Heading back East

Add to the Journal!

This is a collaborative effort. Mail your comments and thoughts to share on John's trip to me (click for email), and I'll collate them into the Voyeurs' page.

John's Journal

Day Twentyone

Mileage- 328

Route- I-270, I-70 West, Hwy 30 West

(OK, I'll tell you about the roads I didn't want to take, but the rain clouded my brain) Hwy 11 North, I-80 West (a bit)

Back on the road once again. But first, I was lucky enough to be able to have a great breakfast with my sister and niece, Sarah. Sarah took a quick break from finals at American University (getting her Master's in Anthropology, I believe) and met us at a great little coffee shop near her (and near my sister's place, too). Wow, a double latte, made well, too. It has been a while since I have had that!

I ended up on the road around 10:30 or so. I liked seeing the north part of DC, some nice homes. It makes it look like many other cities, once you get out away from all those silly monuments and government buildings. The skies were pretty well cloudy and overcast as I left town. The morning paper mentioned a possible shower late in DC and the small weather map showed showers over the Midwest, so I thought that today is the day I get wet. It had to happen at some point, though.

It started to rain around 12:30pm. But, I still have some amazing luck, It was only a light rain, the kind you wouldn't have to keep the wipers on all the time. Plus, it only lasted for about a half an hour. It's only lunchtime right now (the Brandywine Restaurant, Jennerstown, PA), so my luck could change.

I have been used to the Blue Ridge mountains of the last few days with their soaring peaks and miles of trees stretching out before me. I assumed that I wouldn't be seeing the likes of that again. Well, the Allegheny mountains are much smaller, but the 2-lane highway I am taking has had some great curves. The road snakes up the side of the peaks and then dives down to the valley below. Some have been the kind of hills where when you come to the crest, your stomach stays up in the air for a second as the rest of you comes back down the other side. You know, like a rollercoaster.

And there are some great trees all around, too. Everything seems to be pretty green (my color indifference aside) and heading for spring with some blue and yellow wildflowers peeking out. I may not get as far in a day on this 2-laner, but this is really what most of the trip is about: seeing the real part of the country, experiencing it a bit more like those that live here do, eating in restaurants with someone's name out front and pictures of the family on the walls inside.

Did I mention that the rain started back up again? No, not yet. Well, the rain started back up again just after lunch. I knew I was going to run into the storm, but I was hoping that it was just the small amount. Not so lucky. I happened to stop to prepare, just a few moments before it started raining harder. It never developed into a raging thunderstorm, just continuous rain for around 5 hours (even through Rush Hour in Pittsburgh, that was fun!). For the most part I was fine. I had on my attractive Gore-Tex riding suite, Gore-Tex boots and Gore-Tex overmits. Yeah, I should have stock in Gore-Tex, but, hey, it works! Well, for the most part.

I still have to figure out the best way to make sure my hands don't get wet. It seems that a little trickle of water always gets in. The fun part then is that my hands turn black from the leather gloves. It's real attractive to walkin to a hotel and ask for a room with those hands. Small price to pay.

The riding in the rain is actually quite nice. I was nice and toasty with the heated grips and electric vest (actually, just in case I had a short, I did not have the vest plugged in, what a way to go!). I really love people's reaction, too. Most probably think I am crazy, and I suppose I am a bit.

I noticed on my map that the highway I am traveling on, Hwy 30, will run right through a very special part of Ohio; East Liverpool, the town my mother grew up in. As soon as I got to town, I called Mom and Dad. They couldn't believe it! Mom was flabbergasted. She gave me the address of the house she grew up in and I went and checked it out. She had been telling me and my siblings about how she had to walk up this long hill all the time as a child. Well, I can now say that I can back her up in that (not that we ever doubted her, but you know how parents are). It IS a long hill.

I rode around downtown a bit, went down by the Ohio River a bit and checked out the town before I headed out to find a hotel. It was still raining, so I kinda wanted to find something soon. It was pretty strange to think that my Mom used to be hanging out in the same streets that I was riding around on. It seemed to be a typical blue-collar Midwest town. They were built around the pottery industry in the middle 1800's, I think. (Patrick, help me out here, if you can.) Ever heard of Homer Laughlin china? That's from around here. This was a great stop on my trip!

Well, I hunted, and found East Liverpool, but not Homer Laughlin. These are the best sites I found along the way:

• Amish Adventure
• Virtual Ohio
• Hometown Ohio

It's sorta funny how I ended up here at the TravelLodge outside of Youngstown, OH. I saw this sign that said it was only about 25 miles. Now, my map was all covered up due to the rain, and I did not know which direction it was from where I was or where I was going. But then, did it really matter? No, except that I really just wanted to find a clean, cheap room to get out of the rain. Oh well, I am here and it is clean, cheap and dry. Oh yeah, they have a phone in the room so I can send this e-mail

More tomorrow as I cut across the fine state of Ohio, down to Cincinnati (where I lived for a year) and then up and across to Indianapolis. Looks like I will have the honor to spend Mother's Day there in person!