with Canarian potatoes (traditionally boiled in sea water [although these are boiled in tap water with added salt nowadays]) and my brother had a pretty good tex-mex pizza. It was pretty good.

After lunch we went to the beach, where my little sister was desperate to go into the ocean. Dad had bowel problems. Despite none of us being willing or wanting to go into the ocean, I eventually caved and went in (wearing a pair of my little brother's shorts). I looked stupid, but it was good. My little brother also joined us and we tried to surf in on the waves by swimming with them and trying to be with them as they broke. We took several falls and loved it. Up until the end, where I ballsed up a jump, and my chin got pushed down into the floor and my legs dragged over my head to flip me. I grazed my chin and my breathing became silly. I kept making little groans.

My brother ended without such injuries (as did my sister), so we got vaguely made up and went back to the car and headed home (all of us looking a little sandy and bedraggled). I'm still pulling grains of sand from my ears.

My brother took a shower and myself and my parents headed out to the shops (a job that we had failed to do up until 18:00). We got the water, meat, more snacks, and various other stuffs.

We got home and I showered, my sister bathed, and dad made a salsa, and prepped fajitas for that evening's meal. One of the best meals we've had. We discussed what's happening on the remaining few days of the holiday and considered the future trip to Timanfaya.

Our energy troughed and we relaxed for the rest of the evening before heading to bed.

#lanzarote holiday

[lostxcloud]

2024 Lanzarote Spring Sun

Tuesday 9th April

Today was a busy day.

I had been asked to plan a route yesterday. A route to Mirador del Rio to see the sunset.

First stop: Lanzarote Aquarium. We enjoyed looking at the fish and the sharks and stuff. They had an ocean tank with Grey Sharks and a Zebra shark and another with blacktip reef sharks. It was an interesting place.

Lunch: We crossed the road after leaving the aquarium and went to the Grandfather Bar, which had a €6 burger/fries/drink deal. It was actually pretty good.

Second Stop: We had aimed to go to the pirate museum next. We headed into Teguise, and had to loop around once or twice to get to the entrance. Some dude was putting down a barrier and told us we couldn't go to the castle on the hill. We exited and entered a front yard with a billboard next door, and concluded that the museum went out of business a few years back and was turned into houses. We had to give up on the museum... :(

On our way to the next point of interest we came across the Stratified City. A city of volcanic rock, which has been weathered into all sorts of interesting shapes.

Stop 3: Cactus Gardens.

I'd seen this when looking for things to do and dismissed it due to the high winds. Dad and my little brother had also both dismissed it as probably going to be a little bit shit. It was amazing. The bronze work gates, and railings, the wooden cactus themed door handles, the volcanic stone walls and buildings. Not to mention the number of rad cacti that were there. We only had 40 minutes there, but it was awesome.

Stop 4:

We stopped in Arietta and Punta Mujeres to admire the massive crashing waves, which had already demolished the end of their pier.

Stop 5: Casa Museo de César Manrique

We then headed inland to the home of the island's favourite artist, César Manrique. He had some abstract paintings that weren't so well received amongst our number, but his home (a slightly eccentric renovation on an old Palm Orchard Farm House) was really cool. He had a massive conservatory window in his bathroom, but had then walled the outside to prevent onlookers. He also designed Mirador del Rio.

Stop 6: Caleta Del Mojon

Deciding that we had slightly too much time to kill to just go to the viewpoint, we ended up stopping on the side of the road near the coast. The black volcanic rock and the white sand were gorgeous contrasts. The waves were also breaking over the craggy coast reaching 40 feet high. My little brother, dad and I all went out closer to the waves, getting buffeted by the winds, the sea spray, little bits of sand, and the hot sun. It was awesome though.

Stop 7: Mirador Del Rio

We drove back inland towards the viewpoint. But it was (ridiculously) closed. Barrier down and all. We couldn't enter. We couldn't park (there's a one way loop). We couldn't hang around 90 minutes until sunset and my little sister needed to go to the bathroom.

Stop 8: Bar Folelé

We drove back south again to a bar. We had drinks. We tried some pumpkin pie, Grandma Pie and Goats cheese with fig. We then hurried back into the car

Stop 9: Mirador de Guiante

We busted ass getting to the Guiante viewpoint and got to witness the sunset from a fantastic vantage point. And we were relatively sheltered from the wind.

We then headed home in the dark. Ate pizza and then scurried off to bed.

#Lanzarote Holiday

[lostxcloud]

2024 Lanzarote Spring Sun

Monday 8th April

Our first full day in Lanzarote. We spent yesterday arriving here (early start, 4 hour flight, supermarket dash, Da Bubi for dinner). Today we had a few things on our list.

