A few weeks ago we took a trip to Pennsylvania. The main reason for the trip was my child hood friend's husband was getting baptized. Stephanie and I have been best friends since the spring of 1985. She got married when I went on my mission in 2003, has 3 darling children, and a wonderful husband names Jason (goes by Jay). Anyways... my mission president and his wife (the Babbels) live in the Philadelphia area. We've always wanted to visit them and the birthplace of our great nation, so we decided to fly in and out of Philly. Our travels proved to be adventurous in ways we did not anticipate.
Our flight was scheduled to leave on a Monday evening. We got to the airport, got ready to board, and learned the flight has been delayed about 3 or 4 hours. So, we set up to hang out for a while. Then, the flight was canceled! Excellent, right? So, we went up to the ticket counter knowing we couldn't let Delta farm us all over the country with a gazillion connecting flights when we have a little one. So, we requested to just get the next possible flight to Baltimore, then we'd take the train to Philly.
We made it to Baltimore just fine, got our train tickets, got on the train, and not too long after that, the train broke down! Our travel curse had not yet been fulfilled, I guess. We got off at the next station. It was mass chaos. Hundreds of people in the station, all desperate to get to their destination and not be left behind. Well, we all made it on to the next train. We got going, well, I sat next to a stranger while Tyler sat on the floor by the baggage. Things seemed to be going well until the train broke down AGAIN! It was apparently so hot and the train was so full of passengers, it just couldn't handle the load. Man, I thought my BMI was right where it should be. :) Thank goodness our stop was the next. Needless to say we arrived in Philly exhausted and ready for a home-cooked meal. Sister Babbel did not let us down. She always exceed expectation, especially in the cooking department!
To not bore you all with more details, we were spoiled by the Babbels with tickets to a Phillies game (12 rows behind home plate), trip to downtown Philly, lunch at the Old City Tavern (no, no ale for us!), carriage ride around downtown, and great hospitality in their lovely home.
We went to Gettysburg. We rented a little Kia (we love our Hondas even more after that). On our way out of Philly, there was a freak rain storm. Rain was coming down in sheets, hitting against the car. Many drivers stopped along the side of the road to wait it out. At one point a tree was blocking a lane of traffic! When we finally did arrive in quaint little Gettysburg, a tree fell on our car as we were driving down main street. It was really minor and didn't scratch the car, but good criminy!!
Going around the battle field the next day was sobering. So many lives lost. So many monuments!! It almost looked like all the monument makers tried to out-do eachother. Other than that, we loved Gettysburg and our appreciation for our service men and women sky-rocketed.
On our way from Gettysburg to western PA to see Stephanie, we stopped at a very odd and original little place called Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum and Fugde Shop. Mr. Ed has a collection of over 10,000 elephants! They range in size and what they're made of. Some are glass, ceramic, plastic, wooden, etc. There are 3 out in the garden with 2 of them shooting water out their trunks. There's all sorts of bulk candy from candy cigarettes, to a whole wall of Pez dispensers, to little mugs and shot glasses from Intercourse, PA. Yes, the town exists. I really wanted to purchase a shot glass, but well, how do I explain that to my kids? :)
In Maryland on the way, we saw that someone is rebuilding Noah's Ark- God's Ark Salvation Church. Most interesting, to say the least. Wait a minute, didn't God promise He wouldn't do that again? Oh well.
Jay's baptism was wonderful! The Lord's Spirit was there in abundance and Jay glowed. When we first arrived at their house, we could immediately tell that his countenance had changed for the brighter. That's what happens when we let the Lord change us inside!
There was a trail there near their house that I ran on- oh how glorious! Trees, a river, green everywhere. One problem- the humidity made it so when I got back, it looked like I'd gone swimming. I sure didn't smell like I'd jumped in the pool!
On our way back to Philly, we went to Hershey. 3 cheers for chocolate! It was fun to go to Chocolate World. As most tourist things in America, it was really touristy and over-priced. We had fun, learned some things about chocolate, enjoyed singing stuffed cows, and sugared-out!
All in all, our appreciation for the American spirit was renewed. From Independence Hall, to Gettysburg, to the baptism (after all, this country was founded on religious freedom), to the results of the self-made man, Milton Hershey, when Independence Day came soon after our trip, it meant A LOT more. We live in the most blessed nation ever to be.
I must say, the Appalachians really aren't mountains. They're lovely, but not mountains. I will say that I can see how the northern Europeans, coming from mostly flat land would've considered them to be mountains, but let's be honest, they're just not! Maybe they were millions of years ago before erosion and such, but no more. Just had to put that in there. :)
Yes, this post is ridiculously long, but our trip was that fantastic. I'd BETTER be running the Boston Marathon this next April so I can enjoy more of New England, cuz I really liked it! Signing off,
Mindy
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