Let me just say, I love the Pacific Northwest and have never been so glad to see it as when I exited the Sea-Tac airport on Saturday. One blast of that crisp cool PNW air and I was definitely back home where I belonged.
Friday we packed everything up and left New Jersey in our rental van to head for Lancaster, PA. Steve's (my father-in-law) GPS wasn't working and it took longer than expected to get there, but on the way I got to see Amish people everywhere, a people I'd only heard about from my grandma and mom. I didn't know anything about them and was surprised when I first saw a young lady in a white bonnet, a white apron and a stark black or brown dress. In my ignorance, I thought to myself, 'Oh cool, they dressed up in historic clothing! Must be some kind of special event going on.' Then I kept seeing more of them and it dawned on me that this was Amish country. After I realized that, it was kind of astonishing every time I saw young boys in suspenders, white shirts and black pants riding on bikes or working in the fields. The experience just left me with a feeling of: I'd have to spend a lot more time in Pennsylvania to fully understand why and how they choose to live that way.
Once in Lancaster, we drove around visiting houses, schools, stores and churches that Steve remembered from his childhood. Cari and Stephen were our designated photographers and probably took 2000 photographs between them over the entire trip.
We also ate at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord, a huge buffet-style restaurant with a gift shop on the bottom floor. We all ate way too much at the smorgasbord! But I got to try shoofly pie and corn fritters and a giant Pennsylvania Dutch sweet 'n' sour meatball. Afterward, Stephen and I went to the gift shop to buy some chocolate. Nate went to the gift shop too, but we forgot that he had, and the six of us nearly drove away without him! I was horribly embarrassed for forgetting him--but everyone kept a good-humored attitude about it, and Nate wasn't even fazed. :)
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, Hampton Inn and Suites. I'd never seen a hotel with fluffy white bedspreads before! Stephen and I were settling into the room, preparing for bed, when I found a tick on my stomach. I guessed I had gotten it from sitting in the grass by a covered bridge earlier. It kind of freaked me out and I called my family and Stephen consulted the Internet and his family to find out how to get rid of it... I killed it first with hand sanitizer, but it didn't back out like it was supposed to--so we finally resorted to pulling it out with teeny-tiny tweezers. Stephen performed the "operation"--I was much too freaked out to do it myself. He did a great job; he got it all out, head and all. Then we covered the wound with a band-aid and Neosporin, and now it just looks like a small bug bite--no infection. Hooray!!
Saturday was our last day of LOTS of travel. It was a really long day. Our flight was at 4:15 PM EDST, and it was 7 hours long, with one connection in Chicago. The flight from Philadelphia to Chicago was a very bumpy 2-hour ride with a hard landing. Then it was a one-hour wait for our next plane. The flight from Chicago to Seattle was long and hot. I felt really, really sick for the last half-hour of it, but thankfully didn't throw up. Closest I've ever been to doing so, though. We landed at 9:30 PM PDST, and as I said--the blast of fresh, cool Pacific Northwest air was about the best thing I had ever felt. The whole entire ride home I just listed all the things I love about living here.
Stephen and I spent Saturday night at his parents' house and most of Sunday. It was good to get back to "life as normal." We got home about 8:30 or so. Our poor kitty was literally yelling at the door as we mounted the stairs. She knows our footsteps, somehow. She was sooooooo happy to see us.
Now to get back to living in our own apartment... I definitely felt a bit of culture shock, or something, when I got back. It'll take some getting used to, LOL.
Jon was sick the entire trip, and he's been sick for a while. Everybody is praying very hard for him, because nobody is sure what's going on with him. Please keep him in your prayers too, if you think of it.
Stephen had dizzy spells today at work. I took him to an Urgent Care and the doctor told him he has "rocks" in his ears that have gotten loose. He will be fine, but it's good to know about.
