Pennsylvania is a fun state to drive through. The winding highway through the mountains, the subtle declines, the beautiful scenery. And Pittsburgh must be the largest city on Earth, because every road sign I saw had its name on it.
Pennsylvania is also a fun state to drive through because it offers a respite from Ohio. I don’t know if there have been any scientific, objective research on the subject, but I find the nose-picking motorist population spikes in the state of Ohio. Especially around Akron. Maybe because it’s the one city that doesn’t copy some other place’s name.
Today got off to a slow start, thanks to my car. A bearded guy at Firestone told me, “This town sucks. I can’t wait to get out.” So I took his advice. I got started about 1:00 this afternoon, grabbing $3.82 gas outside Brooklyn and heading south down US 223 to the Ohio Turnpike – or, as I like to call it, Enemy Territory. One Highway Patrolman pulled out of this “hiding spot” right after I passed him, and I thought, sure enough, there goes my license. But he must’ve been distracted by my superior Michigan intellect, because I soon lost him on the freeway. I did follow a girl from Virginia who talked on her cell phone for the entire state, plus parts of Pennsylvania. What could be so important, I wondered.
Getting into the Keystone State was a breeze. I filled up my second tank of gas for $3.77/gallon, but that also meant I had spent $60 just on fuel, doubling my fuel budget for the day. The whole damn state is six hours long, and it wouldn’t be long before I was filling up again.
Sometimes you just realize that your hundred of miles from home, and you laugh because you’re heading into Unknown Territory. I’ve never been this far east, and while that’s not significant knowing I’ll be in Maine in a week’s time, it’s still thrilling.
Meanwhile, I had a dinner of Lunchables + peanut M&Ms + water. I find that I can make it on two meals a day on the road, because I’m not really burning any calories driving.
That is until the New Jersey Turnpike grasped me in its wretched claws. I don’t even know how I ended up on the highway, but it was a stressful ordeal, and I actually had to circle around the city of Philadelphia before I could find my hotel. I admitted to the desk clerk that I was happy to see the place, but his Eastern European accent masked any gratitude. At the bar, I listened to the conventioneers flirt with each other, while I gulped down blessed Yuengling and thought of sleep. Tomorrow is another day, after all, and I have the Constitution and the Liberty Bell to see, as well as a fine breakfast at “Olda’s Diner” (says the bartender, after I asked him if he knew of any good local places) which was “just down the street.”
The hunt never ends, friends, which makes life worth living. Over and out from the Clarion in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Tags: clarion, new jersey, ohio, pennsylvania, philadelphia, road trip, travel, turnpike, yuengling
