To Pittsburgh I Go

It’s been another full day and a good one at that, except for this terrible hot weather. Sorry, but I’ll just never been able to handle this. Yuck! Especially during manual labor, which was my chore this morning before leaving State College. Katie and Jasmine had nothing but boxes in the living room when I arrived at their apartment and today was moving day. They kindly asked if I could help them pack the U-Haul before I headed out. So a little manual labor was good for me and I owed it to them after giving me a bed to sleep in. It was short but I had a great taste of Penn State and State College. So to Pittsburgh I go.

What a great first day in Pittsburgh. Karen has been in touch with me for a long time. We both graduated from Baraga High School, she’s a 1980 graduate and I’m a 2001 graduate. I found myself in Bellvue on the NW side of Pittsburgh where Karen, Jack, Brittany, and Christian live in a beautiful house built in 1896. It was a perfect day to show up, Christian’s 6th birthday.

The evening was filled with a good dinner at Station Square, a small tour of Pittsburgh, and a ride up the Duquesne Incline. But I didn’t know what I was in for when we got back to the house. Christian convinced me to play a game of “Jump Over the Balls.” I remember making up such games when I was six years old. I was on the trampoline with Christian with about a half dozen balls. There are ten levels, and each level the balls are a different animal (such as cheetahs, alligators, lions, and even wrestlers one time). If they animals (or balls) touch you then you lose a life. I was hardly able to make it to round ten. We celebrated his birthday with some cake and ice cream and the rest of the night was filled with playing Transformers. They make them a lot more complex than they used to (but with most things, it seems like a lot less quality too, they just aren’t like the old ones my brother Adam had). Oh, and by the way, if the big Transformer ball crushes another it turns into scrambled eggs. You have to love the “orbiting” minds of an imaginative six year old. It’s great to be with another family on the trip!

Tomorrow, I get to watch Power Rangers and go to Chuck E Cheese! …it could be the best day of the trip!