Taking a reprieve from Philly

We left Philadelphia in a rush on August 30th.  Or more like we were rushed out of our apartment on that day.  We let our landlord know that we would be out of our apartment by noon on August 30th, a full day early so that their team of painters/handymen could come in and get the apartment ready for the next tenant to move in Sept. 1st. Apparently there was going to be a great exodus of tenants that weekend and so the painters/handymen were trying to get an early start.  Well, the painters showed up at like 9:30 am, basically hovering over us and standing in the doorways as we did last minute cleaning and tried to pack up our car in as organized a manner as possible under time constraints.  It. Was. So. Annoying.  We officially left the apartment at 11 am, and drove to the Woodland cemetery to enjoy our lunch of leftover pizza and soda from the night before.  We couldn't enjoy it at the apartment, obviously, with so many impatient eyes staring daggers at us.

And so began our journey of taking a temporary (Well, what is most likely temporary.  70% sure.  Clark is still waitlisted at Duke so who knows, we may get an email saying he's been fully admitted next week.) reprieve from Philadelphia/ adult life.  As Clark puts it, we're on a "spiritual journey" to find ourselves.  The road trip consisted of several stops before our final destination.  First stop: Fayetteville, NC.

It's about time....Dad Tobler pays us a visit!

Right after our trip to Oklahoma Father Tobler flew out for a quick visit.  He left too soon, and there were still so many places we didn't get to eat.

When Karl landed, we picked him up and immediately took him to Tony Luke's for a cheese steak.  We think he really liked it. Then we drove around the Temple construction site and made a quick stop at the Art Museum to run up the steps and take some pictures with Rocky.

 

There was a lot of this going on during the visit, too.  Frequent cat naps were often necessary.

Then the next day we drove out to Nazareth, PA so that we could tour the Martin Guitar Factory!  It was so neat.  Clark and I visited the factory a couple years ago, but missed the tour by a couple of hours.  This time around we made sure to be there on time for a tour, and it did not disappoint!  I think a dream of Karl's was definitely fulfilled that day.

The factory was so big, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how much goes into hand making a guitar.  It definitely makes me appreciate my Martin even more.  The tour lasted at least an hour and was so fascinating.  Definitely worth a stop if you're ever traveling through or around Allentown, PA!

Afterward we took Karl to Wawa for some amazing smoothies and sandwiches.  He liked it so much that a couple days later ( and even on the Sabbath--gasp!) he insisted that we go again.  

The next day we went to Sabrina's Cafe for brunch, which never disappoints.  Then later in the afternoon we went down to the Reading Terminal Market for some more good eats.  Our favorite donut vendor, Beiler's, had an extremely long line, so unfortunately by the time we got in line nearly all the donuts were sold out for the day.  Apparently Beiler's had just been featured on some show a week or two before and been voted as one of the top donut establishments in the U.S. So we decided not to waste any more time standing in line and instead had some amazing sweet pretzels and a Dinic's roast pork sandwich.  (Dinic's roast pork was actually voted as the best sandwich in America by Adam Richman and his travel channel series back in 2012.)

We just got to the market too late in the day to get some Beiler's donuts....dang it.

On our way out we were looking longingly into some gourmet chocolate shops and spotted a chocolate covered onion in the window.  Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods tried this combo a while back when he visited the Reading Terminal Market. Yum?

Sunday we went to church, which was extremely mild in nature much to our disappointment.  We really wanted to show Karl the excitement of an inner city ward but it was almost as normal as a Utah ward. Just almost. The ox was in the mire and so after church we had to seek nourishment from Wawa--more cream based smoothies and sandwiches to enjoy at our favorite cemetery.

Karl was such a good sport and endured a couple of longer walks with us around Clark Park and down to Penn campus during his visit.  We had such a good time and wish Jan could have been there to enjoy our outings and unbridled feasting, too.  Maybe next time, as it seems we'll be heading back to Philadelphia for a couple of more years!  Thanks to Jan for posting some photos on her blog so I could steal them for this post :)

Oklahoma

In mid August Clark and I traveled to Oklahoma for several reasons: to see my younger brother and his wife, finally meet our sweet little niece Livia (pronounced Lee-via, it's Slovak) and their dog JJ, and to see my brother Scott's Air Force graduation!  It was a festive, family affair, and my parents flew out as well with my sister's two boys.

