Since returning from our vacation in July in Nova Scotia, I have had roller skates on and have hardly had a chance to sit still.
The genealogy committee began transcribing the marriage register which has taken quite a bit of time. We're not quite done yet. Then I became involved in learning about bar coding and inventory. That project has me completely befuddled.
In between all this, my husband and I traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my daughter and son-in-law. We left of Thursday and had an easy trip north. Friday we visited Sand Castle Winery and later in the afternoon we visited Washington Crossing. It was a very interesting historical exhibit. Saturday we met friends half-way between Wilkes Barre and Philadelphia in a town called Jim Thorpe. This is such a quaint town. The original name was Mauch Chunk but when Jim Thorpe was buried there the town changed its name. There is a train station, old jail, quaint shops, and nice restaurants. We had such fun. The climax of our visit was the next day.
On Sunday morning we were up at 6:00 am. We took the train from Warminster to Philadelphia. We walked from the station to the security check point so that we could enter into the area prepared for Pope Francis and the Papal Mass. We found an area near the barricade located between the second and third jumbotrons. That was at 9:00 am. We were prepared for the day with packed lunches, bottled water, and snacks. There were some really nice people who were waiting along with us and all through the day we watched more and more people stream into the secured area. Our friend Theresa from home joined us and it is amazing that we wer able to connect considering there were probably a million plus people on the Benjamin Franklin Boulevard.
Around 3:30 pm the papal parade began and we were all up on our feet waiting for Pope Francis to pass by. We were not sure which side of the road he would come down but our early arrival and great location paid off. We were located about 30 feet from the pope mobile as he passed by. My camera acted up just as he came by so I just watched him. He had a twinkle in his eye, a broad smile, and exuded a certain warmth.
Mass was beautiful. Philadelphia did an amazing job preparing for this event.
What a day!