Thunderstorm in PA - the last 20 miles

Thunderstorm in PA
Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Yesterday was the final day of my trek across America to come pick up Anna. Whew! What a trek. For all you geeks, here are the stats:

• Miles: 3285
• States visited: ID, WY, NE, CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, KY, OH, WV, MD, PA
• # of tanks of gas: 7
• Lowest $/gal: $2.34 (MO); highest $/gal: $2.69 (ID and KS)
• Total $ for diesel: $219.47 (and we have 3/4 tank left upon arrival)

Yep, a trek. Sunday was the final drive to Philly and I had planned to skip the turnpike which costs $$$. Well, after driving most of the day, I shelved that plan and jumped on the turnpike in Harrisburg, PA. But before that...

I started the morning at the Cincinnati Airport - why? - free hotel room at the Sheraton. Oh, and some good bedjumping. On the road, I rolled through a sleepy Cincinnati and was able to see the Reds and Bengals stadiums. Cinci looked like a pretty cool town. I wish I could have visited longer. Then on to Columbus and east towards PA. I was on a freeway and route that took me through Ohio, then through a sliver of West Virginia and into PA. Oh, and then back to West Virginia and northern Maryland and finally back to PA. ZigZag ZigZag. I tried to stop in West Virginia in a town named Wheeling for some lunch, but there was nothing open. I mean everything was closed or abandoned except for fast food. I ventured on. Even in PA, I was unable to find much to eat. I wanted a small town experience, but again, everything was closed. I settled for fast food finally.

Northern Maryland was pretty amazing. Forested throughout, the freeway weaved through the "mountains" with many climbs and descents. I quote mountains there because they were between 1200 and 2500ft. Hills compared to what we have on Oregon, but still, they were pretty cool. I would love to venture back there and explore more.

As I arrived into PA, I jumped onto the turnpike - it was supposed to be faster. NOT. In the last 100 miles of the trip, I ran into 2 accidents that stopped traffic and then a truly epoch thunderstorm. 20 miles from Anna's home and I was driving 30mph with hazards on trying to navigate a river of water on the freeway. This along with bright crazy lightning and other traffic. I probably should have pulled over, but I was determined to get here. And I did. I think I was about 20 minutes past my proposed arrival time, so I think that is a success. Oh, and all that rain cleaned most of the bugs off the car. Booya.

We're here for a couple of days packing and then we'll be off again on the open road. Check out all my photos so far here.