I'm in the USA!

That's right, I'm in the USA!  In case you haven't been keeping track, I have not been home since August 2011 and not back to the states since October 2011.  Needless to say, it's been a while.  This trip was planned to coincide with going to campus for school.  I am working on a doctoral degree and there is a 3 day in person workshop to end a class I have been taking in nutrition focused physical exam.  Since we are actually learning how to do a physical exam, it is important to get to practice in person.  My school is not far from where Ryan is from, so it was the perfect time to take some leave and head back to the States.  Here we go, direct from Tokyo to Newark!

Just before we set out on the long journey, something made me think to grab some food, even though I knew we would eat on the plane.  The good news is that this was an excellent decision because we ended up delayed just over an hour, sitting and waiting on the plane, so we could have ended up very hungry.  There were limited choices after clearing security and customs, so McDonald's it was!  I ordered the Ebi Filet-O... which is a shrimp "filet".

I would have loved to take pictures of the food on the plane, but there was no way to access my camera and not make a huge mess and annoy people, so I just gave up.

Just a few minutes after we took off, we were there!  Ok, that's not quite how that happened, but it is really close.  Given the 13 hour time difference and 12.5 hour flight, we managed to land just before we took off.  Crazy how that can happen!  Once we were on the ground, we headed to get the rental car and then made our way to the hotel.  The rental car was actually very nice, but I was definitely afraid to drive because I haven't driven on the "American" side since October 2011.  In Japan we drive on the left, like in England.

It was really late by the time we got in, so I was glad to see this bed!

After a good night's sleep, although a very short one, we woke up and headed out to get some breakfast.  You can't get real bagels in Japan, so this was sort of mandatory for day 1.  We went to Bagel Street since this was one spot Ryan could remember from when he used to live around here.

I was beyond excited to get a poppy seed bagel.  Those are my favorite.

The next stop was to visit Ryan's aunt.  We hung out with her for a bit and before we knew it, lunch time had crept up on us.  His aunt recommended this cute place nearby called The Peasant Grill, which was perfect because the weather was unseasonably warm and they had outdoor seating.

Ryan's aunt had some quiche and gazpacho.

Ryan went with the French Dip.

And I had a roasted vegetable panini.

After enjoying some time outside, we headed to find a book store because I really wanted to see if I could locate my book.  I can't tell you how exciting it was to find my book on the shelf at a Barnes and Noble.

Crazy!

Our next stop was to walk around and enjoy the weather some more in Princeton.  I have never been here before and was really interested in checking out the campus.  Loved the old buildings and the atmosphere on campus.  These next few pictures are all from Princeton campus.

After a nice and very enjoyable walk we stopped for some frozen yogurt.

Dinner was with Ryan's best friend (and the best man at our wedding) and his wife.  They took us to a cute microbrewery called the Vault.

Most everyone went with the tasting flight of beers.

Here we are all enjoying a great night out, American style.

The lighting was pretty much non-existant, but I still tried to take pictures.  This was the hummus trio sampler with homemade bread.  There was regular hummus, basil hummus and a beet hummus.  I am not a beet fan, but it was actually really good.

I was also impressed to find that they had buffalo cauliflower on the menu.  I was so excited because I had just spotted this on Nicole's blog, PreventionRD.  It was awesome!  I can't wait to try this one out at home.

We ended up with two pizzas.  This is the margherita with aged balsamic.

This was a white pizza with capers and tomatoes.  

After all that it was definitely time to head back to the hotel and get some rest.

QUESTIONS:  When was the last time you travelled by plane?  Have you every had buffalo cauliflower?  Do you have a local brewing company?