It's set to be windy today and tomorrow, so we're not doing too much outdoors stuff. We woke up and had toast, and spent the morning chilling around the pool and trying to figure out what the deal was with the cold tub (it's an unheated hot tub). We couldn't.

Around noon we headed out towards Puerto Del Carmen to find a beach and check the snorkelling scene. Mum and my little sister went for a paddle and then we wandered aimlessly along the beach. My little brother and I were avoiding walking on the sand (didn't want sandy shoes) but it was unavoidable in some areas, and everyone was getting hungry. We stopped at a restaurant on the seafront and had vaguely acceptable meals. Chicken tacos, Waldorf salad, chicken and chips...

Once done we headed back towards the car, stopping at a shop to buy salt and some other essentials we forgot yesterday.

We chilled some more at the holiday home, and then set out to see the sunset. We kinda messed up and set out a little too late, but we drove to somewhere near La Santa, did some offroading and enjoyed the stark and rugged landscape.

When we got home the youngest of our group had some spaghetti, but the adults were still full. We went to bed shortly after this moment.

#Lanzarote holiday

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 10: Driving, Sports and Italians

Hello!

Today began up a mountain.

I snuck out to explore the town that we'd stopped at. It was a small town, less than a kilometre around the town, and with no facilities or anything.

I wrote the blog sitting in a light snow, on a bench by a playpark. Shortly after finishing, I returned to the van to find people starting to get up.

We had an assortment of breakfasts, ranging from pain au chocolat heated in the oven, to Cereal to nothing but one banana.

My dad helped my younger brother, who was returning to Manchester by himself, to pack his bags and by noon, we left the little village of Crêt du Vlé. The road down the mountain was different, and much wider, as it passed by the new gondola lift from Orelle to the 3 valley ski resort.

The waterfalls, the heavy snow and the mountains looked gorgeous as we left.

We had some issues refuelling, but after successfully adding some gas to the tank we kept on going, and passed through the Fréjus Road Tunnel which cost nearly €70 for a one way drive, was 13km long and passes over the border between France and Italy. Once over we started to struggle with the language, none of us can understand Italian. We went through a series of bridges and tunnels, before breaking onto the open road, with rolling fields, the occasional castle, and lots of rivers.

We stopped at a Lidl a little while after 13:00, to buy some water and other essentials for the van (which was being left in Italy when we returned home).

We got back on the road and in under 10km we parked up at a service station, in the bus station zone. We watched the Scotland v France rugby game (after having watched the Italy game the day before in France), then my brothers watched the Carabao Cup final (with both of their teams playing each other). After the football finished, we got back on the road and arrived at a car park in Bergamo at 21:45. We ate dinner (curry, loving prepared by dad) then my siblings (all three of them) started trying to find the Fury v Paul boxing match. It started an hour after they expected, the channel was a pain to find and by the end of the match it was past midnight.

My sister started making herself less ingratiated with the rest of the family by problem spotting and arguing about loading her washing into the suitcase.

My brothers then made up their bed, whilst Dad went to the toilet and mum finished up the washing up.

It's currently 00:30, and we have to be at the airport for my Manchester brother at 8:30 am. My sister is not a morning person. I don't think any of us are particularly.

Wish us luck!

Today's snap of the day is:

Dad getting read to photo the van in the snow.

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 9: Mountain Roads

Hello!

Today started with a litany of different tactics to get me to join team Friendship on their last day of Snowboarding. I didn't. I feel bruised and tired, so I refused them.

They went out around 10, and were back by noon as a couple of members had taken some serious falls in the boardpark.

I, during this time, had showered and been down to the local shop, and was at base making sandwiches for the group when they all got back.

My mother was battling with her euro card as it kept on shutting itself down.

After lunch my sister switched her skis for a snowboard again and went out with my dad and least bruised brother, whilst my oldest little brother showered and took some ibuprofen.

Mother and I had been preparing the base for travel, and we're excited to sit down and watch some rugby. That's when the data issue hit. We had no data, my mother only had 2.5 GB left and when my dad had bought more data he'd bought an unlimited pack for his number then realised he couldn't share that out between us.

So we were watching the rugby using his phone. He wanted to get back out there again. So we switched to my mother's data and she ran out just as the first half ended.

Despite our protests, and the fact he'd been there 3 weeks, dad would not come back in, he wanted one more run. He's like a dog playing fetch. He just never wants it to end.

So I, using the free, slower data that we get access to after using the standard fare, watched the rest of the game on my phone.

