Today: Botanical Gardens

Today during my break, doug and i went to the desert botanical gardens in phoenix. the name was correct- it was too hot for us to walk around. after about 35 minutes we turned into big fat babies and walked back to the car, dripping in sweat, clothes soaked through. it was beautiful though. while we were walking we saw baby meerkat-like things. we dont really know what they were, but they we so darn cute. we saw lots of bunnies and birds too. the cacti were neat- i took a lot of pictures. tonight we are going to the greyhound dog race tracks to bet on some pooches and drink some beers. doug leaves tomorrow- i have 3 shows tomorrow, 2 on sunday. we leave late sunday night for bakersfield, cali. i hear its boring. taba let me run the ring again today- i am starting to feel more comfortable there. well- short post- pizza is here. chow!

The Show Must Go On....

Phoenix is HOT HOT HOT. all week is it supposed to be over 112. ugh. i just dont understand how people live like this. doug flew in monday night, the train arrived tuesday morning. we had a very short animal walk (thank god), and i had the rest of yesterday off. doug brought me to walmart to get food and such and then we went to the wildlife world zoo- i got to feed a GIRAFFE!!! they had the longest purple tounges ever- i loved it. doug was a little grossed out, but i was trying to stick my face as close to the giraffe's tounge as possible. we had dinner at hard rock last night, i brought home a souviner shot glass and left with great rock songs replaying in my head. today was kind of a bad day. when i got to work i heard the news that a guy a knew from the train had died in his sleep- he was only 28 years old and a real nice guy. we still dont know the cause. he was removed from the train early this morning and his body will be shipped back home. it kind of messed with me all day- put me in a state of shock. hopefully tomorrow is better- not quite so sad. as they say, the show must go on.....


kate

Train Run #3

vegas was too much fun. i partied too hard and slept way too little. saturday night, brad and i went out to a few different bars- he dropped me off close to 4am, i had to wake up for work at 8am and worked from 830am to 1130 pm. i about died that last hour. but i made it through my stay in vegas without getting sick once! i got back to the train last night around midnight- took a LONG shower and went to bed. i have been sleeping for close to 20 hours now- only getting up twice for the animal water stop and to eat a grilled cheese. we are on our way to phoenix right now- my ears keep plugging up and wont pop. i think we should be there within the next 10 hours or so. the heat is going to be worse, but this time the animals are all housed inside with AC. yay! i must say i did get nice tan though working outside in vegas. and probably lost a few pounds too since all i drank/ate was water. well- as pathetic as this is, i think i am going to go back to bed until the morning :)

kate

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

we just finished the liberty act for the first of three shows today. i am sitting under the horse tent, sweating through my clothes. last night was fun- brad and i went to old vegas and saw some of the most white trash people to walk the planet. i got a plastic football size beer and couldnt even finish 1/2 of it. i think the rest is still in my fridge at home. during the liberty act today, taba let me be the head ring person- scary! i did fine though- too tired to get scared. yesterday maxed out at 112 degrees and right now it is 104. me and the 6 other people in the horse barn went through six 24 packs of bottled water yesterday, with occasional spray downs by the hose. the heat is unlike anything i have ever felt in my life. tonight is our last night in vegas :( so once again, i will hit the strip and see the city. we have another 3 shows tomorrow plus the load out. yikes- that will be about a 15-16 hour day. thank god we have the train run until tuesday. i average about 18 hours of sleep on those days. well, 4 hours of work have gone by, another 8 to go. time for me to go in the arena where the AC is on.

Things I Miss

1. a big bed
2. all my shoes
3. a non-community bathroom
4. having a fridge that i can open all the way
5. driving a car
6. my animals
7. seeing myself in a full length mirror (although i suppose it isnt all that bad that i cant see my booty and legs- my mirror cuts off at my belly)
8. being able to shave my legs without touching a nasty shower wall that 13 other boys shower in
9. water pressure
10. being able to get dressed without having to lay down on my bed
11. access to an atm, post office, walmart, food, etc etc 24/7
12. my friends and family!


well thats all i can think of. and brad is here to take me out again!

chow!

I Think I'm Melting...

well i just got back to my train car and the g*d d*a*n air conditioner broke. you have no idea how hot it is in here- at least 100. it hurts to touch the keyboard- buring my hands. today was a very long day. it probably didnt help that i went out drinking with my cousin, brad until 2 am. we went to a hotel called new york new york and went to the bars inside. it has a rollarcoaster that goes around the whole outside of the hotel! tomorrow i think we might try to ride it. the strip is amazing at night- so many lights! drinks are way too expensive- $8 a piece. i woke up at 630 for work and was still not sober- but i followed the first rule of the circus- just be sober enough to work. the heat was awful all day- topped 100 by 10am. the tigers had their swimming pools set out for them- they were splasing and playing for hours. it was so cute to watch. i was planning on staying in tonight, but i dont know how much longer i can sit in this sauna. tomorrow night brad and i are hitting the strip again. he said the weekends are crazy. well- i have to get out of this awful room.

