Thursday, September 23, 2010

A Cold and Scenic Travelogue (pt 2)

Warren PA courthouse (scroll down to catch pt 1)

Continuing into Pennsylvania on 62 South, we came to Warren. The courthouse in the photo is only one of the magnificent buildings we saw as we cruised through the main part of town and then headed east toward the Allegheny National Recreation Area. Our only stop there was at Kinzua dam.

I again couldn’t help thinking I’d like to grab a notebookKinzua Dam and sit out on one of the tables under the trees overlooking the branch of the Allegheny Reservoir and stay a while. At least, I’d love to do that some day when it’s warm and not threatening rain.

I have several beautiful photos from this area, but my a hawk overlooking the reservoir favorite is the one where we found the hawk resting on the wooden fence. He sat patiently and prettily until I got a decent shot of him, and then he flew off majestically. Such pretty birds, hawks. Last year, we had a nest outside our back yard, but I think the dogs have deterred them this year, since they were constantly running after their flight path and barking at them. *sigh*

We doubled back a few miles to Warren, where I got an Warren library almost decent shot of their stately library! One of these days, I’ll have to go back and visit. The library has a few quotes etched along above the big windows, in Roman architecture style.

The one on the front corner says: “Philosophy – the thoughts of men about human thinking, reasoning, and imagining, and the real values in human existence.”

The one next to it: “Literature – the storehouse of knowledge, the record of civilization, the fulcrum for the lever of progress.”

The next says something about “.. elemental passions but ever aspiring.”

Railroad Bridge Heading out of Warren, there’s a beautiful old bridge. I love bridges, also, and had to grab a shot of it.

As it was growing late in the day, we headed west toward our destination for the night and I found another incredible library in Oil City:

Oil City library
As this isn’t very far from us, I’ll definitely be back that way to explore the inside. Doesn’t it just look like a great place to spend the day?

Oil City Vets At the Vietnam Memorial at a crossroads of the town, we were treated to three Vets standing in front of it with a sign asking drivers to honk in support of the troops. There wasn’t much traffic at the time, but there was honking, including us. They seemed happy enough to pose for a quick photo as we stopped at the light. 

Finally, as we came into the final stretch of the ride, the clouds began to break and the sun peeped out as if to say, “You made it fine even with me in hiding.” Never mind I felt pretty much like a popsicle by then and rushed right in to find the shower and plenty of warm water. Hey, we went for an adventure and found one. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.

We topped it off by visiting the original Quaker Steak and Lube in Sharon, PA and my very adventurous husband put his name on the wall of flame by managing to eat 5 of their hottest hot wings. Better him than me. I’m not quite that adventurous. But I bet he warmed up faster!

Did you know the closest living relative to the tyrannasaurus rex is the chicken? So the Lube says.

no longer flaming hot wings
By the way, Sharon PA is home to the Buhl Mansion. Formerly owned by a big steel magnate, the mansion fell to the state’s hands and then to disrepair and was rescued and restored by the local man who invented the Club (you know, that thing that was supposed to keep cars from being stolen). It now hosts an inn and spa, a park with a gorgeous walking path, and a health center for the community.

Oh, along the way from Warren to Tionesta, we traveled along the edge of Allegheny National Park and marveled at the water-side scenery of homes along the edge, on stilts or up the bank slightly. I don’t have a photo, except in my head, but I can see it becoming part of a story somewhere.

Western PA is biker’s heaven, at least during the more temperate months. You can’t hardly be in the area without seeing them out enjoying the area.


[WATCH for bikes and Start SEEING them! We’re everywhere, and we’re not the Hell’s Angels, regardless of media portrayal.]

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3 comments:

Andra M. said...

Beautiful pictures, and your descriptions made me feel as if I were there -- chill and all.

Great advice about the bikes. Because I didn't look twice coming out of my work parking lot a few weeks ago, I almost reamed a motorcyclist. I'm surprised he didn't flip me off, but he sure gave me a well-deserved dirty look. I did wave and mouth an apology, and I mentally promised myself to look twice next time.

Savanna Kougar said...

LK, oh, that hawk picture is more than splendid, but then so is your whole travelogue. I certainly enjoyed myself even though I wasn't actually there.

I try to be exceptionally careful around motorcycles and bikes and such. I've avoided a lot of what could have turned out to be bad accidents.
However, one time, I was utterly exhausted [it's a long sad story] ... anyway, I was at a stoplight and I'd stayed back because of the smaller motorcycle ahead of me. However, I saw the car beside me in my peripheral vision move, and I took my foot off the brake.
My van bumped into his bike. Not hard. When I got out to discover what horrible thing I'd done, the man was mad as hell, naturally, and threatened to call the police. He kept demanding to know if I had insurance. I kept telling him I did.
He also kept demanding to know how many traffic tickets I'd gotten for rotten driving. I told him the truth. None.
Actually, there was no sign of any damage, except his little licence plate thingie was askew.
I told him, of course, how sorry I was and that, of course, he should call the police.
For some reason I don't understand, he just reamed me out again, then got on his bike and rode away.

LK Hunsaker said...

Andra, it is harder to see motorcycles, which is why many states now are posting signs everywhere to watch for them more carefully. Of course bikers need to be aware how hard they are to see and be ready for that, also. They need to be quick on the horn when necessary for extra protection, for themselves and those around them.

Savanna, most won't keep going off like that once you apologize to them. You were probably both having bad days. :-( My husband has jumped off the bike and gone up to a careless driver who nearly sideswiped him by pulling in front too fast. She apologized and he let it go, but hopefully she'll think more next time. Accidents happen. At least you had the courtesy to stay farther back, as too many don't. You didn't do any damage and you apologized: no reason to call the police for that!

Thanks for the kind words about the travelogue! I'm sure there will be more to come from future trips.