After the match finished, dad was back and want gone as soon as possible.

So we headed down to Plagne Centrale to return my sister's rental skis. We then set off down the twisty mountain roads, which are always slightly concerning in a large van. Fortunately they were made to accommodate large buses of people coming in and out of the ski resorts.

We continued once down, round in a semi-circle, as the roads south through the mountains were closed. We stopped in Moutiers to try and reactivate the card, but failed, so we bought some pizza and then ate it in the town centre.

We headed further round to Orelles, a small town I'd seen just off the motorway and en route to our final destination of Milan. We got to the turn off of the motorway and were feeling pretty fine. Then the twisty mountain paths started. Dad said it reminded him of Nepal, we had to do a three point turn to get round one of the corners and it was very dark.

Still, we finally made it and immediately went to bed, whilst Dad, Mum and my bruised up brother watched the second rugby match (that we'd all missed) in the van.

Today's snap of the day is:

The river Isère running through Moutiers

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 8: Rope Pulls, Stunt lads, and Ravioli

Hello! The dogs howling didn't happen, so everyone snoozed in.

At 8am, the dogs didn't howl, so everyone slept in. Until Dad started moving around, setting out the commands and cooking eggy bread with bacon. I had agreed to go with Team Friendship the night before and so we set off just before noon.

We headed over to the left of the map (whereas I normally stuck to the right of the map) and up to the top. They had been talking about the Carella the entire holiday, and whilst it is pretty, there are large flat expanses. We also went through the 'disco tunnel' which is flat. We headed over to the board park and I watched the team all do their cool jumps and stuff, whilst I filmed from the edges.

On the way out a skier coming in from off piste almost took out my little brother, so we ended up arguing at the end of the park about his unsafe skiing.

We went around a little more, before heading down the funislope, a skiing slope with a bunch of obstacles and objects on the piste, like a snow house you could go through. Dad and my youngest brother ended up scrubbing off all their speed and so myself and the pair of them ended up stuck on a flat temporarily. Once at the end of the funislope I realised I'd ripped my trousers somewhere along the way. I planned to go home at this point. But I ended up with a nosebleed, so I jetted off to get back to the van, and both of my brothers ended up catching up to me.

I stopped at this point, my youngest brother also stopped (due to being sore), my sister switched and started learning how to snowboard, and my dad taught her.

Whilst they were out learning my youngest brother ate lunch, with me, then proceed to eat a portion of soup, then he heated up a tin of Ravioli and ate the entire thing whilst taunting our other brother about his dislike of both baked beans and Ravioli.

When my sister got in she had done some great work, and was boasting of the gains she would experience in her biceps by tomorrow.

We settled in for the evening and relaxed. Dad cooked dinner, making a red wine and tomato based sauce to accompany dinner (which was really damn good)

After dinner my little brother washed up and a tube of toothpaste which was left out in the bathroom ended up falling down the toilet.

My little sister had to put her arm in a bag and fish it out, whilst my brother squealed and leapt around like a hyperactive 3 year old.

Once all the excitement was over we went to bed. It had been a long day.

Today's snap of the day is:

My oldest youngest brother doing a sick jump.

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 7: Sunshine, Slush and Some big ol' falls.

Hi! Today was sunny.

The dog chorus at 8am was once again stupidly loud. Lots of howling, it feels like sleeping parked in a wolf enclosure at the zoo.

Despite that noone spring into action. We all lazed for a bit. By 9:30 there was some movement. Dad started cooking eggy bread with bacon for breakfast and organising the boys who sleep on the table. The eggy bread was really good.

By 10:30 the eggy bread was eaten and I think the team was almost ready to go out snowboarding (and skiing). I waited at the base a while longer, to brush my teeth and get ready after the others had left.

I left at around noon, and ended up waiting 20+mins for a lift. I went down the same lovely pistes as yesterday, ans despite the sun melting the thin covering of snow we'd has overnight, the pistes were mostly ok in my zone. A little area was grassy, but it was easily avoided.

I made my way back up on the sole chairlift, and got to see a helicopter flying lower than I was. Once up top I realised that I was now snowboarding on an east-facing slope and the sun wasn't hitting it as much. My goggles are made for sunny conditions, and without the sun it felt colder. I snowboarded back down to Plagne Centrale (on some of the worst rockiest pistes I'd seen all day), made it to Centrale, then went under the hotel and back to the Bergerie, which is the lift at the top of the run back to base.

I went back to the base, got a shower, checked in on mum, who was busy trying to plan the next holiday, put away the drying, and had a pot noodle for lunch.

