CA to NJ: Day 8 — Homeward bound

The last day of the cross country trip arrived, and I had never been more excited to get on the road. “Why?” you may ask. Well, the previous night I told Pop Pop that I saw a town that didn’t seem too far off of the route and told him I would love to stop there. Coincidently, Pop Pop had his eye on the town too and we agreed to go.

So, we embarked on the road toward Reading, Pennsylvania. We first stopped at a nursing home, where we had a socially distanced visit with Pop Pop’s friend. Afterward, we drove to and quickly pulled over across the street from the childhood house of my queen, Taylor Swift! I was so nervous because obviously people live there and I did not want the owners getting annoyed. I tried to be respectful and didn’t even go on the sidewalk, but I walked into the middle of the street so Pop Pop could snap a photo of my in front of my girl’s childhood house! Aaaah! Now that is important American history right there.

Anyway, we continued onto New Jersey, but ended up taking a last minute detour near Philadelphia to see other important homes maybe not in American history, but in my family’s history. Pop Pop and I returned to the neighborhood where he started his life with my grandma. They lived in two townhouses just a few street numbers apart, and then moved into an absolutely gorgeous white house set back on a nice property where they lived until the moved to New Jersey in 1992. The house, which has since had an addition added, was so charming and in a beautiful neighborhood. It meant so much to me to see a place that played such a huge part in my dad’s life growing up. 

I guess you can say the last day of our trip turned into a bit of a house tour, which was fine by me. We arrived back home late in the afternoon, and I’m pretty sure I unloaded the important stuff from my car and was then glued to my bed the rest of my night. Just like that, another memorable adventure with Pop Pop was complete, and I could not be more thankful for the time we had together. 

Up Next: Our travel vlog!