Trip Report

Right, well, I'm back! Been back for a few days in fact, but I've been busy since I returned so my trip report is a bit late in coming. As a recap, I went home to PA last weekend to visit my family and attend my 10-year high school reunion. I always like going home, especially in the summer when all the flowers are blooming and the house looks lovely. It's been very dry so my mother was complaining about the state of her gardens quite a bit, but I thought they looked quite nice, despite the lack of moisture. We had great weather the entire time I was at home, which made for a lot of sitting around on the very comfortable deck (check out that swing!) reading and catching up. Love the hanging baskets, and I wish I'd have taken a better close-up. Friday we took a short hike on the Trolley Line Trail, which follows an old (intended) trolley line near Cambridge Springs, PA. Although the trolley wasn't built, they did build some nice bridges for it to travel on, and this one is largely intact:On the hike we encountered some poison ivy, and I was lucky to get away with only two tiny spots on my right ankle. My father and I are both quite susceptible to the stuff but we washed it off thoroughly as soon as we got home and that seemed to have done the trick.
My reunion was on Saturday night, and it was quite fun. I'd say maybe 30% of my class was in attendance, give or take. We didn't have the reunion in a closed location, so there were some interlopers in there interfering with my counting, and there were plenty of people who I'm pretty sure I did go to school with but didn't remember, so I could be way off in my attendance estimate. I didn't get many good photos, but this is me (on the right) with my high school boyfriend (who had more hair then) Matt, and our friend Lauren (middle). Between Lauren and Matt is Beth, another good friend from MPS. I spent the most time catching up with Beth, and had a good time doing so. All in all I'm really glad I went to the reunion but I was SO nervous about it beforehand. Even driving there I was almost feeling sick I was so nervous. I'm not sure why really, as I enjoyed high school and was looking forward to catching up with people. I guess it was due in large part to feeling bad for not having kept in touch and worrying that everyone else had kept in touch and that I'd be an outsider. But, that was not the case, and apparently everyone had been nervous, so the whole operation was a success.
I spent most of the day Sunday preparing for a barbeque that my parents were having, and at the party itself. My parents have fun friends so it's always enjoyable to hang out with them, and the party was quite fun. Monday I sorted through a ton of stuff that was still taking up residence in my old bedroom closet, and got rid of a lot. I'll be meeting up with my parents in Utah later this month and they're bringing me a big box of clothes and crafty stuff I want to keep. Then we went to the Erie Zoo, where I met this little guy:

Seriously, how cute is he (she?)? Adorable. The zoo has gone through many changes since I volunteered there in high school, and is looking great. I got a lot of good animal photos but as this post is already photo heavy I'll just show you one more, of some lovely tropical birds that you can visit in their cage:Sadly I don't remember what kind of birds these are, but they came in a multitude of colors. They are probably Rainbow Lorikeets. Then I visited with my grandmother a bit and headed back to the airport. I just barely made my connecting flight in Atlanta (and I mean just barely - they reopened the plane door for me and the three others from my flight) but my luggage did not, although I got it Tuesday afternoon, only about 16 hours late. Not bad really. The only thing I needed wanted in there was my MS3, but I didn't really have time to work on it anyway. Oh, and Dave brought me flowers at the airport! I've always wanted to be greeted with flowers! I hardly did any knitting while I was at home. About 6 rows of the stole (I've done a lot since I got back though - I'm currently on row 121) and a bit on the Chevron Scarf. Didn't even touch the Sockapalooza sock. But after a good effort last night I'm up to the heel of the first sock. I'm kind of addicted to the lace, which is interfering with the socks, which I'll now be rushing to finish...

Oh, Tuesday night Dave, Anne-Marie, and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's great. You should go see it. Be smarter than us and don't go at midnight. It's shorter than the previous movies but that's not really saying much.