Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Tonji]

Go on Ralph. 

A sixties sex & drugs & rock n roll story... I'm all ears!

[Marky147]

Go on Ralph. 

Definitely this!

[Karabiner]

When I arrived in Montreal in early May the city was absolutely heaving as the World Fair, known as Expo67 was in full flow having started a week or so before I got there. Everything seemed to be more expensive than usual and after about a week there wasn't a lot left from my original $100, certainly less than half.

There used to be a system in the US/Canada called "drive-away" where if somebody moved home and needed their car delivering you could effectively travel for free and I had met a nice young couple who were delivering a car to Vancouver. When they invited me to join them I jumped at the chance and the next day off we went on our 3000+ mile journey.

I don't actually remember much about that long drive across the continent apart from stopping for an hour or so in North Dakota (we had briefly and temporarily crossed the US border on our route) and visiting a bar where I was only allowed to drink "3/2 beer" as I was under 21. I guess it took us four or five days before we got to Vancouver and went our separate ways.

As a mixed-up teenaged rebel without a cause the West Coast of North America with it's burgeoning hippie culture was a match made in heaven for me and I soon gravitated to 4th Avenue, which was the hub of Vanvouver's hippie community, and became one of them. I was very inexperienced with the opposite sex at this point in my life, having been to (boys only) boarding-schools since I was seven, but after a few weeks on 4th avenue I was definitely starting to get the hang of it.

1967 certainly was The Summer of Love.

tbc

[RED-DOG]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

[Karabiner]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

[AndrewT]

Good to see Tikay's diary picking up now he's subcontracting the work out.

[RED-DOG]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

[bobby1]

When I arrived in Montreal in early May the city was absolutely heaving as the World Fair, known as Expo67 was in full flow having started a week or so before I got there. Everything seemed to be more expensive than usual and after about a week there wasn't a lot left from my original $100, certainly less than half.

There used to be a system in the US/Canada called "drive-away" where if somebody moved home and needed their car delivering you could effectively travel for free and I had met a nice young couple who were delivering a car to Vancouver. When they invited me to join them I jumped at the chance and the next day off we went on our 3000+ mile journey.

I don't actually remember much about that long drive across the continent apart from stopping for an hour or so in North Dakota (we had briefly and temporarily crossed the US border on our route) and visiting a bar where I was only allowed to drink "3/2 beer" as I was under 21. I guess it took us four or five days before we got to Vancouver and went our separate ways.

As a mixed-up teenaged rebel without a cause the West Coast of North America with it's burgeoning hippie culture was a match made in heaven for me and I soon gravitated to 4th Avenue, which was the hub of Vanvouver's hippie community, and became one of them. I was very inexperienced with the opposite sex at this point in my life, having been to (boys only) boarding-schools since I was seven, but after a few weeks on 4th avenue I was definitely starting to get the hang of it.

1967 certainly was The Summer of Love.

tbc

great read Ralph, looking forward to more.

tx

[Karabiner]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Okay Tom the next instalment will be on your diary, probably tomorrow.

[tikay]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Do what?

DO WHAT?

Outrageous.

[RED-DOG]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Do what?

DO WHAT?

Outrageous.

It's good stuff though Tone. It deserves a wider audience.

[booder]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Do what?

DO WHAT?

Outrageous.

It's good stuff though Tone. It deserves a wider audience.

True dat

[Kev B]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Do what?

DO WHAT?

Outrageous.

It's good stuff though Tone. It deserves a wider audience.

Winner.

[celtic]

So Ralph, just to clarify, you were just set adrift in a strange land with $100 and no supervision?

Exactly so Tom.

Funnily enough when I arrived in Montreal there was a chocolate shop with signs advertising Mother's Day and I immediately bought a box of chocolates and had them shipped back to England with a little card, must have cost at least $15. I have often wondered how guilty she felt when they arrived.

Bloody Hell Ralph. The small details are often the most poignan.

Can we hgave the next instalment on my diary please?

Do what?

DO WHAT?

Outrageous.

It's good stuff though Tone. It deserves a wider audience.

Superb.

[TightEnd]

Following on from the Duchess of Devonshire recently

The 11th Duke of Marlborough was the custodian of Blenheim Palace and preserved Vanbrugh's baroque masterpiece for future generations

died yesterday at 88

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11167126/Duke-of-Marlborough-dies-aged-88.html?fb