No you can't fence time and you can't stop love

Milage: 4,108. Best rando: Afternoon bout of frisbee after not playing the whole trip.

Rolling hills, country home.

I guess being away from Pennsylvania also made me realize how beautiful it was when I got home. After a wonderful weekend in Philly, a drive through Lancaster county and more Amish than I could ever imagine seeing at one time, it just seems natural to pull into my mountainside driveway under a sky splattered by stars and turn off the ignition for the last time.

There's plenty I think I learned on this trip, and there's plenty that got me thinking. Some places I think I could explore for years and not be finished with.

But still, there's nothing like coming home.

Super thanks to all those along the way who made it one of the best experiences of my life and made me so happy to be unemployed and 23.

Until next time, y'all.

Funny how a melody sounds like a memory, like the soundtrack to a July Saturday night

Milage: 3,974 and add a couple from our sick morning rain run. Best rando: Summer veggie&pepperjack cheese eggs on fresh local toast.

Gahhhh if I lived in Philly, I just picture Lar and I cooking seriously delicious meals, running along the water and going to fabulous little corners of the city all the time. Probably because that's basically what we do.

My brief weekend visit was enough to get my Philly fill for a little while, and it included many of my favorite people and activities. Not only did we go see Jackie's beautiful photographs at Head House Friday night (after a scrumptious quinoa-veggie meal), we went to the Zac Brown Band concert fo' free on Saturday night (shoutout: Thanks Christopher!!).

Coupled with some much-needed exercise and scrumptious food, the last weekend of my trip is a serious contender for my favorite. If only there had been a beach...

Where the wind blows babe you can bet I'll be riding high with it

Milage: 3,845. Best rando: Free junior frosty with gas purchase, seen below.

Today there was some seriously gloomy weather to match a gloomy mood. Not only did I have to head the 10 hours back up north, but the Freeh report (www.thefreehreportonpsu.com) was released and it's not looking good. I haven't read the whole document yet, but as sure as I'm a journalist I certainly will and I'm not looking forward to what it has to say.

This is not the venue where I'd like to really get into the whole situation, but I will say these are hard times for the whole Penn State community. There are a lot of people I can be praying for and it's going to take some serious healing time to get us back on track.

The drive got dreary around Alexandria as I was reminded both of the congestion of the northeast and angry rush hour drivers.

Made it safely to Baltimore and then I was pleasantly surprised when Jared showed me parts of the city besides Inner Harbor that I wasn't scared to be in. We had a delicious meal at Fells Point and caught a great sunset from a dock looking out to the Domino Sugar Factory. I finally then made it to Columbia to catch up with some more wonderful family.

It's a little sad to be near the end, but I guess that means the trip was as awesome as I hoped it would be.

We're giving this life everything we got and then some

Milage: 3,230. Best rando: Free condensed milk on my snocone at Folly.

All I could think of as I spent my last South Carolina hours on Folly Beach was these are the reasons I need to move here:

10. Because my kindle got a little sandy and nothing bad happened.
9. I could have awesome calves from running on the beach all the time.
8. Everybody knows curly hair loves saltwater.
7. The always lovely Megan and her rockin frisbee friends are so darn sweet.
6. I can finally legit learn how to sail.
5. See top right photo in collage below
4. Mom always says I should eat more fish.
3. It's a non-city city with short buildings and people who say hello when you walk down the street.
2. Maybe I can finally stop complaining about being cold.
1. It's beautiful, friendly and someplace new.

Somewhere between the setting sun, I'm on fire, I'm on the run

Milage: 3,208. Best rando: Watermelon beer and alligator bites (the food, not by the creature itself).

Today I hopped on down to Savannah to see the wonderful Jon Kalinowski and help him find an apartment for when he becomes a cool kid and starts SCAD in the fall.

Though I've been wading through it for weeks, I still think neither of us expected the heat that slapped us in the face. It didn't help that we decided to take on the city by foot and had to walk almost two miles one way to see the first place.

The rest of the day was half sight-seeing and half finding places with free AC to cool off. Tried some watermelon beer, took sweet photos of the Spanish moss. I liked Savannah, but Charleston definitely has it beat. The good news is if I move down here it's not too far to visit again!

Today the sun is shining on me, sitting with my feet in the breeze, ain't sweating the little things

Beach day!!

Do I have to further explain?

Charleston is beautiful. Meg and I hit the farmer's market in the morning Saturday with our matching venti iced coffees. I drooled over the artsy jewelry and delicious homemade lotions. Saw a couple dogs that looked like Belle and geeked out over that.

Then we hit the beach.

The more time I spend with these easygoing, fun, warm Charleston folk, the more I think I might want to become one. I guess I'll give it a few more days to wait and see.

Let the warm air melt these blues away

Milage: Car same, bike is up another 25ish. Best rando: Awesome $1.50 tacos with jars of margaritas (seen in another post).

I swear no matter how well I wash them, my ears always have sand in them for days after going to the beach.

After the glorious weekend of sand, mimosas and lovely secondhand friends was over, I got some time to myself to really get to know Charleston. I decided to take a bike tour put to Sullivan's Island and back, which proved awesome and a little daunting.

I'm really loving just feeling out the place and all its little nuances. One night we sat on a swinging bench at the pier and watched the last bits of sunset fade away over the water. I mean, come on.

Now I can't really imagine NOT being close to the shore or able to bike around. I've got one more day to decide how much I'm really drawn to this place.