Thursday 18th March 2010 - The Middle of the End: I-76 West to Pittsburgh

          The end is nigher!  Having indulged myself with a coastal trek from Florida to Delaware, it's now time to turn west, back to base in Minesota, sort out a few bits and pieces before I head back to New York and the Queen Mary home.

          Having irritated Dulcie for eleven months by keeping her away from the Interstates, it's now time to give her her head.  She ushers me up state 41 and US-30 to get to I-76 as quick as possible.  On US-30, otherwise known as the Lincoln Highway, I suddenly,and, I might add, unexpectedly, find myself in Paradise.  You may be surprised to know that there are a number of motels, of varying quality, in Paradise, as though people didn't expect to stay long.  I feel compelled to report that there didn't seem to be anything special about the place at all: sorry about that.

          As soon as we hit I-76, Dulcie whoops out "continue for 146 miles", and promptly goes to sleep; I can see the attraction it has for her.  What she doesn't say, and pretends not to notice, is that this Interstate is a Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, whch means I'm going to have to pay.  I pick up a ticket on the way in.  There is no indication of how much it's going to cost.

          I-76 takes us up through the Allegheny mountains, where we catch sight of snow again.  I haven't seen snow since ... , well, since southern Alabama, actually.  We also have to go through a few tunnels, one of which is half closed, and so has two-way traffic.  I have to put up with those huge trucks hammering past in the other direction.  Even going as slow as 50mph, I feel I'm going to get sucked into the slipstream.

          But we get to the outskirts of Pittsburgh by late afternoon, without any mishaps.

 

          Later that night, it turns out the motel has the best bar in the neighbourhood, so that was a bit of luck.  I get to sit near a lady who may or may not have been grown up. She kept telling me that she graduated 'cum laude' from an 'Ivy League' school which she didn't identify, which wasn't very grown-up (the keeping telling me, I mean).  But she was also a widow, which I'm sure must be grown-up.  She also kept telling me she was a widow: now, why would she do that?