It's crazy to even still be awake right now, but I am revved up with excitement--- the past 24 hours have been a whirlwind! Last night I returned to my tent to find a pool of water about an inch deep thanks to the ongoing thunderstorms. Luckily, I had a spare air mattress which some have observed to resemble a swimming pool float- I blew it up, plopped it atop the sopping foam cushion I had been using for three nights prior, propped my head on the pillow, and tried to ignore the dripping water coming through the tent netting onto my toes. I dreamt I was on Noah's Ark.
I woke up, found a few dry things to wear, collected the rest to be put into the laundry, and headed for lower ground. Over breakfast, I opened my computer to find that I had been selected as one of the Top Five finalists for the Balsams Innbedded Resorter contest- where you get to spend all of July and August living as a guest in the famous Dixville Notch hotel and writing about it! That's when the whirlwind really got churning. Over the next few hours I was running all over campus, from dining hall to the staff lounge (which I have affectionately renamed The Stinkhouse), to housekeeping shed to cafe to tent to laundry room to Stinkhouse to dining hall and back again.... and by 12:30, thanks to serendipity and awesome friends and employers, I was on the road, with the next day's shift covered, laundry taken care of, directions printed, and lunch packed.
My foot was extra weighty on the Taconic and 1-90, and I probably could have time warped the whole 6 hour trip into 4 and a half hours if there hadn't been the cop that was cruising along at 75 for the duration of 1-91, and all my breaks for bathroom and water and changes of dress and painting my nails and so on. There was also a good two hour stint where I became convinced that I had Lyme's Disease and wasn't going to make it to Dixville Notch at all, but then after considering some basic facts such as outdoor temperature and liquid intake, I re-diagnosed myself with dehydration and pulled over for some vitamin water.
Anyway, I will have to save the details for part two of the story for tomorrow, as my head is about to fall onto the table. The Balsams is a palace, my room is amazing, we had a lovely five course meal and post-dinner drinks and gaiety and there are promotional flyers for each of us final contestants (four in total, here tonight)... tomorrow we have breakfast, a hike to see the panoramic view, and at around 10 o'clock we campaign to the staff as to why we should be the Balsams Resorter, and then they cast their votes in the same plathe same place where the first votes of each presidential election are cast.
Phew! I will leave the rest up to you, dear readers, to check out my page and the contest and cast your vote and pass the word, and please follow this blog and leave comments all over the place and... oh, you know the drill. Any support I can gather is just fantastic, as adventuring and storytelling are all I ever want to do, and in this day and age that involves a lot of shameless self-promotion!
Good night- right now there is a nearly full moon out my window, and mist rising over the lake, and loons calling in the distance- but I am content and cozy in my chamber.
SO MUCH LOVE and Vote Wetsy at the Balsams, 2010!!! : )
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