Friday, June 27.
15:00. Gabo leaves work after 8+ hours of work (you do the math). He does not take the usual route back home, and gets stuck in traffic. He will be pissed off for several hours.
16:20. Olesya and Gabo start their journey, from Brookline, MA.
19:30. First “pitt” stop at a McDonald’s on the road. And first ice cream for Gabo —he’s less pissed off now.

22:00. Gas stop. Gas is cheaper in PA, did you know?
23:30. Arrive at first destination, a Days Inn in Lewisburg, PA. Time to rest.

Saturday, June 28.
07:30. Gabo goes to grab something, for himself and for Olesya, from the complimentary breakfast. In this case that means granola bars, pop tarts, tea and coffee. Oh well, pop tarts are great anyway.
08:50. Check out. Back to the road, already wearing “formal” attire.
11:30. Pitt stop, at McDonalds, of course. Olesya gets a snack, and Gabo gets another ice cream.
13:00. Arrive to church. The minister is already there, and kindly welcomes the travelers —who, politically incorrectly, comment between themselves that, in PA, even in the Chinese church the minister is white. It’s early, but that’s OK, a break feels good, and so does some fluids management (drop some first, get more next). Time for a snack, too; Olesya and Gabo always pack a goody bag for their trips.
13:45. Kate and Shane are here. We start talking, catching up; it’s been a while.
14:00. The ceremony starts. Very nice music. Very very nice. (There will be a lot of really nice music that day.) Great (really good and really appropriate) joke of the minister to open the ceremony. The ceremony is brief, and very nice. Sha and Louis are now husband and wife. Nice.

15:15. After congratulating the newlyweds, a couple of group pictures, and some more hanging out there, the guests are free for almost two hours (the party starts at 17:00). Olesya and Gabo head for some sightseeing.
15:45. Arrive in Station Square. Walk around, take some pictures of Pittsburgh’s skyline, some more fluids (out and also in), and, of course, another ice cream (this time Olesya gets one, too).
16:45. Arrive in the Holiday Inn. It is the location of the party, and it is also where Olesya and Gabo are staying for the night. Check in, cool down for a few minutes, then down to the party.
17:15. Olesya and Gabo are sharing a table with Kate and Shane, and the conversation goes on nicely. There is the story about Frownie the Brownie, and the Angry Mob, and Olesya and Gabo love it. Kate and Shane are getting married soon, so wedding plans and details is a major topic in the conversation.

17:30. Andy arrives, then his wife Andrea, and daughter Allison. Andy is a natural for socializing, and the conversation keeps going on at the table. He then leaves, first to the microphone, as the master of ceremonies, then to every other table in the hall, to socialize, of course —with all that back and forth, he barely eats.
19:00. After dinner, Olesya and Gabo join some guests at the dancing floor. Then they head back to the table, for more conversation, and more desserts.
19:30. Sha throws the bouquet, and it goes straight inside one of the bowl-shaped lamps that’s hanging from the ceiling. Bulls eye. A one in a hundred chance event. All the single girls look up, in disbelief, to the lamp that holds the bouquet. We all laugh. (The bouquet will be rescued a couple of minutes later, and thrown again, this time successfully.)

21:00. Kate and Shane leave. A few minutes later, Olesya and Gabo leave, too. Time to rest.

Sunday, June 29.
9:00. Breakfast at the hotel; not sure it’s included. There are no hosts or waiters/waitresses around. Olesya and Gabo grab a table, and get some food from the buffet. Terrible service —really, remarkably bad. Eventually, it gets clear that breakfast is not complimentary. At least the food is good enough. Gabo explicitly comments on the terrible service at check out. From the response of the lady at the main desk, it looks like the management is aware of the situation, and that someone(s) may end up losing her(their) job that day.
10:30. Duquesne Incline. Cool.

11:30. Back on the highway, leaving Pittsburgh. Gabo realizes the car is low on gas. No gas stations near the highway for at least half an hour. The GPS finds the nearest gas station, about 10 min off the highway. The detour feels huge and wasteful. Gabo gets upset about it (yes, pissed off again).
13:45. Arrive at Fallingwater. Beautiful. (See Fallingwater)
15:30. Back to the road, on a small highway, heading for the turnpike. The GPS indicates a weird turn, out of the highway. Olesya and Gabo follow directions (they tend to be suspicious with weird directions, but this time, somehow, they trust the machine). The directions keep getting worse. At some point, the GPS asks Olesya and Gabo to get into a dirt road. After a minute, they decide to ignore the GPS, backtrack, and ask a person for directions. They ask the first farmer they find in the area. He laughs at them for trusting the “internet” directions. They laugh, too. It was quite funny, after all.
17:30. Dinner at Summerdale Diner, near Harrisburg. Local place, very tasty (and abundant) food. Ham steak with cherry sauce, pork chops in mushroom gravy, cole slaw, bakes potatos… To top it all, a huge peanut-butter pie with chocolate frosting and ice cream on the side for dessert —you know, low-calorie stuff. If the locals got surprised to see two foreign looking peole with accents entering the place, they are probably thrilled to see how much they can eat for their size. The best part is the bill: 26 bucks total.

18:30. Back on the road.
20:00. A storm catches up, and literally travels with Olesya and Gabo, heading east, for about two hours.
21:30. Gas stop (did I mention that gas is cheaper in PA?). Yes, it is still raining. Gabo checks the odometer, and guesses that the car is giving a ridiculous amount of miles per gallon. He attributes the unlikely estimate to a calculation error due to exhaustion. Back home, he would verify the estimate: almost 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Either the car is extremely efficient, or not only is the cost per gallon lower in PA, but the gallons are actually bigger.
23:30. Arrive at Quality Inn, Fishkill, NY. Brand new, much nicer than the Days Inn in Lewisburg.

Monday, June 30.
05:30. Gabo is in the shower.
06:00. Olesya and Gabo get some complimentary breakfast. This time, it really does look like breakfast (waffles, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, etc.).
06:15. Back on the road, for the last stretch. It will be a smooth drive, with no incidents. Olesya naps for a few minutes —she must be really tired, she can never fall asleep in the car.
10:00. Back home. Gabo changes clothes, and heads straight to the office. Eight long hours await him. The most difficult part is not the tight legs and sore back from all the driving, or being tired. The worst part is the feeling that the vacation is over (it was one weekend only, but it really felt like a whole vacation).

Thanks Sha and Louis, for a beautiful weeding, and a great excuse for a road trip. All the best to you!