Don’t worry Bill, next summer will come quicker than you think! (I hope) 
Summer’s over for me. At least I’ll have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off, then I’m in for a whole week of college.
Well, I’m off on holiday again. Good timing as well, especially since I haven’t had to miss my results, as half of my friends who are away have. 
I’m going to Madeira, which is one of the Canary Islands (I think ) for a week with my mum. So, see you guys in a week’s time! 
Have fun LG! 
You certainly do go on a lot of holidays… 
A little late with the report… :
Day 1: Left at 10:09, went to The Lighthouse Inn for a late breakfast. I could not believe how great the french toast was… we arrived at Pheasant Park at 3:30. Went out to eat after unpacking. The shrimp I had was excellent. We capped the evening by watching two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond on my DVD set of the fifth season. The episodes were Wallpaper and Frank Paints the House.
Day 2: Went out for breakfast at this place we were at last time we were here. I had four thick slices of french toast. Then we drove back to the hotel. Went into the whirlpool/hot tub in the pool area which was very relaxing. My great uncle got blown off his seat from the jet on his back, and my mother and I had to hoist him back up again. We had brought along this prime rib from our freezer at home and cooked it. Everyone had Red Zinfandel wine except me. I had Sprecher root beer. My great aunt and uncle kept saying how close the root beer and wine were similar in color. Went for a drive afterwards and I took two beautiful shots of Lake Michigan complete with a setting sun with my camera.
Day 3 : Went to this cafe we were also at the last time we were here. I had three surprisingly huge buttermilk pancakes. Afterwards, my mother and great aunt went into the gift shop while my great uncle and I sat and waited. Twenty-five minutes later, I came in and said, " Uncle Earl’s ready to leave now. He’s halfway out the door." in an effort to get out of there. Went for a drive and found this bakery where we purchased two cinnamon rolls, a loaf of bread, cherry and cream cheese pastry, noodles, and tasted free samples of cherry preserves. My mother left the soda she had purchased for me in the store and we only realized that until after we got back. Went into the whirlpool/hot tub again.
Day 4: Ate at the cafe again, this time ordering french toast. This time there were about six slices of it. I barely finished any of it. Went back to the hotel and packed up everything. After about three hours of driving, we went out for pizza when we got back. We dropped my great aunt and uncle off just as a thunderstorm hit.
Oh, and did I mention the constant rain and flash flood warnings for the entire time we were there (most of it happened back home) ?
Great report, Bill. That French toast makes my mouth water just hearing about it. I would love to see the photos you took at Lake Michigan.
Heheh.
Sounds like you had fun, Bill.
Aw amn Bill, you make me wish it was summmer again! Cool report though.
Hello, guys! I’m baaaaaaack!!!
everybody hides
Whatever. 
Gosh, I missed you so much! hugs everyone I’m still trying to catch up with everything that happened while I was gone.
I came back from camping yesterday, but I only got the chance to visit the forums today.
Well, where do I start? Well, as you know (I guess! 
), I went camping to the Peneda-Gerês National Park, here in Portugal. Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it “camping”, I would say that we just slept in tents! I mean, in the camping park (is that what you guys call it? Forgive my English!) where we were there was a restaurant and two bars, so we didn’t have to cook… XD 
Anyways, I found its website: [url]http://www.parquecerdeira.com/en[/url] , just in case you want to know more. And don’t worry, it’s in English!
Now, about the trip itself… It was wonderful. <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" /> I was never pretty attracted to the North of Portugal, but I changed my mind.
On the first day, I was amazed by the fantastic views of the mountains and hills. 
There was a swimming pool on the camping park, sooo… you got the idea!
