First Class!

You can read about our traveling saga a couple posts down. Long story short, we got bumped to first class on one of our flights. This pictures isn't very good but you can get a general idea. I had veggie ravioli with grilled zucchini in a marinara sauce. A side salad, a roll, and flourless chocolate cake. And we can't forget about the REAL silverware! They also served complimentary wine, beer, and liquor. I stuck with the water since I wasn't feeling well.

It was nice to be bumped up to first class but I would NEVER pay for it. You pay severl hundred more for a little more leg room and a meal? This meal was pretty good but not worth a couple hundred dollars.

Things you don't see in Dallas

While visiting Oregon, I saw a few things that you probably wouldn't see in Dallas.

#3 I opened the car door and found this....3 feet of snow! I couldn't get out of that side and had to crawl to the other side to get out.

#2 Snow in a shopping cart INSIDE a grocery store.

#1 A wood bear sitting on a toilet, yes a real toilet, in the front yard.

Christmas Traveling Saga

When the weather outside is frightful, airports can become less then delightful. Actually, our little saga had nothing to do with the weather but with mechanical issues. Let me back up a bit and say that I started getting sick the day after we arrived in Oregon and despite the meds and lots of vitamin C it only got worse. We left Oregon for the airport at 7am, drove for 4 hours to Boise, got on our plane and landed in Minnesota at 5:30pm. We got on our next flight that was only slightly delayed and headed home...just kidding! We got about 1/4 of the way to DFW when the we heard, "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We are having mechanical issues and need to go back to Minnesota. We'll be there in about 25 minutes." About 25 minutes later we heard, "We need to burn off some fuel before we land so we are going to fly around the city for about 50 minutes before we land." Long story short, by the time we landed back in Minnesota it was 10:20. We were originally scheduled to arrive at DFW by 10:05, very frusterating. They had another plane waiting for us when we landed but it wasn't going to get to DFW until 1:30AM. By then, I wasn't feeling well at all and just wanted to sleep. My wonderful hubby decided to ask if they would put us up in a hotel and get us on another flight the next day. They ended up putting us up in a nice hotel, giving us food vouchers, AND upgrading us to first class for the flight the next day!

Our flight didn't take off until 5pm so we had all day to kill time. Chase had never been to the Mall of America so that's where we headed. This was my third time to go and I still can't get over how big the place is. It's HUGE!

They have a store there that I just HAD to go see. Have you ever heard of Prairie Home Companion? No??? I grew up on this stuff! Now most kids grow up listening to sing-a-long tapes or Disney radio, not us. We listened to stories about Lake Wobegon with Garrison Kiellor. My dad loved this stuff. He could listen to it for hours. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click HERE, and you'll get a little insight to my early years. All that to say, the show is in Minneapolis and the Mall of America has store full of PHC t-shirts, Kiellor books, and CD's. My dad would be in heaven. This post is for you dad!

Side Note: I was the only person under the age of 55 in the store....

Below is a random pic of us in front of Kokomo restaurant in the mall.

PA Distribution Center-People, Scenery, Food

The Pennsylvania Distribution Center is the place where GAiN receives and sends it's humanitarian aid. Twice a year, we have a work project where thousands of volunteers come and help us process the aid. This year we had over 5,000 volunteers over the span of 9 days. They helped us process new and used clothing, medical supplies, shoes, school supplies, toys, and blankets. It was a lot of work but it was a blast!

People-

The first picture encompasses about a third of the DC...as you can see, there were a lot of people and even more stuff to process! I did a bunch of tours for groups as they came in for the first time and I told them that this DC contains a lot of stuff...but this stuff is used as a tool to meet physical needs so that ultimately we can meet spiritual needs.



We process thousand of blankets.

This is my friend and co-worker, Melissa, who was with the kids the entire project. She helped the kids tie gospel bead bracelets around the necks of TY beanie babies.

Mr. Dave is in charge of GAiN's water initiative. He set up a display at the PDC to help volunteers gain (ha! no pun intended) a glimpse of the worlds water issues. Did you know that over 6,000 children die every day from water related illnesses?

The first day I was at the PDC, I ran into this familiar family! Eric discipled Chase in college. They are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and now live in PA doing ministry. I had NO idea they were going to be there, and they had no idea I even worked for GAiN!

Scenery-

Our (GAiN staff) lodging was provided by people in the community who opened up their homes to us for 10 days. Myself, Melissa, and 3 other woman stayed with a wonderful couple who were involved in the Church of the Brethren (similar to Mennonites). They live very simply, make the most amazing food, and are a true delight to be around. The couple we stayed with has small crop of neck-pumpkins (they pronounced it puN-kins). Mr. Shirk raved about neck-pumpkins and how much better they are for 'pun-kin' pie. They sold their small crop in their shed. They kept a money box in the shed and placed a sign in front that read 'Neck Pumpkins $2 each, on the honor system.'

The next 2 pictures were taken right outside the PDC...if you can't tell by the pictures, the PDC was in the middle of no-where PA. Amish farms surrounded the DC, it was incredibly beautiful!

Food!-

I LOVE cultural food! It is one of my passions which is why I shop at so many ethnic grocery stores. Food is normally a large part of a culture so you can learn a lot about someone by understanding the food they eat and how it is prepared.

Below is a picture of Ham Balls.....yep, HAM. Balls. I wasn't too fond of it but at least I tried it. It's composed of shredded ham and a brown sugar type glaze packed tightly into the shape of a ball. It tasted good but had a unique texture that I didn't care for.

This one is a regular plane-Jane hamburger but it was served on a napkin! That's a first for me.

Ok, now for THE best gas station food EVER! I had heard from a couple people that I had to try the pretzel sandwich! As soon as I had an opportunity to get away from the DC, I went straight to Sheetz, a gas station that has AMAZING food!

Dun, dun na na! Behold, the pretzel sandwich! Yuuum Yum!

I also got a side of 3-cheese Mac & Cheese. It was the best gas station mac & cheese I've ever had! Oh, wait, I've never had gas station mac & cheese before Sheetz! It really was very good and creamy.

If your ever in the Lancaster County and see a Sheetz, STOP! Buy a pretzel sandwich! I might have to volunteer again for the PDC just for the opportunity to go to Sheetz.