Last week, after Cori left, I had a couple of down days. Then I went to Lowes and Target - and it hit me just why they have all these chain stores and restaurants.

They make you feel at home.

Maybe that's pushing it. They at least help you forget where you are for a time - which can be comforting in the transition stage. When I went inside Target, there was little way to tell that I was in PA - it could just as well have been IA or SC. Tonight after a really long day, I needed to get a few things for a picnic tomorrow and I had no idea what time the grocery stores closed - so where did I go? Yep, Target. It's nice to go someplace that at least feels familiar when you aren't feeling so great. I'm generally a "support the little guy" type of person - but in the last two weeks, I have really appreciated the familiar things - Target, Lowes, Panera, Chick-fil-a, and Donut Land.

And now it's time for a new observation about PA. This one comes much thanks to my teammate, Mark, who pointed it out when writing down some directions for me...

Roads here randomly change names. For instance, the other night I was on Holland Road (a nice name for a road.) Then I crossed over Upper Holland Road (a bit of redundancy?). THEN, the road I was on suddenly changed into Middle Holland Road (a serious lack of creativity!). It's always an adventure.