Pennsylvania

I woke up at 8am this morning, which is really late for me while traveling.  I needed the sleep though.

Yesterday evening I decided to drive to the Denny's and sure was glad I did.  I normally hate to eat in any restaurant - you just don't know what kinds of toxic compounds are in the soil your food is grown in, whether growth hormones are used to fatten up the cow or the chicken, etc.  But I was really hungry, so I went to Denny's and was glad I did.  First of all, it was a friendly place, and not crowded at all since I was a little early for the dinner rush.  I enjoyed the friendliness around me between the wait staff and the patrons, and they included me in their "family atmosphere".  I decided on the senior meal of country fried steak with gravy and two sides.  The steak nearly covered 2/3 of my plate, and the veggy sides took the rest of it.  Absolutely delicious and everything was cooked just the way I like it.

This morning I left the motel at about 8:45 and got back on the interstate.  I hadn't driven far when I noticed that it wasn't raining and the sun was really trying hard to come out from those clouds.  Decided to see a little of Pennsylania's back roads, and see those roads I did!  All the roads in the eastern half of the country show signs of a brutal winter, and the road crews are just starting to come out and work on them.  I noted that US 6 had the little dots indicating scenic roadway, so I left I-80 and made my way up to US6.  PA is a beautiful state, mostly forested I think.  The trees were not in leaf yet and the only green were the pines here and there.  After a few hours of winding twisty roads I am in the process of making my way back to I-80 again, but stopped for the night on the way.

There was fog at the higher elevations and I almost got worried about the last bit I drove through.  I'm glad to be finished driving for the day, and look for my long trip to be over for a while starting tomorrow afternoon.

Too bad it's chilly outside, because my motel room has a nice private porch on the back side, with a view of the hills in the background.

 

 (Click on a photo to enlarge it.)

I have lucked out in finding the sort of motel I prefer all along the entire way of my travels so far.  This is so much better than the Holiday Inn Express, and all thos multi-story buildings that look like they are from the Soviet Era.  This has charm and all the amenities of a big chain motel.  Today is also probably the best internet I've had so far.

I'm not going out for dinner this evening - I'm scrounging some of my camping food!

So I will be back on I-80 tomorrow for the last leg of my journey, having to drive through the dreaded Wilkes Barre-Scranton "safety zone".  As I said, Pennsylvania is a beautiful state, but you need to get off the interstate for a while and see it.

I love the small little towns, many of them built on the sides of steep hills, and some of the larger "little towns" looking just like the place you'd like to watch the 4th of July parade from!