It’s still a long haul to get here in one day from Chicago, some 600 miles, about 10 hours factoring in a few irritating construction tie-ups on I-80. We had smooth sailing through most of Indiana and Ohio but then a 25 minute delay as the traffic piled up with a lane closure due to construction.
Pennsylvania’s wooded hills and wide river valleys are beautiful but driving up and down the Appalachian mountains, on the highway, sharing the road with big trucks, is a little hairy. Fortunately it wasn’t raining as as in the past and we only drove about a half hour in the dark.
The west end ale house kitchen in downtown Bloomsburg closes at 10 and we pulled in at 9:35. They couldn’t have been nicer, as was the case last year, and the cheeseburger was good. We met four nice young townies sitting outside next to us, thx to Millie dog talk, and they told us a bit about Bloomsburg University, which has 18,000 students and a party school rep, that has gone down a bit in recent years. (They seemed sad about that.) They were alumni in their later 20s. One was a stone mason, another a teacher with job corps. we drove around the campus which is high on a hill at the end of Main Street and has some pretty old buildings. (Fun fact: the gruff coach for the bad boy 1990s Detroit pistons is an alum. We passed Chuck Daley way on campus… the tip-off!)
We stayed at the Quality Inn which was hard to find – at the edge of a nondescript mall. A big bowl of dog biscuits awaited at the front desk and the place already seemed a step up from the Red Roof that we stayed at last year. The place was full of young baseball players (Williamsport, the little league World Series location is nearby). But our room was quiet. Coffee at fog and flame, the local coffeehouse was ok. Cute decor. Pastries lacking.
We drove through grey skies and drizzle north thru the Poconos to Scranton so my aunt could visit an old friend from college. The drive was pretty, weather notwithstanding, and the leaves are starting to change. (I am told they are late this year.)
I did a little exploring on my own, driving through downtown Scranton which I know little about except that it was the fictional location of the classic TV comedy, The Office. There are some great old hulking stone and brick buildings but didn’t see much reason to stop so I went to nearby Nay Aug (that’s not a typo) park, which has a waterfall and gorge. I met a nice young woman who was hiking around and she led me along the muddy trail to the falls, which were impressive, especially since there has been so much rain in the area. It wasn’t quite Ithaca quality but not bad. Ithaca was only 2 hours north (so near and yet so far….)
TakeBetsywithyou 