Miss Minty Fresh

Kai and I took a quick (<24 hour) trip to St. Louis to see old friends.

This was the view from the place we stayed.  Kid you not:

I really loved these bronzes outside the stadium.  Someone gave this guy some shades:

Again, far too much time was spent seeking out wifi (for worky stuff, you see) instead of seeing familiar faces and places.  I definitely didn’t get to see everyone who I should have.  This always friggin’ happens.  Next time I’m in town, I’m taking the week off.  Even freelancers need vacations.

The view from the Skookul Expressway (ahem….Schuylkill, but you know how the locals say it):

Looking southbound down Quince Street (between Locust and Spruce).  It is by far my favorite block in all of the city:

Some old building ‘n’ shit:

Mosaic.  And in case you can’t get enough, go here:

Petals (and Simone.’s boots):

Franklin Street.  Duh:

Fashionably blurry (also from the Schuylkill Expressway, eastbound):

A green and white striped awning.  I liked it:

My favorite mural (a pixelated autumn scene) which has been tragically covered by a new building.  (#$%!).  My dear friend Kate had engagement pictures taken there to remember it by.  

Every time we return to Philly it is increasingly heartbreaking to leave.  With our lifestyle being what it is, we don’t know when we’ll ever have a living space without wheels.  

See my other very heartfelt I <3 Philadelphia posts here, here, here, and here.  Oh, and my baseball obsession really shows here, too.

More pictures from my parents’ yard.  Aside from sitting in an over air-conditioned coffeeshop while the power was out, that’s really all we did.  Oh, and laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry.

Apple blossoms:

Concord grapevine:

More apple blossoms:

Crabapple blossoms:

Apple leaf and backlighting:

Our ancient apple tree:

I feel like this cluster of blossoms turned its back on me:

Since we were “home” recently, I have many pictures to share.

Nazareth is where I grew up (though I always say I’m from Allentown when talking to non-Lehigh Valley residents…yes, like the Billy Joel song).  My parents have a really beautiful yard and I went crazy during the golden hour while we were there.

Dogwood:

Cedar shingles:

Pear leaves:

Lichens on the sour cherry tree:

Sour cherry blossoms:

[Future] Concord grapes:

Backyard at sunset:

Just a stopover.  I was nostalgic for collegetimes and wanted the memories to flood my brain.  Unfortunately, I was so busy with work that I barely did ANYthing.  I only stopped on campus to get a license plate frame and a onesie for Kai.  We did have dinner at one of my favorite places, though, the Little Grill:

Aside from that, the only pictures I took were of a drag show.

There’s not much to say.  We got there late because we stayed in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a couple days beforehand. 

It was cold.

I bought beer.

The End.

New Feature Time!

This is the plan, readers…each week I’m going to tell you about the town we just vacated.  If we found some great eats or pretty things you’ll hear about them here.  Perhaps these posts will inform a leisurely road trip or make some business travel more interesting.  Or maybe I’ll add to your armchair travel via the blogosphere (which is, by the way, a great way to entertain yourself).  

I’m way behind schedule so I’ll start off with the place we left a couple weeks ago:  Pikeville, Kentucky.

We were in no hurry to get there, as we heard from more seasoned circus folks that there wasn’t much to do or see, so we dawdled in Mobile (which I must write about because I loved it so much), got some new tires for the trailer, and then made our way north.  Due to some soaking rain that fell all day last Wednesday, we ended up getting stuck in the mud upon arrival at the grass lot.  We managed to get unstuck (with diesel-powered help) the next morning, and afterwards our truck looked the way a truck should look:

Aside from gawking at the clientele in the Super Walmart and visiting the laundromat that was also a tanning salon (really) we laid low and waited impatiently for Sunday.