[Aganzir]

As you probably know by now, us Finns (Thinlómien, A Little Green, Nogrod and yours truly) decided to travel to the United States to see all our American Downer friends, and also a bit of the country itself. This is our 13th day of travelling, and we're currently in Salt Lake City. Thus far we've seen at least one Downer each day.

We arrived in New York City late at night (9pm, but my body told me it was actually 4am) and slept there before taking a bus to Boston to see Brinniel on Friday. It's over two years since we last saw her, and we all were pretty excited about meeting her again. She took us to her house which was quite lovely, and after some unpacking and relaxing we went to get some food and, despite the heat we northerners are not at all used to, walk around Boston. In the evening Brinn introduced Apples to Apples to us – a game that, interestingly enough, hasn't been translated into Finnish. We learned that Greenie doesn't find the phantom repulsive and Lommy doesn't think Kath is idiotic.

On Saturday we got up early and walked the Freedom Trail which turned out to be quite interesting. (OOT: Lommy is just reading the book 'The Third Chimpanzee' and found out there's an extinct species called Shasta ground sloth.) After that we visited the New England Aquarium. It was an awesome place, and we spent hours watching the fishes. Lommy liked the penguins and the tortoises the most while my favourites were the stingrays, Nog liked an ugly fish whose name he can't remember, and Little Green fell in love with a big green monster.

In the end we were in quite a hurry if we wanted to have dinner before picking up our rental car and Kath from the airport, but even though Kath's flight landed early, Nog, Brinn and I were at the airport just on time with a ++Kath sign. Lommy and Greenie had gone back to Brinn's place and taken a nap, and they came to open the door to us only after five minutes of ringing the doorbell and trying to call them. They were not quite so tired anymore, so we made drinks (Greenie had a little green drink in a big green glass) and played more Apples to Apples, finding out the phantom is desperate.

On Sunday it was time to head to Geneva. We drove there with Kath while Brinn took a plane, and after hours of sitting in the car our GPS told us we had arrived at Rikae and Macalaure's house. It looked surprisingly empty, but just when we pulled up in front of it, a girl in a black-and-white striped shirt (who turned out to be Fea) came out and shouted something, and suddenly lots of people (Rikae, Boro, wilwa, Nienna, Mira, Celuien, and the Wereduckling of course) came from the backyard to welcome us. I have met several Downers before, but it still felt weird to see so many at once (Celuien, Mira, Kath, wilwa, Greenie)! And actually it wasn't even awkward. Even though none of us Finns had met them before, we had talked to them on the Downs and seen what they look like on Facebook, so they didn't feel strangers at all. (Later Mac came with Brinn, whom he picked up at the airport.)

So we sat down in the backyard while Fea and Boro cooked for us (it was delicious), and after that we ate the peach cobbler Celuien had made (om nom nom). In the end we spent most of the night talking about all kinds of random stuff in small groups, and when the insects began to bother us too much, we went inside and played Apples to Apples.

On Monday Nienna and Mira had to leave. Fea drove them back to her place, and Kath and wilwa went along. We others went to Watkins Glen (Rivendell), and Fea & co joined us there later. It was a really beautiful place.
The evening was also lots of fun. Rikae's and Macalaure's parents came visiting and we had a campfire and grilled sausages. Rikae's oldest daughter told us that the worse your sausage burns, the more evil you are. I was busy explaining something to somebody while grilling mine, and when I finally realised it was still grilling, it was very, very black. I swear I didn't do it on purpose.
Then some of us had fun cross-dressing, and later we played two games of werewolf. In the first one, the day 1 main suspects were Fea, Rikae and Aganzir who, said the village, had acted unnecessarily wolfishly on purpose. Déjà vu, anyone? In the second game I voted for Macwolf every day but the wolves won anyway.

Originally Posted by Fea

I was killed and discovered to be a wolf, for reasoning that was quite faulty, but also clearly lucky.

Fea: Agan, are you a wolf?
Agan: Just as much as you are.
*later* Fea: Okay so Agan said she's a wolf...
village: Lynch!

Originally Posted by Fea

Kath, Wilwa, and I fell asleep listening to Lommy and Agan murmuring in Finnish.

It was either the night we discussed how awesome people you are or the night we talked about me.

On Tuesday we packed our things and drove to Niagara Falls. I sat between wilwa and Boro and talked with wilwa pretty much the whole ride. Although we have differing world views, it was really interesting. I hadn't had too much interaction with her before, and although everybody who has met her had told me she's sweet, I was still surprised she's so lovely. It would be impossible not to like her.

We met Bêthberry, her son who also has a Downs account (unfortunately I can't remember his user name), and her husband in Niagara. They all were very nice too. After hanging around and visiting the sunny Canada (Boro, Nog, wilwa, Rikae, Fea, Brinn, Green, Lommy, Kath, Mac), it was time to say goodbye. We postponed it by taking very tiny steps while walking back to the parking lot, and when we had finally reached the cars, we spent several minutes just hugging one another and exchanging comments like 'We must meet again,' 'Come to Finland!' and 'Any chance you could visit New York City before we fly back home?'

