I didn’t cry at all before Army Guy dropped me off at Philadelphia International.  I simply said I’ll see you later and gave him a monstrous hug.  Later simply meaning when he comes home for good.  Which is not too long from now!

The things that make my heart full….

Whilst visiting the east, I discovered I had a new addiction.  Wawa coffee.  Oh my gosh y’all, this stuff is soooo much better than Starbucks and is GLUTEN FREE!  Now, the question is….why didn’t we go here before?!  Oh yeah….Keurig…I forgot.

He actually shared with me.  Mostly because there was no way I was going to be able to finish off coffee before my flight and I couldn’t take it with me through security…..talk about happiness.

The official last photo, just before I hopped out of the car and checked into the airport….7 hours early. Pretty sure he’s going to read this and totally shake his head over the fact that I indeed was at the airport waaaaay before boarding time.

Hands down, the best Gluten Free rolls I had ever tasted in my life.  Reminded me of the ones you get from restaurants on a normal non-gluten free visit.  Wished I would’ve had my waiter send me home with a dozen of these babies.

Another round of Gluten Free Calamari.  Definitely was no comparison to the Calamari I had in downtown Philly.  Although, the crab cakes I had were delicious!!

I decided to play tourist and check out every single terminal while in the Philadelphia airport.  It gave me something to do, until I just sat down next to a power outlet and shopped the day away….on Amazon.

Finally dawned on me that I was actually catching this flight out of Philly and that Delta hadn’t screwed up.  Talk about a sad realization — but there has already been talk of my next visit, which makes leaving not so sad now.

Not sure exactly which state I was flying over, but I did wind up FaceTiming my Mom from 38,000 feet.  This techy girl was beyond excited about this new life fact.  Now….I need to try Skype….hint hint.

Walked up the steps of the plane to board in Memphis.  I was not at all excited about this, but whatever.  I was going home and leaving Philly behind.  Didn’t want to do it, but I did.

Last leg.  Y’all, words can not express just how bored I got during this flight.  Army Guy was busy doing his thing and my parents were busy shopping in Oklahoma City.  They were still shopping at Bass Pro when I was 5 minutes out from landing.  Silly parents.

Flying over my Twin in Arkansas.    I was soooo glad to be almost home and see my Dogs.  Yes, that’s right….I missed my crazy Pooches very much.  Not sure I could have gone much longer without seeing them.  Thankful that my Mom & Dad kept them during my vacation because I’m not sure what I’d do without the daily pictures and phone updates on the quirky things they did at their Grandparents house.

…Delta screwed me over and I stayed an extra night in Delaware?  Yeah, Hot Stuff was thrilled about that, until he realized it wasn’t my fault.  Yes, I do plan on giving him a hard time about this for years to come.

I fear I may be shot for posting this….but I thought it was a great auto timer shot.  Audios, Delaware.  See ya next trip out…when things are warmer, don’t require Uggs and are GREEN!!

What you don’t see are all the tears rolling down my face, a good thing.  What you do see is that I was officially in Pennsylvania due to the Welcome sign.  Now…I wonder how many more east coast states I can visit?!

No time to hit up New Jersey, but hopefully I’ll get to in the future.  I’m not into the Jersey Shore show, but I do have some family that lives in this state.  No, they’re not at all like the Jersey Shore cast members.

Dropping me off at Philadelphia International, completely unaware of what the next few hours were going to hold for the both of us.  Little did I know, this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw my Army Guy before he left. hehehe.  Thanks, Delta.

My plane was still at the gate and I couldn’t figure out why, according to Delta, I had missed my flight.  Turns out, some employee had tried to check me in under the flight that had already left.  Talk about one upset Oklahoma girl and consequently having to explain this to Army Guy who wasn’t happy about all of this until he heard the Delta screwed up, it wasn’t me story.

Why oh why does this picture make me laugh out loud?  Batman was doing some butt kicking and I was getting to watch the entire thing.  There were a few too many times I yelled the game — that I do remember.  Am I a gamer, yes.

Total concentration.  Batman has nothing on him.  Pretty sure I have 42 pictures of him doing the exact same thing and me making funny faces at the camera.  I may or may not of had fun while doing this.

Thankfully my long day I had just had was about over….well either that or I was still taking random photos.  Hot Stuff would be sweet every now & then — when he wasn’t getting his butt kicked. Muahahaha.  Overall, it was a great last night in Delaware with one amazing guy.

Could he not pick his own nose?  Jeebus.  Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to be playing on his Xbox and not interrupting my iPad/iPhone photo taking, app downloading & texting geekiness?!

OK — so I learned what a Bearfight was while out East.  Completely new experience for me and very much like the drinking games here.  What you do is —- race to see who is the fastest in chugging both an Irish Car Bomb and a Jägerbomb.  I hate Jäger and I’m allergic to Guinness, so there was no way I was going to participate.  Besides, I was the DD of the evening, so I can technically say I’ve driven in Delaware.   Funny how the smallest things make this girl happy.

