This summer we made the decision to travel to Pennsylvania for our summer vacation. My husband, Jason (Jay), grew up in PA and has not been back to the area for about 28 years!! It was about time we made the trip!!!
DAY #1: Saturday:
Pennsylvania is about 10 hours from where we live in Wisconsin so we decided to leave very early in the morning Saturday. That way the kids would be able to sleep for a good portion of the drive and we could get further before all the "Are we there yet's?" began. We ended up making it to Ohio for breakfast. We stopped at this really cute donut shop called Mama C's Donuts and Coffee. The kids picked out donuts, of course, while I chose to have a caramel nut muffin warmed up. Jay and my MIL, Marge had donut-type pastries as well. The coffee was delicious and I definitely needed it after being up at the crack of dawn! You would think that I would be used to it by now, but that couple hours difference and not going to sleep early enough, made it a challenge to stay awake. I slept through Chicago, to be honest. I hate driving through big cities. I get so paranoid about getting lost and all the other crazy drivers on the road.
Anyway, by the time we got to our townhouse, my legs were dying to move, so I quick helped unload the truck and get some things settled before heading out for a short run around the subdivision. I found out our subdivision had a nice ½ mile loop and if I did a figure 8, I could get an extra 10th of a mile in there! Perfect! This was the perfect 2.2 mile run. I ended it just in time before the storm hit.
PA had been having a lot of wet weather due to a tropical storm circling on the east coast. This was the first of many storms and rainy days we encountered on our trip. So I quick showered as the humidity was crazy, and we headed into the nearby town of Somerset for dinner and to get some groceries for the week. We ended up eating at this cute restaurant called The Italian Oven. OMG!! It was so delicious! Totally recommend it if you are ever in Somerset. Here’s a picture of my dinner and some of the restaurant.
After getting some groceries, it was time to head back and relax after our long drive. I think we all ended up falling asleep on the couches!
DAY #2: Sunday:
Today was our visit with my husband’s brother. That morning I got up before most everyone (my mother-in-law is an early riser like myself) to run. I was so excited to run the hills of PA! I kept calling them hills, but really what I was running up and down were mountains! They were challenging but so beautiful! I am so glad that I kept up my routine of running in the morning though. It was humid!! The temps were very pleasant but the humidity had me drenched every day! Today I chose to run down the main road from our townhouse. It leads to the main entrance of the resort we were staying at. It’s almost exactly 2 miles from our townhouse to this entrance. I was trucking along really great for the first mile since it was downhill, then it started to build back up again. This proved to be more challenging, but not until I had to climb back up the first hill/mountain! Boy was this tough, but I took walking breaks and made it all the way back to the top. I needed to cool myself down a bit so I took a couple laps around the subdivision for a total of 5.2 miles. It was a challenge, but this started my vacation goal of improving my run up the hill by a little bit each day.
After cleaning up and relaxing for a bit, we headed to Central City to hang out with my BIL, SIL and nephew. I think I forgot to mention that we also brought our 3 dogs with us on this trip. My hubs insisted that they come since they are family. Well one member of our family is not so friendly. Our 3 yr. old. male unaltered French bulldog Marley can be aggressive when it comes to other dogs. One of the first things to happen when we arrived at my BIL’s house was Marley attacking their dog, Max, a boxer. He went after him a couple times and got our 10 yr. Boston Terrier, Bosco going as well. Mugsy, our 8 yr. old Pug, just sat and watched. He’s such a good dog. Anyway, Marley ended up biting him on the top of the head and above his eye. Needless to say Max and Mugsy spent the day inside, while Marley and Bosco had to stay outside. (We are currently in the process of training Marley to be less aggressive. We have talked with our Vet and have multiple strategies we are trying with him. He was on a leash the entire time and we were watching him.) Despite this setback, we had a wonderful time catching up with family today and laughing like we usually do. It really was a wonderful time. We spent the entire afternoon and evening with them and didn’t return to our townhouse until almost midnight. Luckily, we didn’t have any set plans for the next day.
