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So, I had a very good trip to the east coast. I flew into Philadelphia on Saturday, then drove up to Wes and Kathy's place in Jersey City. We took the train into Manhattan and met up with Erica and Dan for lunch. We went to a restaurant in Little Italy (I don't remember the name of it) and had a very pleasant lunch. Afterwards, we went to a little cafe and had pastries and coffee and played with one another's cell phones - Erica has both a Blackberry and an iPhone. What does she need with both?! :-P Anyway, it would have been a perfect afternoon except for it rained nonstop while we were up there. Either way, it was a fantastic lunch, and I appreciate the four of them coming out in the rain to meet me.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. The bed and breakfast I stayed in was very nice, and the people that I trained in the office in Medford were fantastic. Ron, the boss, took me into downtown Philadelphia on Monday night, and gave me a mini-tour of all the historical places there. I saw Independence Hall, Christ Church, Carpenter's Hall, and the remnants of Ben Franklin's house. We had a nice dinner out there - we ate outside at a nice restaurant, and though the day was very hot and humid, the evening was very comfortable. On Tuesday night, I had my first real Philly Cheesesteak. I will say that (unfortunately) it didn't live up to the hype. Don't get me wrong - it was very good. But with all the hype, I was expecting an orgy in my mouth...

The only downside of the trip was the trip home. I had the nice Philadelphia to Minneapolis to Salt Lake City to Pasco trip. First, it took over an hour to get through security in Philadelphia. Then, my plane was delayed in Minneapolis, and I missed my connection in Salt Lake City. I was put on a later flight, which ended up being delayed almost an hour itself! All in all, I left my hotel in Medford at 6 AM EST/3 AM PST and didn't get home in Pasco until almost 10 PM PST/1 AM EST.