I spent some time chilling up until around 15:30, when I headed out to the local shop to get some bread, some milk and some crisps for the team when they arrived back.

They arrived back just before 17:00. My sister all upset that her tummy hurt, and she'd fallen without a glove on and managed to nick her hand. My oldest little brother being upset also that his contact lenses were dry, and that he'd also fallen and nicked his hand, and that he wasn't getting any medical attention the way my sister was.

My dad was generally upset when he arrived back that some dopey camper moron had emptied his toilet cassette at the fresh water point, and not at the toilet emptying facility literally 6 feet away. Real gross stuff.

Anyway, some of my siblings went through the shower, and my dad also. The fresh water tank was filled up. And we just sort of hung around waiting for our 19:00 reservation at "Monica's" restaurant.

The restaurant was a little ways down the mountain and across the piste (although it was still within the town) so we had to walk there in the cold dark. The place looked alright but smelled pretty bad.

We managed to talk our way to a different table, as our reserved table was right in the back corner by all the coats. The food was enjoyable, all of my siblings and myself had pizza, and my parents enjoyed a raclette. The deserts enjoyed by my siblings were white chocolate in a Toblerone shape, surrounded by a crispy layer of something.

Once we left and got back to the van (around 21:00) I went to bed and my brothers out on a football game.

Unsurprisingly I don't know if much else happened that evening.

Today's snap of the day is:

A Piste Basher down on the piste running through town.

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 6: Total Whiteout

Hi! Today we had snow.

So today begins slowly (despite the promises all my siblings made to themselves to just be out there ASAP). Everyone moves sluggishly, breakfast is porridge (or super noodle for my youngest siblings) and afterwards it takes a little while for everyone to get moving.

The team left at about 11:15 and headed down the mountain. I don't know much about where they went until the afternoon, but it sounded from their recounted experiences like they went everywhere.

I set off an hour later, having planned a route using a piste map, whilst staying conscious of the melting snow.

I went all the way up the cable car and took the same scenic route as yesterday, except I continued going down the other side of the mountain. It was gorgeous pine lined piste which curved along the mountain. The weather was pleasant and the snow conditions weren't terrible. To get back home from the other side of the peak, I had to go up top again, then down to town, to go back up and then home.

The first down was fine (although the piste was a little rockier than others I'd experienced, the pebbles were avoidable) the lift up stopped near the top, and the snow began. The cable car bounced whilst stationary, which couldn't have been more than 90 seconds, then it continued up to the top.

The snow, whilst very welcome in its role to repair and recover the pistes, did bring with it fog. In my goggles I could not longer make out the shape of the snow. The moguls blended, and my final descent was much harder. I almost binned it once or twice and it seemed that others were suffering similar fates.

But I made it back to base. Mum was there, having resolved some flight issues and some work issues and was about to lunch, so I joined her in eating some Tomato Soup.

After lunch we headed down to the local shop to get some bread. The shop was still closed for lunch, so we went to the nearby cafe. This is when we received word that my little sister was returning to base all by herself. So I had to hurry over to the base camp again to unlock it all and lead her back to the cafe. At around this time we were updated on the other's whereabouts. They were at the après-ski bar(?) in Plagne-Bellacotte, listening to some dodgy live covers of Barbie Girl.

My sister and I made it back to the cafe and enjoyed a Crêpe before heading to the shop to get some baguette.

Once we got back I had a freak nosebleed. Thankfully it ended pretty quickly. The lads arrived back at base shortly after that too.

With the six of us all back, things were a tad cramped. One brother had a shower. I retreated to my bed. Dad rushed around dealing with certain daily chores. I settled in and did some uni reading at this time.

After all that, and a period of rest for us all, Dad began cooking dinner. Some steaks that were on the edge of their use by date. Some merguez sausages. Dad's mushroom and onion cream-sauce. Rice.

We ate heartily (except mum, who has baguette and garlic cheese) and then I did the washing up.

After cleaning up from dinner we played a couple of rounds of 'One Night Ultimate Werewolf'

My mum spectated, knowing every secret role. My dad git frequently confused by the role swapping and the team goals. I was permanently mistrusted for being serious. My siblings also acted as truth hounds. They could sniff out the truth from a field of cow manure.

I think everyone won at least once, but by the end we were tired and headed to bed shortly afterwards.

I'd also like to state that since just before serving dinner, we'd had some wintery snow falling.

Today's snap of the day is:

My Dad and his icy beard following the start of the snow

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 5: Dude, where's the snow?

So the day started with all my siblings slowly getting up and getting cereal. I elected to hide away at the back of the van until there was some space.