DAY 3: Monday:
Today I ran the same route as yesterday after getting up a little later than I would have liked. I ran 5.1 miles today down and up the mountain. It was a little easier this time and I knew what to expect which was nice. Today I ran to the entrance to the resort so I could take some pictures. The resort we stayed at was beautiful. It’s a ski resort in the winter, but they had a ton of summer activities as well. Sadly, we didn’t have time to explore the resort at all. Hopefully, we’ll get out to PA again in the future. Not as many walking breaks today either!
Later that morning, my MIL’s sister and husband came to the townhouse for a visit. They are super friendly and funny. They came out to WI for our wedding but we hadn’t seen them since that day! It was really great to catch up with them. The kids were dying to jump in the pool that was directly across from our unit, so Marge and her sister went to hang out in the nearby town of Ligioner, where they had lived for a few years, and we jumped in the pool with the kids. We swam for a couple hours, had a late lunch and then headed into Ligioner for ourselves. Jay wanted to show the kids the farmhouse that he loved so much as a kid. It really was a beautiful house! I enjoyed looking at all the amazing sights of a small town. It was so quaint! We stopped for ice cream at one of Jay’s childhood hangouts. It was delicious!
Our adventures continued on with dinner at Eat and Park with Claudine and Gary. The kids absolutely love Gary. He had them laughing the entire time! So much fun and a great salad bar. We then went to Wal-Mart to search for some less expensive Steelers shirts and other accessories. Not much to choose from so we explored a little and got ready to leave. Then the real fun began. My hubby had somehow locked the keys inside the truck. Luckily we have AAA and were able to call them to have a locksmith come and open our truck for us. It took awhile but thankfully, Gary and Claudine stayed to keep us company and the kids entertained. Plus it was more quality family time. Another late night, but it’s vacation, so it was worth it!
DAY 4: Tuesday:
Today was another run down and up the mountain morning! We didn’t have many plans for today either, so I was able to add in some extra miles. 6 total miles down and up and around the subdivision. Foggy, humid morning, but totally refreshing after sweating out all the good food I’ve been eating. I honestly feel like I will be the fastest runner in Milton after running these mountains! Ok, so probably not, but I am definitely feeling these runs! My legs and butt are on fih-yah!!
So today’s adventures involved a lot of driving around. My wonderful hubby just so happened to have lived in quite a few towns in PA. Today we traveled to some of his other childhood homes. We traveled to Monroeville, Penn Hills, Plumborough, and Springdale. It was so much fun listening to Jay and Marge share their stories from these different places. The kids were not very impressed but in the end it was memories shared and they will appreciate it one day.
DAY 5: Wednesday:
Today’s run was an early one. We had to be up early to drive to Pittsburgh for some awesome activities. I was up before everyone else with my reflective vest on to get 4.7 miles in down and up the mountain, plus a little extra around the subdivision. Another beautiful morning with cool temps, high humidity, and little cloud cover. It was beautiful to watch the fog coming up from the valleys and to see the sun rise up over it. There was running water everywhere due to all the rain the area had been receiving. It was like there were little waterfalls and creeks all around. It was so peaceful and serene to listen to as I ran by. I always listen to music, but I keep it really low so that I can hear what is going on around me. It certainly paid off today!
So after my run, shower, and breakfast it was the big day!! We were going to visit Heinz field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and take a tour!! Honestly, this is probably one of the coolest things I have done. Tours were only at specified times and days, so that’s why we had to get moving early today. Seriously, though, this was amazing! We first drove into the city and saw all the amazing bridgework. Then we saw the stadium! Literally, seeing it on TV does not do it justice. It is a very beautiful stadium. The surrounding area where the 3 rivers come together is breathtaking! I wish we would have been able to explore the surrounding area more, but there just wasn’t time. The stadium tour was so cool. We learned about the history of the stadium, toured the private boxes, and even got to check out the locker room! It was amazing! Per our typical fashion, we also dropped a wad of cash (or charge, I should say) in the gift shop!
