Summer Travel Journals

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, the ladies are opening up their summer travel journals! Jenna shares all about her family vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks, while Angela tells us about her bucket-list trip to Wimbledon. The ladies also share everything you’ve ever wanted to know about The Office table reads, and Matt and Sam bring us along for their own summer adventures. So grab your journal, pack a snack for the trip, and enjoy! Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question for Around the Town, Chit Chat, and Second Drink favorite moment:https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion Follow Us on Instagram:OfficeLadiesPod https://www.instagram.com/officeladiespod/ Follow Us on YouTube https://youtube.com/@officeladiespod?si=D0oKJwFJuK9txzFM Follow Us on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@officeladiespod?_t=ZT-8y1gqTrJyOs&_r=1

• 0:04Speaker 00

  I'm Jenna Fisher.

• 0:05Speaker 01

  And I'm Angela Kinsey.

• 0:06Speaker 00

  We were on The Office together.

• 0:08Speaker 01

  And we're best friends.

• 0:09Speaker 00

  And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you. Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories. We're the Office Ladies 6.0.

• 0:25Speaker 00

  Hello.

• 0:25Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 0:27Speaker 00

  I am really excited about today.

• 0:29Speaker 01

  I know.

• 0:29Speaker 00

  Because we are going to be reading each other our summer travel journals.

• 0:33Speaker 01

  I really hope it doesn't disappoint. We wrote about our trips.

• 0:38Speaker 00

  Yes, so for spring break, I went to Japan and you went home to Texas and you did some college tours. And we're kind of flipping it this time. I went home to visit my family and you went to Wimbledon.

• 0:52Speaker 01

  Yes, in London.

• 0:53Speaker 00

  And you have not told me a single Wimbledon story.

• 0:56Speaker 01

  No, because you were like, let's journal about our travels. So I purposely saved it.

• 1:00Speaker 00

  I know. And I have been dying to hear about this trip because I just know what a bucket list item it is for you.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07Speaker 00

  And now you've been.

• 1:08Speaker 01

  And Sam, you went to Germany.

• 1:09Speaker 02

  I did. I went to Munich and then took a six hour train to Osnabruck.

• 1:12Speaker 01

  Oh, and Matt went camping in the sticks with no cell service.

• 1:18Speaker 02

  Out of pocket.

• 1:20Speaker 00

  All right. Well, we're going to hear about all these things today, but we thought it might be fun to start this episode with an Office question of the week. So rather than a chit chat, we're going to dive into a little Office talk. And this question comes from Soha P. in Bellingham, Washington, who said, hi, Office Ladies, I want to know absolutely everything about table reads. For example, when you read a script, did you more or less say the words or did you really go for it from an acting perspective? You mentioned that table read drafts could be pretty long. So did the table reads take like over an hour to go through? You also mentioned that you did table reads at lunch. So did you have to time your bites strategically?

• 2:02Speaker 00

  Finally, I'd love to hear more about what the very last table read for the finale was like. Love you and your podcast.

• 2:10Speaker 01

  Such a great, specific question. So many different mini questions within one overall question. I was a real fan of this.

• 2:19Speaker 00

  Well, I realize we do our best to explain things, but sometimes we might just use a lingo or assume that people know what that looks like. And so I like that we're going to dive into the specifics of a table read.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:35Speaker 00

  So first of all, we did a table read once a week on Tuesdays. Now, most days of the week, we got an hour break for lunch. But on Tuesdays, we got 30 minutes for lunch. And then we would head over to the writer's trailer. They had this big trailer for a table read. So we got to eat first. We did not have to time our bites.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Yeah. Thankfully, though, right? Because like us eating and reading out loud would have been a mess, especially if you've ever watched Rainn Wilson eat.

• 3:08Speaker 00

  Which you have if you've seen The Office.

• 3:11Speaker 01

  And then also, we would receive a hard copy of the table read draft of the script, usually Tuesday morning. Like you would already start filming and you'd go in your trailer and you'd be like, oh, the new script's there.

• 3:22Speaker 00

  Yes. Yeah. And if we had time, we would flip through it. Maybe we'd read it in the hair and makeup trailer, maybe during breaks and filming. But sometimes we wouldn't get a script until we walked into the writer's trailer. And so we were doing what is called a cold read.

• 3:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, where you've never seen the words you're about to say. What's interesting to me, though, ladies, it's called a cold read, but when we would get those scripts right as we walked in, they'd be warm.

• 3:46Speaker 00

  I know.

• 3:46Speaker 01

  From the printer.

• 3:47Speaker 00

  So it was actually kind of a warm read.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:49Speaker 00

  And then inside the writer's trailer, there were these four long tables and they were set up in a rectangle shape.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:57Speaker 00

  With chairs all around.

• 3:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, like the four tables were like rectangles that made then one giant rectangle.

• 4:04Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 4:04Speaker 01

  If that makes sense.

• 4:05Speaker 00

  And we could take a seat wherever we wanted, but there was this one chair that was positioned in the center of the top table. And it was a really nice chair. It had arms and we always left that one for Steve.

• 4:18Speaker 01

  I never wanted to sit in that chair. It felt too important.

• 4:23Speaker 00

  I know. And it's not like he insisted that was his chair or anything. This was just something we kind of collectively did out of respect.

• 4:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was usually on like one of the sides. Like I would just file in. And you know, there was also rows of chairs at the far end of the trailer where network execs would come and sit.

• 4:41Speaker 00

  Yes, or the writers would sit.

• 4:43Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:44Speaker 00

  And take notes. I do want to say that when Kathy Bates came to guest stars, Steve gave her the nice chair.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:52Speaker 00

  And then after Steve left, I remember none of us would sit in the chair for like weeks.

• 4:58Speaker 01

  You know, it was interesting because no one talked about it.

• 5:01Speaker 00

  I know. That's what I, when I was thinking about table reads, I was like, remember the chair?

• 5:05Speaker 01

  The chair, we just were like, no, we're not sitting in that. That was Steve's.

• 5:09Speaker 02

  You mentioned Kathy Bates being there. Would most major guest stars go to table reads?

• 5:14Speaker 00

  Yes, major guest stars who had recurring roles, even a weekly guest star who was cast in time.

• 5:22Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 5:23Speaker 00

  So they would come and do the table reads.

• 5:25Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:26Speaker 00

  But like James Spader came to the table reads.

• 5:29Speaker 01

  It really came down to also if it had been cast by the Tuesday and that person had been contacted.

• 5:35Speaker 02

  Oh, okay.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  You know, so sometimes those roles weren't cast until later in the week. So our writers would fill in and read the roles that were all the extra parts.

• 5:44Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting. Okay.

• 5:46Speaker 00

  Let's see. What were the other things that Soha wanted to hear about? Oh, they usually took about 45 minutes.

• 5:54Speaker 00

  And in general, we really all went for it. We read in character how we might perform the scene. But of course, everyone knew we were making our choices kind of on the spot.

• 6:03Speaker 01

  And you know, once it was over, we, the actors, had to get back to set. So we had to get ready for our scenes that were up after lunch. So we pretty much filed out. Like we didn't hang out and linger.

• 6:14Speaker 00

  Yes. No, the writers and Greg and the director, they would stay. They would give notes on what they thought worked and what didn't. They would make a list of assignments for rewrites. And the actors did not stay for notes. And there were no performance notes. No one would come and talk to us about our performance. This is just all about the script. And when I was a producer in season nine, I got to stay for the note sessions. And they were fascinating, fascinating. Sometimes it would just be as small as like, hey, I want you to write all jokes for that line. And then sometimes it would be whole storylines that they would say, I think we need to rethink this. We need to reinvent this.