My dad and I went out and repaired my board. And then the team left for their morning of snowboarding, whilst I hung back with a busy working mum, to organise my route today.

I set off after team Friendship and headed in the opposite direction to them (well, we both went down the mountain but they traversed over to the right of the map and I headed over to the left. I went up the cable car (twice) and on my second ride down I went via a gorgeous path with fantastic views of the snowy valley.

Unfortunately this eventually gave way to a zone with melty snow and grass and twigs peeking out through the cover. I made it down then returned to the base camp, having ridden about 9km. I had some lunch and checked in on mum, and received news that team Friendship had managed to get burgers today.

I rested a little, then headed out over to Plagne Bellacotte, repeating my main run from yesterday, managing to get 15km done on my snowboard.

The queues at the lifts near closing time were colossal meaning that I managed to meet up with Team Friendship at the top of the lift, as we'd ended up getting funnelled quite close together.

We all rode in together started the shower and refilling gauntlet. I ended up with a chilly shower, but that's alright.

With the tank full, the waste water empty, and the snowgear away, we all sprawled out inside. The older of my little brothers went to call his girlfriend (and sneak a crêpe this fine pancake day). The rest of my siblings lost at cards to my mother.

Dad started dinner, which was extraordinarily impressive given the motorhome's small facilities. Fajitas (the chicken prepared earlier by my mother), potato chunks (like patatas bravas), and I think a little cheesey baguette for my sister.

After dinner, and the washing up disco, we settled around the table to watch dad's 360⁰ camera footage of the whole group.

It's currently around 20 to 11pm, so I doubt we'll be up much longer. I just know that my brothers and dad are hoping for snow.

Today's snap of the day is:

The nonsense queues at the lifts from 4pm (one hour before last runs)

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 4: No Burgers for you

Hi! Today Team Friendship became Team Toilet

So, the morning was slow. There was a chorus of dogs barking and howling at 8am, which quickly became grating.

By 10am only dad was dressed, and I quickly followed suit by getting dressed, then heading outside to empty out our grey water. I came in at around half past and my littlest brother got dressed and then my sister managed to soak her trousers in the shower (which hadn't drained as we were not yet level).

The motorhome shuffle then began as my brothers started putting away their bed to make the table, and the emptying of the top bed began. This had to be done to lift the top bed, to move the van slightly to get us level so that the drawer would stay closed and the shower would drain.

By this point it's past noon, and so mum made some sausage and egg sandwiches as a lunchtime meal. Everyone continues (after having eaten) slowly getting ready, up until we set off around 12:45.

The entire group of winter sportsfolk made our way down the mountain and up a lift, where I broke off from the pack to engage in a shorter run, whilst the rest of the group went over to the neighbouring resort zone of Les Arcs. I don't know exactly what they got up to, but I'm aware they were a little more delicate with their bodies than yesterday.

I, on the other hand, know exactly what I did. I did a long solo ride back down to Bellacotte, the neighbouring village of La Plagne to our base camp. Unfortunately, right near the end of that run, my boards left toe binding suffered a malfunction. It was repairable, but not with my knowledge of at my location. So I put the pieces in my pocket and made my way back over to the base camp on La Plagne Soleil.

I arrived back a little after 2pm, and did some basic errands around the van before heading down to La Plagne Centrale with my mother. We explored the covered shopping zone, had some crêpes, and bought some baguettes to go with dinner.

We arrived back at the camper by 4:15pm. We had gleaned that the others had not made it to a food vendor during their serving hours, so we cooked some mini pizzas for the snow-patrol. They arrived in the van, got changed and ate the pizza.

The evening then was whittled away with my brothers popping out to have a wander/call girlfriends, my mum playing cards with anyone who made eye contact and just some general lounging about.

There were several discussions on various topics, such as who informed whom of a relative's pre-op appointment, dad's half-dyed beard and other nonsenses which culminated in my dad declaring that team Friendship will become team toilet at this rate.

He then showered and started cooking dinner (big Paella) which he always adds to to make it better. We all ate, the dad cast some footage to the TV from his new 360⁰ Camera he brought with him. It's pretty impressive stuff.

We the hit 11pm and started heading off to bed.

Today's snap of the day is:

La Plagne Soleil by night

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 3: Motorhoming Mishaps that make you go 'hmm'

So we start again with a sluggish morning of 'first poops' and belvita biscuits. All my younger siblings disappeared off to ride their boards before 10am.

My dad and I were a little slower on our start, taking off at like 10:30, and spending around an hour on the slopes, using 2 lifts. We returned to the van, where he used the facilities and I removed my gear, for now.

