One Last Hurrah

With Glo leaving on her mission, we had initially planned to go somewhere really fantastic as one last trip.  But with our lives in limbo, John without a job, a house going on the market, and not knowing if there will be another paycheck, we couldn't really spend a week in Costa Rica like we had initially hoped.

But John was scheduled to pull call in Altoona, so we figured returning to Glo's Heimatland one more time before she left would be a good send-off.  And in her humble way, she was totally good with it.

We couldn't afford to fly there, and honestly, we had stuff that we wanted to bring back home, so we headed off on the road many times traveled by us back to State College.  Along with a list of places to visit.  And things to do.  A very long list.

The first order of business was to get some dinner at The Athenian Cafe, the place that has kebabs most like the ones in Germany.  If we end up moving back to Altoona, it ranks high on the list of "why my children are happy we are going back".

I had Jess take off so many inches as well.

Second order of business, like literally, was to visit Jess at Beyond Looks at get our hair done.  I don't even know the last time Glo got her hair cut because she literally doesn't trust anyone but Jess to cut her very thick, very fine hair.  My hair was so incredibly blonde (which I hate) and I knew Jess could take it back to what I like (versus what my hair dresser in Michigan thinks works).

While waiting for me, Glo got her very favorite meal on earth from right next door to the hair salon:  a large wonton soup from Lychee.  I kid you not, she had downed it in less than ten minutes.  Jess was impressed and horrified all at the same time.

And then we had a couple of extra minutes so we ran to Spectacles, the eyeglass store in downtown State College that has the hippest glasses we've found.  Glo has had the same pair of frames since she was 12, so it was time to buy her new glasses for her mission (we went to this same place for Hannah, and she still has the cutest pair of glasses, and yes, she wore them all over Ecuador).  They were surprised to see that Glo's prescription came from an optometrist in Michigan, so we explained that we had come back to State College to run some errands, including getting new frames.

Turns out, that explanation worked in our favor.  Glo was deciding between a pair of frames that cost $225, and $350 (just remember that she keeps her glasses for many years).  I told her that I couldn't afford the $350 so she'd have to take the cheaper option (which she didn't mind).  But the salesman helping us told us that he would just give us the more expensive frames for the cheaper price because we had come back to them.  And when we showed up to pick them up several days later, he had given us the nicer, more expensive lenses as well for the price of the inexpensive lenses I had chosen.

But we had to yeet out of there.  We had plans to be in Philadelphia for the next 24 hours, and the schedule was tight.  The drive there was a trip down memory lane, for sure.

Just me, a sleeping child, and the radio.

First stop?  Another one of Glo's favorite meals: The Melting Pot.

No joke, I could eat at Melting Pot everyday if given the choice.  And Glo's Ethan was good about taking Glo to Salt Lake for this meal as well.  It's so simple, and yet making our own fondue at home just wouldn't be near as fun.

Glo never fails to bring out her handy-dandy timer.  A minute and a half it it swims, two minutes if it walks on land.

After that, Glo wanted to move a little bit (after sitting in the car for four and a half hours), so we headed to King of Prussia mall.  This is the mall with Tiffany's and Hugo Boss and the most expensive stores imaginable.  Security guards are even posted outside the stores and inside as well.  It's sure fun to window shop though if only to see the amazing window displays.

The LEGO store was impressive as well.

We actually got lost in that ginormous mall and had to ask our way back out.  We stayed up way too late that night, watching Game of Thrones, so believe me, we were way too tired in the morning when we headed out to the temple.

Glo had managed to lose her temple recommend somewhere between Provo and Philly.  Hannah had looked around back in Utah for it, but to no avail.  And with the new movie showing, we knew the session would be full.  So we showed up super early to try and get her in by having the recorder check her records and still beat the line.  Holy smokes, when we opened the door to the temple, the entire waiting area was full because they weren't letting people in.  However, I kind of pushed my way through, got a "10 a.m. session" card...and asked for one for Glo since she was still waiting on the recorder.  We were in!

