Wawa, The Pope and Phil and Jim's

After my short sleep we went to breakfast at the hotel, packed up everything, got loaded in the van and headed south to Parkside, PA to get hoagies and cheesesteaks from Phil and Jim's (we think they are the best but up here it can cause an argument over who makes the best).  I haven't lived here in almost 50 years and so much has changed I can't figure things out by sight anymore so the GPS comes in handy.  We get there just as they open.  We order and the kids are having fun looking at all the varieties of Tasty Kakes they have here.  They have just started carrying more than Butterscotch Krimpets in our area...but those are Chris's favorite.  Since my luggage has not arrived and it had the insulated bag we were going to use to transport the sandwiches, we head to Walmart to get a cheap cooler and a few groceries to carry us over.

Tastykake selection
 

Phil and Jim's

We plug the beach address into the GPS and head to NJ.  The popular convenience stores here are called WAWA's vs our QT's or Race Trac's.  My friend Dave is a WAWA addict.  We are crossing the bridge from PA to NJ and there is a huge billboard with a picture of Pope Francis with the caption "WAWA Welcomes Pope Francis".  I don't know why this struck me so funny but it did and we passed it before I could get a photo.  I will get one on the way back for sure!  The balance of the ninety minute drive was uneventful.  The directions the lady gave to find and get into the condo were great and we unloaded and went to the beach to find my nephew and his family.  It is a beautiful day and the beach is crowded.  Teresa said we would never find them but she under estimates my ability!  We find them and visited for awhile and it was really hot on the beach.  They were having a fall festival on the boardwalk with lots of vendors selling everything from pope Tshirts to selfie sticks.  We walked a couple blocks and Teresa got Chris one that says "I was raised on TastyKakes and Cheesesteaks".  We went back to get the sandwiches and packed up and headed to visit mom.

Mom was sleeping when we got there but when we woke her up she got out from under the covers fully dressed including her tennis shoes!  She said she was going for a walk and we all followed after her!  OMG!  It had to be a funny sight watching all of us in  a line following behind her everywhere.   She obviously sees things moving and shapes and we followed her down the hall and into someone else's room that she didn't know.  Her roommate Helen, is a sweet lady and does help as best she can keep an eye on mom.  Helen is wheel chair bound and has memory issues so she can't do much to help but she is a sweet lady.  We make one more walk following her to a room where another couple is having dinner.  We set up and get her the sandwich and goodies we brought and she has some of everything but didn't eat much.  She did seem to enjoy everything but said she was tired and needed to go back to bed.  We get her back to her room and settled in bed and she was asleep soon after.  We left to go back to Sea Isle and hopefully the delivery service will be close to getting my luggage to me so that I can get a shower and some clean clothes.  We have been in touch with Carl who is our delivery person but we still have not gotten an ETA from Carl.  Teresa and the kids are going to meet their cousins and go to the boardwalk in Ocean City.  I decide to wait for Carl and not go with them.  Just before they left, Carl called and said he was coming into the parking lot!  Nineteen hours after the disappearance it is back in my possession...yay.  The kids left and I unpacked and got a shower and it felt so good to have clean clothes on again.  I relaxed after that until they got back home.  They had a great time and had Manco's pizza while riding the rides.  We all slept well since we were exhausted from the travel day.  So ended our first day.  All is well that ends well.