In the Kitchen

Dan's cousin Maureen was here for her annual visit to Uncle Fred & Aunt Joan's. As usual, it was marked by lots of Mexican train dominoes and a big dinner.

Aunt Joan & G making dumplings

The hubbub of the kitchen

Steel City

G & I had a four-hour layover in Pittsburgh on the way back, from 8 p.m. to midnight. We knew from the previous trip that unlike the other four train stations we'd been in, it was not new and comfortable. Fortunately for us, my friend Mark rescued us by picking us up, letting us hang out at his house and giving us a night tour (the view from Mount Washington was stunning and the highlight of G's entire trip). A big "Dziękuję" to him for the hospitality.

Entrance to Mark's neighborhood. How great is that sign?

G (sporting local wear) & Mark

End of Visit

The last thing we always do before we leave my mom & dad's is get a photo of them with G. This trip was no exception.

Gettysburg

For several years I've been trying to convince G to go to Gettysburg (locally pronounced "Get-tiss-burg," not "Get-tees-burg") with me. This trip, she finally relented. My dad, she and I took a day trip a few days after the anniversary of the battle. We spent most of our time in the great new Visitors Center and then did a self-guided auto tour of the battlefield. Driving the battlefield brought a better understanding of the topography and how the battles were fought. It was a blazing hot day; it made us think what it must have been like to be wearing wool uniforms instead of shorts and T-shirts. There was so much to see and do that we will have to go back on our next trip east.

Pop-Pop & G in the lobby of the new Visitors Center

G in the Gettysburg Address Room (Sam Waterston's voice continuously loops the speech - he emphasizes "people" and not "of," "by" and "for")

Pop-Pop & G in the shadow of Robert E. Lee at Virginia Memorial

Revolution!

My hometown got a minor league baseball team called the Revolution two years ago. My dad took us to a game on Free Cap Night. What a fun, inexpensive family activity. We had a blast, despite (or maybe because of!) the guy two rows behind us who was a loud know-it-all.

Pop-Pop & G sporting Revolution caps in the outfield of Sovereign Stadium

We're Back

G & I were at my mom & dad's for more than 3 weeks. It was the longest I'd been there since 1980! We would have liked to stay longer, but it was hard being away from Dan for so long, and it was also dodgy trying to reschedule our Amtrak tickets. The trains were packed, I suppose because of gas prices and the idea that train travel is fun. I would like to disabuse you of that notion if you have it! Amtrak does NOT own the tracks west of Pittsburgh, so freight trains have the right-of-way. On the trip out we sat outside of South Bend, Indiana, for 7 hours! We were thankful that we had the sleeper car. Amtrak put those of us traveling east on a BUS in Pittsburgh so that we could make train connections in Harrisburg. It took us 33 hours to get to my folks' house. The trip back wasn't as quite as bad, although it had its moments. We're glad to be home.

G at the beginning of our voyage ... little did she know what an odyssey it would turn out to be!