chow

Day One: Sin City

we arrived in vegas early this morning- about 4am. i was up at 5am and the animal walk took place about 8am. we will be on the news once again. i shared my snack with champ- my mini pony- he ate my triscuits, drank 1/2 of my pepsi (he actually grabs the bottle and tips it up to drink), and 1/2 of my icee pop. luckily the arena was close to where the stock cars are- it is bloody hot here. people who say there is a difference between heat and "dry heat" are crazy. there is no difference- 105 degrees is as awful as it sounds. i am back in my room now- just took an ice cold shower. i have the rest of the day off- i think i am going to hit up the strip- get a real meal, shop at the outlet mall, plan my night, and maybe get a few drinks. vegas serves the name sin city well. i already overheard someone talking about his "asian special" he got last night for $69/hr- and i dont think he was talking about a food buffet. there are more strip clubs on one road than i have ever seen in my life. we passed one during our animal walk- strippers actually came out to take pictures! hah! we are having our shows at a place called "the orleans"- very nice- they have a lot of stuff inside where we can waste time inbetween shows- casino, TGI fridays, subway, bowling alley, movie theater, italian and chinese buffets, kates korner ice cream shop, and even a liqour store. well, the strip is calling my name- good thing i work so many hours this weekend, otherwise this city might get me in trouble.

k

Somewhere in Wyoming

Well, we just had animal water stop #2- we have been traveling since about 5am- Wyoming was BEAUTIFUL!! I sat out on the vestibule for awhile and saw a herd of buffalo, lots of caribou, foxes, wild horses and many many deer! so pretty! we should be in vegas in about 25 or so hours- we are going to do the animal walk as soon as we get there- even if it is 3am. the heat is going to kill me! well we are starting to move again- short post- not much happened today.

see you in sin city!

Vegas, Here I Come!!

well today was stressful. we had our last 2 shows in colorado springs. we had to completely take down the tents, muck out stalls, and load everything onto the train cars. i work with a guy who thinks he is a god. he has something else coming to him. he called me a terrible name today and i got him in trouble. he loves to yell and anyone for anything. annoying. he caused a lot of stress for everyone. the shows went well- i worked with the horses again. PETA made a visit to our show- some stupid signs about how we chain our animals- which is total crap. oh well- some people are just born crazy in the head. i am finally back on the train- showered and ready for bed at 8pm. we will leave sometime tonight and travel until tuesday evening when we will arrive in LAS VEGAS! yay, i cannot wait. we have wednesday off, so i am partying it up on tuesday night. finally, my leopard pumps can come off the shelf and go get some drinks. well, i am beat- another 12 hour day for me. at least i have the next 2 days off (except for the water stops 2x a day). see ya all in vegas!

kate

Animal Stampede

Yes, you read it right. today while we were walking the horses and zebras to practice, the zebras got spooked and took off running in all directions- towards the freeway, up the streets. three horses got freaked out as well and followed. we were able to get all the animals back safe, only one guy was kicked in the knee- it took about 45 minutes to round them all up again. check out our news story: http://www.gazette.com/articles/zebras_23658___article.html/children_girls.html

other then the eventful morning- today was great. during my break i went horseback riding in the mountains- so beautiful. we didnt have a guide- we just went up and down the mountains, through trees ( i have about a million scars), and through ponds. it was a fun time, but my behind sure did hurt after 2 hours on one of those guys! we had a 730pm show- Taba let me run the horse out of the ring again. yay! tomorrow is a 3 show day- very tiring, but we get free meals :)

well- im exhausted- i stayed up drinking last night and only had 4 hours of sleep. time for bed.

Kate

Garden of the Gods

Today we worked from 830-1130 then we had a long break. me, steffi, silvio and zibi went to garden of the gods. it was so COOL! we hiked and climbed rocks for about 1.5 hours. we probably could have hurt ourselves multiple times, but it was fun. we got a lot of great pictures. the weather was great and it was such a breathtaking place to spend my afternoon! I had KFC for lunch and relaxed at the train for about 2 hours before heading back to work. We had a 730pm show- animal open house at 6pm. today at the show, Taba let me run into the ring and grab one of the horses. Cool! tomorrow is horseback riding in the mountains and 2 shows. we leave sunday for VEGAS! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

