niagara falls disco, part 1

my niagara falls tour was quick out of the gate. we met up at 8am in the lobby of the columbus circle hostel, my pax filtering in slowly, mingling in and out of the mix of hostellers and fellow trek passengers. after a flutter of papers and introductions, we drove off to philly for a lunch stop to sample the famous local cheesesteak. i followed directions i was unsure of. i scanned worriedly for parking. and after dropping aimless wanderers, i settled on lunch myself at an unsuspecting pizza place. surprisingly, almost everyone was there. i ordered a hot slice and inserted myself awkwardly into the group. conversation was short, answers curt. in a crowd of early 20-somethings, i felt like i was back in high school; unsure, uncomfortable, starving for acceptance. i ate quickly and excused myself, claiming to look for my last 2 passengers - an older couple from australia already on their 30-something-th year of traveling the globe. my stomach in knots, i wandered the streets of philly until it was time again to pick them up.

we pulled into washington dc early evening and i circled the one-way streets to find the best drop off place for my people. they scattered before i could address them. i telephone-passed a message to meet back at 6 for dinner. at 6, we met up with our paralleling group in the lobby and, with a 24-strong group, we crowded the sidewalk and bus to make our way to georgetown. stuck at the end of a long 12-person table, i conversed with harry and chris as they regaled me of their years of travel. i strained to listen to talk farther down the table to make connections with the rest of my group.. to no avail. i nodded and laughed appropriately.

i announced a meeting at 9am in the morning to hopefully get more of a hold over the group. they agreed and split up after the meal was over -- lindsey’s group still chatting, drinking and generally getting to know each other. i met up with austin and summer, having a beer or two on the second floor of an open air bar. we chatted about where we’d all been in the last few years -- surprised at how much time had passed between our last meetings.

in the morning, i awoke as lindsey (occupying the bunk below me) was getting ready to meet her passengers. “oh,” she remarked offhand. “a few of your passengers are coming with me since i was actually able to get more spots on the capitol tour this morning.” i inquired as to how many but she didn’t know. i asked if everyone knew about it and if everyone had the opportunity to go on the tour. again, she didn’t know. i hopped quickly and bleary-eyed out of bed and went on a mad hunt for everyone. i tried knocking on room doors and scouring the kitchen. i did this for close to a half hour. in the end, it turned out everyone was going on the tour. by now, i hadn’t brushed my teeth nor eaten and it was time to head to the capitol. i grabbed my bag, wallet and maps, and piggybacked on lindsey’s walk/tour of dc. as she spouted amazing knowledge and tidbits, my self-consciousness squeezed at my insides and i felt inadequate.

after dropping them off and leaving lindsey to eat with her friends, i sat down and cried on the capitol steps. the washington monument mocked me in the distance.

i wandered through a random sculpture garden and dried my tears. i spent the rest of the day trying to put together a shopping list that would satisfy my random group of travelers -- trying to appease their tastes, trying to stay within their tight budgets. i napped for ten minutes and woke up exhausted.

in the morning, my copilot - rachel - helped collect our $20 food kitty and opted out herself. i adjusted the list last minute to accommodate the fact that people just wanted to do group dinners.. not all meals. i split up the remaining items and handed out slips of paper for each of us to buy. unbeknownst to me, a slip or two fell under my feet. our drive was long -- longer than expected -- and we reached the finger lakes around 4:30 in the evening. the group was tired and weary. as was i. they split up immediately as the van doors unlocked, leaving harry, chris and myself to unload the van, the cooking equipment and our gear. they headed for the water and to tan in the sun. i sat atop a picnic table and talked with harry as he sipped his whiskey. we stared out at the calm lake cayuga. in front of us, chris curled up on the shore and stared at the slowly lapping water.

that night, i slept alone in a cabin for two as outside a party raged. i was awoken by the drunken laughter of the cabin next to mine. i tried to roll over and rest up for my long drive the next day. 6:30 came too fast.

the next day brought: a short drive to niagara, getting soaked under the magnificent horseshoe falls and making phone calls in the hot hot heat of my sun-baked van. that evening, at the koa camp, we cooked out - none of them knowing how to simply cut up veggies and boil noodles. the girls sneered at every turn. scowled at the final result. in the end, they went back for seconds. i snuck in on a game of cards, semi-feeling included, semi-feeling pitied. we retired when the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. i slept in the back of the van, the wind and rain beating hard on the metal roof. the sky lighting up and the thunder rumbling.