Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

I asked The Gryphon whether he wanted to go along, knowing that we were supposed to be back in Philadelphia in time for him to go to his gaming group. He was running a role playing campaign, so it was sort of important. He said sure, we could go.

Of course, after the decision was made, it took everyone about another hour to get out the door. So we started revising our time estimates of when we could make it back, but it still seemed feasible.

Originally, we wanted to eat at the Waffle Shop, which we should have known was a bad idea. When we got there, a huge line greeted us. The Waffle Shop is one of the most popular places in State College, and a lot of people feel they have to eat there when they come through town.

We were supposed to meet up with a couple other friends there, and they called to let us know they'd already gone to Perkins. So we headed over there. On our arrival, our friends let us know it was a 40-minute wait to get a table.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't have bothered me, frustrating as it was. But given our situation, all I could imagine was the clock ticking and ticking away. Fortunately, the group had already started talking about where else we could go. They jokingly suggested Sheetz, the convenience store chain in central Pennsylvania. Sheetz sells a variety of foods, changed to a cutesy name, such as "Shmuffins" and "Shbagels."

Sven said, "Yes, but their Shmeebone Steak is really bad, and their Shpork Chops are even worse. They need to stop."

My sister suggested the Dairy Cottage, which was right down the road and not very likely to be crowded. The Dairy Cottage is known more as an ice cream place, but they also serve food.

As soon as we walked in and looked at the menu, which was hung fast food style on a plastic sign above the counter, it was obvious that several members of the group were not thrilled about eating there. They were serving really basic sandwiches and soups.

Since my sister knew about our time dilemma, she suggested we eat there. She ordered an egg salad sandwich. Everyone but my sister, The Gryphon and I left to go find some Indian food. They all gave us hugs on their way out the door.

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich platter, which I could swear they told me came with macaroni and cheese. But when they brought it out to my table, instead it had a huge helping of macaroni salad. I ended up requesting a take out container and leaving half of it behind in my sister's refrigerator for her fiancé.

At my sister's suggestion, we bought some Dairy Cottage cheese, some cheddar and some Munster. Then it was back to her place to pack up the car and get my dog, Una.

I knew we'd have a tough time getting back in time, but I honestly thought it would be better than Friday, when we faced all the Penn State homecoming traffic. It's likely, however, we were still stuck amongst a number of alumni headed home. We hit bumper-to-bumper traffic again at the Route 322 construction near Lewistown.

At this point, I was just about to make a joke about how at least we didn't have to check in with my sister this time, when I remembered I'd left my phone charging in the guest room at her apartment. We used The Gryphon's phone to call her and leave a message.

She called us back when we were taking a break at a Hardee's outside Harrisburg. I told her that if she mailed me back the phone, I'd reimburse her for the cost. She said she'd get it in the mail as soon as she could. The irony is that the phone came in the mail this morning, when I finally got around to writing about it.

By now, The Gryphon had decided there was no point in racing to beat the clock when at the very best he'd be extremely late to his game. So he called the other players and told them he wouldn't be there.

Since we no longer had a deadline, we could relax. When we got home, we watched some more episode of Buffy and had some gourmet toasted cheese sandwiches. It was The Gryphon's idea to make them on sour dough bread with tomatoes and mango chutney.

I couldn't decide whether Una was sad or just tired after a long weekend. We thought maybe it was a little of both, since she probably already missed her sister, Emma, and my sister, as well. The one thing that would make her truly happy would be if all her favorite dogs and people lived together in one huge house. Then none of us would ever have to say good-bye, or even "see you later."

More from Homecoming weekend:

October 25, 2004 - Slacker Tour

October 26, 2004 - Dinner, No Dancing

Copyright 2004 by Alyce Wilson

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