Sunday, May 3, 2009

Crossing Pennsylvania and Unexpected Stops




We left Gerald Freeman campground and got back on interstate 64, heading for Pennsylvania. The drive turned out to be easy and beautiful. Both of us were surprised as to the beauty of Western Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. All we see on tv, of both states, is the sprawling cities,and so the unexpected beauty of the countryside was simply a joy.
The next day we headed north on US 219, the Flight 93 Memorial Highway. The road was curvy, hilly, and passed through every small town and village along the way. In other words it was simply delightful! We loved the beauty of the towns. They reminded us of the small mining towns of the Black Hills. Our target was the Foote Rest Campground near Bradford, Pennsylvania, and we arrived safely after a long but easy day.
Planning on spending two night there, we parked the house and went up to the office before heading to town. Just as there are unexpected pleasures, there are also unexpected stops, the truck refused to start. Trying everything I knew, which wasn't much, we called the Chevy Dealer and the GM helpline. They quickly sent a tow truck and we watched as the truck was loaded.
Luckily we were able to finally rent a car as the repairs turned into a major fix, ,(bad injector fuel pump which had to be ordered), and our two night stay turned into a five night stay. Time to do some exploring!
The manager of the park and the car rental lady both told us that the Winery in Kane was a must see. Never having been in a winery, we decided to follow their advice. We drove to Kane and drove the town. It is a pretty place with neat churches and old houses! The winery itself was ok, just ok, I guess we are not into wineries.
The next day we drove into Bradford and the Zippo-Case Museum,(Yup, cigarette lighters and knifes). While small, the knife and lighter displays were interesting and it was a neat piece of Americana. The history and the actual letters from Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Earnie Pyle, thanking Zippo for their gifts, were pretty neat. As we wandered the museum I was reminded of my brother in law, Ronnie as years ago he had explained to me the history of Zippo lighters while using his trusty Zippo,(Ronnie passed from this earth too long ago and at too young an age and I felt anger at the Cigarette makers who addicted so many generations, including me, before I quit six years ago).
The Case exhibits were neat. Renita really liked the Christmas knifes, circa 1940's. I liked the John Deere knifes, hmmmmm garage sales or EBay?
We drove around Bradford and noticed the oil wells and refinery. It seems so weird to see old oil pumps in a forest, after living in Gillette, Wyoming for so many years. Most of the pumps were still, were the fields played out long ago? Oh well, I guess we have a few more days to figure that out. Clear skies.

2 comments:

Donna McNicol said...

You were in my old stomping grounds. I lived up the hill from Bradford for about 3 years. Interesting area...see you went to Kinzua Bridge, hope you also visited the Kinzua dam. I love that area and can't wait to visit again this summer! (and see old friends)

MarkandRenita said...

Didn't get to see the dam as we had to spend a lot of time getting the truck fixed, thank goodness the warranty covered it.