My dad left to go and find the others and my mother walked down to the shops to get some lunch type food.

I stayed in the van and tried to massage my foot to reduce the stress.

My mum returned with some baguettes and made some sandwiches for the group. On doing this, a drawer lost its ability to close. So it's been rolling open constantly.

She enjoyed the sun, her book and a glass of wine, whilst I tried reading some books for uni. My siblings and dad stayed out for a few more hours before stopping for lunch at around 14:30.

They were all out again by 15:30 and enjoying the slopes. I took another half hour then hit the slopes myself, repeating what I'd done this morning, but by myself, and smoother.

At the top of the mountain, I managed to meet up with the others and we all ran in together at the end.

We got in the van and my littlest sister took the first shower. It didn't get very warm as the hot water had run out. We put the water heater on and emptied out the grey water, refilled with clean water and put all the gear away.

Once the water was hot, everyone who'd been out doing the winter sports got a shower. I got the last shower and the hot water ran out by the end of my shower. The gang was sat around the lounge area casting their snowboarding tricks to the TV.

My mum and sister then had some soup, whilst the rest of us had some burgers for dinner. Everyone settled in and watched baby driver whilst I retreated to the back of the van.

It's now around 10pm, my sister is heading to bed, and the everyone's energy levels are falling.

I can't imagine they'll be up much longer.

Today's snap of the day:

The gang on a chairlift

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 2: Taking a Burton

Hello! Today we ordered the most expensive fun-sized lion bars.

The day started slowly. I didn't particularly wanna get up after the late night, and my little sister was impatient and raring to go and ski.

We ate porridge for breakfast and split into two teams.

Team 1 - Mum, Little Sister and my littlest brother (with my siblings in full snowday gear) went down the mountain from Plagne Soleil to Plagne Centrale to rent some skis for my sister.

Team 2 - Dad, myself and my little brother all stayed at the van, preparing snowboards, emptying grey water and filling the van with fresh water.

At just after noon Team 2 set off (myself in cold weather gear, my brother and dad in snowboarding gear) down the mountain to meet team 1. I was carrying my littlest brother's snowboard and ended up taking a lift and getting lost, after the rest of team 2 abandoned me to snowboard down to the rendezvous.

I eventually found my way to the group (and two slices of pizzas). My parents and I went in to buy the lift passes and my mother slipped on some ice, falling onto her hip, her hand and her leg, becoming the first fall of the holiday. Once inside we managed to organise the purchasing of 4 lift passes at nonsensical prices and (despite me forgetting the French word for 14, calling my little sister 40) left with the lift passes and 4 mini lion bars.

My mother and I made our way back up to the van, whilst the others went off for several hours, across several pistes and up many lifts.

I rested for a little, before strapping into my board and doing a little boarding (around an hour, up two lifts and down 3 pistes).

I arrived back before the others, suffering from a sore muscle across the base of my foot. My siblings and dad arrived back later, with all of my siblings suffering sore legs, feet and occasionally butts from trying jumps and stuff and just falling over.

We sorted out all of our gear and settled into the van. My father cooked a spaghetti dinner (I had mine with rice, my little sister had hers without tomato), whilst my brothers watched a football game.

After dinner I washed up, and my mum and little sister started watching Death in Paradise.

It's currently 9pm, but I feel like I'm going to be flagging soon.

Today's snap of the day:

Dad, the lads and my littlest sister disappearing off to do winter sports.

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

2023 Snowboarding Trip

Day 1: Climbing the mountain (17/02/2023)

Hi! Today has not been great...

The day started pretty shoddily. Gale force winds caused issues at home with a falling tree, a busted gate and an issue linked to previous fire.

We set off, already behind the tight schedule designed to counter any issues causes by the storm, and were crammed into the back of the car for two hours.

Once at the airport we had to wait an additional half an hour for my brother to arrive. We ate some homemade sandwiches in a tubular room over the car park. Once my brother made it to the airport we went through security, my little sister losing her hair gel as she had not considered the liquids rules.

We made it through, spent far too much on some burger kings food and fountain drinks. After waiting some 2 hours for the plane to arrive, we piled in and found that we were completely encircled by babies. What a drag.

The flight arrived some half an hour early, so we battled the crowds to get out of the airport, and then crammed ourselves around the motorhome table. Dad had made his own way out in the motorhome a week prior to our flight.

We enter the motorhome and start driving (whilst desperately trying to get some sat nav started. We looped around a few times before the wagon rolled on, and the club tunes had started.

