Yes, we got stuck in the mud in the parking lot of a grocery store outside of Lancaster, PA. How, you may ask?
Well, let me begin this story from where it makes sense...the beginning.
Memorial Day. May 26th. The Denyer Family (Steven, Carrie and Holden), their niece/cousin Kayla, and their uncle/brother/brother-in-law Tim all decide to drive to Gettysburg (very patriotic) and Hershey, PA for the day. The day starts out smoothly with a short easy drive to Gettysburg where the whole crew gets out into the beautiful, warm sunshine and enjoy the newly refurbished museum that was packed and long. (It actually was pretty cool...I would've spent more time looking at everything if there weren't so many people there that day). Rather than drive or walk the 2 hours it would take to experience the entire battlefield, the group decides to drive through downtown Gettysburg (the cutest little town EVER! next to my other favorite, Alexandria, VA) where the townsfolk were lining the streets getting ready for the annual Memorial Day Parade. They drive for a while longer through the gorgeous countryside of central Pennsylvania (I seriously LOVE the east coast for how green and lush everything is!) and finally arrive in Hershey. Yes. THE Hershey, home to Hershey chocolate factory and park. They walk towards the famous Chocolate World to the sounds of child's playtime music, getting more and more excited every step. The first stop is the "tour" of Hershey's factory. It's almost like the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland, only with cows. and chocolate. and the sweet sweet smell of chocolate wafting through the ride, tickling one's tastebuds and nose. The three sweetest cows, Harmony, Gabby and Olympia, sing of how the chocolate is collected and made into "HERSHEY'S MILK CHOCOLATE." Remnants of childhood days attending Chuck E Cheese bore through the participants' memories. After leaving the ride, the group recieves two pieces of Hershey's Bliss chocolate, chocolate that literally melts in one's mouth. Quite delectible. And as good marketers know, the way to gain more customers is to place its store at the end of its one and only indoor ride. Smart people. Wandering through the rows and rows of chocolate-kisses, hugs, kit kats, mauna loa macademias (my personal favorite), the classic chocolate bar-one can't help but begin to salivate for the delicious taste of chocolate on their tongue. After finding the world's largest chocolate bar AND kiss (with pictures to boot) the group is on their way to the Hershey museum where they learn of Milton S. Hershey's legacy. Of the KISStory of Hershey's kisses and of the famous HersheyPark, which this group was not able to experience for themselves :( (Carrie is 8 months pregnant and unable to ride anything, and Holden is 3, too young and small to ride either, so the decision was made that it wasn't worth the money to go inside). After another jaunt through the "cow ride" as Holden put it, the group was on their way to the famous Smart Shopper grocery store, where Carrie was eager to buy extremely cheap groceries and sweets (as if they didn't already have enough from the Hershey store). Now this is where the excitement begins. Once pulling off the road and making it into the parking lot of this previously mentioned store, Carrie and Steven realized there were no cars there, so the store was either out of business or closed early for the holiday. The fact that there were HUGE piles of dirt in the middle of the parking lot, covering the majority of the light poles it surrounded, added to this sense of permanent closure. After futher inspection however, the adults realized the store had closed early, in fact only an hour before. For shame. Steven, the ever enthusiastic off-roader with his Toyota FJ Cruiser, decided to take the family for an adventure through the dirt piles so placed in the lot. Instead of taking a "path" that Carrie saw earlier, he decided to take another less traveled road. (FYI, young Holden was asleep during all of this and only awoke once his head started bashing the side of his car seat). Halfway into the so called path, Steven realized it did not go through to anything and that there was a huge puddle of mud. But he believed in his truck and thought it strong enough to make it through the puddle of water and mud and back out again. However, once moving forward, the group heard a siren, a loud police siren that was getting louder by the moment. Were the police patrolling the area? Were they about to cite poor Steven for his mere adventureness? Steven quickly stopped the car, thus forcing it to become stuck in the thick puddle of mud he believed his car could handle. Alas (or luckily, however you'd like to see it) the police siren died away as it drove into the distance. Steven then tried to drive the car forward, only to find out that it was indeed stalled, at least for a moment. Tim offered to get out to direct it, but Steven was positive he didn't need it. Needless to say, Tim got out, as did Carrie, to witness the extreme dilemma Steven had gotten them all into. Carrie, at 8 months pregnant, should not have had to go through this stress. Tim, as her brother, was worried she would give birth then and there. Kayla and the unbeknownst Holden, were still in the car. Kayla was laughing hysterically as Steven manuevered the car forward and back, trying to get the car unstuck. Bouncing up and down and side to side, it was at this moment that young Holden was jolted awake, almost like a parent in an earthquake, to find his cousin laughing at the hilarity of the situation and his father struggling to keep the car straight, but keeping his composure all the same. Once freed from the mud's tightening grasp, Carrie and Tim returned to the vehicle to inform Steven of his perilous plight and of how the mud was literally up to the top of his tires. Backing out of said parking lot, the group continued on their way, onto a place called Lancaster, PA, where the Amish people roam free and cities are named Intercourse. Yes, Intercourse. (Again, pictures to follow). The car, after being put through all of that stress, had a difficult time manuevering the highway, throwing mud everywhere and shaking from side to side. Yes, the alignment was indeed off. Alas, such is life. Once on the 30 in Lancaster County, the group drove and drove, looking for what, Kayla was not sure. All she knew was the area was beautiful but unusual. They passed through Paradise and Almost Paradise, almost into Coatesville, when they realized they were not where they were meant to be and not a sight of Amish had been seen. Turning around and driving back the way they came, they finally established their lostness. Never once had this happened...Carrie had the whole trip mapped out and was very sure of where she thought she was. However, something had gone wrong and the group was not where they wanted to be. They finally stopped at the PA Dutch restaurant Good N Plenty, thinking it was the place Carrie and Steven remembered from their last trip, but it was not. So they got back in the car and continued driving, trying to remember where it was. Kayla fortunately had a friend that lived there and he suggested places, but Carrie and Steven could not remember the name of that restaurant so Aaron's help was futile. So the group carried on, back to their state of Maryland through the back roads and heavy rain and lightening. Most fell asleep on the drive back, only to be awoken when they stopped outside the city of Germantown for food at the Cracker Barrel, where the food was so so and the service, minimal. They learned then that they should not try to do so many things in one day because in the end, they all ended up tired and cranky. THE END.
HAHA. wow that was fun. if it was long, I apologize, but it was the only way i could think to describe the antics of monday. wow. what fun. Again, I'd post pictures, if only my computer were working. Eventually they'll be up.
On another note...I finally got a job. I'm working at Express and am pretty excited/nervous about it. The girl I trained with, Alex, seems cool, so it'll be nice to have a friend out here finally. I trained today and then finish Monday. After that, I'm not sure how it'll be. Jason is coming down tomorrow night to pick me up and take me back to PA Saturday morning, where I'll be until Sunday. Pretty excited for that. I'm sure it'll be fun. I'll post more about my adventures as they come so that you don't have to read insanely long posts anymore :)