• 6:58Speaker 00

  It needs more conflict or it needs more something fascinating.

• 7:03Speaker 01

  And as far as the final table read, that was really a huge deal. We weren't in our writer's trailer because we were on location. So we were in this big room. There were rows and rows and rows of chairs for anyone that had ever worked on the show in any way was there and was watching. They had a camera set up to film it.

• 7:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, we did not usually film our table reads.

• 7:25Speaker 01

  And there was, you know, Chris Hasten took photos, but several people took pictures, like just even from our crew, people were just documenting the moment. And the table was set up in this huge like U shape. And we had microphones, which we normally didn't have.

• 7:42Speaker 00

  Yeah. And we would have the occasional NBC executives stop by our weekly table reads, but we were far from the main lot and they did not make that trek. But for the final table read, it was like every executive who worked at NBC was at that table read.

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 7:59Speaker 00

  It was a huge deal.

• 8:00Speaker 01

  Huge deal. And our table reads for so many years, like Jenna said, I mean, the first year, we sat in a circle on the stage, like the Dunder Mifflin office.

• 8:11Speaker 00

  Yeah, we just pulled our rolly chairs up around the Dwight Jimb desk clump.

• 8:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, and we would just sit there. In fact, when my parents visited in the early seasons of The Office, we did the table read and my parents sat in a rolly chair by like Creed's desk. And listened to us read the script. So it was kind of interesting to see the progression. And then as the years went on, then we had the trailer and then we had network execs that would come. And then, yeah, ended it with this huge crowd.

• 8:41Speaker 00

  Yeah. All right, well, that was fun.

• 8:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you so much for that question. I actually just loved revisiting all of that in my brain. It was fun to remember.

• 8:51Speaker 00

  All right, well, listen, why don't we take a break? And when we come back, I'm going to share about Lake of the Ozarks.

• 8:56Speaker 01

  Where I want to go with you. I want to go with you. I need to go and I can't wait to hear about your trip.

• 9:12Speaker 01

  All right, we are back from break and are you ready to go to the Lake of the Ozarks with Jenna Fisher?

• 9:20Speaker 00

  All right, well, here we go. I journaled each morning, just to give you some context.

• 9:27Speaker 01

  I was gonna ask you about that because I would jot things down as my day went in my Notes app. And then I would either have to journal like at night or in the morning the next day.

• 9:36Speaker 00

  Yes, because it was, you know, wall-to-wall activities all day, family, all that. So here we go. Lake of the Ozarks, summer travel journal, first morning at the lake.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  You're sitting so properly. I wish you guys could see her. She's like with her hands clasped in front of her.

• 9:52Speaker 00

  I don't know why. I feel like I'm giving a speech. Okay. I'm sitting out under a big covered patio. It has two ceiling fans, which is amazing because we were having a heatwave. It's 9:40 a.m. and it's already 90 degrees outside. We are here during the week before 4th of July. I hope that means the lake will be less busy and we can go for a long boat ride without getting thrown around too much. My folks have had a place at Lake of the Ozarks since I was eight years old. Or maybe my sister was eight and I was 13. I'll have to ask my mom. But we came here even before that. Every summer from as far back as I can recall. I think it's safe to say I've been coming here for over 45 years.

• 10:35Speaker 01

  Older than some of y'all listening.

• 10:37Speaker 00

  Yeah. Thank you for making that clear.

• 10:46Speaker 00

  My parents' place started as a two-bedroom cabin they had built on a spot that I remember first visiting by boat. It is in a quiet side cove and there is a soft rocky beach. And I remember pulling our little red speedboat up onto that shore, tying it to a tree with a long, yellow plasticky rope, having a picnic lunch and watching my parents talk about putting a house there. The soft rocky beach was discussed many times as a big plus. It meant we could slowly wade into the water from shore while we waited for a dock to be built. Had they already bought the land? I'm not sure. Again, maybe I should ask about these details. But more than anything, I think it's cool that they made this dream come true for themselves.

• 11:28Speaker 00

  I remember driving down over the next year, watching as the house was built. All of the anticipatory excitement. Two bedrooms, one bath, a utility room, which also houses the washer dryer and all of my dad's tools, a kitchen living room and a great big deck facing the lake. I remember their decision to put their bedroom in the front of the house with a lake view and deck access and our bedroom in the back of the house. Theirs was small, just big enough for a queen bed and two nightstands. Ours was much bigger with bunk beds and a couch and a large walk-in closet, which served as a place to put life vests, overflow food items, skis, and even a drying rack for swimsuits.

• 12:07Speaker 01

  That's a big closet.

• 12:09Speaker 00

  It was really big. You could almost fit a twin bed in there. It was almost like another room. When we were teenagers, we could put blankets on the ground and hide in the closet for privacy. Incidentally, the bunk beds had no railing on the upper bunk. It's not like how they are today. And since I was older, I got the top bunk, even though my daredevil sister really wanted it. I fell out of that bed in the middle of the night at least once a year.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  I do feel like our generation was just like, well,

• 12:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, not a railing in sight.

• 12:40Speaker 01

  just fear it out.

• 12:42Speaker 03

  No seatbelts.

• 12:43Speaker 01

  You'll be fine. You can lay on the floorboard while we drive.

• 12:48Speaker 00

  The top bunk now belongs to my niece and we laughed about the fact that she too has fallen out in the middle of the night. My dad even attempted to add a safety railing, but I guess it didn't work.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  So the bed is still?

• 13:01Speaker 00

  The bunk bed is still there from my childhood. Yes, same bunk bed.

• 13:06Speaker 01

  With no railing?

• 13:07Speaker 00

  Well, my sister was like, if my children are gonna sleep in this bunk bed, Dad, it needs some sort of railing. But then my niece and I were talking and she was like, oh yeah, I fall out of that like.

• 13:16Speaker 03

  She just went right through the railing?

• 13:20Speaker 00

  And I was like, oh no, Cece. We bonded. Moving on. I'm almost done with morning one. A few years ago, my parents expanded the house, adding on a second story and two additional bedrooms. It's big enough now that my sister and her kids can come down and stay, but not quite big enough to also house me and Lee and our kids. So we usually get an Airbnb somewhere nearby. Our place this year is great. I slept so well in the bedroom. That was in all caps, so well.

• 13:49Speaker 01

  Now, this is the one thing you shared with me about this trip because we tried to keep secrets so that we could share them today. But you were like, oh my God, ladies.

• 13:59Speaker 00

  I slept so well.

• 14:00Speaker 01

  Jenna is to know how important sleep is.

• 14:03Speaker 00

  It's true. I wrote, great mattress.

• 14:09Speaker 00

  But the best thing is the big covered deck with the fans facing the lake. Oh, and there's a mama cat and two little kittens living under the house next door to us. It is very hard not to rescue these kittens. They seem to be around the same age. We usually get them to foster, right on the brink of being able to still be domesticated. The mom is young. I think the best we can do is put out some wet food while we're here to help her produce milk.

• 14:35Speaker 00

  All right. Are you ready for morning two?

• 14:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:39Speaker 00

  Well, yesterday was your quintessential lake day. Swimming, boat ride, trip to the grocery store for some item we forgot to bring with us. More swimming, my dad's barbecue, family game, World Cup. We played the game Celebrity. There were nine of us playing and it was pretty cool to play with three generations. We had names like Richard Chamberlain.

• 14:59Speaker 01

  That stumped the young kids.