And then the others left back for Geneva and we took Boro with us and headed westward. In the car, we discovered that both Lommy and Greenie had adopted Kath's way of saying 'really, really [adjective].' I was suddenly exhausted – with the time zone difference and getting too little sleep because I was too busy hanging around with awesome people, only adrenaline had kept me going. At one point I was talking to Boro, realised I wasn't making sense at all and pointed out he should now understand why I always screw things up if I play werewolf when I'm tired, and he said something along the lines 'I see what you mean.'

In Boro's apartment, we stayed awake for a while and went through the photos we had taken, but we went to bed soon enough. And (too) early on Wednesday morning it was time for us to move on. Thus ended our trip's first major Downer meet-up.

I had met Brinn and Kath before, and both were just as awesome as I remembered. Brinn was a very good host and had planned nice things for us during our stay in Boston. It was really helpful to have with us someone who actually knew the city, otherwise we would have been totally lost. Plus, she looks gorgeous with short hair. As for Kath, I had really missed her sense of humour and her straightforwardness. And I had almost too much fun poking at her ribs.

I didn't know Nienna and Mira too well in advance and I only spent one evening with them, but they both seemed very nice. Celuien had work so she could be with us only in the evenings. I didn't talk to her as much as I would've wanted to, but I liked her as well. And thanks to her, I could make a painting for Boro (she took a nice picture of him and Rune in Bostonmoot).

I love Rikae and Macalaure. They are so sweet and lots of fun to be around! And they both are much less scary in real life than online: back in my newbie days (and okay, even later), I used to be semi-scared of Rikae, while Mac, on the other hand, looks darn scary only in pictures. Also, the Wereduckling is awesome. It was so cute to hear her growl. She was also afraid of Nog at first, but later she learned to say his name, and she told us Mac was a wolf when we played werewolf, but unfortunately nobody paid heed to her words. Rikae's other kids were awesome as well. And I loved their house, especially the basement. We did the laundry before we left, and some of my clothes still smell of their basement.

Boro was great too. He was quieter in live werewolf than he is on the Downs and it felt weird at first, but then again Nog is also like that. Anyway he is sweet and funny, and it was interesting to hear him talk about why he wants to be a teacher.

Fea is, if possible, even lovelier in real life. She was very much fun to be around, and she has the knack of being able to tell about even the most trivial stuff so that it sounds interesting. Also, she was great to play werewolf with, and even though I've always disagreed with her on the significance of day 1s, I'll never again be able to accuse her because of her behaviour if I think of her in real life werewolf! She was hilarious.

Bêthberry was sweet as well, and I love her hair.

So, on to Wisconsin. Lommy and I slept some hours in the car, but I was still rather tired when we arrived at Ibrin's place. We went to get something to eat, and soon after we had got to the restaurant, Oddwen and Diamond18 joined us. After eating we drove to the closest Walmart and tried to find McCaber, but it didn't go quite as planned.

Originally Posted by Oddwen

She pointed us out to a young worker, to whom Aganzir boldly walked up to.

There happened to be a guy with the same first name and a last name that differed from McCaber's by only a few letters!

So we returned back to Ibrin's place and watched some Mythbusters. And I was quite tired. Around 10pm I thought, 'I'll go upstairs for a while, I just need some quiet,' and the next thing I knew was somebody coming into the room and saying 'McCaber just arrived, it's past 11pm.' So I went back downstairs and was as social as I could, but I'm not very much fun to be with when I'm tired.

Thursday morning was better. We started westward around 10am with Oddwen, Diamond and McCaber and had a picnic somewhere, after which Cabbie left us. Greenie and I rode with Diamond, and we had so much fun talking about werewolf that we entertained the people in the other car by accidentally driving past the exit we were supposed to take. When we eventually found a gas station we could stop at, we parted with Oddwen and Diamond and headed towards Omaha.

Ibrin and her husband were very talkative and easy to be with, and it was really funny to hear her talk about the RPGs she had played, the OneRing.net, fan fiction etc.

Oddwen and Diamond were awesome. One of the most hilarious moments during Wisconsinmoot was when Oddwen all of a sudden walked to Lommy and poked at her nose! McCaber was really nice too, although he talked so fast I had a hard time deciphering what he was saying, especially in the evening.

So we drove the whole day, and some of us spent their time sleeping in the car again. When we were about a 100 miles from Omaha we called the phantom whose house we were supposed to stay at. He was shocked: 'What, are you coming today? I thought it was tomorrow!' Fortunately he didn't mind us staying there an extra night, and in the end we parked in front of his lair around 9.30pm. Phantom and Nog talked a lot about sports which bored me so I went online, and when I tried to find the others later, they were in the basement playing table football. Phantom and Greenie made a very good team while we others (first Nog & Lommy, then Lommy & me) scored lots of own goals.

