US Diaries: Florida Part 2

This was our second time this year in Viera, Florida, but this time it was Fall and not Spring. The difference is very little because it's always pretty warm and sunny in Florida, but this time it was a bit colder than last time for sure. We were lucky to be there because the rest of the country was pretty much buried in snow.

So after tear-down in Brunswick, we slept for six hours, then got up and drove to Viera. The bus broke down along the way, so instead of four hours, we drove about five. We were behind the bus, so it caused a delay, but not as much of a delay as for the people that were in the bus - they only got to Viera at eleven-o-clock that night, instead of five. So that sucked. The rest of the people had to pull wire (electricity) that evening for the bunkhouses.

We had to work on Monday - unfortunately - and Monday night we did laundry.

Monday's rainbow

Tuesday was our off day and there was an opportunity for us to go to Universal Studios - whoever wanted to go. It was kind of expensive to go - that's true - but i would do it all over again! It consists of two parks - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. You can buy a ticket to enter either one or both of the parks for the day. For one park it's $102 (incl. tax) and for both parks it's $144 (incl. tax) - so it's better to buy a ticket for both.

The parks close at seven at night, so because of the limited time we had to prioritise what to do. That really sucked - it would've been awesome to do everything in one day. If the waiting times were too long for some rides, then we would skip it or come back later depending on how bad we wanted to ride/see it. So the rides that we went on was The Mummy ride, the Harry Potter rides (there's five), Jurassic Park - altogether seven rides for the day. And then of course we got to see some amazing things like Diagon Alley, Marvel Superheroes, Suess Landing (Dr. Suess themed stuff), Transformers and more.

This day was beyond cool for me and I'm so glad that i could go!

The next day it was back to work and it was so for the next week basically. It was a fairly busy spot especially at the start and i also had a lot of work in the office to do since it was the last spot. On Monday we were closed due to rain, so we just stayed in and watched a movie.

On Thursday we visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That was an amazing experience in itself too! The rockets and the shuttles are massive. It was just awe-inspiring to think that those things have been in space. And they had a shuttle launch simulator which was pretty intense! I wouldn't go to space - it's really big and scary! But it's amazing that humans are able to do it.

Our last day for the year was on Sunday. We opened at one, closed at ten-thirty and began tear down. The things in the office took forever to do the last night. People don't always believe me when it takes me the same time in the office as it does to tear down a ride, but admin is tedious at times and i had a lot of things to complete and get done before we go back to South Africa.

We finished around five, showered, got into bed around seven, slept three hours until ten and then had to be back at work for pay and i had some other things still outstanding to take care of. Around noon or one we decided to go to the mall one last time (it's more of a strip mall than an actual mall), but i didn't do any shopping. Then we got back to the lot, I went back to work and worked until about seven that night. We had a BBQ/Braai for one last time, then we went to pack and get everything ready for departure the next morning.

At four-thirty the next day we got up to pack up the bunkhouses and do the final packing. The bus arrived at six-thirty, we got on and were on our merry way to the airport in Atlanta. It was a seven-hour drive that went by so fast. Then at the airport we had to wait about six hours for our flight. We ate and shopped and ate and shopped and finally we boarded our plane.

It was an exhausting and long fifteen-hour flight. After watching three movies and taking one-hour on-and-off naps, we finally arrived in Johannesburg at six-thirty Wednesday night. We got our bags and were greeted by very eager, teary-eyed families. It felt surreal to be home. We were all so tired that you could hardly make sense of anything. My two aunties and uncles and my cousin came to greet me at the airport - it was a total surprise!

I still had to fly all the way to Cape Town and it was already past seven (after we got our bags and everything) so we went to check in and found that my flight had been delayed to nine-thirty instead of nine-o-clock. So we went to have coffee, then i said goodbye to my family, then i went to wait for my flight. It was delayed even more when i got to the gate - it was now boarding at nine-thirty instead of nine. So we only left Johannesburg ten o clock that night. I finally made it to Cape Town at midnight and by this time I was beyond exhausted.

My dad and my sister were waiting for me and it was so weird to see their faces - very unreal actually. My mom and brother were waiting up for me and it was good to be back home!

