november wrap-up

It's not quite the end of the month yet, but I thought I might catch up a bit on my blogging to post some of the interesting sights I've seen this month.

First, I spent the beginning of the month relaxing in the peaceful "country" that is Phoenixville, PA. My sister and brother-in-law live in a suburban, almost rural area, with rolling hills, farms, and even cows and horses grazing by the roadside.



I saw a beautiful rainbow one afternoon, but couldn't capture it while I was driving. I did, at least, get some pretty cloud formations.





Here is your traditional, all-American "Main Street, Anytown, USA" complete with a theatre marquis, which incidentally was used as the set for the movie "The Blob" in the 1950s. This street is actually not Main Street, but Bridge Street.



And here is the church that we went to, with a graveyard that I'm not sure I'd want to be caught in after dark.



This trip to PA was my first time driving since PRK on my eyes, and I'm glad I got the first night driving experience out of the way. It definitely made me a bit nervous since I was seeing a lot of halos and glares, but I made it. I will point out another driving first - my first time driving with less than a quarter tank of gas. If you know me, you know one of my biggest driving fears is driving until the "empty tank" warning light comes on. I have actually NEVER driven a car until the tank has been that low. But with gas prices so high, I actually drove all the way from Philly to the Woodrow Wilson Service Station along the NJ Turnpike, where gas was 20-cents cheaper, AND the guy did my windshield. Nice.



After returning to the city, my roommate and I took in the NYC Annual Marathon one cool November sunday. I've only seen the Boston Marathon, so I was definitely curious to see the NY Marathon.





This cop was one of the funniest and most motivational cheerleaders out there, picking out individual runners and making wisecracks and jokes about everyone.









The marathon had a very international feel to it - there were runners and supporters from all over the world - Europe, Asia, South America, Africa. It was so cool to hear so many different accents cheering for their loved ones. We cheered for the Dutch runners, who looked at us in surprise that we knew how to pronounce their names, (e.g., Jannick). We also cheered for the costumed runners - like the monk, the snowman, Darth Vader and Chewbacca, and various fruits and vegetables. The one difference I noticed between the Boston and NY marathons was that New Yorkers definitely are not as into the cheering as Bostonians were. We cheered loudly for all the strangers that ran by - just because hey, it's 26.2 miles and those runners deserve a little cheer. But at all points along the NY marathon route, we tried to cheer people on, but it was almost like people looked at us like we were a little overzealous. In Boston, you would find excited cheering squads at EVERY point along the route. Boston 1, New York 0.

This upcoming week will be Thanksgiving, so it's a short work week, and then off to Pennsylvania again - for our first EVER family Thanksgiving at my sister and brother-in-law's. My Dad has already planned some interesting events for "Black Friday," which include sporting goods stores... Stay tuned.