This is my third Life Lately post in a row to include travel! Honestly, I’m glad to have no more travel planned for a while. As much as I love it, but it’s also tiring, and I’m ready to be at home for a while. But this month wasn’t only travel – here’s what else I’ve been up to.
Right before I left for Charleston, I presented at Pitt’s Diversity Summit about the importance of including disabled people in policy. Part of the presentation was about disability policy over the years – this slide is about something that happened in 2022! It’s an excellent example of the fact that no matter what we think has changed in terms of disability stigma, we still have a loooong way to go.
Charleston is about a 10 hour drive from Pittsburgh, and that’s just too long for my sister and I to do in one day. We can’t really eat or drink while driving, and if we make too many rest stops for us to snack, a 10 hour drive easily becomes 12 or 13 hours. So we split the drive up into two days. But because packing and unpacking (even for a one night stay – see this post!) takes us quite a while, we decided to leave Pittsburgh Friday, spend the day at a hotel Saturday to “recover” from the first half of the drive, and then leave for Charleston on Sunday. Halfway between Pittsburgh and Charleston is Wytheville… a very small town, but with absolutely gorgeous views. The second picture is from the hotel parking lot!
Every time we travel with Lily, she finds a “safe space” in whatever hotel we’re staying in. In Wytheville, it was this little tunnel she created by pulling the comforter down over the edge of the bed. So silly!
I am SO excited that Pittsburgh is getting our own Jeni’s Ice Cream shop! I’ve ordered many pints of their ice cream from Whole Foods, but am really looking forward to trying more flavors.
I also went to the zoo here this past weekend! It was perfect weather – upper 70s, not too hot, not humid – so the animals were out and about. I love what the zoo has done for the zebra, elephant, and giraffe area over the last few years – they have so much more space to roam, and you can see them so much more closely too.
It’s also the Asian Lantern Festival right now at the zoo in the evenings. I’m hoping to make it sometime in September, but all the decorations are still out during the day – just not lit like they are at night. These wings were part of those decorations and so fun!
Finally – even though it’s mid-August, I am holding on to summer as tightly as I can! Still spending time reading on the patio, coffee in tow. I’m hoping the weather holds out for a while still!
