Fall in full bloom!
We flew into Dulles Monday around 12:45 pm. It was glorious to land after many hours of travel. I can never sleep in planes. It's just too uncomfortable. I did watch a total of 7 movies during the 16 hours of flight time. I wish I were kidding...
Steve's brother Allen picked us up and we drove to rendez-vous with Steve's Dad in Washington, PA. It was such a beautiful day and fall colors were brilliantly displayed on the four or so hour drive to the Comfort Suites hotel. I was awe-inspired by the green with explosions of red and yellow interspersed throughout the gentle rolling hills of PA. The sky was blue with wisps of clouds streaking the sky like a window being wiped clean with a soft paper towel. For many miles I watched a patch of rainbow glow through the clouds in a rainless sky. I was punch-drunk tired but wide-eyed with wonder at the glories of autumn flashing by as we sped down smooth ribbons of road. I love the slight chill in the air that feels clean and crisp. I was wearing socks and close-toed shoes for heaven's sake!!
When we arrived at our destination for the night after embracing Steve's dad we made our way to our room. There was a king-sized bed with a plethora of pillows and soft sheets that I sunk into immediately. It was delicious and I was loath to leave it moments later to shower and go to dinner. And where did we go to dinner our first night back in the states after being away for over a year you might ask?! Denny's! No joke, Dad Straw was pretty pumped about the 20% off we'd get by showing our hotel keys. So we drove past the Texas Roadhouse and pulled into the Denny's parking lot. They have this new cheesy menu. I don't mean "cheesy" in the sense of "silly", no, I mean cheesy as in cheese. They serve sandwiches with mac-n-cheese covering fried chicken nuggets! Crazy...
The next day we drove to Ohio to MMS Aviation to see our beloved Cessna. It's looking pretty good folks! We met the mechanics and staff there and took them out to lunch to celebrate and thank them for the near completion of this long project of fix our plane and get it air-worthy. It was at a mexican restaurant and Steve and I were in enchilada heaven. My mom and step-dad Chuck drove up to meet us just in time to join us for lunch. After lunch we all parted ways. Steve went back to MMS to work on the plane with the guys and Allen and Dad Straw headed off to State College and I went to Hamilton, Ohio with my mom and Chuck.
I'm having the best time hanging with my mom and Chuck and my step-bro Dave. It's great to be back in the good ole USA. Of course I miss my peeps in Gabon, you know who you are!! We will be heading to State College this weekend to celebrate Steve's dad's 80th B-day! So looking forward to seeing the family that will be gathered for this blessed occasion.
Steve's brother Allen picked us up and we drove to rendez-vous with Steve's Dad in Washington, PA. It was such a beautiful day and fall colors were brilliantly displayed on the four or so hour drive to the Comfort Suites hotel. I was awe-inspired by the green with explosions of red and yellow interspersed throughout the gentle rolling hills of PA. The sky was blue with wisps of clouds streaking the sky like a window being wiped clean with a soft paper towel. For many miles I watched a patch of rainbow glow through the clouds in a rainless sky. I was punch-drunk tired but wide-eyed with wonder at the glories of autumn flashing by as we sped down smooth ribbons of road. I love the slight chill in the air that feels clean and crisp. I was wearing socks and close-toed shoes for heaven's sake!!
When we arrived at our destination for the night after embracing Steve's dad we made our way to our room. There was a king-sized bed with a plethora of pillows and soft sheets that I sunk into immediately. It was delicious and I was loath to leave it moments later to shower and go to dinner. And where did we go to dinner our first night back in the states after being away for over a year you might ask?! Denny's! No joke, Dad Straw was pretty pumped about the 20% off we'd get by showing our hotel keys. So we drove past the Texas Roadhouse and pulled into the Denny's parking lot. They have this new cheesy menu. I don't mean "cheesy" in the sense of "silly", no, I mean cheesy as in cheese. They serve sandwiches with mac-n-cheese covering fried chicken nuggets! Crazy...
The next day we drove to Ohio to MMS Aviation to see our beloved Cessna. It's looking pretty good folks! We met the mechanics and staff there and took them out to lunch to celebrate and thank them for the near completion of this long project of fix our plane and get it air-worthy. It was at a mexican restaurant and Steve and I were in enchilada heaven. My mom and step-dad Chuck drove up to meet us just in time to join us for lunch. After lunch we all parted ways. Steve went back to MMS to work on the plane with the guys and Allen and Dad Straw headed off to State College and I went to Hamilton, Ohio with my mom and Chuck.
I'm having the best time hanging with my mom and Chuck and my step-bro Dave. It's great to be back in the good ole USA. Of course I miss my peeps in Gabon, you know who you are!! We will be heading to State College this weekend to celebrate Steve's dad's 80th B-day! So looking forward to seeing the family that will be gathered for this blessed occasion.
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