We stopped after an hour at a gas station to refill the gas cannister and empty the toilet in the world's worst toilet emptying point.

My littlest brother managed to find (amongst his trap remixes of children's show theme tunes) a nine minute long rap about a man and his monkey.

It is, at the time of writing, about 10pm France Alp Time. People are falling asleep, we've got another 2ish hours of driving to do, at least, to get up the mountain tonight.

My brothers and father are in high spirits, but I just feel exhausted having spent the past few days trying to facilitate our going away. I imagine that I'll feel better in the morning, after a good night's sleep.

Today's snap of the day:

Escalator team!

#2023 snowboarding trip

[lostxcloud]

USAustralia Day 28: Rosemont-tinted glasses

Today is the 16th September.

Hi! Today I was burdened with luggage.

So I got up early (ish) and then spent a lot of my packing time checking in with home again. I packed everything, and got locked out of my room when I went to brush my teeth (thank you cleaning lady for letting me back in!) And checked out on time at 11am. I then ordered an uber and went to an IHOP in Rosemont for breakfast. The guy forgot to add a lemonade to my bill, and I hung around there for like an extra 45 minutes (just to kill time, after all I had my big luggage with me) and he never added it to my bill or spoke to me. So I payed what he billed me for and walked over to lake Opeka, through a funfair that was completely abandoned, and rested by the lake, reading, for about 45 minutes.

I then walked around to the north side of the lake on order to order an uber (there was some fallfest going on (which also seemed dead), which meant the street was all no stopping and the curbs were barricaded off. Once there I ordered my uber and went to the airport. I got a chai and some water and the just chilled.

It's currently 17:40, my flight boards at 18:00. I have a sneaky suspicion that my day is kinda over. I found Rosemont to be lovely, although very anti-pedestrian.

Expect this blog to quiet for a little bit now. My journey this time is done, although I'm sure it'll burst back to life next time I go travelling.

Today's snap of the day is:

This shot of lake Opeka, from beneath the willow tree where I stopped to read

Today's activity of the day is:

IHOP

#usaustralia

[lostxcloud]

USAustralia Day 27: Getting myself kicked out of a museum and other things you'll struggle to believe

Today is the 15th September.

Hi! Today I cleaned up my act.

The day started slow, despite my 9am alarm I bumbled around for hours. Eating leftover pizza for breakfast, getting showered, putting on a shirt, and chatting with those back home. I left the hotel and passed by a Chinese place with a 2:30-5pm happy hour. I planned to go back to it for lunch/dinner. That was at 2pm.

I made it into the field museum at 2:30, paying a reduced fare as a student. Oddly enough I got in, using my expired undergraduate id, which I have to replace with my postgraduate id. Once in I spent ages exploring. They had a Pacific nation zone with a very nice ukulele duet playing near the exit. They also had a horticultural zone, a jade room, a working lab for museum staff, and native zones. I eventually ended up entering the Egypt zone and was kind of unimpressed with their collection. I suppose after seeing the Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney this one felt kind of bad, although they did have a more impressive display of taxidermy animals (including ecological challenges and migration routes the animals face) which was more impressive than the next largest one I've seen on the trip (which was Hobart), although strangely one of the only animals I stopped at and which really stood out to me was the Tasmanian devil, which I have seen both in taxidermy form (in Hobart) and in person (in Sydney Taronga zoo).

Now onto the part where I get kicked out. I entered the native American and Latin American section. Outside was a large statue of a corn deity. Once inside I skimmed passed most early sections until I reached the forming of cities and settlements. It was fascinating seeing it all, and then the loudspeakers chimed. "The museum is closing in 15 minutes, please leave!" So I hurried my way out of the exhibit and left into the muggy 5pm heat.

I had one other major attraction I wanted to visit in Chicago. I headed north along the lakefront until I reached a park. I followed alongside of it aiming on reaching 'The Bean' or as the artist prefers it be called: the cloud gate. Everyone calls it the bean, because it is a large mirrory bean. I assumed that it stood in a normal park that I could just walk up to and snap a few pics. Nope. On every entrance was a tent checking bags, pockets and scanning down everyone. The park was free to enter, and no event was occurring. Felt like overkill to me, but then I guess I don't have to worry about gun crime in the UK. I saw the bean, got my photos and left.

I walked back several blocks until I came to the Chinese place with the happy hour and decided to just go for it, despite happy hour finishing several hours ago. It was passable, but not amazing.

I then returned to the hotel to watch junk TV and sleep. I fly home tomorrow.

Today's snap of the day is:

This shot of the bean (with my reflection caught up in it.

