On the road to Lexington, KY: Three State Day

Our stay in Marietta, OH was once again pleasant. We got on the road by 8 AM and found RT 7 to very Model A friendly. RT 7 follows the Ohio River and we just enjoyed the early morning scenery. Observing the river, one had to reflect on how important rivers were in the development of the country by moving goods (and people); AND, the fact that after all these years our major rivers are still major transportation routes.

One thing that we also noticed was the occasional oil pump in the midst of a field. Most did not appear to be pumping, but it seemed a little odd to see these so close to the river. I guess if there was oil “in them thar hills” someone is going to bring it to the surface. I guess there is a little bit of Jed Clampett in everyone. Kind of the premise of the Discovery Channel show “Backyard Oil” http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/backyard-oil

Our planned route had us jump over to the West Virginia side of the river and take RT 2. The scenery was similar, but different on the WV side. We made our way to just south of Pittsburg and followed a path that would take us around the city. Good plan, bad idea. We encountered a detour that really sent the GPS into a tither. I got so frustrated that I had to take a break. Fortunately, a local guy gave us some directions and we were soon on our way. But, the route took us up one heck of a hill, something we were trying to avoid as we had enough of the mountain roads in WV. On the plus side, we did have a great view of the valley from the top.

We made up some of the time we lost by the detour once we got to RT 22. The traffic was light and we were able to cruise right along at about 50 mph. We did have a few more hill climbs but the A’s handled them. We also encountered a few bursts of rain, again nothing that bothered the performance of the Model A's.

On a side note, I saw a road sign for Horseshoe Curve. For those unfamiliar with this land mark, it is a famous engineering feat to make it easier for trains crossing the Alleghany Mountains. Check it out at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Curve_(Pennsylvania)

He had a late lunch due to our escapade getting around Pittsburg and we decided that we would make our overnight stop in State College, PA.

RT 22 turned from a 4 lane road to a nice 2 lane road and that eventually turned into the smaller RT 45 which was very pleasant for our drive. Andy is bringing up the rear of the caravan, which is good, since he is able to spot points of interest as we travel and relay the info to us.

We arrived in State College just after 5PM and got settled into the Hampton Inn. Well, that is except for Mike and Grace. It seems that their room was not ready. Instead of having poor Mike & Grace wait, the manager said “what the heck” and put them up in a suite. Mike said it was the best room they have had on the trip.

Wayne & Sue made reservations for dinner at the Outback and I must say that very large Foster's beer tasted very good.

Today we traveled 280 mile, from Ohio, West Virginia and PA.