Pennsylvania... day one

For a year now, Jason and I have been planning a trip to New York City with his parents. His mom has an educational conference in the city (and does every year)… and this time we decided to go with them. Then we added a short jaunt to Philadelphia beforehand. Jason had never been and being that I lived there for several years I was so excited to “see it” through his eyes.

I’m not even sure I was THAT excited until I came up here with my mom and had the chance to relive all that I loved when I lived here and most definitely took for granted.

We had plans to come into Philly on Monday night and spsend the night with my dear friend Danielle, who got married this past Saturday. Then Tuesday night we were staying IN center city Philly so that Jason could tour around some of the historic sites.

Well as you know, plans have a way of changing last minute with my family which is ironic because we hate … no more like despise … change.

Things were even more chaotic because this past weekend we were in Lufkin for Jason’s 20th high school reunion. We came home on Sunday, my parents drove up we had a little bit of time to visit and finish packing. Monday morning Jason went to work with my dad while Mom and I took Joe to the waber (water), took him to school and came home to finish packing and get me to the office.

Our plane left at 11:15 am which meant we needed to leave the office around 9:30 to get there… we left at 10:05… read REALLY late. I completely thought that we were going to miss it. We went screeching in the door checked in… thank goodness I had upgraded to business class the night before, dropped off our bags and made it to the gate just in time to board.

Air Tran has the capability to upgrade if they’re available the day before when you check in. I had only upgraded on the first leg of the trip which was stupid stupid STOOPID! It was nice. We had lots of room. Nice drinks. Better cheap snacks. And boy did we feel it on the second leg of the trip that I didn’t upgrade for. I won’t make that mistake again.

As we taxied to the gate, my phone dinged. Danielle had left me a message. She had been bumped from her flight for her honeymoon and the only day they could get out on a flight was Monday night. Which meant I would have very limited time to spend with her and we didn’t have a place to stay. Of course it worked out. She had a gift card to the Golden Plough Inn in Peddlers Village that she had never planned on using. (it’s 20 minutes from her house and why would she use a hotel that close to her house?) So… we got a free nights stay… well ok, not free. $21.

We decided to visit briefly (which is an understatement) at a Ruby Tuesdays’ by the airport before the went and caught their plane.

We would have had a better place however, her luck continued and the car died in the driveway. Her dad had to bring her his car and then they got stuck in horrible traffic on the way to the airport. So… Ruby Tuesdays it was.

Jason and I sat and had a drink (s) and some appetizers while we waited and I’m so glad we did. The short 30-minute visit was worth every millisecond. Just to have the ability to give her a hug. It satisfied the need in my heart to stroke her face and tell her I loved her and congratulations. And as disappointed as I was… honeymoon trumps our visit every time!

She and Todd, her mom and her aunt took off at breakneck speed and we headed North. We decided to go to Donna and John’s house (Danielle’s mom and dad) to visit for a short time before heading to our hotel. We were tired though so it wasn’t a long visit. I was a bit wired… but poor Jay had been up for a long time and was more tired. He was a trooper though and held on for me. The visit meant much to me.

On our way North I showed him my old high school and my phone rang. It was Danielle… she had missed her plane AND it had ultimately been cancelled due to mechanical difficulties. (when I say she missed it… they wouldn’t let her board). They were staying at a hotel by the airport and turns out we didn’t have to rush through our visit afterall. Ah well.

While at Donna and johns house, I got to meet some more of her family and most importantly got to visit with Donna and her mom. And I saw a few wedding pictures that are gorgeous! Donna had had a particularly tough day where all emotions crashed down. Danielle’s sickness is never far from anyone’s mind and even the light hearted few days filled with love, laughter and happiness can’t make it go away. I got a chance to hug on Donna and let her know how much I love her and Danielle. How much they have touched my heart and graced my life. I am truly a better person for having them in my life.

We left their house about 11:00 and headed to our hotel. We drove through the countryside a bit and I loved it. We had been given a mustang to drive and it was fun taking the turns in that thing.

Jason was struck by how you’ll be driving through the countryside and then there’s a strip mall. Then there’s a pasture and a barn and then a gas station. We drove past some Pennsylvania deer and he said… wow, they make Texas deer look like goats. HA!

The next thing that tickled his funny bone was Wawa which is a Pennsylvania convenience store like 7-11. And they are as common as starbucks… well maybe not but they are common.

We checked into the Golden Plough Inn which is so quaint. It’s a bed and breakfast set in the heart of Peddlers Village which has shops and knick knack shops and restaurants. They have a scarecrow festival this time of year with different scarecrow themes spread throughout. Everything was closed at this time of night… which was fine. We were tired. We had a glass of wine and turned in for an early start the next day. We had much to see.