Adventure #15: Just Like Riding a Bike

On Saturday, Becky and I biked to the Schuylkill Trail. The trail runs alongside the Schuylkill River and was full of joggers, walkers, and bikers. It was so nice to be by a river! I never thought about it much, but I guess I've crossed over a river just about every day of my life (ok, at least several times a week.) The things you take for granted!

While we were on the trail, we could see the Art Museum in the distance. On the other side of the river, Becky pointed out the old train station, old post office, and new Amtrak skyscraper.





Even though it was beautiful, there was something sad too. When we went under a bridge, I saw a homeless man. This guy was standing there kind of bopping up and down, moving in this way that made me immediately think "autism." Clearly, there was something going on with him. Who's supposed to be taking care of people like that?

Anyhow. After Becky introduced me to the trail, we biked to my bank and I deposited my first paycheck! Yay! I was happy that there is a Susquehanna Bank in Philadelphia, relatively nearby. It made things very easy.

So how was the actual biking, you ask? I seriously hadn't been on a bike for maybe eleven years or so before Saturday. And yes, it was just like riding a bike, but in city traffic. Since it was early Saturday morning, the traffic wasn't too bad, but being on the bike still took a little getting used to. It was fun, and I should probably think about getting myself a bike if I plan on staying here (even though I would rather a pink scooter.) All told, I probably biked about six miles, which is a lot for me. I came home, went to meet a new roommate (she's super nice), and then came back and slept for two hours.

After I woke up from my nap, I decided to go buy myself a cheesesteak from Pat's. A gripe: Why do people insist on saving seats at food places? Nobody should be sitting unless they actually have food, especially when it's busy. If you're sitting and you don't have food, you're taking away a seat from a person who does have food. Don't do that. Moving on....I got a mushroom cheesesteak, wit, and got the Cheez Whiz. It was $10, but it was delicious. Since there was nowhere to sit, and since I didn't want to take up a whole table for just me anyway, I walked home (Geno's and Pat's are about a 5-10 min walk from where I am now. Be jealous.)

On Sunday, I went back to Epic. The sermon was about confronting our Christian friends when you see them going down the wrong path. Not a popular topic, but Pastor Kent really knows how to preach without being preachy. (I realize that makes no sense, but I can't think of any other way to put it.) I like Epic. It seems like a place where some friends from home who haven't clicked with church would be able to go and really feel comfortable. I stayed after, because they were having a "First Steps" meeting for newbies to learn more about the church. I sat at a table with some white people, some Asian people, an African-American, and a girl who I would guess is Middle Eastern. How cool is that? I learned that Epic was started by Pastor Kent about four years ago, but the Center City campus where I've been going just opened up in February. Turns out there was a reporter there on Sunday too, and he wrote this article about it for the paper and Philly.com.