One of the things that greeted my in the lobby of the Sheraton... I guess I'm in the right place. |
The
actually driving started off with the usual traffic on the Schuylkill
Expressway and the flow easing up as I headed north on the Blue Route. Where I
would normally get off to head east however is where my route took a drastic
change and I continued north toward Scranton. I was making good time and was
slowly climbing further into the mountains when the mandatory coffee refill
rest stop beckoned me to come inside. Fresh coffee in hand I resumed traveling
and was turning onto I-80 shortly thereafter.
I
will say that hearing the GPS say ‘continue on this route for 176 miles’ is a
little disconcerting when it first echoes in the car but I had little choice in
the matter, I was taking the most direct route. After many miles of cruise
control travel winding back and forth between the endless streams of mountains,
it was time to make another stop. Fortunately, this highway (no tolls by the
way) had plenty of places to pull over and stretch. This is how I wound up in
Snow Shoe.
As
I had a meeting set up for shortly after my arrival, it made the stop a quick
one and pushed through to the end of I-80 before turning north for the final
stretch of my journey on I-79. Somehow, despite leaving the apartment later
than I would have liked, I arrived in Erie with enough time to check in, put my
bags in the room (I lucked out on Thursday night by booking the last available room at the Sheraton), and head down to the patio for the work meeting. During this
get together, arranged back in March when we were all in Atlanta, we went over
a lot of point, took some additional steps regarding working together moving
forward, and also got to know a little bit more about each other beyond work.
It was a great meeting that I am glad that we arranged while I happened to be
in town.
Obviously,
that meeting wasn’t the impetus for the trip. The reason I traveled all the way
across the commonwealth was for the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania which would be happening the following morning. These are the
kind of meetings that I highly recommend brothers attend if they are able, especially
when they are held a bit further from where they live. Within a few minutes of
my meeting coming to an end and while I was on the phone with my wife, the
District Deputy Grand Master noticed that I was sitting outside and invited me
to join him and the other Grand Lodge officers and their families for dinner
upstairs.
Here was the view I had out the back of the hotel before heading to dinner. |
While
I had planned on simply making the trip to attend the meeting on Saturday
morning, the day turned out to be much more than that. This entire evening was
as welcoming and friendly as any meeting I have been to since becoming a mason.
It truly was a family celebration during which all brothers joined together to
enjoy a great weekend of fellowship and freemasonry. I couldn’t have asked for
a better experience and one that I look forward to having again next year
(hopefully with my wife).
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