I've been in NJ for a week now visiting with friends and family-- Mom and Dad picked me up from Philadelphia airport and we headed into Philadelphia to do some sightseeing! It was so much fun, we took an open-top bus tour and then enjoyed our first Philly Cheese Steaks!
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| Liberty Park in Philly |
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| Mom & Dad enjoying the bus tour...great idea for our afternoon! |
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| No, I had no idea what they were talking about Rocky! |
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| Ben Franklin Bridge, my Dad could tell you anything about bridges! |
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| We chose Campo's for dinner, got off second to last stop on our tour to try some cheese steaks! |
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| MmmMmm! Mom approved. |
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| Philly Cheese Steak with homemade Macaroni Salad-- YES please! |
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| It was yum! |
God sure does know exactly what we need and when we need it. I've been able to slow down, have no agenda and relax...for days. It's been really nice. I stayed with my parents the first few days, soaking up time with them catching up and hanging out. Then, I made my way up to spend some time with great friends and old neighbors. The day I drove up to Hunterdon I had the windows open, music playing and the most beautiful scenery...God's artwork on display!
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| Almost there =) |
Chris and I booked my flight a few months ago knowing I wanted to go to my cousin Rachel's wedding and Chris was running the SC Tough Mudder-- So I'd be traveling on my own, which at the time seemed like a fine idea. The closer my trip came the more I wanted to get away from work and such, but didn't want to leave Christopher. We love to do life together, so here it was 10 days (much longer with hurricane Sandy on her way up the coast) voluntarily apart. It's been fun but I sure do miss my best friend and side-kick to do everything with =)
While in Hunterdon Peter, Ellen and I went to a "Pumpkin Sling" which was both interesting and fascinating!
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On the hayride to the Pumpkin Sling!
While in Hunterdon I got to spend some time on the trails I miss the most, it was absolutely GORGEOUS! The pictures do no justice to the beauty...
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| This is a trail I ran on back in the day...many, many runs ago! |
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| "You don't know what you got till it's gone" I believe I didn't know how lucky I was until I didn't have any trails such as this to run on... |
Dad and I took a day at the beach to check out the waves before Hurricane Sandy. Little did we know how destructive the hurricane would be...It was a beautiful afternoon exploring with Dad.
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| Storm clouds rolling in. |
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| We couldn't figure out how to take a picture together! Sure is a handsome Dad I got =) I am very thankful for my Dad. |
A few days later Hurricane Sandy made her arrival. It was at this point that my computer was not used for over a week. Sandy came and took the power at my parent's house for a week and a day-- and that wasn't anything compared to the massive destruction and damage that took place along the Jersey Shore. I feel as though I have no idea of just how huge the destruction was and is. When I was there we didn't have cable so it wasn't until I got back to NC that I was able to get online and watch the news. From here it's not all that bad because most are not directly impacted. My heart aches for those many we know that have lost everything. It's at these times you'll see those Yankees unite and rebuild Jersey, bigger and better. Makes me want to move back up north, Jersey Strong!
On a different note, my camera was stolen by a PGV TSA worker so it may be some time before we get more pictures up here. A bummer! Although, it's really nothing much compared to what others have lost.
Thanks for reading! Keep those affected by Hurricane Sandy in your thoughts and prayers.