• 15:01Speaker 00

  Did not know, to Millie Bobby Brown, who my parents did not know. But what I found really interesting are the celebrities that ended up in the bowl multiple times. I'm not sure what it says about their fame, but Will Ferrell was in the bowl four times. Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter were both in there three times. There were also two Michael Jacksons and two Barack Obamas. We divided up girls against the boys and the girls won handily.

• 15:28Speaker 01

  Oh, handily.

• 15:31Speaker 00

  This morning, we all slept into 10 a.m. Glorious. To our body clocks, that is 8 a.m. LA time, but still. Have I said the bed in my Airbnb is super comfy? With a ceiling fan, which is kind of the best thing ever if you have hot flashes. It's making me want to put a ceiling fan in at home. I woke up to a text from my sister that she and my mom were going to go to the local thrift store called Hope House. My mom had some donations to drop off and she also just loves looking around. My sister said my dad was going to Walmart to grab something, not sure what. And yet, as of noon, my sister and my mom have still not gone to Hope House, which is pretty typical.

• 16:11Speaker 00

  First of all, they realized that the donations they wanted to drop off were in my dad's car, so they had to wait for him to get back from Walmart.

• 16:19Speaker 01

  There's a little bit of shade. It's just a scorch, a scorch of shade.

• 16:24Speaker 03

  Every 10th word is a dagger.

• 16:25Speaker 01

  Typical.

• 16:27Speaker 00

  I mean,

• 16:32Speaker 00

  I guess I'm super like braggy and shady in my journal with my family. You know what? The boys were all like thinking they were gonna crush us in Celebrity and they did not win and they very much did not win.

• 16:45Speaker 01

  Okay, okay. And now, did your mom and sister ever make it?

• 16:49Speaker 00

  I'll let you know. I will let you know. You have to wait for it. But this is the thing, like they'll tell us, oh, the plan for the day is we're going to Hope House at 10 a.m. And then at noon, no one has left. This is like very typical of my family. All right. So anyway, the problem was the stuff was in my dad's car. They had to wait for him to get back from Walmart. They dropped the kids at our place at 12:15, so the cousins are reunited and watching the World Cup. And just now, my sister texts me that they made it to Hope House. It's 1 p.m. It's close.

• 17:22Speaker 00

  They're coming back home. My sister said, Mom, the sign clearly says they are open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This was a Tuesday. But my mom's response was, yeah, that's what the sign says, but sometimes they're open on Tuesdays. They drove all the way there. I spent the morning reading a play by Gina Giannafredo. I hope I'm saying her name right. When we were in New York, we saw the revival of her play Becky Shaw, which I absolutely loved. So now I'm reading her other plays because I love living in her dialogue. Oh, I just finished the book Yesteryear, which was a trip and a great summer page turner. It's kind of the book of the moment. It's about a trad wife influencer who suddenly wakes up living an actual pioneer life like in the 1800s.

• 18:08Speaker 00

  I read all fours by Miranda July earlier this year and I feel like reading them both in the same year was very interesting. In both instances, the protagonists are women who feel suffocated by what they perceive to be the confines of living a married life with children. Very, very different protagonists, but similar theme. They would make an interesting addition to a women's studies course.

• 18:29Speaker 03

  Jenna, again, I'm on the same book train as you.

• 18:32Speaker 00

  You are?

• 18:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, you and I are three for three on Marriage at Sea, Strangers, and Yesteryear.

• 18:38Speaker 00

  Matt, what did you think of Yesteryear?

• 18:40Speaker 03

  I loved it. I thought it was so interesting and funny and I don't know, just kind of right on, kind of a different perspective than I would normally have.

• 18:50Speaker 00

  I agree. I really, really liked it. It was quite a page turner. I think I tore through that in about four days.

• 18:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, totally. Let's discuss.

• 18:57Speaker 00

  We can discuss more. All right. I go on to say, but the book I finished recently that has become perhaps my all-time favorite book ever is Station 11. In the same way that Demon Copperhead created a fundamental shift in my awareness, Station 11 has too, but on an even deeper level. It is a story of a flu that wipes out 99% of humanity. With only 1% of people left, all industry has stopped, all electricity, food production, transportation. The story centers around a few characters and their experiences in these new times. One of the main characters is a member of a troupe of musicians and actors who go from settlement to settlement, performing Shakespeare and playing music.

• 19:40Speaker 00

  Their commitment to creating art in a world of survival is intensely beautiful. They quote a line from Star Trek as their motto, quote, because survival is insufficient, which is now maybe my favorite quote ever. It was a spiritual experience for me. It had me pondering what it means to be human, the ways in which we are all interconnected during our passage of time on Earth. There is one paragraph about a snow globe that is now my favorite piece of writing. I will never forget it. I've gone back to it a few times since finishing the book. When I read it over again, I feel a deep ache in my stomach because what it evokes is so beautiful, it's hard to hold in my body. I will never see a snow globe the same way again.

• 20:26Speaker 01

  My goodness, I need to read that.

• 20:29Speaker 00

  It's absolutely wonderful. All right. Moving on, I wrote, moving on. Moving on, I have a cat update. We fed the mama three meals of wet food yesterday and also left out dry food overnight. It was all gone in the morning. She ate well yesterday, but no sign of her babies. Yesterday afternoon, I saw two lake otters also living under the house next door. These people have a small petting zoo living under their deck. I also saw a bunch of geese down by their dock this morning. Oh, and my folks have a pair of ducks that swim with us and we can feed them out of our hands. We are also seeing a ton of deer, lots of animals at the lake. I love it. All right.

• 21:14Speaker 00

  Next day. Lake day three. Good morning.

• 21:21Speaker 02

  Somebody slept well.

• 21:23Speaker 00

  Have I mentioned how much I liked this?

• 21:26Speaker 00

  When we got back to the house last night, the mama cat ran over to the edge of our porch expectantly. We put out some wet food and her two kittens also came up to eat. This is when we got our first really good look at them. The mama is a gray tabby. She has a gray tabby lookalike kitten, except that her baby has white paws. And then there is a super shy, smaller, all black kitten. I fed them three plates of wet food. They could not get enough. My daughter is angling for us to take them back to St. Louis. She looked up the rules for flying them home. I told her that pets must be up to date for their shots in order to fly, but she said she read online that, quote, "A lot of times Southwest doesn't even check."

• 22:04Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 22:05Speaker 00

  I said, quote, "I'm not going to try and take three feral cats on an airplane, but I'm feeling the same urge to rescue them as she is." When you have a skill, which for us is cat rescue, it's hard not to put that skill into action. I also woke up realizing that this is our last full day here, which means my last full day with my folks. My dad is getting older. He turns 80 this year and I'm always acutely aware that I'm on borrowed time with them. I want to ask them more questions, but I'm not sure what those questions are. Mostly, I just want to drink them in, particularly my dad here at the lake. He's always puttering around, doing little chores, even at his age.

• 22:48Speaker 00

  Making barbecue ribs for dinner last night was a whole day affair. It's multiple steps. I'm noticing him in every detail here, like all the do it yourself fixes to little problems, like how he has a special spot to tie up the swim noodles on the dock or the sun shade he puts on hooks outside their bedroom window for when the sun is setting. I'm trying to drink it all in. Yesterday was another typical lake day. Tubing, boat ride, swimming, my dad's delicious barbecue ribs for dinner, my mom's homemade coleslaw, or as she says, cold slaw. Another game of celebrity. This time, the boys won. We said we need to do a tiebreaker tonight. By the way, I'm sorry to George Clooney, but none of the kids knew who he was.