til tomorrow,

carnie kate

Opening Day: Colorado Springs

today was another 15 hour day. bus picked me up at 730- it rained ALL last night. that was a lovely surprise- we had to 100% muck out all the horse and goat stalls and put down new shavings and hay. i tell ya- wet shavings are heavy. i might gain some muscle in this city if the rain keeps up. i washed a few horses and i made a few runs to target today during my breaks. i also had to buy these god awful all black shoes for when i am in the arena. i feel so nasty wearing them. i took a nap on the shavings around 2- quite comfortable. today during the tiger act practice, Taba (the trainer) got a swipe in the face by one of his tigers. he got lucky and only got one claw- quite the gash though. i got to practice with Taba during the horse act. i get to hold whips and everything. did i ever mention that the horses speak german? well not speak- but they take their commands in german. the show wasnt until 730pm so we had to wait around all day for that. ugh. i had subway for lunch and an apple for dinner. the apples were actually for the horses, but i figure if i clean up their shit all day everyday, they can spare me an apple every once and a while. we are going to garden of the gods tomorrow and horseback riding on friday. after the show i hopped on the bus and rushed to be the first of 14 in the shower- i hate showering after dirty boys. i made it back around 1015pm. colorado is beautiful- i love working around all the mountains. well its about time for bed. another exciting day tomorrow.

chow

Lazy Day

Today was nice. Woke up for the animal walk. 2 miles- news crew was there and a lot of kids riding their bikes alongside us. i got back to the train at 11:30 and went back to bed until about 2. i didnt do a whole lot the rest of the day- emails, watched some episodes of friends and went for a run. we are parked right alongside a nice park and river. so i took about a 20 minute run and explored where we were. some people and i were going to try to go out to bars tonight but we couldnt find anywhere to go. oh well- tomorrow is opening day which means i will be at work from 7:30am to about 9pm. ughhhhhhhhhhh..... this time the animals are all outside in a big tent. and of course it is supposed to rain all damn week. oh well. i am going to go to target tomorrow to get some shelves for my room and hopefully make it to the PO. we are going horseback riding in the mountains on friday and to the garden of gods sometime later this week. well. tomorrow is a long day- so to bed, i said.

kate

Colorado Springs

well we made it to colorado springs early this morning. it is now 8:50am local time. we have our animal walk at 9:30 today- a 2 mile walk this time. i am in my room now and whne i look out the windows i see lots and lots and lots of mountains! i love it. yesterday was my first train run- i got a little motion sickness, but nothing too bad. i slept until 2pm (whoops) and woke up and didnt do a whole lot. i met some new people, drank on the vestibule (the thing that connects 2 car trains), and watched the countryside roll by. pretty neat. i ate at the pie car and had a delicious grilled cheese with a tomato. i am going to try to make it to the post office today. after the animal walk we are free to do whatever- i think i am going to try to make it to pikes peak :)

chow~

1st Train Run

The train has stopped due to rain and Tstorms. I think we are somewhere in Colorado- my phone moved back 1 hour. We have been traveling since about midnight last night and should continue to go until early tomorrow morning. The movement is making me a little sick. It is very hard to walk down the hallways when the train is moving. I slept 12 hours last night- I guess the 34 hours of work in 3 days caught up to me. I woke up to a delicious smell of my neighbor, Nicoli cooking a delicious meal. He is from Bulgaria, working here to give his family a better life. Apparently he cooks full blown meals everyday. On Thanksgiving and Christmas he cooks full turkeys and hams. Hah! Well, he is bringing me some food here shortly, then I think I will go hang out in the pie car.

See ya in Colorado Springs!

K

We are moving!

The train is moving! It is making me a little dizzy- good thing I brought motion sickness meds. It is a little after midnight- we will be traveling all night and all day tomorrow until we get to Colorado Springs. I hear it is just beautiful. Hopefully I can sleep tonight!

-k

I survived the weekend

sunday, june 10th

i survived my first few days in the circus. today i got to go out in the arena during the show- Taba, the tiger and horse trainer wants me to be his assistant for a little while. this means that i will get to be out during the shows, leading horses as they do all their crazy tricks. today was the last show in omaha. we had to pack everything back up onto the train- so tiring. i have never shoveled so much crap and hay in my life. my back is killing me- do they have a massage parlor on this train? the coolest thing was the "animal walk". we had to walk the elephants and horses back to their train car- 1 mile away. we had police escorts that blocked off the streets in downtown omaha. people were taking pictures and taking out their camera phones, the kids were running up and yelling. i had one of the mini ponies so everyone loved that. it was a nice workout. apparently when we go to nyc, it is a 7 mile walk- yikes. so i am on the train now, in my teeny tiny room waiting for the train to start running. we will travel all night and all day tomorrow until we get to colorado springs. yesterday at the show we had PETA and animal rights people handing out crap to the public before they would walk into our animal open house. they say it gets worse in cali- people yelling at us during the animal walks, throwing stuff at us, video cameras in our faces. some people are just crazy in the head. the past 3 days i have worked 13 hour days. i dont have time to think about how tired i am until we are done with everything- then i pretty much collapse. well- things are fine for now- hopefully i can continue to survive this.

until next time,

kate