Philly

I've been seeing tons of people in Philly in both group settings and
one-on-ones. It has been wonderful. I've succeeded in seeing about
130 people that were on my list of 200!!

Now that the summer has arrived, I've got to get moving to cover the
next 20,000 miles of my exciting summertime northern itinerary.

Assuming my mechanic can succesfully solve my van's computer quirks
this week, I'll head into new England this weekend, get to Maine by
next weekend and spend the remainder of June in the southeastern
provinces of Canada.

assateague island national seashore, maryland

i was happily surprised at how many national seashores could be found along the atlantic coast.  even maryland, with very little coastline to begin with had assateague.

the island was thin and long...  it was really nice.

they had these signs all over.

i laid some rubber on the road to avoid hitting a sika elk when it darted in front of me then stopped on the road!   it's the closest i've come to hitting anything on my trip so far.  there were wild horses all over too.  i saw over twenty of them.

i enjoyed my time on the beach.  yay for sun and beach and ocean!

ultimate frisbee

after the broad street run, i ran to the subway, ran to my van, and drove to my church to catch the service.  i hadn't been there for six months and they had moved to a different building in that time.  i missed everyone a whole lot!

i got to hand out with my good friend and former roommate, seth after church.  he showed me the shared studio where he has a new desk.  i took a nice nap to start recovering from my run and regain a little energy for frisbee!  then we biked, as was formerly our tradition, to a field where we play ultimate frisbee with a group of people who gather there every week.

it was still very hot!

then back at the house seth made homemade pizza and fresh smoothies.  mmm, so much goodness all in one day!!  being back in familiar land was quite enjoyable.

philadelphia broad street 10 mile run

i don't like to run.  it hurts.  so what did i do?  i signed up for a ten mile run...  hmm.   the first time i had ever run ten miles was in the same race two years previous, after-which i basically didn't run at all.

the day before the run i went with kristen to the expo where everyone had to get their racing bib.  i knew about 20 other people who were also running.

i stayed the night with eric and then got a ride with teresa and jim to the start line.

it was a ten mile race with 30,000 people!  that's more total miles run than the distance from the earth to the moon.

it was a really hot morning, so i didn't push myself too hard.

the run is basically a straight-shot down through the center of the city and ends at the naval yard to the south.

i finished somewhere around 11,000th+ place.  ha!

sedgley woods frisbee golf

one of my favorite things to do in philly is to play frisbee golf with friends at sedgley woods.  i got to play with eric, thomas, shane, and a random guy, david who joined us.

as was our long-time tradition, after playing we went to across the street from the park to king's water ice for a nice treat.

to extend the evening, we then ate at eric's apartment which has a nice rooftop deck with a beautiful almost 360 degree view of the city.

schuykill river catch

while relaxing at a philadelphia park, i saw this kid walking along the path with his fish caught from the schuykill river.  wow, i didn't even know fish could get that big in that probably-unhealthy-to-eat-from major urban river...

canstruction

i went to center city philadelphia to check out the 2010 canstruction competition entries.  the structures on display were made completely out of cans (almost).  a panel of judges determines which structures get awards based on various factors such as their structural ingenuity, use of labels for design, and nutritional health.  the event is meant to raise awareness about hunger, and all of the cans are donated to the local food bank after their weeklong public display.  i had participated in the event the year before with my engineering company, so i was interested to see what new design ideas had been tried.  many cities throughout the nation hold the competition.  cool stuff.

Honey's

when in philly, honey's is a must.  it's a little southern-style menu restaurant tucked away in the residential area of northern liberties philadelphia.  it's a popular breakfast meeting spot among the locals.   emily, who was leaving town, invited me and a few others to join her there for a going-away breakfast.  emily, alaina, kristen and i showed up and had a lovely time together!   mmm, honey's.

dinner and a show

my great friend jess invited me to a show that her church put together to raise money for their missionaries.  a full dinner was part of the package along with the in-house show.  they arranged a bunch of back-to-back songs, skits, and talents done by members of their church - a medley of entertainment ranging from serious to strange to silly.

i got to the church several hours early and before long i found myself working as part of the setup crew. and it felt so natural.

the meal and the show were great.  it was a huge endeavor to put together, but it looked like the participants enjoyed themselves for the most part.   i knew a couple of the people on stage.  jess was in a number of the acts dancing, acting, singing...  you name it, she did it.  so talented!   mel and nate made their stage presence and showed their talents too!

solo mime by jess.

a skit.

music and singing

i sat at a table with an army of 17 other jess-supporters - her family and friends.   it was fun to be together...   jess, her family, mel, mel, michelle, neal, dave, scott, nate, chip, brie, john, rj, and others who i knew or met...   a great evening.

i took a nice nap

in the azalea gardens!

pack and move

emily is a friend who i met in philadelphia a couple years ago.  she was moving to seattle and i wanted to make sure to see her before she left.  i got in town just in time.  in fact, my first night back i stayed at her apartment surrounded by boxes and bare walls.  i helped her pack up the last bits of her belongings that were scheduled to be picked up early the next morning by movers.

i can't even count how many times i've packed boxes or moved furniture for people, but i know i've always enjoyed it.   i think my favorite part about it is being able to be involved in such an important part of someone's life.  moving is not easy, and it usually happens in conjunction with other life changes like jobs or kids or marriage.  and i like to see where people are living or have lived because it helps me have a visual for stories about their lives.