• 23:32Speaker 00

  Last night, we also did fireworks. They are illegal in Los Angeles and it's super fun for the kids to do them each year with their cousins at the lake. On our drive down, we passed by so many fireworks stands on the side of the road. It's such a core memory of my childhood around the Fourth of July, the roadside fireworks stand. We got ours from a little place in front of a gas station near my folks' lake house. We got the usual chicken, tank, fountains. Then we went outside the box and got something called big blue balls and one that was shaped like a slurpee. And then we asked the guy at the stand, what would make a good finale? And he pointed us to this giant pack of rockets for like $200.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Did you get them?

• 24:12Speaker 00

  No, we said, quote, "A smaller finale." We settled on this cube with a dinosaur on it. It was supposed to have 10 shots inside. He said it would be good. We had the kids arrange everything in an order. We started with the chicken. It was lame as expected. Small tank was lame. Medium tank was cool. The exploding blue balls was a fun surprise. Slurpee was awesome.

• 24:36Speaker 01

  That's what she said.

• 24:41Speaker 00

  That's very funny. Slurpee was awesome. The fountains were fountains. Then we set up Dino Box. I would like to repeat that this box was small. Like, imagine if a softball was a cube. You could hold it in one hand for sure. I think we were expecting like 10 smallish fireworks to fly up one by one overhead and explode, kind of like bottle rockets, but a little better. Dear Lord, this thing was like a tiny professional fireworks show in a cube. And it wasn't 10 of the same thing either. It was this intense variety of different giant fireworks shooting into the air, literally right above us. It was completely unexpected and a great finale.

• 25:21Speaker 01

  Oh, awesome.

• 25:22Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 25:23Speaker 00

  All right. Final lake day, everybody. Our final full day at the lake was a big success. My mom and sister made it back to Hope House in the morning. It was a Wednesday and they were in fact open, as the sign suggested. My mom dropped off her donations and got my dad a nice summer shirt. She loves a good find. We rented a wave runner and hosted everyone at our place. My folks brought over a bunch of lunch stuff and a cooler and drinks and we basically camped out on our dock all day. I should mention that the one drawback to our rental is that the house is up high on a hill. There are multiple levels of decks leading down to the water and lots and lots and lots of stairs. Once you get down there, you only want to go back to the house if you absolutely need something.

• 26:08Speaker 00

  There are so many stairs you might consider pooping in the lake. Thankfully, it never came to that, but I'm just saying it was a climb. We tried hard to have everything we needed down on the dock. When we did need something from the house, I'd volunteer to go and get it as I decided that the stairs and treading water were my two chances at exercise during this trip. All day long, we basically took turns riding the wave runner and swimming. Our dock also had a diving platform that the kids loved. Lots of near heart attacks for me, watching them flip and dive off that thing. In the evening, we ordered takeout and watched the USA World Cup game together. Me and my folks sat outside on the covered patio and watched the outside TV. They weren't super interested in the game, so it gave me a good chance to ask some questions

• 26:52Speaker 00

  and get the scoop on the lake house and how it came about. I found out my memory was mostly correct. They bought the land when I was eight years old and it took a year to build. My dad told me he especially liked that the house faced west. He wanted to sit on the deck in the mornings and have coffee without the sun in his eyes. Since this is literally one of my favorite things to do at the lake, I love knowing that detail. He also told me the man they hired to build the house was a drunk and they got into a ton of fights. He would set a meeting with my dad. My dad would drive three hours from St. Louis and then the guy would be late and reek of booze. It caused a lot of problems. At one point, they got into such a huge argument, the man threatened to burn the house down.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 27:33Speaker 00

  Crazy. In other news, we met the neighbor next door to our rental. I mentioned that he had some stray cats living under his porch and that we'd been feeding them. I offered to give him our leftover food if he'd like to keep feeding them and he said his wife already feeds them. We were so excited to hear this. He said last year, they rescued four kittens and took them back to their family farm. He also said he thinks they're all coming from this one house down the road that doesn't fix their cats. He really wants to try and trap the ones at his house and get them fixed and then re-release them. He said, quote, "They're good at getting critters."

• 28:05Speaker 01

  Lady, this must have made you so happy because he does the rescue work that you do.

• 28:10Speaker 00

  Yes. I wrote, "We are not going to have to worry about these kitties. What a relief." It was really weighing on us this whole trip. Are these kittens going to be okay? We played our final round of celebrity. It was our tiebreaker game and the girls won. It was really super close, 54 to 51. Some impressive gameplay and some hilarious clues. I was quite fond of Harper's clue, quote, "First name is the name of my principal at school. The last name is crispy meat." Kevin Bacon. In this round, there were multiple Rin Tintins and Taylor Swift's. Oh, by the way, we are pretty sure we are about to share a wedding anniversary with Taylor and Travis on July 3rd. This year, it will be 16 years for me and Lee.

• 28:56Speaker 00

  While she is at Madison Square Garden with 1,000 guests, I'll be on a Southwest flight that connects in Phoenix. Thankfully, I won't be flying with three stray cats, but I will be with my sweet family that I love with all my heart and filled with wonderful lake memories. I can't wait until next year.

• 29:13Speaker 01

  That was fantastic.

• 29:15Speaker 02

  You're a really good writer. I realized during you saying this, what I like about these travel journals. It's such a good snapshot of the person writing them. And that three minutes we'd have spent together sums you up perfectly as a person, like what you like, like animals, comfort, family, but with a little bit of snark.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  But there's like a nice just out of reach, but it's not coming out unless you it's deserved.

• 29:41Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 29:42Speaker 01

  Yeah. And also like your eye for detail is fantastic. And also you get a real sense that you do like a plan. Like you would not have gone to the thrift store on a Tuesday. You would have looked it up.

• 29:58Speaker 02

  Confirmed that it was open before you got in the car.

• 30:01Speaker 00

  Of course. Also, knowing that my mom had planned it, I would double check those plans. And my sister is the type, she so go with the flow, she would never even think to question whether or not this place was actually open during the week of July 4th, no less.

• 30:15Speaker 02

  Yeah. It reminded me of who's the artist that did the Saturday evening posts for years? The painter? Norman Rockwell.

• 30:22Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 30:23Speaker 02

  It's a there's a very Norman Rockwell-esque picture you just painted.

• 30:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, I was gonna say, this sounds like such a great tradition and all American family vacation that I really want to go to there. It just sounds so nice and fun.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  I feel like it's one of the things that we bond over too. It's like some of the shares you have about your dad and the DIY and all that. That's very much my experience on the farm, you know, with my parents and what that land meant to them. And yeah, I loved it.

• 30:53Speaker 00

  My parents were always happiest at Lake of the Ozarks. They were relaxed. It's their happy place. And so it's really important for me to experience them in that place with your kids, with my kids.

• 31:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:07Speaker 00

  Yeah, my dad driving the boat on that. Yeah. Well, Matt, I feel like a camping trip is pretty quintessential American vacation.

• 31:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, a little different spin on it, but it's related for sure.

• 31:19Speaker 00

  Well, tell us about your trip.

• 31:21Speaker 03

  Okay, I wrote a little short piece.

• 31:23Speaker 00

  Oh, wonderful.

• 31:25Speaker 03

  Okay. This past weekend, I received a last minute invitation from two friends to go on a bike packing adventure, which is a cross between biking and backpacking, where you load up all your camping gear on a big mountain bike and head out into the wilderness. I was up for the challenge and said yes to the dress. Big shout out to my wife, Casey, for staying back and watching the children while I tested my metal in this way. The goal was to bike around 100 miles in three days with lots of uphill climbing under the blazing sun. It became clear pretty early on that I was the weakest link by far.

