Wednesday, January 29, 2014

1/3/2014-1/22/2014


So I was in the United States for 18 days and I was really bad about blogging, mostly because I was doing so much driving.
I started by going to Homestead hot springs with my sister Abbie and my friend Christie. It was a lovely relaxing weekend at the spa, for me at least.
Then I went to Morgantown, WV to enjoy the polar vortex.  I really wanted to go snow boarding for my birthday on the 7th but it was so cold that I only managed about 3 hours before giving up.  I did have a fantastic ice cream cake from cold stone.  It was sweet cream with cookie dough and a fudge center, covered in chocolate.  It was nothing like I imagined but still delicious. 
On the 8th I headed to Missouri to visit my mom and grandparents where they live about an hour outside St. Louis.  It was an extremely long drive but my plans weren’t organized enough to fly.  My sisters (Gillie and Rachel) were there until the 10th along with Rachel’s boyfriend Seth. We had a nice couple days of  playing Plague and watching My Little Pony. It was great to see everyone.
On my way back from Missouri I stopped in Cincinnati to visit my friend Jessi. We talked and ate pizza while she finished making guitar straps to sell at a guitar show the next day.  I joined her at the guitar show in Columbus and helped her to sell straps. It was tons of fun. You can see her straps on Etsy and at http://www.nowherebear.com . The designs are premade but she does the rest of the sewing and leather-work herself.
I headed back to WV for a running date with Bethan who I hadn’t seen since high school.
Then I went to Washington/Baltimore for a visit to Chrisite, Sherri, and Erica.  I think Connor was even bigger than he was last time I visited Christie earlier this month. He grows so fast!
I stopped in State College to visit Heather on my way over to Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh I had brunch with Sean, got food poisoning, did some shopping & banking, curled up on Gillie’s sofa, and then met my friends after their run. It was Kevin’s birthday so there was cake and more friends than usual.  I briefly visited Monica before she had to go to bed. We made plans to meet up for lunch but I had a persisting stomach ache and slept through it.
With my visit almost over I had a few days back in WV to pack, ski and make cheesecake. I had a lovely lunch of cheesecake and soup with Gillie and her housemate Rachel for my last full day in the US. 
On Monday I had one last ski and 1 last burger at Burgatory before heading back to Australia.
The flight back was long and the flight attendant in my area was rude. We ran into trouble in Sydney after a wasted 5 hours of sitting on the plane and hoping to get things fixed, they transferred us to Qantas. Qantas is a very nice airline. ipad entertainment in every seat….. And 31 hours after take off I made in to Melbourne.

It was so great to see my friends and family. You’re all wonderful. Sorry for anyone I wasn’t able to catch up with. Hopefully I will be able to next time. Now that I’m back in Oz I’ll be better. 

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