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The weekend of graduation is "family weekend" and we got a pretty thorough tour of Vance Air Force Base.   We got to fly some simulator airplanes, which are the same ones the Air Force students use to train on before flying the real thing.

 

VIP treatment: bus rides from site to site.  Very considerate, as summer in Enid is HOT. 

 

Viewing some of the aircraft my brother and the other students trained on.

Awww, this pretty little thing! She's so adorable and such a good baby!

And JJ! The cutest dog ever.  Seriously, I am not really a dog person--and I'm still not-- but I fell in love with this little guy.  What a ball of energy and so cute!

One day we decided to go to the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma.  What we thought was just a small one room museum full of antique china from various rail lines turned out to be a huge museum with many different rail cars to walk through and explore.  It was so much fun.  Glad we found something that adults and kids alike could enjoy.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the adults had more fun than the boys!

 Lots of hilarious scenarios depicted around the train sets.

Pumping the handcar up and down the line!  Check one off the bucket list for Clark! Cole was supposed to brake since he's not quite strong/big enough to pump, and at one end he (purposely, I think) didn't brake and the handcar fell off the tracks.  

 Luckily it didn't take too much to get it back on the tracks.

We even got to play around with the different train sounds.  Oh, a child's dream come true!

The day of the graduation ceremony, Livia was all dressed up for the occasion.  She wore the cutest little sandals....such a fashionista!

Walking into the auditorium with all the graduates lining the sidewalk.  Such a neat experience, I'm so happy we were there for this. There was also a 2 star general who spoke at this graduation. Kind of a big deal.

Scott's graduation class: Lucky 13

Before receiving their diplomas, Scott was called up to stage to accept a distinguished graduate award.

As each graduate crossed the stage to accept his/her diploma, the screen in the background showed a snapshot of the graduate, and a picture of the plane they will be flying and where they will be stationed.  Scott and his family are going to be in Dover, Delaware.  He is going to be flying the C-5, one of the biggest types of aircraft in the world and his top choice!  Scott previously flew the Chinook helicopter in the Army, and apparently the C-5 can fit 3 chinooks in it. THREE.  So yeah... it's a pretty big plane.

After the graduation we went out the the training aircraft site so that Dagmara could pin wings on Scott in front of his training plane.  But first little Livia needed to be lathered with sunscreen.

Cole and Chase looked so handsome for the occasion.

My husband also looked handsome, too. Especially after he calmed down.

Pinning on of the wings. 

Congratulations to the happy family!

Family photo time.  Everyone seems to be looking at the camera except for Livia who's reaching out toward Cole's hair.

And she's got him! Cole's face is priceless.

Double wings, not a common thing in the military.

That night Scott and Dagmara invited my parents, Clark and I to the graduation dinner.  It was a black tie event, and for this reason we finally broke down and bought Clark a dark suit.  He needed one anyway, and he rocks that suit like no other.

 

Scott and Dagmara looking so good! 

Finally, an occasion for us to dress up!  I had every intention of having us all head out the the greens outside the country club for pictures but I guess somewhere along the lines I got distracted.  Sorry, guys.

The next day, our last full day in Enid, we just hung out, enjoyed the pool on base, had a bbq, and played some cornhole.  Livia kept everyone entertained with her cuteness.

 

But she can get distracted a little easily :)

We finished the night off with some fun games of Cornhole!  Scott even constructed his own regulation cornhole boards.  One painted as the U.S. flag, one painted as the Slovakian flag.

And a couple last photos of the two adorable babies.

We had such a wonderful time in Oklahoma!  We're so happy we could be there for the graduation and spend quality time with our niece.  We're also so glad that we were able to see Mom, Dad and the boys!  Thank you, Scott and Dagmara for your hospitality.  We always have a great time when we stay with you, and we always leave a few pounds heavier, too.  Which may or may not be a good thing, but thank you Dagmara for being a great cook and for wanting to keep us well nourished!