Jeff and Magge's Fave Honeymoon Crashers: Jucy and Lorena

Hello all,
Lorena here. Magge confessed while we were traveling that she was nervous to have me guest blog because she didn't want to be compared to a "professional writer" (her words not mine, I write about celebrities for a living, not exactly pro-stuff .. keep your expectations low). Truth is, posting something on Hostel Honeymoon is pretty daunting. I mean this site has multiple comments per posts, tons of views, and I'm jealous of the witty URL name. There are few things more daunting than posting on HH. The one thing more terrifying than writing a sub-par post? Joining J & M on their honeymoon as the Official Third Wheel.

To say I was anxious is an understatement. I'm more known for my aversion to feet and germs than my athleticism, to say the least. And after reading the adventures these two lovebirds have been on, I knew I had a tall order ahead of me if I wanted to make a strong case for my newfound love of the outdoors. Daytime outdoors that is. Don't get me started on possums. Anyways, my point is, I was a little scared. Although I had gotten to know Jeff and Magge better once we lived in NYC together, I still remembered being a little intimidated by Magge when she spoke to all of us younger Trideltas and firmly told us we could only refer to her as "McGinnes". And I will always think of Jeff as the guy who pointed me out to a room stock full of LSU fans at an LSU bar and said "Look at the Gator!" as I walked down the steps in head-to-toe orange and blue. Needless to say, I was heckled mercilessly. But hey, you haven't lived until you've had 300 people scream "Tiger bait" at you. (For the record, UF won that game and I gator chomped my way out of the door.) Thanks for that Jeff. Aren't you proud I didn't talk about how the Gators also beat the Vols that year?

But alas, I am digressing as I am known to do. I would just like to say that all of my worries were completely unnecessary. Magge and Jeff were honestly the best people I have traveled with in my life. There aren't too many people I would live in a car with for two weeks and come out raving about, but these two as you all obviously know, aren't just anybody. They were genuinely compassionate, easy to talk to during the long stretches of road without an iPod, great listeners, and very patient when I slowed them down while boulder-climbing over waterfalls. And I'm not a mushy person but wow was I impressed by the way they quietly radiate how much they love each other (any key-throwing incidents aside). Truly beautiful. (Speaking of which, Liam ... I heard about your speech at their wedding. You are the best!)

But now that I've rambled for way too long and Jeff and Magge probably want to murder me, I'll get to my point of this post and what everybody REALLY wants to hear about: The Choppa. While I have many gorgeous photographs of this trip (which if I'm allowed to guest post again and mess up the chronology I will hopefully put up, but having issues with my computer so will be very delayed), there are none better and more anticipated than the ones involving the Jucy Choppa. We grew to love this bright green and purple van of ours, and especially appreciated driving down the road as other Jucy's flashed their lights at us and waved in greeting. Here's some photo documentation of our beloved Jucy.

The first night we stayed at a caravan park in Mooloolaba because we were still amateurs at finding random, free places to stay. Here, Magge and I are enjoying our new friend

The second night we pulled over at a "driver reviver" site that allowed for 20 hour stays. As Jeff told you in an earlier post, Magge had to cook for us in the pitch black darkness, and hundreds of bugs made their way into the Jucy that night. We also had to "clean" the dishes in the bathroom below. Don't even get me started on how much this flared up my OCD. Thanks for the yummy meals, M!

We then camped out at another driver-reviver site just outside of Rockhampton, but drove in so late at night we didn't realize how close we were to the highway. The pictore to the right shows how close the road we parked/slept on is to the pavement in front which is the highway. Oops!

After two nights without showering, we were ready for a good wash. The three of us stopped just north of Townsville at an RV park with really nice showers and a mysterious animal Jeff and I saw running/hopping through the street while Magge was cooking yummy Thai.

Next up was another remote roadside stop outside of Ingham where a group of friendly aboriginals pulled over to ask if we were on our way up to Cairns, and then randomly drove away.

These might start to get out of order so forgive me. Although this could be chronologically incorrect, I thought it was about time to mix up this post with a few non-parked photos. Here is the Jucy illegally driving through water at Jourama Falls. I stepped out to take a photo and Jeff started driving away. I thought he was being funny until I had to wade through ankle-deep water and soak my shoes to get across as he kept increasing the distance between us. Turns out there was a car behind me and he had planned to come back and get me the whole time.

Shh, don't tell Jucy Headquarters we did this.

The next location was another campervan site. It came complete with poisonous cane toads and green tree frogs. The local resident here warned Magge pythons were known to jump out at all times. As if I needed more to be scared about. Here is also a photograph of our Penthouse lady.

We didn't want to pay for three people here, so Magge went in to say there were only two of us. I was in the driver seat and Jeff was in the back, when she came out and said urgently "Lorena, get in the back. I said there's only two of us and the manager is coming out to show us where to park." I looked at her and said "It's fine, just pretend Jeff's not here." Magge looked at me, then Jeff, then me again with her eyes full of fear. "But... I said.. I was with.. MY HUSBAND!" she shrieked dramatically. Panic ensued. I decided the best course of action was to fling myself through the space between the passenger and driver seats, doing a backwards somersault and landing on the floor into a pile of shoes. My worst nightmare. I had assumed Jeff would catch me but he just stared down stunned as Magge screamed laughing hysterically "JEFF GET IN THE FRONT!" He jumped out as I crouched low and pulled all the blinds shut hurriedly. We either weren't spotted, or the manager thought if anyone was willing to go through that for $7, we deserved to stay for a discounted price.

The following night we stayed at a place with many hippies and possums that I forgot to document. Apologies. We went to the Whitsundays and then came back and pulled off to the side of the road only to find another Jucy! Magge and I had fun making faces at it. Easily amused.

Before leaving for Fraser we made sure to document yet another successful Jucy-filled adventure.

For our final farewell night with the Jucy Choppa we ended up at a truck stop. It was definitely one time I wish I didn't have a ladder leading up to my tent. In the middle of the night we all heard two brothers in a huge, cursing, fighting match. We never figured out what it was about, but I like to think they drove these matching trucks parked next to us.

Saying goodbye to the Jucy and each other was very, very sad. So sad, Magge didn't even notice all the dead bugs she was hugging.

Hope to travel with both of you again! Signing off,

The Third Wheel