Pennsylvania

OK, OK, OK. You asked, and now you have received. I'm finally blogging about PA. The trip began with us missing our flight out of San Jose. We had to spend the night and be back at the airport by 4:00am to catch the next available flight. We literally spent the day either in airports or on a plane. I was so glad to get into my bed in State College, Pennsylvania at 1:30 in the morning the following day. After sleeping in until 11:00am (8:00am Pacific time!), we began getting ready to attend the wedding of Jack's cousin Stephanie, as she married her new husband Garo. It was such a beautiful wedding. It was kind of fun to see the Armenian ceremony as a guest, since I had only experienced it as a participant:) A little bit of déjà vu. Many of the guests at Stephanie and Garo's wedding were also guests at our wedding in June. It was great to spend time with them, considering that we were unable to do so at our own wedding. It is amazing how fast that day goes by!



We then drove the 3 hours to Philadelphia for the remainder of our trip. We toured Independence Hall, visited Betsy Ross' house, payed our respects to Benjamin Franklin's grave, and posed with the Liberty Bell. Our hotel was located in the center of the Historic District, which made it easy to visit all the sites on foot. We also spent some time with Dyan, who is another cousin on Joyce's (Jack's mom) side of the family. She was such a spit fire and I enjoyed getting to know her. She was a fantastic host and showed off her city beautifully.

















































On our last day in Philadelphia, we decided to drive out to Lancaster to visit with the Amish, Mennonites, and the Brethren. We felt like we were in another world. It was corn fields and horse buggies as far as the eye could see. Every house was adorned with fresh laundry hanging on the line. While we were on a buggy ride through the countryside, our "wagon driver" was a girl in her mid-twenties who had returned from college to help her family's buggy business during her summer break. She had grown up in a Mennonite family in that area, and was the only person in her family to have ever gone to high-school or college. It was interesting to hear her speak of her childhood and how her family was supporting her decision to not join the church and to live away from home. She was explaining to us the differences between the 3 religious groups who occupy the area. Although they may all dress similarly and drive buggies, they have very distinct differences. It was so interesting to learn about something that we have never been exposed to.



We had a great time on our trip, but we are so very glad to be home. It took me 2 full days to feel rested. We packed all of these activities within a period of 5 days (we had no down time). Jack became ill on the last day of our trip, which made the journey home that much more difficult to bear. Did I mention that we were glad to be back home??? By the way, Jack has recovered.