Summer 2003 Northeastern US Roadtrip

It looked on the map as if it was a four lane road but it was really a 2 laner thru the mountains and very winding and slow going. After finally getting to the border town of Bridgeport, we hit traffic congestion in this poorly designed town. Several wrong turns later, nothing was marked well, we got across the Ohio river and into Wheeling, which is quite poorly designed as well. Trying to get to Hoss' Steak and Sea Restaurant, Venus drove us around a huge MacDonald's parking lot that had only one way in and out. The food at Hoss' was excellent and the people were very friendly.

We had an uneventful drive thru Pennsylvania to Somerset and Shanksville to see the Flight 93 Memorial. A helpful fellow at a small farmer's market gave us a hand made map to the site. This place is very solemn, somewhat eerie and it was hard at times to hold in the tears while looking at all the caps, posters, trinkets, pictures, etc. that people have left in respect for the dead victims. We all signed a dollar bill and left it in the fence as our tribute. We stopped for Starbucks coffee on the Penna Turnpike (that's what they call it) an hour and a half from Hershey. Venus met a teacher from Orlando and we chatted with her, her husband and young son awhile before driving the last leg to Hershey Campground.

We had fun setting up the huge tent, 17 feet by 11 feet, in the dark as it was after 10:00 when we got here, but we finally got it set up. The air compressor knob broke so Venus was disappointed about having to sleep without a blown up air mattress. We were so tired after driving 800 miles and being on the road for 16 hours that we all slept well anyway. Now it is after 9:00 AM on the 2nd and we are preparing for today's fun at Hersheypark.