One time I went to Gettysburg

This weekend was so nice and relaxing. Friday night Tim and I went to the waterfront in Georgetown and walked around and watched the rich people on their boats with their cocktails. It was kind of nice. We went out to eat later with his sister Devany and soon to be baptized Jeff. The food was good, the spring rolls were yummy and we had a crepe thing with tofu and bean sprouts that was decent as well. It was cheap and filling, so I was happy with it.

Saturday I was forced to wake up at the crack of dawn and go on a field trip. Normally this would be OK, but since Tim wasn't there, I wasn't too eager to spend the day with a bunch of obnoxiously-conservative (and I like conservatives, don't get me wrong; I don't like unknowledgeable, unable-to-argue neoconservatives who are so stuck in their ways it's impossible for them to hear anything). I sat in the back of the bus by myself and brought a great book to read (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; another blog post for another time). I actually sat next to a really cool couple named Paige and Mike. They got married a few months ago, and Paige actually campaigned a little for Claralyn. Her mom and grandpa are some wonderful Utah County Democrats and were really involved in the campaign. It was fun to talk to her about Utah County politics.

But I digress. We went to Gettysburg and went on this multiple-hours bus tour. I hate "touring". I like to explore on my own time and see the things I want to see, even if I don't get all of the history behind everything. Our tour guide was one of those goofy, trying to be funny but not at all middle-aged men who has lived in the town his whole life. He knew everything there is to know about Gettysburg but was incredibly long-winded and I don't think I really learned anything. I took some cool pictures though-- don't ask me to tell you what happened where.

This is the eternal peace flame, or something like that. During the energy crisis of the Carter era, they had to extinguish it. It was re-lit a decade later.

It was motorcycle gang weekend as well in Gettysburg.

Tree pose on a nice rock.

I had fun playing with the settings on my camera to take some rad pictures. This is a general of some sort, overlooking a ridge (Cemetary? Seminary? Little Roundtop?)

After Gettysburg and some down-home eatin' at a southern buffet, we went to Harper's Ferry. The drive was GORGEOUS. The town was quaint and there were all sorts of little shops to peek around in. I wanted to buy many things like organic onesies with peace symbols and giant homemade purses. But I didn't.

When I got home from the trip, I went straight over to my sister Lauren's house for some good female bonding time. We tucked her kids into bed and watched Taken. Interesting to watch, but we poked so many holes it looked like Swiss cheese. Liam Neeson is great though, and it's good to see such a crucial issue as human trafficking being addressed in a mainstream film. Even though it was terribly unrealistic.

The next day was Sunday and Tim came over too and went to church with Lauren and company. It was weird to be back in a normal Mormon ward. I can't imagine what it will be like when we end up back in a student ward in Provo. Culture shock.

Luckily Lauren likes our company, because we really like hanging out over there. She always has good food. And she's an awesome mom. It's refreshing to have such a normal, capable example of a mother to hang out with and try to emulate in the future. We may disagree on some things, like the phthalates in plastic causing early puberty (since she and her husband were such late bloomers, they are totally feeding their kids from BPA-containers to help them out a little). But she's always willing to listen to my rants about the environment and home birth. She's a great talker too, always open to new ideas and not judgmental at all. I'm lucky to have such a great big sister.



(this picture is really old, but I couldn't find another one of the two of us since).