Roadtrips, Rain, & Other Random Adventures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This week was filled with four more days of adventures with Mama Nance and a nearly rained out concert roadtrip.

Monday I worked a half day and then took mom to go pour candles at Mix Candle Co. for mother's day. I had gone to a similar place back home with friends and mom had expressed interest in going sometime. When I was trying to figure out fun things to do while she was here I looked to see if we had something similar and found Mix 15 minutes away and booked a time slot. We had a lot of fun finding our scent combos, picking out jars, and pouring the candles. They were doing a BOGO sale and you know how mom loves a good sale so we each poured two candles and they were even able to ship mom's home. 

While we waited for them to cure we took the opportunity to explore the Lawrenceville neighborhood. As we walked down main street we realized we had gone into one of the shops when we first got to Pittsburgh and were looking for furniture. It's so funny to slowly piece together different parts of the city. I will forever rely on my phone to get around but it is kind of a relief when I realize where something is so I know that if my phone ever died I could find my way back home, as pathetic as that sounds. 

Unfortunately we discovered that most of the restaurants and shops are closed on Mondays (of course) but we found a cute little cafe called Geppetto's that we ordered sandwiches and a crepe from. As we continued walking we found that same cemetery with the castle like gate we drove through with Tanner and Amanda so we walked through it and found some cool graves and pretty dogwood trees. It is so crazy how old everything is out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we picked up my candles Jaden came and picked us up and we went back home to get ready to go to the Pirates game. They were playing the Dodgers which was perfect since mom served her mission in LA so she loves the Dodgers. We told her we could sit on whichever side she wanted but she said to get tickets on the Pirates side so that is what we did. The Pirates actually won which is the first time we've seen that so that was exciting. There were three home runs which was really cool as well. It was a fun game and the stadium views will never get old. Such a cool spot.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesdays are my busiest call days and with Gretchen starting I figured I'd work a full day to stay caught up so mom worked on a puzzle and hung out with Jaden all day while I worked. They even watched Fiddler on the Roof together after discussing how the neighborhood we live in in Squirrel Hill is predominantly Jewish. I was fine to work through the showing of the movie since musicals are so not my thing. I know, I know I'm so uncultured. But I'll leave that for my mom and Jaden to enjoy. 

 

After work we tried to go to a pizza place we like called Mercurio's but for whatever reason they are closed on Tuesdays! Our luck I swear!!! 

 

So we decided to try a different place around the corner called Shady Grove. I had a BLT with yummy sweet potato tots and mom tried a sandwich with pierogies on it.  Pierogies are supposed to be another Pittsburgh classic dish. They are basically a pasta dough filled with potato; we had heard that we should try them at the baseball game so we got some there that were ok nothing too lifechanging. Then we went home and played dominoes for hours before bed almost making it through all 12 rounds before maxing out and calling it a night.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday I worked a half day, in the afternoon we ventured over to Frick Park and mansion. The Frick's were a rich family that had roots in Pittsburgh they also have a famous museum in NYC the Frick Collection. We were able to see their old cars and walk through the beautiful gardens and estate. Tours of the mansion had ended for the day but we were able to walk around the exterior and peek through some of the windows.

We went back home, made dinner and then ventured out to a rolled ice cream shop mom and I had seen on our walk in Lawrenceville for dessert. It was yummy last treat. We came back and mom packed up and we played some more games and hung out and chatted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday morning was time to go to the airport so we headed out and dropped mom off. This drop off wasn't nearly as emotional as the first one. I feel like I am going to see her again so soon in the summer! It was so crazy to watch later that day on Find my Friends that she was back in Utah after being with us in Pittsburgh that morning. So crazy but just feel so blessed that she has been able to come visit!

 

 

 

Friday was a full work day getting caught up from being in and out it felt good to get some projects wrapped up before the weekend. For Jaden's birthday I got him tickets to see Garth Brooks in Cincinatti at the Bengals' Paul Brown stadium. So we packed Friday, hung out with Zach and Jenna that evening and then got up the next morning and embarked on our 4 1/2 hour drive to Cincinatti. It's so interesting to think about if I would be willing to drive the equivalent time/distance back home in Utah it would be like driving down to St. George for a concert. Luckily most events are in the Salt Lake area but it is funny what roadtrips we've done out here and makes me want to take advantage of going more places back home in Utah. I've never been to Zions, or Bryce Canyon or Moab. 

We made it to Cincinatti and dropped off our bags at our Airbnb just outside the city and over the bridge in Newport Kentucky. It was cool to think about how we were only a couple of hours away from Bridger. The Airbnb is a story in itself. I didn't realize when I booked it that it was just a private room in someone's house. We never actually met the hosts because they were at work when we got there and asleep when we got in for the night. I'll get more to that later. Suffice it to say I will forever select the box that says "reserve whole house/apartment" and never book a private room again. 