On Friday, sally and Shasta arrived and I found the phantom's tree house in the backyard. Sally came first. She was just as sweet as you'd imagine, and she gave us all ballpoint pens made of corn fibre. Shasta, who had got lost a couple of times, arrived some time later, and Nog, Lommy & sally went to grocery. Phantom, Greenie, Shasta and I sat in the phantom's living room (which was dark because the blinds were down). Phantom kneeled before Greenie and started to tell her of a dream he had had, and Shasta and I talked about all kinds of random stuff. He was very easy to talk to and we got along quite well:
Agan: 'I used to have a crush on Downer X.'
Shasta: 'Oh. Me too.'
And then we discussed our Downer crushes, and suddenly we realised Greenie and phantom were staring at us. They claimed they didn't hear anything, though. Shortly after that the shoppers came back and I helped Nog with the cooking while the others continued talking in the living room.

After eating we played werewolf twice. Greenie and Nog were the wolves, and phantom surprised us with a very accurate interpretation of the first night's events (for those who don't know, we don't have a mod at the beginning but the roles are written on pieces of paper, and before the day starts, we count aloud to ten with our eyes covered so the wolves can find out each other's identity meanwhile): he could tell from Greenie's (who was sitting next to him) voice that she was turning her head and began to smile when she saw her partner. Not surprisingly, the wolves lost. In the next game we wanted to avoid that kind of accidents so we decided everyone claps their hands ten times. Nog lost the count which led inevitably to jokes about the clap. This time Nog and Shasta were wolves, and they won quite easily. Greenie threatened to kill them both but hasn't carried out her plan yet. In one of the games, Lommy got annoyed with the phantom and talked about 'the plans he creates in his small head.' Phantom was shocked by this comment.

The rest of the night involved Apples to Apples (we really like the game!), jokes about pants, and Shasta and Greenie singing Disney songs. Shasta's rendition of Be Prepared made me extremely happy.

On Saturday morning sally, Greenie and I were the first ones to be up. We gossiped about the phantom's softer side, and when everybody else was awake, Lommy, Greenie, Shasta & me explored the phantom's backyard. There's lots of mud (Lommy & Greenie still have some under their toenails) and a lovely brook where everybody except Shasta was attacked by leeches.

In the afternoon we packed our things and headed west. We played word games, and I hated Shasta's 'I'm going to the moon and taking with me X' game because I sucked at it. Actually I sucked at almost every game we played. Not good for my ego.
We parted with sally (who gave us our very own copy of Apples to Apples, yay!) in the late afternoon and continued our trip, trying to find a motel. However, they all seemed to be fully booked (according to the phantom this happened because Greenie brings bad luck), and at least Shasta and I ended up sleeping in the car. We found one as late as 1.30am, and when we woke up in the morning, we saw we were in South Dakota in the middle of nowhere.

On Sunday we visited Badlands (Shasta found the Pride Rock and played Simba) and Mount Rushmore, had a picnic in a forest and climbed on rocks. That night we found a motel relatively early but stayed up relatively late writing hilarious stories, playing werewolf (there were only six of us so we had a wolf, cobbler and ranger) – in the first game I was the cobbler and they lynched Shastawolf on day 1 because someone got the idiotic idea that we were the baddies because we joked about it, and in the second game Nog was the wolf and got lynched on the last day despite Lommler's valiant efforts to distract us; and Apples to Apples again. We finally went to sleep around 4am.

Yesterday phantom and Shasta left us, which made Greenie and me sick. Our being sick made also Lommy sick. Not nice.

Neither the phantom nor Shasta was quite what I had imagined. Phantom's softer side turned out to be very soft, but for his reputation's sake I must add he hates the sun and everything that grows (except for certain little green things), and he broke both Greenie's finger and her confidence in her musical skills.

Shasta, on the other hand, was much more evil than I had thought (that's certainly not a bad thing though). He's a terrific singer and provided us with lots of entertainment also in the form of climbing high rocks. Yesterday, after the guys had left, we stopped to eat while driving on the Bighorn Mountains, and somebody pointed out it was good we didn't have Shasta with us any more because otherwise we'd never have been able to leave (there was a particularly high rock next to us). And next time I meet him, I'd love to see him wear 8-inch stilettos.

We just came back to our hotel after having dinner with mormegil & his family in a fancy Mexican restaurant and driving/walking around Salt Lake City, whose geography actually reminds us of Gondolin (what with it lying between mountains etc). Morm isn't half so scary as I thought. He's actually very nice, and his family is adorable. We had much fun talking about werewolf and the Downs in general.

Tomorrow the others fly to San Francisco and I fly to Seattle to spend some quality Ka, TGEW & Laurinquë time. I'm happy we're not even halfway through our trip yet and there are still more Downers we're going to meet, but at the same time I miss everybody like crazy. You all are ♥