• 31:56Speaker 00

  Oh, no.

• 31:57Speaker 03

  I was trailing my group and riding solo pretty much the entire time. While they were way up ahead, talking about bikes, gear, and other endurance challenges, I was far in the rear. However, I was having the absolute tea of my L, taking on a different, some would say even harder, challenge, singing every part of Les Misérables, word for word. I think my finest work was the confrontation scene between Javert and Jean Valjean.

• 32:22Speaker 00

  Oh, that's my favorite song.

• 32:24Speaker 03

  It's the best.

• 32:24Speaker 01

  You were singing Les Mis while you were riding the bike?

• 32:29Speaker 03

  I mean, you know, kind of a memory in my head.

• 32:31Speaker 01

  I would have no air.

• 32:33Speaker 02

  You and I relax in very different ways, man. This is so many tasks.

• 32:39Speaker 03

  We climbed mountains, descended long dusty trails, jumped in mountain lakes, and slept out under the stars with no cell phone service and without seeing a car or another soul for miles. While pedaling, I found myself wondering who from the office ladies crew would also take on this rugged experience, sleeping on the ground, only packing one pair of underwear for three days, going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground.

• 33:01Speaker 00

  I mean, I think if my journal where I went on and on about my mattress is any indication, I think it's not me.

• 33:10Speaker 03

  Sam, 100%. Sam would probably leave this recording with me right now to go bike packing.

• 33:15Speaker 02

  True.

• 33:16Speaker 03

  Angela, I think would enjoy all the time in nature, but miss the comforts of home.

• 33:20Speaker 01

  I would love all the time in nature. I would hate being on the bicycle. It always hurts me, privacy.

• 33:28Speaker 02

  If you could be in a sidecar being pedaled, that'd be perfect.

• 33:32Speaker 01

  I would navigate from a sidecar.

• 33:34Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 33:35Speaker 03

  Jenna, I could really see going either way. She said she gets creeped out being in nature for too long, but I think she might enjoy the hardcore challenge element of this experience.

• 33:44Speaker 00

  You're right about that. There's a part of me that does like to push myself.

• 33:48Speaker 02

  Yeah. What's the line from the edge? What one man can do?

• 33:50Speaker 00

  Another can do.

• 33:53Speaker 03

  We completed our ride and I found bike packing to be a pretty apt metaphor for life. There were hills and valleys, moments of pure joy, intense struggle, and also many of just pedaling through it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and your undercarriage will be sore and chapped most of the time.

• 34:08Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  But at the end of the day, it's all about taking care of others, yourself, and our planet. Peace and love, Matt, senior producer, office ladies.

• 34:17Speaker 01

  I love the official sign off in your journal.

• 34:20Speaker 02

  You sign that like you weren't coming back in case somebody found your body.

• 34:24Speaker 03

  Sam, there was moments when I wasn't sure if I was coming back.

• 34:27Speaker 01

  Yeah. Wow. What a trip. It's amazing.

• 34:32Speaker 00

  I love it.

• 34:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:34Speaker 00

  All right. Well, should we take a break and then we'll be back. Angela with your Wimbledon share and Sam is gonna share about Germany.

• 34:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, we both went abroad.

• 34:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:54Speaker 00

  All right, we are back and I have been waiting a few weeks to hear about your trip to Wimbledon. I can wait no longer.

• 35:00Speaker 02

  I'm on the edge of my seat.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  You guys, I.

• 35:02Speaker 00

  I made her go second because I knew this was the journal everyone.

• 35:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, you can't follow this.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  I don't think so. Jenna's and Matt's were both wonderful. Mine, I don't think it's that interesting, but I'm gonna read it. First of all, I want you guys to know, I've been to London many times and I did a semester abroad in college in London. So I didn't need to do a ton of tourist stuff. This was really about seeing my friends, hanging out with my friends that live there, and then ending the trip with us all going to Wimbledon. So anyway, just thought I would preface that. Okay. All right. This is titled AK Travel Journal.

• 35:34Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 35:35Speaker 01

  I don't know why I felt the need to title it. And here it goes. Tuesday, June 30th, 11:30 a.m. On the way to the airport. So excited. Woo-hoo. We are behind a 1990's silver Toyota Corolla that has pinstriping that says, "Nyoki Mobile." How much do you have to love Nyoki to pinstripe it on your car? Hi from the TSA line. So, we play this game with our kids when we travel where we share things you overhear as you walk past someone. This started a few years back on a trip to New York City. A big city is great for this game because you hear crazy snippets of people's conversations as you walk past them on the street. But it is also fun at airports. Here's one of those moments from

• 36:20Speaker 01

  my walk through LAX. This man had two suitcases and he was hauling ass to try to get to the front of the security line before this big group got there. Trailing behind him, carrying a big bag was his wife. She was clearly annoyed at his brisk pace and she said, "Gary, can you slow your roll?" That cracked me up. 2:00 p.m. At the airport lounge, baby. This is a bucket list trip for me. So I went all out. I used my miles and I'm flying business class. Ooh la la. I still can't believe I'm going to Wimbledon. Two exclamation points. I can't remember a summer where I didn't watch Wimbledon with my mom. It's her favorite

• 37:04Speaker 01

  tennis tournament. We have always dreamed of going together. We have spent countless hours in front of the TV watching all the matches. We would make ourselves cups of tea and eat strawberries and pretend we were there. I have so many favorite moments, like when Bjorn Borg beat John McEnroe and he dropped to his knees on the grass, or the many times Serena Williams won and would pump her fist like, hell yeah. One of my mom's favorite players was Kim Kleister's. We loved watching her play and this is where life gets really crazy. And as I write this, I still can't believe it, but I met Kim Kleister's last year at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She is one of the nicest, most wonderful people, not to mention one of the greats in tennis history. We have stayed in touch

• 37:48Speaker 01

  over the past year and have become friends. Exclamation point. Isn't that crazy? My mom and I both still can't believe it. I shared with Kim our love of Wimbledon and she offered to help me get tickets. I about fell on the floor. Getting tickets to Wimbledon is really difficult. I've never been able to. I called my mom immediately. She was so excited and I asked her to go with me. We had a really long conversation. You know, my mom turned 88 this year and she shared with me that long travel days are just too much for her now. But she told me I absolutely had to go. She said I had to go for the both of us.

• 38:29Speaker 01

  And I had orders to take a ton of pictures and call her every day. So, this is gonna make me cry. Here I sit in the airport lounge, texting my mom and wearing a necklace that my dad bought her in the 70s. He knew her love of tennis and it's a string of tiny gold interlocking tennis rackets. My mom gave it to me after he passed away. And I knew I had to wear it on this trip. So I'm gonna hold her and my dad close to my heart as I go on this adventure.

• 39:00Speaker 00

  We both were bumping up against our parents' age and limitations and our awareness of that on our trips.

• 39:10Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 39:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 39:11Speaker 01

  It was so thrilling to get these tickets and also bittersweet that my mom wasn't with me, but she was.

• 39:18Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 39:19Speaker 01

  Okay, sorry. I needed to wipe the tears. And now, are you ready for a hard pivot? There had clearly been a passage in time because here's my next entry. Ready?