We headed back into the city, parked in the same area we did when we first drove into Cincinatti with Tanner and Amanda to see Quinn XCII back in August when we first got out here. Crazy to think about how much has changed in almost a year. Jaden had called his buddy Rhett (who had lived in Cincinatti with his wife for a couple of years for work) and asked him what his dinner recommendations were. His first thought was a place called Mazunte Centro. He told us about this "taco pizza" thing that was to die for. We walked into the restaurant and the cashier verified that was one of the best things on the menu so we got one to split. It truly was delicious. We joked that we had to come all the way to Cincy to find good Mexican food. Their al pastor pork and salsa chicken was sooo yummy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finishing up dinner we headed over to the stadium and went to find our seats. I misread a sign upon entering and took us to the opposite side of the stadium from where our seats were. With the way the stadium was laid out we had to go back the way we had come and let's just say that we definitely got in our steps that day. We finally made it to our seats just in time to see dark storm clouds slowly closing in. We got to know the family sitting behind us after taking a picture for them and they took one for us. They said that they had gotten tickets back in 2020 pre-COVID and the concert had been postponed 4 times and they were hoping that nothing would stop it from happening that night even if it rained. I was getting nervous that we had driven almost five hours to come to a concert that would get weather delayed. We had heard it might rain so we came prepared with rain jackets and grocery bags for my hat.

 

 

 

And the thunder rolled....

 

Five minutes before the concert was supposed to start a sign came up on the jumbotrons announcing that there were severe weather warnings in the area and they were going to delay the concert start time until the warnings passed. They asked everyone to evacuate into terminals and tunnels where possible. Since we were in the upper bowl we moved up higher to where we would be covered by the awning at the very top of the stadium. And there we sat and waited, and waited, and waited. And it began to rain... finally two hours later they announced the warnings had passed, lightning was no longer in the area, and we were free to move back to our seats. It was still raining while we made our way back to our seats so both of our jeans were soaked within minutes. Luckily it was warm enough out that I never felt super cold. We weren't the worst off though there was a couple in front of us that had their baby at the concert and he didn't have a rain coat so I offered her one of my grocery bags I brought for my hat and they made him a makeshift poncho out of a grocery bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally the concert began and it truly was worth the drive, the rain and the wait. Garth is an incredible performer. His passion and energy is electric. We sang and danced and screamed til our voices were hoarse. At one point Jaden said, it would be so cool if Trisha came out and sang with him and lo and behold she did. It was so awesome. He played and played and played. At one point he called out "I know many of you have to get back home so feel free but for those of you who can stay I could do this all night." And then he played for another thirty minutes looking out into the crowd reading people's signs for song requests and playing them. It seriously was so fun. Memories we'll remember forever.   

 

By the time we made it back to the Airbnb it was nearly 2:30 a.m. We tried to be as quiet as possible as we made our way up to our room. And oh my gosh it had to be 80 degrees in there it was so miserably hot. That paired with the fact that we were in a room in someone's house made it nearly impossible to sleep. I know that's how Airbnb got it's start and it's not that I felt weird about the hosts I just didn't like being in someone's space like that. By 5:30 a.m. I was awake for good. At 6:00 I rolled over and said to Jade, "how long are we going to pretend to be asleep for?" He laughed and we got up and went out to our car and left. Jaden said now that I am more willing to go on roadtrips I need to learn how to drive for long periods of time so I drove home. Other than one detour when our map didn't calibrate correctly when we drove through a spaghetti bowl of exits and entrances I did good and made it back safe and sound with no harm or tickets. 

Overall it was such a fun trip and week in general, perfect way to spend the last week before school starts back up and we start preparing to move to Chicago.

Peaches

• Spending time with mom
• Pouring candles
• Pirates won a game
• Exploring some new parts of Pittsburgh
  
• Yummy taco pizza at Mazunto's
  
• Garth Brooks concert was amazing
• Trisha came out and sang with him
• Keile had baby Emie!!!
  

 

Pits

• Restaurants and shops being closed on random weekdays  
• Saying bye to mom 
• Thinking that Jaden didn't want to go to the concert
  
• Worrying the concert was going to be rained out
• Not realizing our Airbnb was a private room
•  Thinking I might get a ticket, so many freeways are marked 55 mph out here but no one abides by it, I don't know why they don't just up it
  

 

Lessons Learned

•  Chai tea, coconut and teakwood is a very yummy candle scent
  
• Check the box that says "whole house/apartment only" when reserving an Airbnb
• Garth Brooks never disappoints
• Take advantage of opportunities to go and see new things even if it's a bit of a drive