Day 13 - Mon, 7/26

Diagonally across NY, down PA - miles and miles of tree covered slopes with towns and farms in the valleys. One wonders, who owns the wooded hills? Do people go there much - to hunt, hike, whatever? Tonight it is Altoona PA.


(A place just outside Altoona where climbing/descending trains make U-turns around the side of a mountain. Seems that Altoona is a a destination for train buffs. Bob has been here before with Sarah.)



(We had lunch at Beemans, a meat and potatoes place frequented by old people near Sayre at the top of PA. The food was good and cheap but the commode seat did not fit the toilet and it felt as if I was about to fall off.)


(Beeman's - where we begin our dive through PA. )


(At the upper end of the state route 220 is a two-lane blacktop winding up and down through narrow valleys and little towns. This is the view from a service station in one of those places. No matter what else might be lacking there are churches with big impressive steeples. That has been true throughout our travels.)

(After supper we rode around Altoona. This is part of a huge train museum where Bob once came with Sarah. Bob has an uncanny ability to navigate strange places - to glance at a map and figure out where he is and to remember the essentials of the map. After this picture was shot we went through the underside of Altoona - past rickety row houses with people outside watching with interest as we rumbled slowly by - two old men in a silver convertible.)

Aside - This morning at 4:00 AM I woke from a dream that seemed more real than this Hampton Inn, the trip, Altoona PA. Leaving the dream was like leaving an unremembered life and for a long uncomfortable time I could not remember where I was, what I was doing. The dream - which might have featured a woman - seemed to be the better place. Looking at a Cracker Barrel receipt brought me back.