October flew by in the blink of an eye. We moved on Oct. 4, on the 20th I left for a ten day trip to Pennsylvania - a combo work/vacation trip. And just like that, it was Halloween and the month was gone!
All the photos here are from my phone. I didn't take my camera along, and I tend to snap few photos with my phone...so here goes!
Taking off in Wichita usually requires walking outside on the tarmac...classy.
No meeting at MCC is complete without chocolates (Wilbur Buds, a locally made chocolate), hymnals and agendas. I was in Akron, PA at MCC for four days of meetings with all the Communications and Donor Relations staff from from MCC U.S. and MCC Canada.
Thankfully, our meetings are from 8-5 and then there are some activities in the evening that we can participate in or do whatever else we want. Lucky for us, Ingrid Michaelson was performing in Lancaster on Wednesday evening and we got tickets! The Chameleon is in downtown Lancaster, an old row house that's been converted to a concert venue. It was a fantastic break and Ingrid put on a low-key super-impressive show. One of my colleagues knew the manager of the Chameleon so he helped us get up close to the stage so we could actually see Ingrid really well. The photo below is from the back of the venue while we were waiting for her to go on stage.
After our MCC meetings wrapped up, there was an Anabaptist Communicators Conference at MCC that I stayed to take part in. So after a week of meetings, I got to participate in two more days of meetings! That last sentence was complete sarcasm. I was so done with meetings....but they were still interesting and I was glad I took part.
On Friday our meetings wrapped up earlier than I thought so I took a walk in Akron and found this Amish roadside stand selling flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables. I wasn't sure how much of the produce they grew themselves and how much they brought in, but they had an impressive garden growing alongside the road and several apple trees too.
As a part of the conference, I visited an organization that brings together Amish farmers in a co-op to sell their goods through grocery stores and CSA's. It was very interesting and eye-popping to see how much money folks are willing to pay for "Amish-made, home-grown" goods.
On Saturday afternoon, Ben joined me in Akron and thus ended my week of meetings and my week of vacation began! We went to Lancaster to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary and had a wonderful time getting little bits of food at lots of places.
Sunday morning, before we took off from Akron, we went for a walk. It was a chilly, but beautiful morning.
We drove to Bethlehem, PA to have lunch with our friend Jason and after lunch we were surprised to find a parade going through town!
From Bethlehem we drove up to Bushkill, PA where we stayed at a dilapidated resort that would have been in it's prime in the early 90's. Dilapidated or not, we tried to make the most of it, even though we had to go out and buy new pillows on Monday morning. After that we took off to go hiking at Bushkill Falls.
There were lots of amazing waterfalls and the trails were nice and well cared for. Bushkill Falls is a privately owned area so we had to pay to get in, but after we hiked most of their trails we were glad we paid to see it.
We ate our picnic lunch under these trees.
Tuesday we took the train in to New York City. We left the resort early in the morning and safely made our way down Hwy 209 through the "Warning! Major Wildlife Collision Area" even though we saw about five dead deer and at least that many alive on the side of the road. We were both glad we didn't have to regularly make that drive!
Our time in the city was spent walking around different parts of town. We saw tons of interesting things and people, all of it seen as we explored here and there. Below is a picture of the High Line, a raised train track turned walking path. The last time I was in NYC this wasn't open yet, so I wanted to see it for myself. It was a lovely space and we only walked one section of it. There were lots of tourists, taking lots and lots of pictures.
Chelsea Market had been one of my most favorite places the last time we visited NYC but this time it was so crowded with people it was hard for me to enjoy. I love this sign from the outside of the building, though.
We rode lots of trains to the city, in the city and back out of the city. Thanks to Google and our phones we were able to navigate around the city without too much trouble. We got back to our room at the resort in the wee hours of Wednesday and rejoiced that we made it without hitting any of the five or six deer we saw along the side of the road!
Wednesday morning we went to headquarters for the National Park Service to figure out the trail options in the Delaware Water Gap park.
Our morning hike took us along the Delaware River and it was gorgeous! It was rainy in the afternoon, but in the evening we walked the golf course that surrounded the resort and got quite a workout. There were some steep hills on that course! Bonus: we saw another eight deer on the course.
Highlights of the trip: spending time with Ben, relaxing, figuring out how to bake a frozen pizza without an oven, seeing amazing nature all around us, eating wonderful food, catching up with friends, watching the Royals play in the World Series.
Low points: being away from home for 10 days and missing the boys, the shower was so loud it made our ears ring, the pillows, watching the Royals lose the World Series.
A huge shout out to my parents and to Ben's mom for watching the boys while we were gone! The boys loved every minute of it and we never had to worry or wonder because we knew they were in the best of hands! Thank you!!
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