• 39:28Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 39:29Speaker 01

  Oh, Lord. The man next to me took off his shoes. Why? Oh, God. Now he's taking off his socks. I might move. Need snacks. BRB. Moved seats and got some type of spicy nut mix. So, family update. Josh and Kate are going to a volleyball tournament this week. Isabel and Jack are taking college courses over the summer. So this is the first time I'll be taking a big trip by myself. I feel a little rusty at doing this solo. Sidebar, they are not playing Wimbledon in the lounge. WTF. There are so many TVs, but all they're showing is the World Cup. And look, I get it. Okay. The World Cup is amazing

• 40:10Speaker 01

  and fun and I love it too. But not one TV for the biggest tennis tournament of the year? Not one? Ugh. Getting a glass of wine, finding out the wifi. Please hold. That's very grumpy. Okay, I'm back with wine and I'm watching Wimbledon on my laptop. I am trying to take a selfie of myself in the lounge with my wine and tennis on my computer to send it to my mom, but I couldn't figure it out. I'm not bendy enough to fit it all in the picture. A very nice gentleman asked if I needed him to take the picture because I probably looked so awkward. I'm slightly embarrassed.

• 40:44Speaker 01

  4:00 PM, British Airways flight 282, LAX to London Heathrow. Okay, I need to be snarky. My flight attendant is 100% Angela Martin, severe blonde bun, so bossy. She's snippy with everyone and she's also a little gossipy. I was in line for the bathroom and she was looking at a passenger and whispering to another flight attendant and then they both started laughing. I'm trying to figure out who they're talking about. Maybe the man with the skeleton socks, he does seem annoying.

• 41:15Speaker 01

  I had the beet goat cheese salad, I really liked it. And then I watched the movie Midwinter Break, so good. This movie deals with traumatic moments that shape us, marriage ups and downs, and the calling to be of greater service through our faith. It also does a great job of showing that life happens in crowded spaces. Sadness, anger, heartbreak, it can all happen over dinner at a restaurant with tons of people around. There is only one sex scene in this movie and barely that, like you don't see anything, it's just a bunch of sheets. It's between two older people, maybe they're in their late 60s, early 70s. And that is the moment when a dad from our kid's school walked up to me to say hi.

• 41:56Speaker 01

  I paused the TV and it's two old people barely clothed in bed together. The dad from the school said, "What are you watching?" Cringe.

• 42:08Speaker 01

  July 1st, 10:30 AM, I just landed at London Heathrow. It's the day after I left LA and I barely slept on the plane, I'm not sure how I'm gonna stay awake. In my taxi now, the driver's an older man and he said, "Where to, love?" His name is Andy and I told him my name was Angela and he said, "We're the two As." I love him. Traffic getting from the airport to my friend's flat in Highgate was really bad, but I didn't mind. I was tired and the taxi had air conditioning. I was almost asleep and Andy said, "You might get to see the royal family." So I parked up. On the other side of the freeway, there were a bunch of police on motorcycles clearing the way for a vehicle motorcade. Then three big black SUVs came whizzing by. Andy said, "That's one of the royals."

• 42:53Speaker 01

  And then, he said, "They'll never know what it's like to sit in traffic." I asked him who he thought it was and he said, "Maybe the king." Andy said the king goes back and forth to London and then to Highgrove so he can quote, "Smell his flowers." I feel like Andy was throwing subtle shade.

• 43:12Speaker 00

  Andy and I might be related, I don't know.

• 43:15Speaker 01

  July 2nd, I'm staying at my friend's in Highgate, we walked a ton yesterday. My friend Betsy says that is the best way to stay awake and fight off jet lag. Step count, I can't remember, but it was over 17,000. Today we took the tube to Marlybone to meet up with Betsy's friends Louise and Marina for what they call fancy lunch. So here's what you do for fancy lunch. First, you meet for tea and biscuits, then you do some shopping, and then you have a fancy lunch. It was fantastic, I loved it. Then we went back to Highgate to play tennis at the park. Yes, you guys, I brought my racket all the way to London. Step count today was crazy, around 19,000. July 3rd, I have now played tennis twice in London. I think I'm ready for Wimbledon. Ha ha.

• 44:00Speaker 01

  More walking today. Things I took pictures of, flowers by the street, lots of hanging flowers, window box flowers, and hydrangeas, so beautiful. Also, I took pictures of ivy that grows on the size of buildings. I am driving my friends nuts because I keep stopping to take pictures of flowers. Last night, we walked through a park and Mumford & Sons was playing a concert. There was a giant fence and we could hear them from the other side. There were a lot of people that I guess didn't get tickets or were just enjoying the concert from outside on the lawn, having wine and picnics. We hung out there for a bit and heard the end of the concert, it was a lovely night. Step count was around 20,000.

• 44:40Speaker 01

  July 4th, all my tennis cows have now arrived. The four of us will be going to Wimbledon together. I saw a reel on Instagram that says every group of four friends on a trip has a navigator, a planner, and two that don't know anything. Well, I think for us, Betsy is the planner. Rebecca actually likes to navigate and figure out all the trains and routes. She told me she enjoys it, thank God, because I hate it. Julie is the responsible one who makes sure we all have the things we need and I am the historian. I take all the pictures and document the trip and sometimes drive everyone crazy in the process, but they're always happy after the fact to have the pictures. And you guys know I'm gonna scrapbook.

• 45:19Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 45:20Speaker 01

  My next entry is, we are now at an Airbnb near Marble Arch. This morning, we were walking to the tube station near us and there was a big truck going down the street and a man was leaning out of the back of it with a special type of water hose. It looked like a long pole, but then it had a bend at the end and a nozzle. He was using it to water the flower pots that hang from the lamp post. I cannot tell you how happy that made me to see them being watered and cared for.

• 45:48Speaker 01

  I bet you could guess it, but I took a picture.

• 45:52Speaker 01

  1:00 PM, walked through a beautiful park today and there was a cafe where you could get snacks, ice cream, and also buy plants. I am in heaven. I took a picture of the sign Pavilion Cafe. And then as we walked through the park, there was a game of cricket going on, so we sat on a bench and watched for a while. I also fell in love with a floppy Dotson named Peanut. I would love a floppy Dotson. I love any type of dog that looks like a big burrito. 3:00 PM, went to the department store Liberty, it's so beautiful. It was founded in 1875, it's several floors tall in an old Tudor-style building. I love the wooden staircase and the ceiling. I bought a cute summer robe with a navy floral design. Step count today was crazy, 23,102. My watch says I climbed 25 flights of stairs.

• 46:38Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 46:38Speaker 01

  I know.

• 46:39Speaker 00

  You haven't even gotten to Wimbledon yet.

• 46:41Speaker 01

  I know, I have one day.

• 46:42Speaker 02

  I forgot that's where this is headed.

• 46:46Speaker 01

  July 5th, 11:00 PM. So tired, but I wanted to jot down about my day. I bought a tin full of tea with Queen Elizabeth's face on it. There were a bunch of different royal family members' faces on tins of tea to choose from, but I went with Queen Elizabeth. I also bought a cute tote bag for Isabel and a Christmas ornament. I always buy an ornament from our travels and the kids love it, so this year we'll be adding a little figurine of Paddington the Bear to the tree. Oh, and I also went to see the play adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro. I loved it. I teared about the end when the cast and puppeteers took their bow. We all stood on our feet and applauded them. It's what I love about theater or making TV or film, so many people behind the scenes that come together to make a piece of art, it's truly moving.

• 47:31Speaker 01

  July 6th, 8:00 AM. Drinking my tea and steaming my dress, today I feel like that moment when Michael Scott was screaming, "Oh my God, it's happening! Today is Wimbledon! Ahhh! I'm so excited! No time to journal, must get ready." Also, my travel steamer is fantastic and tiny and folds up, it's by a company called Next Do. Okay, I felt like that was important to share. Okay. July 7th. Good morning. I woke up early, I couldn't sleep. I stayed up late with the time difference, talking to my mom to tell her every detail of my day at Wimbledon. She was thrilled. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. I don't even know where to begin. I took a ton of pictures and jotted things down in my notes app so I could share in my journal.

