Turnpike travails...

I went to Pittsburgh over the weekend. In my desire to get there as fast as possible, I took the turnpike. Yawn.

Once you get west of mile marker 200, you pretty much have nothing for a good 120 miles. The only relevant exits (in my opinion) are the ones for I-70 and I-99. You've got back-to-back tunnels west of the Shippensburg exit, and another tunnel at the top of another mountain. It's hard to stay awake during the 36-mile stretch between Bedford and Somerset.

You can't pick up any PA radio stations for a couple of long stretches (mostly Hagerstown and Cumberland, MD)... the one station in Somerset had an old forecast and no commercials... I don't think any station between Carlisle and Greensburg had any live, local DJ's, except for one of the million Froggy stations out that way... Froggy 98, Froggy 101, Froggy this, Froggy that... and every station I turned to seemed to play Mellencamp every other song. I don't get it.

As my luck would have it, I hit overnight paving when I drove it... yuck.

I usually take route 22... at least Huntingdon, the area south of Altoona, Ebensburg, and Blairsville give you reasons to stop and stay awake. Most of route 22 between Altoona and Pittsburgh will be a four-lane highway by decade's end. Now, if only route 30 could be the same way.

Oh yeah, for the cost of going from I-83 to route 66 in Greensburg... you can get about nine things off the Mickey D's dollar menu. The rest stops are great... but the people working the food places (when they're open) have no sense of urgency, and don't care that you have places to go.

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If you are heading west anytime soon, stop by King's Family Restaurant. Get a frownie. It's neat.

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Buckle up and don't be allergic to life.
TS