The kids were so excited to sit in the stands! Heck! So was I! It was really cool!
There’s no name on this locker, but we were told by our guide that this is the locker that the Super Bowl Champion Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger uses during the season. We all had our pictures taken inside the locker. My hubby was super excited about it! He literally was like a kid in a candy store, especially when we got to the gift shop! It was such an awesome experience! Seriously, even if you are not a Steelers fan, but are ever in Pittsburgh and need something to do, go tour the stadium. It’s really interesting to see how the different stadiums are built and what amenities they have.
Our next stop was the Pittsburgh Zoo. I am such a Zoo person! I love tooling around, looking at all the animals. I’ve turned Jay on to it and the kids always enjoy it. I love being able to see what different zoos look like and the various ways they set up the animal habitats. This zoo was pretty amazing. They even had an aquarium in the zoo. The closest aquarium we have near us back home is in Chicago. This aquarium was not as big as the Shedd Aquarium, but it was still very nice. The best exhibit for me had to be the Sea Otters. They were so cool. I always forget how large Sea Otters actually are!
We had some really good pizza from Fox’s Den pizza in Somerset and called it a night. We are heading to Kennywood Amusement Park tomorrow!!
DAY 6: Thursday:
Today was going to be another busy day as we were heading to Kennywood Amusement Park. So again I was up and at em early to get a good run in! 5 miles down and up the mountain. I even went up a little beyond our subdivision to the next one to see what was up there. I was definitely pushing myself today after all the walking we did yesterday! My legs were seriously burning!! But again it was a nice run to start the day. Cloudy, cool, and humid, so I was drenched coming home, but I seriously loved it! And now I’ll be ready to tackle the craziness of the day taking 2 kiddos to an amusement park!!
Ok! So I was both dreading and totally excited for Kennywood. Here’s why: I am terribly afraid of heights and I’m claustrophobic, but I really want to experience these things with my kids and my hubby raved and raved about this place! So I pulled on my big girl panties and put on my happy face! It actually was a lot of fun. We didn’t go on many “big” rides since the kids weren’t tall enough anyway, so it really wasn’t too bad. We really just stuck to the kiddie rides and the rides that were more of a show or walk through. It was a lot of fun! Until after we were done eating lunch and it decided to rain! We stuck it out for awhile, got some ponchos, and let the kids go on some more kiddie rides. It wasn’t too bad actually, but the management decided to close the park for the day. Luckily, they were giving out free passes for another day to the park because of it! Score for us! It ended up raining pretty much all night.
It must have been character day at Kennywood, because we didn’t see them Friday when we returned. The kids were so excited to see Spiderman, Batman, Captain America, Elsa, Anna, Belle, and Rapunzel! Such a cool experience for them! It was almost like we were at Disney or Universal Studios!
After a busy day of walking all over the place and getting rained on, we came back to the townhouse to grill out. Poor hubby had to grill in the rain. We had purchased some chicken and pork chops at the store when we first arrived so we grilled those up with some baby potatoes. It was delicious! My body was thankful for some real food. At this point we had been eating out pretty much the entire time. My body was craving real food and not all the junk we had been eating. Then it was time to relax and off to bed for another exciting adventure tomorrow!
DAY 7: Friday:
Today was another 5 mile run using the same route as yesterday. However the weather was much better today! It was bright and sunny by the time I was done. We even saw a deer in the backyard before we left for Kennywood again. I really can feel the muscles in my legs this week! I am definitely using different leg muscles on these runs! I hope my pacing at home improves because of it!
So today was Kennywood part 2! It was pretty awesome that the park gave us free passes since they closed early yesterday! And lucky for us we didn’t have anything planned for today so we could come back. The weather was perfect today! A little warm but sunny and pleasant! We spent a good portion of our afternoon at Kennywood riding the rides, eating junky food, and just having a blast. The kids loved more of the bigger rides that we went on today. Their favorite was by far the Log Jammer which is a water ride that sends you down a steep hill in a log canoe! All 4 of us were in the log together! We screamed and laughed and got wet together! Such a fun time!