• 48:16Speaker 01

  Let's start with my outfit, fit check. I wore a green linen dress by Boden and comfy white sneakers with a green trim by Viva, I don't know how to say it. And then I also brought a tote bag with an empty water bottle because you can refill it once you get inside, sunscreen and a hat. Very important. 9:30 AM, we left early to grab some breakfast to go, or as they say here, "To take away." And then we took the train from Marble Arch to Wimbledon. Thank you to the folks we met at a coffee shop who told us to get off at Southfield Station. If you guys ever go and take the tube, get off there. Then you walk to the entrance gates of Wimbledon and it's not a bad walk, about 15 minutes. The whole walk to the gates, I had a body buzz. You could feel a joy in the crowd we walked with, a huge group of strangers, all dressed

• 49:01Speaker 01

  in what looked like their Sunday best, excited for the day ahead. 10:30 AM, walking into the courts, we had four tickets, two to Centre Court and two to Court One. Throughout the day, we would trade seats so we could see different matches. The first match I saw was on Centre Court. Walking into that stadium felt like a religious experience. Our seats were across from the royal box, so I had a great view of Roger Federer and Billie Jean King, OMG. The match was amazing, it was Jasmine Polini and Alexandra Ialla and they absolutely floored me. We had two very charming men from Italy sitting behind us and whenever Polini hit a winner, they would chant, "Bravissimo, bravissimo." It's such good people watching at Wimbledon too.

• 49:44Speaker 01

  I met a woman named Jude who had a hat covered in tennis balls, but somehow it was also fashionable. I asked her where she got it and she told me she made it. She said, "All you need is a glue gun." I got very excited, I have a glue gun and I want to make one. Oh dear. And she let me take a picture, lady, of her hat and I really want to try to make it. Will I be the crazy lady wearing a hat with tennis balls?

• 50:07Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 50:08Speaker 01

  Maybe. Okay. Back to my journal. Throughout the day, there were so many fantastic matches, I felt humbled to be there and spent the day in awe. There was a moment I won't forget. It was in the Arthur Ferry and Grigor Dimitrov match. Ferry won the wild card slot to play. This means he didn't have a high enough ranking to normally get a chance to compete. He wouldn't have even been there. But he got the wild card. And Dimitrov has been on the professional tennis circuit around 18 years. The energy in that stadium was absolutely electric. They played amazing tennis and went five sets that led then to an insane tiebreaker. Ferry is from the Wimbledon area, and at one point, when the stadium was very quiet, a fan yelled,

• 50:53Speaker 01

  "Go on Ferry!" And the place went nuts. This match could have easily gone either way, but in the end Ferry won, and the place went berserk. Here's this local kid with a wild card now going to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. You felt the weight of that moment wash over him, and he dropped to the ground. I had to wipe away some tears, and I wasn't the only one. I looked around that packed stadium, and people were crying, hugging, and cheering. It made me think of our discussion with Mike Schur about fandom. This one singular moment brought a crowd of strangers together in pure joy. And the food and drink of it all.

• 51:34Speaker 00

  Yes, I needed to know if you had strawberries and Pimms.

• 51:38Speaker 01

  Yes, I had strawberries and cream and a Pimms. And I got to go into the Wimbledon Broadcast Building. I hopped on the Access All England Show, which is a behind the scenes livestream on the Wimbledon app with my dear friend Nick McCarville and his co-host and former professional tennis player Jill Cravis. Shout out to everyone in the Broadcast Building. They let me keep my giant bag of merch there all day, so I didn't have to carry it around. I think I bought everything they make in the Wimbledon shop, because you know, I love the merch! And I have to share a lovely text I got that night from Beth in the Broadcast Building. She said, "We're here super late, so let me know whenever you're looking to

• 52:20Speaker 01

  grab your bits and bobs. Do you want me to bring you guys some snacks or anything? Crisps or chocolate for the journey back?" We were starving. All the food vendors had closed by that time. So Beth, thank you for the snacks. We ate it on the way home. I have a video from the end of the day of us, and we literally closed the place down. We were there over 12 hours. I didn't want to leave, and I hope someday I get to go back. Alrighty, I've had my Queen Elizabeth tea, and now it's time for my very last day here. We're going to Notting Hill and Richmond. And then I have my last day. Okay, last day in London, July 8. Hi from the London Heathrow Airport. Today I go back home. I miss my

• 53:02Speaker 01

  family, and I'm ready for my bed, but oh my goodness, do I love London. Yesterday, we went to Notting Hill. It's as charming as I could have imagined. I loved all the buildings painted different colors and all the different shops. Here's something to know about me. Again, my journal, who doesn't know me, I guess.

• 53:19Speaker 00

  Never met you.

• 53:20Speaker 01

  Yeah. Here's something to know about me. I love maps. I'm kind of obsessed with maps. I have two different maps hanging as art in my house. And for my folks who also like maps, there is a fantastic vintage map store in Notting Hill, the Portobello Print and Map Shop. Listen to what all they have. Old maps, engravings, plus decorative flower, animal, and maritime prints. Um, yes, please. I really wanted this big map, but I knew I couldn't fit it in my suitcase. So instead, I got this amazing antique engraving dated 1683. It's of the port in Cartagena with all the old timey boats pulling in. It's so cool. I can't wait to show it to Josh. After lunch, we went to Richmond. My friend Rebecca lived there for a bit, and she showed me all of her stomping grounds. What an absolutely

• 54:04Speaker 01

  wonderful town. We went to the Open Bookstore, and I met Madeline, who works there. I was looking at books about Anne Boleyn, and she took me into a smaller back room and went through a stack of books with me. I settled on The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman. I can't wait to dive into it. Before we left the bookstore, Madeline gave us a rundown on every prime minister she thought was absolute rubbish. Her words. I literally said to her, I was like, "Well, it's nice meeting you. I'm gonna go." And she goes, "Not yet."

• 54:32Speaker 02

  I have a little snort for you to take home.

• 54:34Speaker 01

  She continued. Next, we went to a pub called The White Cross. It's famous for being the pub that floods. It sits right on the Thames River, and as the tide rises later in the day, the beer garden and patio at the entrance of the pub flood. But no worries. They keep serving drinks and food even as it floods. And they have a sign hanging outside that says, "Can't get in because of high tide? Call us to borrow some wellies."

• 54:59Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 55:00Speaker 01

  And then they have their phone number, and they'll bring you a pair of wellies.

• 55:03Speaker 00

  That's nice.

• 55:03Speaker 01

  I know. I was bummed because we couldn't stay for high tide. We had to get back to Marble Arch to pack for our early flight home. But we did have a glass of wine and watched World Cup, and I definitely want to go back there. I have two last things to share. One, I'm gonna miss the announcement on the tube. See it, say it.

• 55:20Speaker 00

  Sorted. Yeah. My family still says that.

• 55:24Speaker 01

  It's because they say it over and over.

• 55:26Speaker 00

  Say it. Sorted.

• 55:28Speaker 01

  Love it.

• 55:29Speaker 00

  And mind the gap, please.

