I've always been pretty good at adapting to all kinds of environments, but the older I get, the more sensitive I have become.
The first day was rough. We had red-eye flights all the way to Washington DC, rented a car, and spent the whole morning and early afternoon walking to and from various monuments and memorials. - On top of that, I had been pretty upset about things, and my mind was still in Utah. By the afternoon, I had turned into a zombie and didn't realize how tired and grumpy I was until my sister accidentally closed the car window on my pinky!
THAT was the turning point for me, and I immediately felt a surge of hot tears well up in my eyes. - It reminded me of the way little kids cry when they are so alarmed and exhausted that they just CRY, and they won't stop! - So there I was with the uncontrollable tears streaming down my face as I walked down the crowded streets of DC to our dinner destination where I finally calmed down.
We got more sleep that night.
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Sunday we ran went to church in Pennsylvania where My brother, sister-in-law, and I played the musical number for their sacrament meeting. After the meeting, we ran into my piano teacher's sister-in-law who was also visiting for her own son's graduation. Her son happened to be my brother's best friend all throughout medical school. - What a small world!
That day, we attended graduation and spent the afternoon visiting with family. Then, Vicky, Joseph, and I left for New York City where we met up with Vicky's mission friends Natalie and Joel. We had the best late dinner and then headed back to Natalie's to catch up and spend the night. - Monday morning, Vicky and I woke up early for a run to Central Park. I got to take some photos and later met a stranger named Patricia: A 71 year old lady who had moved to NYC from the Bahamas.
After sight seeing and getting some baked goods from a famous bakery, we headed back to Pennsylvania to meet up with the rest of our family. - Jeff and Kara brought us to Hershey's chocolate world and then we went to the park to play a game of croquet and tennis. The weather was much warmer that day, and we played in teams of two. - Joseph and I won the game of croquet, and that was pretty amazing becausewe started out losing (my fault) but ended up catching up and winning first. - Joseph's a pretty awesome teammate and set up all the shots for me. :)
We ended the night with dinner at Benihana's. Even though it wasn't actually Sorren's birthday, we pretended it was to get free ice cream. (Shhh, don't tell.) Sorren was elated when the whole restaurant started singing Happy Birthday to him, and he was so hyper after eating the whole bowl by himself.
After saying our good bye's, we drove back to DC and stayed the night at a hotel. This morning, we woke up at 4:45 to return the rental car and catch a flight to the Denver airport where we're currently waiting for our last flight home.
Overall, the trip went pretty well. The best part was seeing family. The worst part was missing Utah and its mountains. - And after comparing the busy east-coast city life to that of my Utah home, I am convinced that I am and will always be a rural kind of person.
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