Clap Reunion: Pittsburgh, September 2008

September 12–14, 2008

Clap Reunion, P-town style! We almost had the whole group there, but at the last moment Jo had to attend a work conference in Utah. We missed her, but kept her up-to-date on all the happenings. Steph returned from New Zealand with her new fiancé, Dale. She had a few weeks in the States to visit with friends and family and to and introduce them to Dale.

The panoramic view from the third-floor deck of Mr. Shapiro's house on Sunday morning, just before we all left.

I took Friday off from work and woke at 3am after not much sleep to begin the drive from Bean Town to the 'Burgh. Just me and the semis, truckin' through the early morning dawn. Thank goodness for the iPod connector and lots of good music to sing along to.

The drive was fairly rainy, but for the most part uneventful until the last bit when I had to bravely tackle the hill to get to Mr. Shapiro's house. Mr. Shapiro graciously let us take over his new house for the weekend. The three-story house was in an up-and-coming area of the city—quite literally.

Here's the visual: His first floor is at the same level as his neighbor's roof on the next street below. Quite an incline. I had to take it in first gear, which, to those who know what it's like to drive a standard transmission, means it's quite a grade. The pictures truly do not do it justice. Suffice to say I was literally shaking by the time I reached the top of the hill—the first time.

A hamburger the size of your head? Perfect for Steph.

Hooray for playing in the rain and fountains.

Janel and Ash flew in from Chicago and Grand Rapids, respectively, and beat me there. After flights and a ten-hour drive, we were all ready for some food, so we braved the rain (and the multitude of stairs) down to the shopping district for food and, of course, Yuengling.

Headed out in the rain. Note the steep drop off in front of us.

The stairs down to lunch.

After lunch, we played in the rain and fountains before deciding to see a movie to chill out. Burn After Reading was interesting, but perhaps not the correct movie for my particular state of mind at that particular moment. I'd have to see it again to be sure.

Dale and Steph tempting fate.

Dale and Mr. Shapiro hard at work.

After a bit of grocery shopping, Steph, Nellie, Ash, and I settled around the kitchen table (and a bottle of wine) to catch up. Dale and Mr. Shapiro cooked an amazing meal that we enjoyed on the porch overlooking the night skyline.

After dinner, we stayed up talking on the porch for hours. Ash and Nellie regaled us with tales from the hospital, we had a very animated and passionate discussion about American politics (which, as a Brit, Dale is fascinated with) and the West Wing, and Dale and I chatted about soccer/football. We went inside around 2am and finally crashed around 4am, making it a 25-hour stretch of awake time for me. Totally worth it to be with such fabulous company!

Albeit blurry, you get the idea of the view at night.

We managed to rouse ourselves sometime before noon on Saturday and drove to Squirrel Hill for breakfast at one of Steph's favorite spots, Pamela's.

Go Blue!

For the Michigan/Notre Dame game, we headed to a bar around the corner. Though we cheered boisterously enough to shatter a glass of beer, Blue just couldn't get it together against the Fighting Irish. We were fairly close to brawling with some rather obnoxious Notre Dame fans, however. Good thing we were still tired from the night before…