Monday, September 13, 2010

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #1: Reading, Pennsylvania.

I mentioned a while back that I took a whirlwind tour of the US this summer.  Part of it was pleasure, part of it was for work.  I saw some great places and love the US even more than before-- we're freaking full of wonderful people and special locales.  More than ever, I'd love to take a great American road trip and see it all.


Our first stop was Reading, PA.  We went there for Memorial Day weekend to visit my folks, Harry, and Izzy for my birthday.  Remember when you were young and you went on a family vacation, and you couldn't wait to get back home and hang out with your friends?  Yeah, I'll admit I was an idiot back then.  Hanging with my parents was awesome, and I cannot wait do it again.




We went to a bunch of vineyards (Pennsylvania has a fabulous wine country.  Two of best we tried are Calvaresi and Pinnacle Ridge), a fantastic farmer's market (my birthday cake was a spectacular rum cake), the Pagoda, and an art studio/school called Goggleworks, which is housed in an old goggle factory.  We fed a feral cat family living in the brush next to my parents' hotel.  Ooh, and we also went to ULTA, which I'm pretty sure is what heaven is like.  We had a lot of fun.




Being a trip, our visit wasn't entirely without incident.  First, Alice tried to eat Izzy.  Like, eat her.  They got into a tiff and The Human Male picked Alice up, and Izzy came along for the ride, too-- Alice was biting on her harness.  Needless to say, she was yelled at profusely and sent to dog jail for a good hour.  I think Alice got the point, as the next day we caught her snuggling up with Izzy.  




I wish I knew what Alice's problem is with Izzy-- Alice can get so mean to her and I'd like it to stop.  Mamala's been extremely understanding and still lets Alice visit, but I feel like I'm testing her goodwill.


The second incident was that my mom fell while we were at a park and broke her foot.  Not only was she in pain, but she felt like she ruined the day that we were there.  Other than her hurting herself, it was actually my favorite day of the trip-- we went back to the hotel and watched DVDs, drank wine, and ate pizza the rest of the day.  It was so much fun and low-key.


The third interesting thing that happened is that our last night there, there was a fire alarm.  Apparently some idiots on the third floor decided it'd be a fabulous idea to disable all of their smoke detectors and light fireworks off in their rooms.  Fortunately everyone was okay, and the guys were arrested and taken to jail on federal charges.


Despite the bumps, it was such a great birthday-- one of my favorites, ever.  I had a great time with my folks.  I can't wait to get back up to Pennsylvania and do it again!

3 comments:

the teacher's pets said...

I can relate to your cat and dog fighting issues because that is what happens in our house. Daily. Ever since Daisy, our coonhound, calme into our lives, our 2 cats, Henry and Buster, have been quite jealous. However, Daisy doesn't "get it" and trys to get her cat brothers to play hide and seek with her. It hasn't worked yet but maybe one day...

Ariel said...

Hey Alice human Granny's kitties HATE ME! I still chase them anyway! Snicker! Snicker! <3
p.s.s. Thanks a Million for the donation I really appreciate it!

Mr. Puggle® said...

maybe there was a pug bully that picked on alice when she was a little puggle and she has flash backs when she sees izzy and displaces her anger and anxiety toward her?

i have an Ulta like a mile from my house. that is where i shop. you can order on line too. make sure you have coupon. you can get on the mailing list and you get a catalog and coupon every month. i found the best foundation there. PUR. SO good. gotta have the funky brush that goes with it for best results.

glad the doggies finally got a long.