Memories of Pennsylvania come back to me as we set our wheels westward pressing for home. My last visit to Pennsylvania was to a little coal town called Commodore, where we visited my husband's daughter Kathryn McCracken. It was green and hilly and pretty. I remember also that you could not buy a bottle of milk, in 1970, on a Sunday, near Commodore. We had to drive to a nearby city for milk, I think it was Punxsutawney, a considerable distance in any case. The neighbor children in Commodore came to gawk at my husband, a man who drank beer. They hadn't seen one before, but knew of a black sheep uncle who drank beer. Commodore is part of the "Bible Belt".
From Newburgh, N.Y. to Towanda PA is approximately 150 miles. We headed out early with good weather. As usual, Jim checked the tires before we hit the road. One tire had lost half its air. It delayed us an hour to get a new valve extender on the inside wheel of the motorhome. The plan is to drive 150 miles a day until we reach Murphys.
Above, we crossed the Susquehana River leading into Towanda, PA. Nice, green, hilly. Yesterday was tough because Jim is allergic to bee stings and his leg, for the second time on this trip, swelled up and became heated and painful from a bee sting. We stopped at a drug store for benydryl. He spent the evening with ice on his elevated leg. Not fun.
Towanda has pictures of their hometown heroes on each lamppost. It is a well meant gesture but it seemed grim to me to look everyday at a banner cemetery. Heroes they are, but constant reminders, I don't know how I would feel about that if it was my son's picture on that lamp post?
Our intended billet for the night was too steep and we had to change plans somewhat. All in all it was one of those kind of difficult days that every traveler experiences. But, hey, 99% of the time, things go quite well. Its still happy traveling.
