Presque Isle State Park

Saturday Sam, his dad, and I went to Erie, PA to visit Presque Isle State Park. Sam's dad asked us Friday afternoon if we'd like to fly up with him. I thought, "When can you turn a 4 hour drive into a 1.5 hour flight?" So, we agreed to meet him at the Coshocton airport around noon. The up there was rather uneventful, which is the way I like my flights. Upon landing at the Erie international airport (seriously, Canada) we taxied right to our rental car and had our bags loaded for us! Such service!

The day was pretty overcast, but really humid until we got about half-way into the park and then it started to pour cats and dogs. Well, Dad got on his phone and pulled a radar of the area. The storm wasn't really that big so we waited it out while everybody else fled the beach. It was worth the 20 minute wait. The beach was nice and the water was warm.


About 30 minutes later, the sky cleared up and it turned to the bright, sunny day I expected. Lake Erie isn't as nice as Lake Michigan and the Michigan beaches, but the water was still great for swimming and warmer. There were even decent waves and you could pretend you were swimming in the ocean. The Great Lakes really are a lot of fun and right in my backyard.

The flight home was more exciting. Dad navigated through a storm system with lightning strikes right off the wing. We left the front about 10 miles from home where we ran into some turbulence. I was a little uneasy with all the bumps and drops. My head never hit the ceiling, but we were moving around pretty good. Fortunately, we beat the thunderstorm home and landed safely at Richard Downing. A great little plane trip!

July 4th Weekend

For the 4th of July long weekend, Sam and I visited some friends in the Washington, D.C. area. I was very excited to visit the Pullmanns since we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving. We also got to see another college friend, Tom, whom we hadn't seen since graduation over a year ago.

Saturday, Sam, Joy and I went to Baltimore to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather. The inner harbor was a very nice pedestrian shopping and sight-seeing area, which rivals Pier 39 and Fishermans' Wharf in San Francisco.

We took the opportunity to visit the National Aquarium. Despite the crowds (at least according to us country folk), I thought there were decent displays and a good variety of species. I really enjoyed the ray and turtle tank. Sam visited the jelly fish exhibit while Joy and I had snacks and water. I don't think I really missed much, but I don't like jelly fish one bit even after swimming through a swarm unharmed.
We finished the day by meeting Nathan after work for dinner in downtown Rockville, MD. We went to the Taste of Saigon, a French-inspired, Vietnamese restaurant. The food was good and the waiter was very friendly. Best of all, it was actually run by Vietnamese. You could kind of say the restaurant was a real American dream come true. Fitting or cliche for the July 4th weekend? Either way, I would definitely go back.

The next day being Independence Day we strategically avoided the capitol and headed for a local park to go swimming. We packed off in our swimsuits and arrived only to find that there was no swimming. Not to let our drive to the park be a total waste, we walked around the reservoir and found wild red raspberries. The Pullmanns made a tasty BBQ dinner for ourselves and Tom. We even had illegal fire works (i.e. sparklers) purchased in Ohio.

To top off the weekend, we came home with a free coffee table from Nathan's workplace at a moving company.

Thanks for your hospitality, Nathan and Joy.