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Tomorrow we will be going to my dad’s house for Thanksgiving. We were planning to go today, but my head had other plans. I woke up this morning before 6 AM with a horrid horrid migraine. I won’t go into the details, but I wasn’t able to even drink anything till 2 PM. Ugh. I am feeling much better right now, and thankful that I do not get them frequently anymore. I can’t remember how frequently I got them as a kid– maybe one a month? I’m not even sure when I first got one, but I remember having one in Kindergarten, when I was 5, and it wasn’t my first one. The last incapacitating one I had was in April, and before that, it was last October, which isn’t that often, but before that it was like one per year for a few years, so I hope I’m not entering a more frequent migraine era. That would really stink.

Anyway, enough ramble about that. I forgot to mention that after this post last week, I DID have a Wawa Turkey Bowl. My first thought was that it was a little like dog food, but that didn’t stop me from having a second bite. The second bite was better (I think the first had too much gravy), and I actually enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow is our big Thanksgiving dinner at my dad’s house. I’m looking forward to it, but feeling guilty for not contributing anything… I asked a few times if I could bring anything, but never received a response, and planned on making the apple cupcakes today anyway… but the migraine interfered with those plans. Oh well… empty-handed. I’m sure there will be enough without us bringing something.

In 2000, we stopped in Bedford, PA to see the famous Coffee Pot that was along the Lincoln Highway. It was in sad shape, with a bulldozer parked precariously nearby.

I heard that an effort to save the Coffee Pot had succeeded, and we visited it in its new location a few years ago. Last Thursday, we stayed in Bedford on our way to Michigan and stopped by on Friday morning to say hello and snap some photos.

In early 2000, before I saw the coffee pot, I wrote a paper about “Duck Architecture” (The Development and Preservation of Signature Architecture in America can be found in PDF form here), and things were looking bleak for these roadside icons. I’m glad to see that the Coffee Pot is doing so well.

Here is someone else who is very interested in Roadside Architecture and has a great website documenting all different types of buildings. And here is her page on the Coffee Pot.

PS: I guess now is the time to confess that I have started drinking coffee again. It’s been a week, and not every day, but today, I bought freshly roasted shade-grown beans and a pint of half and half. Oh help.

We’re back from Michigan. Whoa, that was a long short trip! We did the whole 600 mile drive today, after first packing the car while one of us held Lilia (she woke up too early and with a stuffy nose… she had to be “holded”), doing a quick unfortunately unsuccessful search for a letterbox, and stopping at Zingerman’s Deli to buy a loaf of day-old Parmesan Pepper Bread. The loaf was consumed before we left got out of Ohio.

At a rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the A-Plus convenience store was selling shirts that said, “Pennsylvania, Established 1787.” While the shirt is right… Pennsylvania became a state in 1787 when it ratified the constitution… it just seems wrong to me. Pennsylvania as a place was established in 1681 by William Penn. It bugged me the whole way home. I guess that’s silly… even the state quarters put the date that the places became actual states:

I guess I started obsessing when I was sick of listening to the iPod and there was no good radio stations to be found. Next time, I will find something better to worry about on the turnpike!

Another month of Photos! Here’s October:

Tomorrow we drive back all day to Pennsylvania. Hope to make it home in time to post!

I think I left off with August, right? Here is the link to my September 2009 photos on Facebook.