i was glad i got to stay with emily before she left, and planned to grab breakfast with her the next morning.   i was excited for and with her about all the adventures of unknown changes that she was courageously approaching.   my hope was to see her again in seattle at the end of summer!

back in philly!

i was so excited to get back to philadelphia.  that's were i had lived for the previous four years, and is still the epicenter of my friendships.

as soon as i got into town, i went to an event at the northern liberties piazza put on by 954 dance movement collective to celebrate world dance day.

i got to see keila who was running the event as well as a studio where i got some breaking lessons last summer.  they had a wide variety of dance styles showcased at this event.

i was too late for the free lessons, but got to see some of the performances.  after the performances, they opened the stage for a dance party for everyone.  yay!  me and maybe 15 others got up there to let it go... including my friends jim and teresa who love to dance.  it was so good to see jim and teresa.  they are truly great people.  and they are funny and talented too!

after dancing jim and teresa invited me to come with them and a few others to south street.  their friends jeremy and heather were visiting along with three german exchange students, lissa, ebru, and lan??

we all went to jim's steaks for dinner.

then we walked around a bit.  jim generously insisted on getting me food supplies for my trip.  i must say that being on the receiving end of generosity has been an amazing experience.  it's really difficult.  in fact, i dare say it's exactly what is hardest about true christianity.  think about it.

on our way back to our vehicles i found something that verified i was indeed back in philly.  some things never change.

back at the house we hung out some more.  it was hard to believe that it had been six months since i was in that house....  the first place i stayed on my trip.  in that time, hilde went from being a small puppy to being a big puppy!

surprise!!

the day i drove across the state of pennsylvania from pittsburgh to philadelphia was my sister judi's birthday.  so instead of going directly to philadelphia, i crossed into new jersey and surprised her at work, with the help of her office-mate allison who was confirming her location.  thanks allison!

judi happily took me to the new chipotle near her work, which is interestingly located right across the street from qdoba...

it's always nice seeing my sis.  : )

before i crossed back into pa i also dropped in on my former nj office and caught up with my coworkers there...

the detour to philly turned out to be a good choice.

back in the burgh.

maryland interstates and western pennsylvania highways led me to pittsburgh.

my great friends josh and kallie hosted me for a week.  they took such good care of me - sacrificially and happily.  it was overall a restful visit and i felt at home - a perfect balance of activity and low-key chilling.  we actually did a lot while i was there...

the first and last night with them i got to join in their bible study time with friends - a group of people seeking to encourage and prompt each other how to live their lives in response to the amazingly good news they've discovered in the bible.

i tagged along as josh and kallie volunteered for a food ministry where they get up dark-early in the morning, make a bunch of toasted egg and cheese begal breakfast sandwiches in a church kitchen and drive the fresh sustenance to various people in need.

we went to the open door for a lovely semi-untraditional church service.  in lieu of the typical lectured sermon, we had a more focused reflection and congregational sharing time on the passage in john where thomas encounters the risen jesus.

josh and kallie live close enough to town to walk there.

we passed by the stadium where the penguins ice hockey playoff game was being held.  people who didn't get an inside seat could watch the outside big screen for free.

pittsburgh is known for its multitude of bridges and rivers.

josh made reservations for dinner and we got a booth with our own tv to watch a penguins game!

being fans of sweets, on evening we participated in the baskin robbins 31 cent scoop night!

josh showed me his running route.  it was only a week before my 10-miler run... time to start training. ha!  i ran a few miles with josh on one day.  the next day i went for another run, after meeting josh for chinese lunch and visiting my former coworker jen at my company's downtown pittsburgh office.  my long run went along a seemingly endless path along the river.  it hurt, but it gave me confidence that i'd be able to manage the 10-miler a week later.

over the weekend our friends from philly - john, kristin, and dave - drove to pittsburgh and multiplied our fun!  we had a bbq in the back yard.

our pittsburgh friends ryan and anna came over too!  i was surprised to find out they still had a special bottle of beer that josh bought for me last summer during his week-long bachelor celebration.  i had accidently left it at their house in pittsburgh.  as it turns out, its a beer that seasons well and, as we discovered on the internet, is best opened in april.  perfect!  apparently it's the strongest lager in the world.  hmh.  thanks josh!

kallie loves making food and i love eating food.  josh whips up good meals too! we had plenty of good food and good company.

we went to the pittsburgh aviery and saw a bunch of beautiful birds.  pretty cool place!  anyone who wants to can participate in the bird feedings.

we walked through the strip district market.

we watched another penguins game at the hofbrauhaus.  the place went nuts when their team won and advanced.

"shot ski" - a bonding group activity.

our friend emily hung out with us whenever she didn't have to be at work.  yay!

rummikub, speed, vidoe games, movies, late night water fights...  the things that happen when you put silly friends in the same house.

before our philly contingent returned home, we hung out at schenley park.  we tossed a frisbee and enjoyed soaking in the sunshine and friendship.   i love these guys so much!  : )

i also got to see the newly weds deirdre and jordan!  yay!  they invited me to return to pittsburgh for their mid-may wedding reception.  it's a good thing they just handed the invite to me, because i'm not sure if the postal service would have successfully delivered it.  ha!