On the second day, in the morning, we went for a drive with my uncle and my cousin. Once more, the view was astonishing. <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" /> After that, we had lunch in a restaurant called “O Abocanhado”, and I tell you - it must be the best restaurant I’ve ever seen. It was somehow “gourmet-ish”, you know what I mean? (which, of course, reminded me of Ratatouille… )
On the afternoon, we went for a swim to this river called Arado, where there were some wonderful waterfalls. Absolutely amazing. <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" />
On the third day, we went for a boat ride and swim on the river Homem. It was so cool! The water was great, and we could jump off the boat without any problem! On the afternoon, we went to this activities center where I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life: horse riding. I’ve never done that before, but I loved the feeling of become one with the horse, y’know what I mean? <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" /> I had only a little class, to learn the basics, but I really wanted to repeat that experience! 
On the fourth and last day, it was raining. It was kinda hard to dismount the tents. XD And we came back home…
I hope you guys understood the whole thing, my English still needs some practice.
I wanted to show you some pictures, but I don’t have them here… When I get them, I’ll show them to ya!
My dear friend, Madeira is not a Canary island. It’s a Portuguese archipelago! For more info, click here.
Maggie! You are back! We all missed you so much! I am glad you enjoyed your trip! I wish I could’ve gone! Nice to have you back maggie.
Thanks for the warm welcome back, TSS!
Yeah, it was a fantastic trip indeed… <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" />
You are welcome. It makes me want to take the trip with you, or at least, me taking your spot.
Welcome back, Maggie and Bill!
Just got back myself, yesterday, at three in the morning. I had to work 10-5 yesterday, on top of that.
Madeira was gorgeous. Not too hot, not too cold, the scenery was amazing- it’s so hilly!- and the people were really nice. One of the things we noticed was how tidy it all was. I didn’t see a single piece of rubbish on the streets throughout the entire week.
We stayed near the capital, Funchal, and visited its centre pretty much every day for shopping and for the restaurants. It was very expensive there, but less expensive than buying stuff at the hotel ( 2.30 Euro just for a can of Coke! That’s like £1.50!), so we didn’t buy many souvenirs or anything.
The highlight of the trip was definitely going up the cable car to one of the villages near the top of a mountain. The views were spectacular, but it was also really scary being so high up in such a small capsule.
Another highlight/lowlight, in a way, was going to a shopping centre there and seeing a poster for Ratatouille, and actually realising that Ratatouille was playing there at that very moment! The idea of it playing in a cinema so close by was exciting, and it was almost tempting to go and actually see it, but of course, it was all in Portuguese so we wouldn’t have understood a word. It was kind of sad for it to be there but not to be able to watch it. It’s made waiting another month or so almost unbearable.
Most of the holiday was spent just lazying around. It’s so lush and green there, and the hotel had plenty of gardens so we spent our time just relaxing and looking at the views. Now, back to school.
Welcome back, lizardgirl! Good to have ya here!
I’m glad you liked Madeira. That’s one of the places I really would like to visit… and it’s part of Portugal!
Oh, yeah… “Ratatui”, wasn’t it? I’m sorry you didn’t get to see it… 
That’s one of the reasons I don’t like that there are more Portuguese-dubbed versions in theaters than original ones, in English… To watch the original version, I had to go to the nearest “big city”, which is about 20 miles away from where I live…
Anyways, I’m glad you had fun!
Maggie- Thanks! I asked at the desk if there were going to be any showings of the original, but every showing was in Portuguese. it was a pretty small cinema as well, so it wasn’t surprising. But yes! You should definitely visit Madeira! Going there has made my mum and I actually started thinking about visiting Portugal itself, so I might end up holidaying very near you!
I am glad you enjoyed your trip lizardgirl! Glad that you are back.
lizardgirl - Man, that sucks.
Really?! Look, if someday you visit Portugal, tell me! We could find each other or something like that…
Since I never have time to read all these things…
[b]Welcome back, everyone!! I hope you all had wonderful vacations![/b]
lizardgirl - I bet Greece was fun. Jealous I am. Fun it looked. Go I must. (snigger)
– Mitch
I just wanted to say… it’s really hot… 
You can say that again. Today (Labor Day) is supposed to be the unofficial last day of summer. On the news, they said it was probably the hottest day of the year. Tempuratures reaching to high 90s to the 110s.