Embedded Files
Post date: Jul 8, 2015 10:46:54 AM
Slept in.
Ended yesterday by finding a new Holiday Inn Express on the strip section of Route 30 in the bedroom communities just east of Pittsburgh. We put it to good use.
Got on the road (still the historic Lincoln Highway) about 10 AM to find ourselves in Monday morning traffic. Road was the same version of the 4 to 6 lane major urban thoroughfare you find in most urban areas around the country. One distinct difference here was that the stoplights were not timed/synced, and much of western PA's hilly topography had been preserved in the road grade, making for some very direct uphill and downhill runs.
Suburbs gave way to PA's distinctive "road" topography. Since quite a bit of the traffic in PA is east/west travel, and the state is cut by many north/south river drainages, it makes for a constant up and down through these valleys and the ridges that separate them. If you travel the interstate, these are mitigated by tunnels. Some valleys are narrow, with the road and houses tucked into a narrow space, others are broad, with rolling farmland. Very few evergreens. This is the beginning of the hardwood forests of the Appalachian Mountains. The names of the villages and towns we pass through have few (if any) of Indian sounding names of the midwest that we encountered in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. These are named after early settlers. Many have the suffix "burg" attached, and the founding dates start migrating backward .... heading into, and finally reaching the 1700's as we approach mid state.
Just west of Chambersburg, we spotted our first "roadside giant". A giant replica of a 1921 pickup truck. During early Lincoln Highway days, business owners were intrigued with all the automobiles traveling the Lincoln Highway. In an effort to capture the business of these new motorists, some entrepreneurs created larger-than-life buildings in quirky shapes - coffee pots, gas pumps, coins, and various large statutes. This started a tradition that has made it's mark all over the US.
In Chambersburg, we parted ways with the Lincoln Highway, turning onto route 11 for the final, short leg of our trip to Carlisle. Beautiful ride on through a corridor that dates back to the time of William Penn. The speed limit for the final 30 miles never got above 45 mph. Rolled into Carlisle in the early PM with a round of high fives in the car.
RH
Google Sites
Report abuse