Dear Reader,
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to fly out to Pennsylvania and spend quality time with Lauren's family and their ward. Having spend most of my time in the Utah bubble, it had slipped my mind how different another place can be, even if it is in the same country. It was a lovely experience because of these differences. I wanted to note a couple of the biggest differences that made me analyze my life a bit.
First off, I noticed that everything in the area we were in was "far away" from the next thing because of the difference in roads. Here in Utah it is custom to drive quickly on the freeway from place to place and go fast with speeds upwards of 80 mph (Note that the speed limit is only 70 mph in most places...just talking about the culture). Of all the driving we did last weekend, I never saw a road that had a speed limit more than 55 mph. Everything is so far apart because the speeds are slower. If something is 20 minutes away in Utah, it's probably 15-20 miles away. In Philadelphia, something that is 20 minutes away might only be 5 or 10 miles away just because the roads are laid out with slower speed limits.
The driver in me finds this extremely taxing. However, I discovered that this time in the car is great time for family conversations and bonding time. Not once during our activities did I find myself worrying about how long the drive was because we were able to have good discussions, tell jokes and ask questions. The first case I saw of this was the drive from the airport to Lauren's family's house. The drive is somewhere around an hour, but it was eaten up fast when I was chatting away with Lauren's dad in the car. We talked about all sorts of things and had a great time.
The second thing I noticed was the sense of family that everyone had in the area, both members of the church and non-members. It seemed that everyone was genuinely happy to see each other at all of the events we attended. Between a wedding reception, a missionary open house, ward choir, a baptism and a ward breakfast, there were many people who didn't hesitate in coming right up to me and asking my name. We chatted about all things going on in life and they were very hospitable.
It was a great trip. Taking the time to spend time with the most important people in our lives was the best way I could ask to celebrate memorial day weekend. A special thank you to all of our fallen soldiers who gave us the freedoms we enjoy today! If you have the chance to experience a different area, even if it's in same country, take the time to make the trip!
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to fly out to Pennsylvania and spend quality time with Lauren's family and their ward. Having spend most of my time in the Utah bubble, it had slipped my mind how different another place can be, even if it is in the same country. It was a lovely experience because of these differences. I wanted to note a couple of the biggest differences that made me analyze my life a bit.
First off, I noticed that everything in the area we were in was "far away" from the next thing because of the difference in roads. Here in Utah it is custom to drive quickly on the freeway from place to place and go fast with speeds upwards of 80 mph (Note that the speed limit is only 70 mph in most places...just talking about the culture). Of all the driving we did last weekend, I never saw a road that had a speed limit more than 55 mph. Everything is so far apart because the speeds are slower. If something is 20 minutes away in Utah, it's probably 15-20 miles away. In Philadelphia, something that is 20 minutes away might only be 5 or 10 miles away just because the roads are laid out with slower speed limits.
The driver in me finds this extremely taxing. However, I discovered that this time in the car is great time for family conversations and bonding time. Not once during our activities did I find myself worrying about how long the drive was because we were able to have good discussions, tell jokes and ask questions. The first case I saw of this was the drive from the airport to Lauren's family's house. The drive is somewhere around an hour, but it was eaten up fast when I was chatting away with Lauren's dad in the car. We talked about all sorts of things and had a great time.
The second thing I noticed was the sense of family that everyone had in the area, both members of the church and non-members. It seemed that everyone was genuinely happy to see each other at all of the events we attended. Between a wedding reception, a missionary open house, ward choir, a baptism and a ward breakfast, there were many people who didn't hesitate in coming right up to me and asking my name. We chatted about all things going on in life and they were very hospitable.
It was a great trip. Taking the time to spend time with the most important people in our lives was the best way I could ask to celebrate memorial day weekend. A special thank you to all of our fallen soldiers who gave us the freedoms we enjoy today! If you have the chance to experience a different area, even if it's in same country, take the time to make the trip!
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