The second part of our USA trip taken in Dec 2010. This was a visit to a family friend living in Mechanicsburg, a small town in Pennsylvania.
Day 6: We set off from San Diego for Philadelphia (a cross-country flight!) that took about 5 hours. Arriving at Philadelphia airport at night, we spent the night at a nearby hotel (yet another Residence Inn by Marriott). Here's a weird looking science contraption at the airport arrival.
Day 7: We woke up to a sunny winter day. The kid decided that Elmo should live in a shoe, so he put Elmo into one of his mother's boots.
It was a great day for a drive to our friends' place. We stopped over for lunch at King of Prussia shopping mall (it was huge!) before continuing on our way to Mechanicsburg. This is how the house, built in 1785, looks like.
It also happened to be Christmas Eve, so we were greeted by a huge Christmas tree in the living room.
Day 8: Christmas Day! And Christmas isn't complete without a reindeer, so we did have one... though he didn't look very happy when he first put on his antlers. Maybe it was because he didn't get to see himself with them?
We did have a fun time opening up presents. Christmas is about giving and receiving, and the kid kept himself busy (and useful) ripping open everyone's presents.
Our hosts prepared a wonderful spread for dinner... and we ate ourselves so full...
A heavy snowstorm hit the US east coast that night, but being a bit further inland, we didn't get any snow at all. The snow, however, caused many airports to close and got us a bit worried that our flight back to LA may be cancelled. But the weather forecast seems to suggest that things would turn out well, so we weren't that worried.
Day 9: Boxing Day, a day to take things slowly. We took a walk in the countryside surrounding the house. Here's the view of the back of the house.
There is a creek nearby, and small puddles would accumulate when it overflows its banks... the cold, however, turned those puddles into ice.
My wife cooked dinner that night, a Singaporean dinner (even though she is Japanese). We had bak kut teh and fried rice.
Here's a picture of our hosts and the kid.
It was great being able to spend time with friends, especially Christmas. The hearty welcome and warm hospitality, plus being able to just chat about how things are going, made this trip flying half the world around (and crossing many many time zones) so worth it.
Day 10: Our last day for this part of the trip. After getting up early in the morning and checking out the flights (to make sure ours was not cancelled due to the snow), we hopped into the car for the drive to Philadelphia airport. On the way, we passed by snow country... snow accumulated from the heavy snowstorm that hit the US east coast on Christmas. It was the first time I have ever driven in the snow... and the GPS decided to bring me down some small roads (instead of the well-maintained highways) which were covered in snow. It was the first time I saw the "skid" lamp lit up in my dashboard.
The snow caused our car to get stuck at the petrol kiosk, but with the help of some passer-bys, we managed to get it out. We made it to the airport and this was the view out of the window.
The snow did cause some delays... our co-pilot was absent and in the end, we waited in the plane for about 4 hours while the airline arranged for another co-pilot. But we finally took off and reached LA way past dinner time. Here's a view of Philadelphia from the sky.
Total distance driven: 250 miles
We had a Toyota Camry for this part of the trip, but we never took a photo of it in our rush to get out of the cold (remember, the airport was still covered in snow...)
Day 6: We set off from San Diego for Philadelphia (a cross-country flight!) that took about 5 hours. Arriving at Philadelphia airport at night, we spent the night at a nearby hotel (yet another Residence Inn by Marriott). Here's a weird looking science contraption at the airport arrival.
Day 7: We woke up to a sunny winter day. The kid decided that Elmo should live in a shoe, so he put Elmo into one of his mother's boots.
It was a great day for a drive to our friends' place. We stopped over for lunch at King of Prussia shopping mall (it was huge!) before continuing on our way to Mechanicsburg. This is how the house, built in 1785, looks like.
It also happened to be Christmas Eve, so we were greeted by a huge Christmas tree in the living room.
Day 8: Christmas Day! And Christmas isn't complete without a reindeer, so we did have one... though he didn't look very happy when he first put on his antlers. Maybe it was because he didn't get to see himself with them?
We did have a fun time opening up presents. Christmas is about giving and receiving, and the kid kept himself busy (and useful) ripping open everyone's presents.
Our hosts prepared a wonderful spread for dinner... and we ate ourselves so full...
A heavy snowstorm hit the US east coast that night, but being a bit further inland, we didn't get any snow at all. The snow, however, caused many airports to close and got us a bit worried that our flight back to LA may be cancelled. But the weather forecast seems to suggest that things would turn out well, so we weren't that worried.
Day 9: Boxing Day, a day to take things slowly. We took a walk in the countryside surrounding the house. Here's the view of the back of the house.
There is a creek nearby, and small puddles would accumulate when it overflows its banks... the cold, however, turned those puddles into ice.
My wife cooked dinner that night, a Singaporean dinner (even though she is Japanese). We had bak kut teh and fried rice.
Here's a picture of our hosts and the kid.
It was great being able to spend time with friends, especially Christmas. The hearty welcome and warm hospitality, plus being able to just chat about how things are going, made this trip flying half the world around (and crossing many many time zones) so worth it.
Day 10: Our last day for this part of the trip. After getting up early in the morning and checking out the flights (to make sure ours was not cancelled due to the snow), we hopped into the car for the drive to Philadelphia airport. On the way, we passed by snow country... snow accumulated from the heavy snowstorm that hit the US east coast on Christmas. It was the first time I have ever driven in the snow... and the GPS decided to bring me down some small roads (instead of the well-maintained highways) which were covered in snow. It was the first time I saw the "skid" lamp lit up in my dashboard.
The snow caused our car to get stuck at the petrol kiosk, but with the help of some passer-bys, we managed to get it out. We made it to the airport and this was the view out of the window.
The snow did cause some delays... our co-pilot was absent and in the end, we waited in the plane for about 4 hours while the airline arranged for another co-pilot. But we finally took off and reached LA way past dinner time. Here's a view of Philadelphia from the sky.
Total distance driven: 250 miles
We had a Toyota Camry for this part of the trip, but we never took a photo of it in our rush to get out of the cold (remember, the airport was still covered in snow...)
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