I mentioned yesterday that it was raining when I found this Days Inn in Blairsville (about an hour east of Pittsburgh).  I must commend the innkeeper as he searched for and got me discounts to keep my price under $100; also, he accommodated my request for a first-floor room and told me Chloe looks like a service dog!  He’s getting a good review!

The only bad thing was the two vehicles parked under the portico thus requiring me to park in the rain so I managed to get completely soaked as I retrieved Chloe and our stuff from the car.  I couldn’t believe that I had gotten so cold I needed to put heat on in the room.  But, the heater worked fine so I was toasty in no time.

Yesterday (or was it the day before), I was bemoaning the fact that gas in Davis, WV was $2.959.  I never saw a price lower than that while in West Virginia or Maryland so succumbed and filled up.  I have made it a practice to fill up each morning as I have been driving on many “back” roads and don’t want to chance an issue with being low and nowhere near a station; this has sometimes resulted in my buying gas only to see it cheaper around the next corner.  Anyway, once I entered Pennsylvania, I started seeing prices well over $3.00!  It seems as if as I go north, gas prices climb.  I finally remembered the app, Gas Buddy, so I can at least get the best price available in the area.

I told you yesterday about Chloe and I hiking up and down the streets of Pittsburgh, logging more than six miles.  Well, this picture was taken at 8:00 AM this morning—she is still tuckered out and is probably dreaming about riding in the car.  Poor baby.  I have to report that she also slept almost the entire trip to Lancaster.

So, this morning before I left, I examined several different routes I could take to get to Lancaster and decided on the one that went north through the mountains up by State College.  Today was clear and sunny so the views were clear and brilliant.  This road, while winding and at times steep, tended to have gentler curves than the mountain roads I drove in previous states and was frequently two lanes in either direction.  But, there was one pass where trucks were only allowed to go 20 mph downhill because of the slope.  In some of the sections where it was just one lane in either direction, there were big dots painted on the roadway with signs admonishing drivers to maintain two dots behind the forward vehicle.  Interesting concept that actually seemed to work.

As with the other mountains I have passed through, the scenery was magnificent.  At one point I’d see a towering peak and a few minutes later, fertile farmland rolling alongside a stream.  I drove through an area called Arch Rock where you could see the multiple layers of rock out of which the road was carved.   I found out that construction to convert part of this highway from a two-lane highway to a divided, limited-access four-lane highway was completed in December 2007, and it includes building the longest mechanically stabilized earth wall in the U.S. (I read what that meant but found it somewhat dry and boring but, if you want to know what that means, read Mechanically Stabilized Earth .)  A good portion of the road followed the Susquehanna River and in the city of Dauphin, in the middle of the river is a miniature Statue of Liberty.

I was curious and also fascinated so I looked up the story as reported by CBS News:  “No one in the town of Dauphin knew where it came from or how it arrived: in 1986, a statue of Liberty replica appeared on a piling in the middle of the Susquehanna River, off of Route 322. Traffic on the highway stalled from people who pulled over, slowed down, or stopped altogether to peer at the strange new landmark.  Though no one knew it at the time, a local lawyer had created the statue to celebrate the actual Statue of Liberty’s centennial celebration. He created it out of Venetian blinds and plywood, and with a group of friends he erected it in the middle of the night. Though the statue’s origin remained a mystery for years, eventually the creator came forward and revealed himself. In the 1990s, the original statue was destroyed by weather. By that point, the residents of Dauphin had grown so fond of their miniature Lady Liberty that they raised enough money to build a new one: a larger, more durable, more securely-fastened version.  The second Lady Liberty is the one that remains to this day. She stands 25 feet tall and greets all who pass through Dauphin.” 

As Pennsylvania is the state where I did a good portion of my growing up, I am happy to be back for a short while but there is one thing I’ve noticed that sort of frightens me.  Since July 2, I have driven in nine states and I believe that, in Pennsylvania, I have encountered the rudest, most self-centered drivers so far.  They don’t seem to move over while someone is merging, they speed up when you put your turn signal on to move to a different lane, they turn without using signals.  Most of the time, this was behavior I observed rather than having it directed at me but I saw it quite frequently.  Anyway, I saw this one guy in a rather tricked out red pickup guilty of all the above as well as weaving.  I must admit, I felt very gratified to round one of the mountainous curves and see him pulled over.  Karma.

So, I am staying the night in Lancaster because I plan to tour the Amish country back roads on my way to King of Prussia tomorrow.  Did you know that Lancaster was Pennsylvania’s capital from 1799 to 1812 and almost became the nation’s capital?  Hundreds of historical landmarks remain, and it boasts the largest National Historic Register District in the United States.

Finally, today is 7-11 an I am in the land of Wawa!