This was another one of the highlights of the day: riding the cars where the adults HAVE to sit in the back! They loved it and Maddie actually thought she was driving! What a goof!
Our next stop of the day was the Duquesne Incline Train. Like I said earlier, I am deathly afraid of heights and claustrophobic, so this was pure torture for me! I did my very best to stay calm on the ride up but as we were looking at the souveniers and the sights from the top, I totally had a nervous breakdown! I ended up crying pretty much all the way down the train. It was awful! Luckily, the kids couldn’t really tell and we made it down alive and in one piece!
We even saw a big freight train when we got back down. He even blew his horn for us while he was stopped! EJ thought is was the greatest thing!
Our final stop of the day before heading home was Golden Corral for dinner. Let’s just say that the food was ok and the service was very poor, to put it nicely. But we were so hungry by that time that it really didn’t matter. The kids thought it was super cool! It was the first time they had been to a buffet like this so their eyes were huge when they saw all the choices, especially the dessert choices. Needless to say, we all ate way too much and the kids were flying high on sugar for much of the ride home until they passed out!
DAY 8: Saturday:
Today it was pouring down rain so no run for me! I was so bummed! I really wanted to run my mountain again. At least I brought my DVDs with me. So I popped in P90X Plyometrics and jumped around the living room for an hour! It definitely burned some calories and hopefully some of the goo from around my middle. By this time I was so looking forward to heading home so that I can get back on track with eating healthy foods! Overall, it was a very nice workout!
Today we were headed to Claudine and Gary’s house in Oakdale for a cookout with all of Marge’s brothers and sisters and extended family. Gary and Claudine have a pool so that’s all the kids were excited about. It was a very nice afternoon. The rain came and went several times and the kids and I were in and out of the pool multiple times, but it was worth it for how happy they were. It was very nice meeting all of my extended family as well. They are wonderful people and I hope we get to see them again sooner rather than later.
DAY 9: Sunday:
It was raining yet again today so my run was cut short. I was really looking forward to running my mountain one last time before we left but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. So today’s run was just 2.4 miles around the subdivision. I knew I would be wet regardless and it wasn't raining too hard so I did it! I’m happy I did!
We did some relaxing and cleaning up this morning before heading to Ligonier to look around and hit up a grocery store one more time to bring goodies home with us. We found this really awesome ice cream shoppe and book store. The ice cream was amazing and I found some books by local authors at the book store that were autographed! Super awesome find!
After tooling around and getting our groceries, we headed back to the townhouse to finish cleaning up, packing, eat dinner, and relax for the rest of the night. We needed to get to bed early so we could be up to head back to WI the next morning. (On a side note, ice cream and I are now divorced. I am slightly lactose intolerant, but it is significant with ice cream unless I take a lactaid or something like it. Well, I didn’t when we had our ice cream today. I ended up getting very sick in the middle of the night. I had stomach cramps so bad, I thought I was in labor! That was the final straw! I never ever want to feel like that again so we are now divorced!)
DAY 10: Monday:
Today we are travelling back to WI. We were up by 3:00 am to do final packing and get everyone in the truck. We ended up leaving by about 4:30. Not too bad since we will gain an hour back with the time change. It was a long drive and it sucked. I felt tired and bloated and gross the whole time. I drove for awhile, but Jay drove for the most part. I was so excited to be home after driving through Chicago! Traffic there is bad no matter what time it is! Plus it started to downpour! It was so bad, we could hardly see the road!
Thankfully we made is home by 3:30. I was so excited. The rain had stopped and by the time we had the truck unpacked, the sun was out! I decided to hit up my local running grounds for some well deserved miles. I got in 5 miles this afternoon and felt so much better! I love running and I am glad I could keep it up while we were on vacation.
So I hoped you enjoyed hearing about my running adventures and what we did on our PA vacation! I hope you know me a little bit more and still want to follow me! I am open and honest and want to share my experiences with all of you!
Thanks for reading!
Run on, my fast friends, run on!
Laura
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