Glo basically slept through the entire session (my bad, letting her stay up so late), but I was really touched by all of the changes.  Much needed changes in my mind, and I let out a silent hallelujah.

We were only a mile from Campo's, our favorite cheesesteak eatery in Philly, so I circled the block while Glo went in and got a cheesesteak for us.

I took this photo while driving 70 mph over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Unbelievably, she actually ate half of my sandwich on the way to....

Longwood Gardens!

Because we had a big date that evening, we knew we wouldn't have much time to spend there, but it didn't matter because during the day, the only thing to really see is the conservatory itself (obviously the outside lights can't be seen).

I love that we can walk in there now and know exactly what we want to see, and know exactly how to get there.  Plus, Glo has such a unique way of looking at the world that she always discovers things I would never see.

Longwood was celebrating "the Christmas tree" this year.  I told Glo that I want her and John to make some of these trees for decorations for my own house ;-)

This was in the hall of "experimental" plants.  The garden is trying to see if different species grow well in different conditions to see if they can use them next year.  Thinking about Glo's immediate future as a missionary, it seems very appropriate (and a good omen) that we found "Golden Glo" growing strong and healthy.

All those doors on the side?  Individual bathrooms.  Glo was waiting for me ;-)

Next, we booked it back to Philly, because we had a dinner date set up with Amy, Glo's violin teacher from her youth.

I will admit that having dinner with Amy took our relationship one step further.  There's always a small, but respectable distance that is maintained with excellent teachers.  I want the teachers to be a mentor for my children, but I don't want to cross the line into friendship because then the kids don't feel the pressure to excel.  Plus, I like for all of us to continue to feel "star struck" about the teachers--it gives us goals.  So everything before was kept fairly professional with us going to concerts where Amy was performing, or us reporting on how Glo did during an audition.  But being social?

She had chosen a French restaurant just a few blocks from the Kimmel (the music hall where the Philly Orchestra performs and where all of my children had years of music lessons), Parc it was called (because it borders one of the city parks), and I worried what we would find for Glo to eat.  But goodness, it was some of the best food I have literally ever tasted.  I got their roast chicken, and it was to die for.  And Amy only elevated herself in our eyes, being wonderfully caring, and creative, and still a mentor.  She listened to the details of Glo's music education studies, and she praised her as well as offered her suggestions.  We talked about family (since Amy was pregnant with Victoria when we showed up for Glo's first lesson), and about life.  Time just fell away, and I wanted to stay in that dim-lit, warm, tasty, nurturing atmosphere forever.

But a performance called.  So once again, we got to be with Amy just moments before she stepped on stage.  And unbelievably, the only concert being offered that weekend was "Bugs Bunny at the Orchestra", a combination of old Looney Tunes films being shown with the orchestra playing the live soundtrack.  I don't think I could have hand-picked a better option for my animation and music loving girl.  In fact, when she was younger and had her two hour midday break at Interlochen, she would bike home from rehearsal, make herself some Ramen or macaroni and cheese, and watch a couple of episodes of Looney Tunes that she had recorded.  It was fun, and light, and entertaining, and terrific.

It feels surreal to look at this stage and see so many former teachers who have made such an impact on the lives of my kids.

I didn't really want to leave Philly that night, especially because I was so tired, but our depleted checking account called and left a mental message, so like old times, I drove to Altoona through all hours of the night.

The next day, we went to church in Altoona which happens to be the hot bed of members who really love John.  Every time he returns, it's like Odysseus coming home from his adventures.  Roger Hileman and his wife happened to be visiting the ward and asked if they could take us out to eat that night.  Well, it was Fast Sunday, and we did need to eat, so why not? ;-)

The next day we drove home with John, but not before we stopped at Waffle Shop in Ann Arbor.  Hmmm, such tasty food.  It felt like it took forever to drive home (there was a freak sleet storm while we were in the restaurant which resulted in an accident in Philipsburg, so we had to take an hour detour around the accident and traffic), but it was good to relive the happiest moments of Glo's childhood.