Now there's the struggle with jet lag - I really thought it won't be that bad, but it is really bad. That first night I couldn't fall asleep until four in the morning, then slept until about nine. I was tired again by two and took a nap until nine Thursday night. Then woke up and couldn't sleep until three Friday morning. Then at seven i woke up - wide awake - only went to bed midnight Friday. Then I was awake again Saturday morning at seven- thirty, but I was still tired, so I got up for about an hour-and-a-half and then went to back to sleep and slept until two-thirty the afternoon. This isn't just your usual laziness or tiredness; this is legitimate exhaustion - and confusion. Since we flew from West to East, the jet lag is worse. And if you travel forward in time for more than three hours, it takes longer for your body clock to readjust. It can take several days actually.

But besides my issues with sleep, it feels really good to be back home!!

US Diaries: Georgia Part 2

Back in Georgia! This time we were in Brunswick for a short five-day fair. It was over before we could even take it all in; that's the thing about short spots, they go really fast.

The jump from Greenville to Brunswick was a bit brutal. We tore down in Greenville, slept a few hours, got up at seven Monday morning, drove about six hours and immediately started set-up. The reason: we opened on Tuesday afternoon at five. So we only had a day of set-up basically. We set-up from about two in the afternoon until about ten that night and then the next morning we had to be out at ten again until about three to be ready and open by five. I think all in all it went pretty smooth even though it sucked not to have any time off.

This fair was pretty busy as well. The Tuesday and Wednesday wasn't too busy, but from Thursday onward there were crowds. It was nice to be busy especially after Greenville!

There was a Waffle House nearby that we checked out twice during the five days. It's always nice to have an awesome breakfast!

This time i took a few photos of the fair, but by this time it all probably looks the same...i guess it is the same.

Tear-down was Saturday night. We only closed at midnight at this spot so we got done with tear-down around five in the morning. Slept until eleven and then we were up again to drive to our current spot Viera, Florida. Also our last spot for the year!!

It's crazy how time flew by these past two to three months.

US Diaries: South Carolina Part 2

Our second spot in South Carolina was Greenville, SC, but more accurately Easley, SC. Once we arrived we waited pretty much the whole day for electricity - unfortunately electricity always takes a while out here. Well maybe not always, but most of the times.

The fairgrounds wasn't that exciting, but they did have a mobile zoo there so we got to look at some funky monkeys, goats, birds, foxes and donkeys. The next day they added some Elephants and Wallabies. Luckily we had Tuesday off, so I took the whole day to recover from tear-down and little sleep - cause even after eight months, it still takes it's toll on me.

I liked this spot because it was quiet and not so hot during the day, but freezing at night. The first few nights were okay; you could still warm the bunk with you body heat, but by the end of the second week, it got so cold at night that stuff would freeze. Like the bunk door would freeze shut and you would have to shove it hard to get it open. If you didn't have a heater, your room would be a refrigerator. Literally. It was just ridiculous. Look, I love winter, I really do, but I love Cape Town's winter, not this winter. It is just way too cold. I feel sorry for the people who live through this every year.

We were lucky enough to go eat at a really nice and fancy steakhouse called Longhorn Steakhouse. The food was delicious and it was nice to eat some real food for once!

This isn't exactly healthy food, but these people have the best fries and chicken tenders in all of America (so far)!

Anyway...besides the cold, business-wise the spot wasn't too great. It was probably the worst spot we've played all year. Easily. Tear-down was in one degree Celsius weather and that tells you how much that spot sucked. We closed about eight-thirty on Sunday to start tear-down - which took four hours - slept for five, got up and drove about six hours to this spot.

Oh and i have to add when we got up Monday morning, everything outside was frozen! The lead lines, the water hoses, the grass, the trucks and pick-ups, everything. I have never been in a place so cold.

But we made it through and we're now in Brunswick, Georgia. Seems more civilised here...so we'll have to wait and see!

(Unfortunately i didn't get to take any photos of this spot - mainly due to my own procrastination - but after a while we all just wanted to get out of there).