Stylish Summer 2025 Vacation Report Card (so far)

So far, I’m four days into my Stylish Summer 2025 Vacation. Has it gone well? What could I have done better? I think it’s gone pretty well. Like the Summer of 2024, it’s been a scorcher. Unlike last year, my mood has greatly improved (even though it could have spiraled with the cool, wet end to May). I think that stepping up to the plate and giving more speeches at my Toastmasters meetings has really boosted my confidence. 

Friday, I enjoyed myself at Kennywood for Bites and Pints and I  rode more than I did in a long time. There was a stretch that I didn’t make it out to the park and that was around COVID. Saturday I had a great time at TLI/Club Officer training but I could have benefited more from getting to know some of the new faces in attendance (as I did Monday when I visited Cranberry High Noon). The day went well and I learned a lot, from the officer breakouts and presentations. I enjoyed my trip to Cuties and my drink, post-TLI, but wished I’d have gotten a refresher instead. I still have July and August though to enjoy the summer menu.

Sunday was a perfect day to get in the water, as I stayed in the pool for most of the afternoon. That was going to be our original Bites and Pints day but it would have been too hot to attend. I was going to have breakfast at Cutie’s before that too and I had the perfect name for my blog already picked out. “Cutie’s Bites and Kennywood Pints”. Yesterday I took a road trip up north, to Cranberry and then to Slippery Rock. It was a nice experience but there was room for improvement to make this trip better, which I’ll get to after I summarize the day’s events. 

I’ve been attending Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters as a guest since 2016 and the club has met at different locations. Pella Windows and Doors was the first one, followed by the Cranberry Area Municipal Building, and Hope Lutheran Church on Rowan Road. Their new home at the Dutilh Church on Dutilh road, next to a Quality Inn. You can get there by turning off of US 19. It’s a beautiful church and a convenient location for the club to meet at. The last two had me traveling down US 19 for a time and that road can get really congested sometimes. There were three speakers on the agenda, and two of them were completing their level ones in their Pathways. Our last speaker gave a presentation using his experience as an area manager at Amazon. Every speech gave us something to think about and take with us. Two of the speakers will be leading Cranberry High Noon as President and Vice President Education next year. Despite the full agenda, we got done by one o’clock and soon after, I was on my way. 

After leaving Cranberry, I set off to Slippery Rock. It was a straight shot up I-79. Thinking about the weather even late last week, I contemplated putting off this trip when I learned that the forecast was trending toward hot and humid in the mid 90’s. I still kept my word and pulled it off. Though there are some things I could have done to make the daytrip better, due to the heat. 

I just want to toss out some numbers in this blog and I’ll make you millennial folk feel old when you read these. It’s been 20 years since I graduated from college and went off into the real world. I received my degree in December of 2005. It was a cold day on campus when we had commencement at the Morrow Field House. This year (in five days to be exact) I will be twice as old (44) as I was when I arrived at Slippery Rock (22). August will mark 25 years since I began college at the Hiram G. Andrews Center 

You may wonder why I didn’t attend WCCC and that’s because my mom wanted me to be on my own. I learned to be independent and had a lot of life experiences there. 

Damn, the 2000’s were such a long time ago. What does soon to be 44 year old me tell that person in their 20’s? That’s another story for another time. 

While I enjoyed my adventure on Monday, and had coffee at Roosters Coffee Bar for the first time, this trip would have been better if I reversed it. Monday was a really hot day and the sun was beating down on campus. I could leave the house a little early, around 7 or 7:30 and go to Slippery Rock first, before heading to Cranberry for the Toastmasters meeting around 11, thus giving me time to find the place and get there safely. After the meeting, I might have lunch somewhere in Cranberry or Wexford; thus, buying me a few hours of time and beating some of the traffic coming through Pittsburgh. But overall it was a good day, and I was fighting a losing battle trying to stay cool.