I continue my journey down memory lane, with one of the best summers of my life. 2004 that is.
Around spring I was already excited of getting back to Wisconsin as a lifeguard, and couldn’t wait to finish with my exams. I passed most of them and at the beginning of July I was on my way to good old US of A.
The flight was uneventful and in Chicago I waited for Nana (she was coming on a different flight) to head together to Madison by bus. When we get there, it was 9 pm and it was FREEZING. In July. Seriously? So Karen, the dear soul came to pick us up from the bus station, told us the summer was crazy, they hardly saw any sun, but this didn’t stop the customers. No sooner we arrive, we start work – it seems there was a BIG shortage of lifeguards, so we had to work a lot of hours, which was more than fine with us – the craziest day was Saturday, when we worked open – close (8.30 to 22.00).
The VERY bright side was that we had a car, and on our day off, which we named Golden Friday, took the Caddy and hit the roads – Chicago, Milwaukee, Lake Geneva and many more. Truly an amazing summer.
The weather was really crazy – we had temperatures ranging from 60 F(roughly 15 C) to 100 F(around 40 C) – I did manage to get a tan so I was happy. The days when the sun was out were truly crazy. Us lifeguards had to jump into the water several times because of the heat (one of the girls passed out from heat stroke).Naturally things have not changed: “Staying in or getting out?Yes…yes what?”"turn around and sit – guest puts in foot first”, and the list could go on, and on, and on.
One memory that clearly comes to mind is my audit. Each summer, a lady from the Red Cross came to the park and posed as a victim in order to assess the lifeguard activity. The day she was at the park I was a nervous wreck. Back then I knew I couldn’t work under stress. So, being a breaker (a person who gives other people breaks and takes their place for that time) I asked for my half (half an hour that is for my lunch) and then to be put in rotation (the chances of being audited being that much slimmer). But the dear supervisors told me, and I quote “Sorry, there isn’t anyone capable we can pull out of rotation, so you get to stay a breaker…go give whats-his-name a 10 minute break”. Fuming I headed towards the dreaded spot, to relieve the lifeguard. No sooner that I sit down, I see a lady coming down the slide and my instinct screams “it’s her”. Of course when she get to the bottom she doesn’t move, I stop the water flow, blow my whistle really loud and run towards the slide to immobilize the victim. It all goes well, and I am congratulated for a job well done. I was officially the first lifeguard to be audited on “Ketchup&Mustard” – that’s not the name – it’s “Thunder and Lightning” but if you see the picture you know why we chose the culinary name.
It was this fateful year of 2004 when I discovered the marvelous world of Harry Potter. On a whim I bought the first book in WalMart and was hooked ever since. Since Karen is also a fan, we had even more things to talk about. But reading wasn’t my only entertainment – we went out for karaoke, went to the movies, Wizard Quest in downtown Dells, the Golden Friday trips – life was truly good.
The summer came to an end, but I was looking forward to it. Mind you not because I had to leave, but because we had a road trip planned – heading west from Chicago to see: The Rocky Mountains, The Grand Canyon, and last but not least Las Vegas. I had an alternate final destination – San Francisco (being an avid Charmed fan I just HAD to see the city).
So, October 1st found us on the road, but just like any roadtrip ours wasn’t without adventures.
It went something like this Chicago – Lincoln, NE – Frisco, CO (we saw the Rocky Mountains National Park) – Moab, UT (White Forest National Park). And this is where it starts to get interesting. We didn’t know that our car had so many parts and engines and such, so one of those thingies broke down in Utah. We had to stay an extra day in Moab, but on the bright side, we stayed in John Wayne’s room and saw the amazing Arches National Park. By this time my nature-limit was rapidly approaching its upper limit, I needed to see cities, people and cars.
After Moab we headed further down west and came to the Grand Canyon. I must admit, I didn’t understand the big fascination with the Canyon, but when I stood on the edge I totally got it. It’s breathtaking. I managed to take a really cool picture, considering it one of my best.
The final night found us in Las Vegas, after seeing the Hoover Dam. Las Vegas is FABULOUS…by night. The casinos are great, the little cities – New York, Paris, Venice are really really cool, the pirate show at Treasure Island was very creative. Naturally being in Las Vegas you must enter a casino, which we did, play the slot machines, which we did, and not necessarily win, which I did.
My final destination was good old San Francisco – didn’t get a chance to see much due to my HEAVY backpack, but still, being the stubborn dude I faced the challenges. Walked across the bridge, saw the Lafayette Park, The Palace of Fine arts and the Marina Beach. I vowed that I will return some day, to see the great things this city has to offer, which I did, 4 years later (but that’s another story).
With a heavy heart I left the west coast, stayed 2 more days in Chicago and then was on my merry way home. As usual, I was sad to return and this time I was sure I would return the next year – however 2005 held few surprises for me and left me a bit bitter, but not bitter enough to ever forget that country or the amazing people I met there.