This was during the Bearfight Championship game for the women.  I must say it was great to watch everyone get into Bearfights, something I don’t think I could ever do.  Way to go ladies!!  Of course being home on R&R, Mr. Army Guy had to participate.  I had a great laugh watching everyone take their Bearfights, including one Army guy who hadn’t drank anything in 7 months.  Eeeeevil of me, isn’t it?   Awwwwwwwwwwww.  I think I grew some between this shot and and the few we took earlier.  Never mind the 3 inch stiletto boots I had on my feet….  I had a great time making new friends and learning all about hockey.  Which means the bar had the Flyers on, so I got to watch that while Mr. Army Guy mingled.  I must say…I’m well on my way to becoming a hockey fan.     The ending to my night out?  Cocoa Pebbles!!!  Y’all have no idea how excited I got in the grocery store when I found these things.  Mr. Army Guy had spotted them in another cart and I didn’t believe him until he found them on the cereal aisle.

I’m slowly learning about all the things you must do while on R&R.  One of those things included test driving a new car.  Something about needing my approval in this car adventure…or something.   So, off we went to Pennsylvania…  Yes, Mom your precious cargo was well taken care of.

 

Headed out of Delaware and into Pennsylvania.  Driving to a different state out there is like driving to Oklahoma City or Tulsa for us Okies.  I tried to explain this to my family members, I just think they were in shock because I just flip flopped between states the entire time out on the east coast. 

Test drivin’ a new GTI….it’s a Volkswagen in case y’all didn’t catch the logo.  I was quite impressed with it to say the least.  Luckily for Army Guy, he has more luck with VW’s than I do.  Needless to say the GTI got my approval…it just won’t ever be driven by me….  He’s buying it in a Manual and well….we just won’t list the reasons why I don’t get along with standards. Would you check out that smile…someone’s happy.  Gorgeous view isn’t it…and I’m totally talking about the car by the way…hehe.  I had a fabulous time driving down some of Penn.’s back roads.  It reminded me of driving in the mountains of Arkansas, minus all the trees and Timbo Mountain curves.    

Hot Stuff decided to take me to West Chester, PA while we were in the area of the VW dealership.  I fell in love with all of these east coast towns, they’re so homey not like all of these Okieville towns I’m used to.    Just in case y’all aren’t sure about where I was at here’s a little info…Bam Margera is from this area…which means a majority of the Jackass episodes have been filmed here.  If that doesn’t do anything for ya…there were a few scenes from Marley & Me filmed here, too.  I didn’t know that last fact off the top of my head — I totally just looked it up.I think this was the street with all of the bars on it.  One of these is the place where Ryan Dunn was last seen before his crash not too far from here.  Talk about reality and actually seeing things you had only heard about or seen via the media.  

I’m not sure I could do without my wide open spaces….and green grass to walk through whenever I wanted…but it looks like a cosey little town to me!

Be prepared for a TON of pictures and a little bit of explanation.  Mostly because I don’t want to forget what I did or saw on my trip to Philadelphia.  I mean, for a history buff like myself I was heaven.

Center City Philadelphia.  If you’ll look back on the night photos, this is the same exact view.  Pretty neat isn’t it?

Looking down from the 21st floor.  I had a blast staying at the Palomar and hope to go back someday.

Raiding the Mini Bar.  $7 for a bag of M&Ms is almost as bad as the M&M adventure in NYC with my Dad. hehehe.

Looks like someone reads my blog…  The first stop on the adventure around Philly was Love Park.  Just wish it was summer time and the fountain was going….maybe next time.

I don’t think there has ever been a time where I’ve been to the east coast & it hasn’t rained.

More of LOVE Park.  Again, can’t wait to see this place in the summer time.  I’ve seen pictures and it’s gorgeous.

Philly has it’s own Chinatown, I didn’t believe it til’ I saw it.  Could’ve told me I was in NYC and I would’ve believed you — kinda.

A fresh market inside.  Everything smelled amazing and looked fabulous.  I just wish I wasn’t allergic to Gluten.

City Hall in Philly.  Isn’t the architecture amazing??  Growing up in Okie Land I really couldn’t believe this was City Hall….I’m not used to seeing things like this.

Another view of City Hall.  Pretty awesome to see in person.

Catching up on some Philly history.  He probably just got tired of me reading everything.

There it is!!!  Someone sure wasn’t excited to see this {note the sarcasm}.  I even called my Dad to say “Guess Where I Am?!”, I am a nerd.

Just wow.  I’m still in shock…a week later….

Seeing the Liberty Bell with my Army Guy.  Can you tell I was speechless about seeing the LB in person?!  I’m still amazed.

It’s the Liberty Bell y’all.  The things you see in history books actually became a reality on this trip…now if only I could do some arm twisting for my future visits. =)

The United States Mint.  In other words, where that crisp $20 bill in my wallet came from.

National Constitution Center.  We walked in, decided it wasn’t for us and walked out.