We're all (I'm sure) still recovering from the trip. I know I am. Thank you for your prayer support for us. :)
Friday we packed everything up and left New Jersey in our rental van to head for Lancaster, PA. Steve's (my father-in-law) GPS wasn't working and it took longer than expected to get there, but on the way I got to see Amish people everywhere, a people I'd only heard about from my grandma and mom. I didn't know anything about them and was surprised when I first saw a young lady in a white bonnet, a white apron and a stark black or brown dress. In my ignorance, I thought to myself, 'Oh cool, they dressed up in historic clothing! Must be some kind of special event going on.' Then I kept seeing more of them and it dawned on me that this was Amish country. After I realized that, it was kind of astonishing every time I saw young boys in suspenders, white shirts and black pants riding on bikes or working in the fields. The experience just left me with a feeling of: I'd have to spend a lot more time in Pennsylvania to fully understand why and how they choose to live that way.
Once in Lancaster, we drove around visiting houses, schools, stores and churches that Steve remembered from his childhood. Cari and Stephen were our designated photographers and probably took 2000 photographs between them over the entire trip.
We also ate at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord, a huge buffet-style restaurant with a gift shop on the bottom floor. We all ate way too much at the smorgasbord! But I got to try shoofly pie and corn fritters and a giant Pennsylvania Dutch sweet 'n' sour meatball. Afterward, Stephen and I went to the gift shop to buy some chocolate. Nate went to the gift shop too, but we forgot that he had, and the six of us nearly drove away without him! I was horribly embarrassed for forgetting him--but everyone kept a good-humored attitude about it, and Nate wasn't even fazed. :)
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, Hampton Inn and Suites. I'd never seen a hotel with fluffy white bedspreads before! Stephen and I were settling into the room, preparing for bed, when I found a tick on my stomach. I guessed I had gotten it from sitting in the grass by a covered bridge earlier. It kind of freaked me out and I called my family and Stephen consulted the Internet and his family to find out how to get rid of it... I killed it first with hand sanitizer, but it didn't back out like it was supposed to--so we finally resorted to pulling it out with teeny-tiny tweezers. Stephen performed the "operation"--I was much too freaked out to do it myself. He did a great job; he got it all out, head and all. Then we covered the wound with a band-aid and Neosporin, and now it just looks like a small bug bite--no infection. Hooray!!
Saturday was our last day of LOTS of travel. It was a really long day. Our flight was at 4:15 PM EDST, and it was 7 hours long, with one connection in Chicago. The flight from Philadelphia to Chicago was a very bumpy 2-hour ride with a hard landing. Then it was a one-hour wait for our next plane. The flight from Chicago to Seattle was long and hot. I felt really, really sick for the last half-hour of it, but thankfully didn't throw up. Closest I've ever been to doing so, though. We landed at 9:30 PM PDST, and as I said--the blast of fresh, cool Pacific Northwest air was about the best thing I had ever felt. The whole entire ride home I just listed all the things I love about living here.
Stephen and I spent Saturday night at his parents' house and most of Sunday. It was good to get back to "life as normal." We got home about 8:30 or so. Our poor kitty was literally yelling at the door as we mounted the stairs. She knows our footsteps, somehow. She was sooooooo happy to see us.
Now to get back to living in our own apartment... I definitely felt a bit of culture shock, or something, when I got back. It'll take some getting used to, LOL.
Jon was sick the entire trip, and he's been sick for a while. Everybody is praying very hard for him, because nobody is sure what's going on with him. Please keep him in your prayers too, if you think of it.
Stephen had dizzy spells today at work. I took him to an Urgent Care and the doctor told him he has "rocks" in his ears that have gotten loose. He will be fine, but it's good to know about.
We're all (I'm sure) still recovering from the trip. I know I am. Thank you for your prayer support for us. :)
You'll most likely be just fine, but if you DO start getting a rash or flu-like symptoms over the next couple of weeks, make sure to get to a doctor and tell him/her that you were bitten by a tick back East. Lyme disease is nothing to fool around with.
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