Today's activity of the day is:

Getting completely lost in the museum by the number of fascinating exhibits.

#usaustralia

[lostxcloud]

USAustralia Day 26: Sleeping in, Chicago

Today is the 14th September.

Hi! Today I was lazy.

So I woke up at like 2pm. I went to sleep at 2am, so I guess it's a 'play silly games, win silly prizes' situation. By the time I'd dragged my carcass out of bed and gotten dressed, and brushed my teeth (and eaten more almonds and crisps as a breakfast), it was coming up on half three.

The local museum campus, where I'd planned to spend most of my time, had several cool buildings which all closed at 5pm. I picked to go there anyway as the Shedd Aquarium remained open until 9pm. I entered the aquarium at around 5pm. I loved some of the huge tanks in there. There was one tank, full of tropical fish and an eel, which not only was covering a wall, but also extended up and overhead appearing in two large overhead circular viewing ports. There was another large tank full of sharks.

Once an hour had passed I was about done and headed out. The sun was bathing the sky in a glorious orange. I strolled along the lake front, heading east towards the planetarium before changing my bearing to be south. I eventually headed back in towards land and ended up near a marina, bathed in the sunset glow, listening to the gentle chirping of crickets and cicadas. It felt awesome. I then headed back to my hotel, via a trader Joe's store, to plan on where to find a Chicago deep dish. I ended up heading to one on my block, and against the recommendation of my server ordered a medium sized BBQ chicken deepdish. I ate 5/8s of it and felt pretty bad. It was delicious but I was just ramming it in. I think I was one of the last to leave because I was just forcing pizza down myself.

I left with my pizza, stashed it in the hotel room, set an alarm so I didn't miss an entire day again, and passed out in bed.

Today's snap of the day is:

This shot of Chicago from the lakefront by the planetarium

Today's activity of the day is:

Seeing the huge tanks in the aquarium

#usaustralia

[lostxcloud]

USAustralia Day 25: How many different ways can I move across this earth

Today is the 13th September.

Hi! Today I arrived in Chicago.

The day began early, with me squirming around in bed hunting for the energy to get up, get dressed and get to the airport. My uncle drove me to the airport and after a slightly teary farewell I walked into the airport and checked in my luggage.

The airport moved so slowly and the security check-in point came to a complete standstill due to it being overcrowded. Whilst shuffling forwards I got into a conversation with a Texan mother on the same flight. After finally making it past security I bought a meal deal combo and ate my sandwich and lemonade at the gate. I then got on the plane and squeezed down the aisle to get to my seat. I had a bulkhead seat that was one in from the aisle, in the centre of the plane, front row of that section, on the left. No one sat either side of me, and a large woman had the seat on the far right. We sat there as an airplane flew us to San Francisco. I was fairly comfortable in my seat, the extra legroom was nice, although having to use fold out screens meant that I was always looking down, so my neck was unhappy.

Once down I had about 2 hours to make it through customs, collect my bag, recheck through security and get on my next plane. Customs took 1hr30mins at least. The queue was a standstill and they couldn't rush through connection people as that comprised over half of us. Once through I found and dumped my bag quite easily, but when I found the security line it was way longer than the 15 mins I had left. So I jogged around to the next checkpoint and spent the 10 mins getting through, then sprinted back around the airport. I had to spring past 2 wings of gates before making it to my gate, just minutes before they closed it all down.

My seat had been taken by a guy who couldn't read plane signs so I took his in between two elderly women who kinda smelled (although I can't imagine I'd fared much better after a half-day of flying and a sprint in my coat, jumper and jeans) and tried to enjoy the flight across to Chicago. Once there I rushed to the carousel hoping that I could just crash at the hotel. Turns out, whilst I had just made my plane, my bag hadn't. It was coming in at 5pm. I was given 30 dollars worth of restaurant coupons (not that it helps when you're stuck in the arrivals lounge) and used them to buy water, bananas, m&ms and some crisps. Once my bag had arrived some 3 hours later I checked uber to get out of there but found that it would a) take an hour and b) would cost about a hundred dollars. Once I'd seen that I climbed down the stairs and headed off to the train station. I then caught two trains to get to my destination and walked 3 blocks. Once I'd finally made it to the hotel (and checked in) I got into bed and rested. It was late and I wasn't exactly feeling great. I snacked on some almonds and then called home. I eventually fell asleep at 2 am.

I moved across the earth in 11 different ways today, according to my count.

Today's snap of the day is:

This shot of the underground once I'd arrived, just really hammering home where I was.

Today's activity of the day is: collapsing in my hotel room.

#usaustralia