 

Independence Hall.  Where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Have I mentioned how excited I was to see this?? Army guy made fun of me the entire time because I was excited over everything.  Does he not understand we don’t have these things in Okieville?!

The Declaration House.  Where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.  Now, how’s that for a history lesson today?

Just because I had to get a picture with Pennsylvania in there somewhere.  It just so happened to be with the convention center building…ha.

I’m pretty sure Hot Stuff was getting tired of me taking pictures….and because I was a little bored waiting on the valet to bring the car around I took a few more of us.

Ohhhhhh the things that remind me of NYC.  Have I mentioned just how much I love that city — just as long as I don’t have to live there.

The Phillies Ballpark.  I need go to see a game here…preferably one where they play the Yankees.

Told ya, when I visit the East Coast it always rains.  Could we do something about this in the future, please?

 

 

 

Let’s preface by saying I got off of my last plane without harming anyone.  I loathe getting off a plane, there’s no system so it’s more like a free for all.  That might be my number one thing I hate about flying….besides turbulence.

Funny thing is that I landed in Philadelphia 30 minutes ahead of time, so Mr. Army guy really had to get to moving when I texted him and said Jussssst Landed!!!  Pretty sure there were more explanation points — but whatever.  Since there wasn’t a gate for our plane to go into, I got to sit on the runway making phone calls back home to say “I’m Here“.  (It wasn’t just me who was excited about this trip.)  This just gave Mr. Army guy more time to get to the airport to pick me up.  You see, if he had never said he was 15-20 minutes out — then I would’ve never known he was late.  Muahahaha!

There was a funny story involved about him picking me up from the airport though.  You see, I tried to surprise him…which just blew up in my face.  I didn’t call/text him when I got off the plane —- instead I rushed down to baggage claim and guess what, Mr. Army guy was nowhere to be found.  I called him to ask him where he was — still in the parking lot waiting on me to call him after I got off the plane.  HA!  Well there’s always next time.

After picking me up from the airport and getting my uber heavy loaded in the car, it was time to explore Delaware & Pennsylvania.  Talk about hitting two states on my never been to before list.

Because I’m allergic to Gluten, Mr. Army guy and I had to find places I could actually eat at.  One of these places was in Newark, DE which is where the University of Delaware is at for all of you out of towners who read my blog…we went to a local brewery; the  Iron Hill Brewery,  much like Coaches (for all of you locals).  Seriously, I plan on going back next time I’m in the area… *hint*hint*

Hehehe.  Looking over the wine list.  They had a fabulous selection and the Riesling I had was really good.  Which reminds me….I need to order some of that fabulous stuff for me!

Best Gluten Free Calamari I’ve ever had in my life.  This coming from the girl who doesn’t really care for sea food and hasn’t had any in years.  Around 80% of Square 1682 ‘s menu was GF, which made this girl excited beyond belief.  I know where I’ll be going while in Philly next time.

Center City in Philadelphia.  This felt like Oklahoma City’s Bricktown area more than anything.  Minus all the tall buildings and super busy streets and sidewalks.  I had a blast  at Hotel Palomar and I think Mr. Army guy did, too.

21st Floor of the Palomar looking down.  I really loved the view of Philadelphia and our hotel.  It was a great first day to the perfect trip I had out east…even if I had been up nearly 22 hours by the time we went to bed.

…and so caps the fabulous day I had in Philadelphia.  Get ready for tomorrow, it’s bound to be a history lesson y’all will never forget with plenty of pictures for the friends & family who read my blog.

 

If you follow Twitter or are a IRL (In Real Life) friend, you know I took a trip the last part of February.  A trip that had been 100+ days in the making.  Which is why I was beyond excited when the day finally came for me to get the heck out of Dodge and see one very special guy.

The sun came up during my flight.  Yes, during.  Talk about spectacular.  I guess this is what happens when you have a 6AM flight?  …and for the record…I hate early mornings, but didn’t mind flying out of Oklahoma on the first flight available.

I took full use of the wifi we had on the plane.  I mostly just read Twitter and Facebook and chatted with friends back in Oklahoma.  Confused more people than I ever thought possible because I kept getting messages and emails asking me if I missed my flight — instead I responded with, I’m in flight now.  Made my day.

Loved.  Loved.  Loved getting to see the sun come up over the clouds.  Turbulence was non-existent during both my flights which made the trip in that much more bearable (flying wise).

Almost to Philadelphia.  It just seemed like my flight was taking forever at this point.  Puddle jumping airports definitely wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and quite honestly I think I’ll be taking a direct flight next time.

Of course I was bound to get bored from a 2 hour long flight, so I snapped more pictures of myself, talked to my Momma some more over the wifi waves, chatted with friends back home and got a lovely message from my cousin telling me not to do anything he wouldn’t do….  I wonder about my family sometimes.  :: shakes head ::

…and this is where I started to get antsy….waiting for the plane to descend…  Because 30 minutes from this shot I got to see one amazing guy.

 

….stay tuned….