• 55:31Speaker 01

  Mind the gap. And before I sign off here and get on my plane, I wanted to jot down pubs and great food I've had since I've been here. In North London, in the Highgate area, the Boleyn Last, I got the ricotta stuffed corget flour, Parmesan and honey. Delicious. The Red Lion and Sun, I got the chicken schnitzel jalapeno salsa and Caesar salad. The Flask, we went for a Sunday roast. So good. I got the roasted pork belly with roasted potatoes, maple carrots, squash mash, cauliflower cheese, and seasonal greens, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. Uli and Marley Bone, which was a mix of Chinese, Thai, Malay, and Singaporean cuisine. Amazing. The Shed in Notting Hill, which is farm-to-table type

• 56:15Speaker 01

  of restaurant, great food from their farms in Sussex. And finally, on our last night, near our flat by Marble Arch, we went to Zanya, which is a restaurant that features Pakistani and North Indian cuisine. Again, delicious. I think I gained six pounds since I've been here. I feel so bloated. Okay, bye for now. I'm so tired, and I can't wait to sleep on the plane. Honestly, when we got back, that's the end of my journal. I don't think I ate for like, the first day. I was like, "No, I'm good. I'm good." I was texting with my mom and sisters, and I said, "I don't think I need to eat a potato for like, a month." Because I ate so many potatoes.

• 56:56Speaker 00

  I remember being in London, and they love peas on the side. Like, in America, where it's like, green beans or broccoli, over there, it's peas. So many peas.

• 57:07Speaker 01

  So many peas, but so many potatoes.

• 57:09Speaker 00

  And potatoes. Peas and potatoes.

• 57:11Speaker 01

  Peas and potatoes. But that Sunday roast was like, all those things come when you order. Like, all those things. And it was so good.

• 57:20Speaker 00

  Well, I loved that.

• 57:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was great.

• 57:23Speaker 03

  My favorite part continues to be the level of detail before the trip has even started.

• 57:27Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 57:28Speaker 03

  The way to the airport.

• 57:29Speaker 00

  Yes. Yes.

• 57:31Speaker 01

  I mean, you get in a car, like, an old Toyota that says Mioke Mobile, and you can't share that? Come on.

• 57:38Speaker 00

  I hear you.

• 57:41Speaker 01

  But yeah, it was a truly amazing trip.

• 57:44Speaker 00

  Those are the details that I think most people don't put in their journals.

• 57:48Speaker 02

  I would say between the two of you, you paint a full picture of a moment.

• 57:53Speaker 00

  This is why we need to travel somewhere together.

• 57:56Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 57:56Speaker 00

  And each tell the story.

• 57:58Speaker 01

  But I want it to be somewhere neither of us have ever been.

• 58:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:01Speaker 01

  So it's new, because it's the newness, right?

• 58:03Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 58:04Speaker 01

  So I don't know where that is, but we need to do it.

• 58:07Speaker 00

  We'll figure it out.

• 58:08Speaker 01

  We'll figure it out.

• 58:09Speaker 00

  That's gonna be our next Travel Journals episode.

• 58:11Speaker 01

  Okay. But Sam, you went to Germany. We'd love to hear about it.

• 58:15Speaker 02

  I did. Okay, so, full listener disclosure, we were originally gonna record a couple weeks ago. So I intended to send this in for you guys to listen to while I wasn't here.

• 58:24Speaker 01

  That's right. You were gonna send us an audio file, right?

• 58:27Speaker 00

  From Germany.

• 58:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, mine is an audio recording from my hotel room in Munich. So I flew to Canada, then my girlfriend Steph and her family, we flew from Canada to Munich, and then took a six-hour train up to Osnabruck for her cousin's wedding. So that was two weeks, and then we saw a bunch of stuff and ate schnitzel twice a day. It was great. So without further ado, here we go.

• 58:48Speaker 00

  All right.

• 58:49Speaker 01

  What? You're putting music?

• 58:53Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. 12:22. Greetings, Office Ladies. It's Sam, and I'm in Canada, the land of Celine Dionne and poutine. Myself and Stephanie are on our way to her parents' house to take a van together to the airport. I'm aware this is exactly how Home Alone starts, so I will be counting everyone before we get in the van. Steph's parents really highlight the difference in our travel, or more accurately, they highlight the poor boxcar hobo way I've traveled. For instance, her dad was insistent I get travel insurance. What the f*** is travel insurance? Steph asked me what I would do if I got hurt in another country. I thought about it and realized as a proud American, my plan was if I ever got hurt in another country, I would simply die there. They would put my hat on a poorly

• 59:37Speaker 02

  made cross on the spot where they buried me, like an Oregon Trail. 3:00 PM. We arrived at the airport. Steph's pre-flight anxiety is again highlighting my complete lack of interior flight sense. She travels much how I imagine Jenna would fly, with her travel documentation in an alphabetical binder by her side, whereas I travel how I imagine Angela travels. My passport loose in my backpack, stickily covered in Sour Patch Kids sugar. 7:00 AM the next morning. We have arrived in Munich. Our flight was eight hours, so we got a full meal and a breakfast. Steph and her mom didn't want any yogurt, so I got three full yogurts. I know that sentence will be exciting for both Jenna and Angela. 7:47 AM. Slight airport train to airport baggage claim. I am delirious with airplane

• 1:00:22Speaker 02

  sleep, and nothing coming out of my mouth makes sense to me. Nothing I need to worry about. Not my monkey, not my circus. That's my motto. Nicht mein Affe, nicht mein Circus. 10:00 AM. We are attempting to take the train from Munich Airport to Steph's uncle's house. We've already gotten off at an incorrect stop, and then a bus no one told us to take. We are back on the train. We got off. 12:20 AM. I have now been traveling for 24 hours. My passport has merged with my hands, and I am only able to say Guten Tag and isch heisst Sam. But we are at the hotel, which has no AC, so with Mon or Kirchhoff and I in my cap, I've just settled in for a 90-degree Fahrenheit, 35-degree Celsius nap. Thanks to global warming, because 60 years ago, a bunch of baby boomers threw a bunch of

• 1:01:05Speaker 02

  styrofoam in the forest, and now I'll never be able to afford a house, and the world is on fire, and I eat a credit card's worth of microplastic each week. Guten Abend. So that was sent out of my mind.

• 1:01:22Speaker 01

  You definitely get best production value. That was so cool.

• 1:01:26Speaker 02

  From my hotel room.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  No way. That was so cool. What a crazy long travel day.

• 1:01:32Speaker 02

  And here's the thing, the trip itself, despite the delirium of travel, was gorgeous. I'd never been to Germany before. Munich was awesome. We took a bullet train, which went like, 250 miles an hour up to Osnabruck. Osnabruck was built in 780 AD. Like, that's 1,200 years ago. America's like, 250 years old.

• 1:01:51Speaker 01

  Oh, I know.

• 1:01:51Speaker 02

  So everything there is so old and still operational, like, it was built well. And like, there's a church there that was around since, I think, 800. Just casually, you can just pop your head in. It was crazy.

• 1:02:02Speaker 01

  So cool.

• 1:02:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:04Speaker 00

  Well, everyone, we hope you enjoyed this episode about all of our summer travels. If you have a suggestion for where you think Angela and I should go on our trip that we will then journal about, will you please write us? We have a new folder at office ladies.com for general mail. So tell us in the general mailbox where you think Angela and I should go in this world for our duo travel journal.

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:02:31Speaker 00

  We can't wait to hear.

• 1:02:32Speaker 01

  I really am excited. And thank you, guys, for listening. We hope you enjoyed our summer travels, and we'll see you next time.

• 1:02:38Speaker 00

  See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

• 1:02:45Speaker 01

  Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

• 1:02:50Speaker 00

  Our senior producer is Matt Beagle, and our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer.

• 1:02:54Speaker 01

  Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

• 1:02:58Speaker 00

  Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

• 1:03:01Speaker 01

  Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.