The Pilgrims make progress.

Today was more or less a solid travel day. It took us a total of around seven hours for us to drive a few hundred miles. We are not in the Midwest anymore! As much as I have enjoyed the history aspects of the trip so far, I don't think I would be able live here on a permanent basis. Though, the fall colors are pretty good this time of year. I am even told that peak colors have already passed.

Just a taste of what we drove through today.

On our way from Boston to Philadelphia, we did have to make a couple of stops. One has been on my bucket list for almost six years now. That was to visit the headquarters of Applause - the company that I currently work for. I started as a software tester in January of 2013, and am now currently a Test Architect. I manage several teams for different companies that Applause works with. I also work with many people who work from the main office in Framingham, MA. Though, there are also offices on the west coast as well as in Europe and Israel. The company has continued to grow over the years that I have been here, and in fact they plan to grow by another 25% by the end of next year. It was good to put some faces to the names and voices I chat with on a daily basis. Thank you to everyone that took a few minutes out of their work day to say hi and get me some Applause branded gear! We in the company like to call that SWAG.

The outside of the Applause Framingham HQ

Unfortunately, I was so excited to be there, I forgot to take pictures with everyone. Its a bummer too, because I doubt I will make it out there again before everyone retires! Next up was meeting up with one of my mentors through my years at Applause. She helped train me up as a Test Team Lead back in 2014-5 and helped me get on my way in my career in management. She has since left the company, but we have continued to stay in contact. We had some local fare for lunch and had a nice chat. Thanks to you as well for taking time away from your busy grandma schedule to meet up with pilgrims from far away South Dakota.

We made it in to Philadelphia this evening and I will finally be able to start sharing a bit of Few history as we will be visiting Independence Hall among other sites in the morning. Stay tuned!