Awake: 8:10am Temp 56 sleep 9+03 overcast overnight @ Indiana, PA
Mid morning, Kathy makes the traditional grocery run to Wal-Mart; after she returns, another grocery list came thru but we elect to speed straight to the Castle & later, walk to the Giant Eagle for exercise & to bring back those extra bags of goodies.
We weren’t in the Castle very long before K & I picked up (2) more healthy hiker volunteers to join us in “the walk:” Katrina & Karina. Giant Eagle is very conveniently located for the Foote Family; Kevin can easily run on foot over to the store, make a few purchases & be back within (15) min. Well, the (4) of us agreed that the long way around would be more interesting & healthier; besides, Kevin had coffee beans on his list also & Kathy had a plan.
Our trek took us thru the neighborhood of older, rather large homes on Grant Ave, past the construction on new dorms & continuing up the slope of the IUP campus (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) on one side & the brand new dorms on the other side. On the down slope of Grant Ave, Kathy guides us into a building where the Fullington Bus Line stops with service to downtown Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Airport. Down the long hall to the end is: “The Commonplace Coffeehouse” where Kathy bought a bag of roasted coffee beans from the Sumatra area of Indonesia for Kevin & Katrina bought drinks for herself & Karina.
From here, we switch over to the north side of the campus & follow the sidewalk back to Giant Eagle.
Our sight-seeing walk took a little longer than we expected & lunch was over when we returned; today’s dinner was “everybody do their own thing” with leftovers so K & I ate some pizza, green beans, etc.
Zack was already en route to Pittsburgh Airport to pick up KT whose flight last night was cancelled out of Chicago-Midway. Today she departs out of O’Hara.
Meanwhile, we say our goodbyes to Jason & Billie Anne who are returning to Washington, D.C. They are a very nice couple & a nice addition to our group.
Meanwhile #2, someone noticed how nice the weather has become today; so the boys challenge their sense of balance, equilibrium, steadiness, etc while climbing up & on the huge tree stump graveyard leftover from the felled tree of last summer. The boys did well & no one, to my knowledge, got a scratch. Of course, little Nathan had a big hand helping him throughout the course. The “house for sale” next door was also an attraction that we all looked over closely on the outside & where the boys played in the leaves before going back to the Castle.
The evening passed quickly & then we hear Zack & Katie arriving @ the back door. She promptly briefs us on her experiences of last night & a few more on today’s flight. After Z & KT fill their bodies with nourishment & reclaim their casualness, they both join Eriko & me in playing the new game of: “Blockus.” I like this game a lot but every game I’ve played when Eriko is also playing, has seen her victory; my section of property was partially responsible for the sponsorship….without my approval.
Lights out: 12:39am
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