Day 340 (Halfway Point)

Crazy, totally unplanned coincidence: Anna, one of the girls that used to be in my youth group, lives in Ohio like 10 minutes from my aunt! Through the miracle of facebook, we were able to figure this out and we had lunch today before my mom and I left for Pennsylvania. She insisted that we have lunch at Bob Evans because it's a popular restaurant chain out here that we don't have in California.

It was really great to see her because I hadn't seen her in years! We reminisced on old times and caught each other up on our lives. We only had about 2 hours, but it was really good to catch up with an old friend.

Afterwards, my mom and I left for Cranberry, PA. Isn't that a cute name for a town? Since we are at approximately the halfway point of the trip and nothing other that the lunch with Anna really happened today, I've decided to reflect on the trip thus far...

Most Exciting Moment: Definitely escaping the flooding car two nights ago. If that remains the most exciting part of the entire trip, I am totally okay with that!

Most Magical Moment: Fireflies in Indiana. I'm from California and we don't have fireflies there, so seeing them for the first time was really cool.

Biggest Surprise: My dad showing up in West Virginia. Sneaky little bastard!

Funniest Moment: My dad thinking that he accidentally bought the amethyst geode that my mom got for him in South Dakota. He was going to surprise us with it when we got home, LOL!

Biggest Disappointment: Parcel delivery service in the United States (postal service, UPS, etc.) I waited in vain for two weeks for some stuff to show up at my parents house before I left and they never did. One of them was the Interagency Pass for the National Parks, so I ended up having to buy a second one. Those suckers are $80.00 a piece! My sister's cheese was supposed to be overnighted from Wisconsin and it showed up three days later! And, I still don't have my cell phone charger 'cuz it never showed up at my aunt & uncle's house! I'm gonna have to buy one now 'cuz trying to coordinate mailing it to another stop is basically going to be impossible, and I've already gone way too long without my cell phone.

Coolest Natural Wonder: Devil's Tower, WY (w/bonus prairie dogs!) Just go, trust me.

Coolest Man Made Attraction: I'm gonna have to give this one to Hillbilly Hot Dogs. That place is an absolute riot!

Coolest City: Chicago. So much to do, so little time! Plus, the public transportation rocks!!!

General Assembly: What can I say? It was and will be the largest and probably most important part of the trip. I learned so much there and made a lot of new friends. Will the Presbyterian Church ever become the open and embracing church that we want to be? Of course it will. The only question is, how long is it going to take? I've met some of the people now that are fighting for equality in this denomination, and I can confidently say that the cause is in very good hands. I will definitely need to step up my involvement, because that is the right thing to do. Of course, this will mean playing less Magic, but with Russ and Doug gone, less Magic seems to be in the cards. (No pun intended)