17 July Boston to Camp Lokanda

Woke up at 8:30 this morning so that I could catch up on my blog before checking out. Went down for breakfast and got talking to a guy called James who is a Maths teacher from Montreal. He's here on a short course at Harvard. Hey....if you've got the chance to go to Harvard, you do it! I certainly would. It was nice to have a little conversation over my cheerios ;-)

Packed up all of my stuff - had to pack up my laundry after yesterday. I'm hoping that I won't have to do any more before I get back home but I'll be beggared if I spill food all down my top or go playing in mud any time soon.

Checked out at 11:00 and couldn't start walking to the hire car place till 14:00 so decided to find a storage locker in the hostel and have a little wander. Ended up back at Boston Common and had a look around the public gardens. There is a little pond there where it is a tradition to go on the swan boats. I would look a little strange paddling around on my own so gave that one a miss. Lots of different species of trees and plants to have a look at. Lovely place to sit and people watch.

I thought that I had been out a while so headed back to the hostel. That will teach me to leave my watch in my suitcase. Turns out that I had only been out an hour! decided to snuggle up on one of the many sofas/chairs in the lobby and relax with a cookie watching a movie. Might as well relax before the 4 hour drive!

What an interesting time that was, getting the car. I ordered a compact car with a GPS for my trip. I went up to the 7th floor to collect the car only to find a rather large Ford Focus. I asked about the GPS and it turns out that they didn't have one!! I ended up having to drive a lady who worked there to another office in the city to pick one up! Using the fuel I just paid for, we eventually got there to just get hold of the actual GPS. I had to then drive back again to pick up the charger and windscreen holder stuff. It took over an hour in total to get the car sorted so that I could actually start on my own journey. What a mess!!!!!!!

Due to traffic, it took me 5 hours to drive to meet Francesca. I managed to find Camp Lokanda and we headed off to check in to our room at the Carriage House. Two nice big double beds. It was then off to her 'local', the BVH bar for a nice glass of coke. We spent the night chatting away and catching up on what has been happening to us both since we last saw each other. It was so good to see her again.

I had the chance to meet a couple of her camp mates, including Claire, the girl she will be flat sharing with in Montreal during her studies. I kept taking the mick out of her for picking up some of the American accent from working there. What else was I meant to do when such an opportunity presents itself? lol ;-)

It was back to the hotel from there for a little shut eye - after more talking of course.

Great to be with a mate along this trip, even if it's just for a day.