Love letter

Round 22: Autumn 2016

last update/next update

Joanna Gottlieb is 21.

Dear Rose,

I know we've both been spending plenty of money on phone calls over the past few months but I promised photos and I won't have access to a computer until I get back. So snail mail it is!



These are the campgrounds I've been staying at. I think I told you on the phone but don't tell Dad that I'm camping! He's happier thinking I'm staying in a hotel room with a lockable door! But camping is free and I'm saving a lot of money this way.

Besides, there's no way I could have afforded a hotel right on the beach but I can camp out there.

Ha, it's almost like living with you again, Rose! Everyone's such a slob here. I should just let them live in the filth they've created but unfortunately, that would mean I'd have to live in it too.

I've been eating hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner but I saw this guy grilling up some bass the other night. I really need to learn to fish! Sometimes I don't feel like finding a food stand at night and it'd be nice to cook something different.

The only other thing there is to eat around here is roasted marshmellows. Delicious, but not really filling!

I've been doing lots of tours. I guess it's a bit geeky but some have been really fun. Parasailing was amazing - our harnesses started slipping off, so we leapt into the water and ended up being on the news! I don't know if they showed it back in Sullivan though.

The glass bottom boat was not as fun. We had to take another tour group on board with us and the stupid boat ended up tipping over! I was so sore after that.

The massage helped! The guy that did it talked me through it, so I actually know how to do them myself now.

The weather has been pretty good but every now and then, we get rain or hail.

I think I'm becoming a nature-loving hippie because I don't even bother going inside. It must be your influence rubbing off on me!

The rain never lasts long anyway and there aren't really many inside places here. All the attractions are outdoor ones, like the monkey ruins.

You can tell my Dad that if you make an offering of money and not laundry soap, the fountain doesn't start spewing lava. That might have been where he went wrong when I was a kid!

I finally learnt how to fire dance! It was one of the first things I wanted to do - but the teacher is, for some reason, pretty popular with the girls around here. I think he's actually kind of stomach-turning but I'm hardly the best judge on the relative sexiness of men, am I?

Anyway, I'm pretty good at this fire dancing thing. I can pass the stick over my shoulders and through my legs like it's nothing at all. I was expecting a singed butt!

Heh, I know the big pirate ship is a tourist trap and totally cheesy but I had such fun with it when I was little that I had to go back. It was still fun but not nearly as enjoyable at 21 as it was at 5.

Don't laugh but after I saw everything I wanted to see, I went treasure hunting! I'm intent on finding something ridiculously valuable at some point on my trip. Selling it off will help pay for my airfare!

I ran into my aunt Hanna the other day. It's so weird to see someone from home when you're so far from said home! She got me thinking about everybody at home, especially you. I miss you most.

I try not to think about how long it's going to be till I see you again because it feels like forever.
I'm just looking at it one leg of the trip at a time. I'm a third of the way through already!

Notes:

• The song title is less appropriate than it appears (though I was still kind of psyched it came up on my iPod right as I loaded Joanna's lot). It's a Bonnie Raitt song but I was listening to a cover by Ahmet Zappa and Nina Gordon, which I cannot find online! :( Anyway, it's as inappropriate as most of my other titles because the lyrics are actually a bit stalkery!
• Joanna gets the want to talk to Rose all the time - it rolled up for her twice on the first day. It's really cute and it's not something I've seen that often with my other couples living apart. I squeal, I really do - they're so sweet.
• I didn't know they could BBQ fish but I remember hoping they could! That's so cool.
• Joanna is the only Sim I've had who doesn't burn their butt trying to fire dance. I'm assuming it's her full body skill?
• I don't think I've mentioned this since the post where Joanna announced her trip but my goal for her is to complete all 45 vacation memories. I'm keeping a tally in Joanna's profile (my personal profile of her, which is much more detailed and nerdy than the one here on the blog) but I'll post it here so you can see her progress. I've bolded the ones I've done.

ISLAND MEMORIES (11/11)
Ate pineapple surprise
Learned to hang loose
Learned to hula dance
Learned hot stone massage
Learned to fire dance
Got a voodoo doll
Made an offering at the monkey ruins
Learned a sea chantey
Went on an island vacation
Found a beach treasure
Played on the pirate ship

FAR EAST (0/11)
Immerse yourself in tradition and culture
Learn the ancient massage of the Far East
Join in ancient exercise
Take a bow
Travel like a ninja
Learn a Far Eastern tale
Make a wish!
Enjoy a warm cup of tea
Try a fishy eastern delicacy
Landscape the Zen way
Use those tiles and win

MOUNTAIN (1/9)
Explore the wilderness
Learned to slap dance
Befriended Big Foot (in the interest of full disclosure, I cheated with this one - you need to move Big Foot in to complete it and I refuse to do that)
Learn to work out tension the mountain way
Stay on the log and win
Pound your chest like a true mountaineer
Enjoy a hearty mountain meal
Tree rings tell an interesting tale
Hit that target

ANY LOCATION (6/14)
Had a good vacation
Discovered a secret lot
Follow a guide to 5 new sights
Third time's the charm
Learn the local ways
Went on a tour
Found a secret map
Find the buried treasure
Ordered a photo album
Be guided to all the local sights
Enjoy a meal delivered right to your room
Uncover all the vacation secrets
Become a frequent traveler
Slept in a tent

Total: 18/45

So she's done all the island ones. As you know, Joanna has been to Cape Elizabeth before, as a child with her family. She was probably about 5 at the time though, so it's doubtful how much she really remembers. For that reason, I made her do all the memories again, even the ones she'd already done. There is photographic evidence of all of them but I didn't post all of them because I want to keep the letters short. Short for me, anyway, which is endlessly rambly for others!