Westward, Ho!

Days 25-26:  After leaving Washington D.C., we turned west and headed for home. Of course, home was a long way off, being in California, but we planned to make fewer stops going back, so it wouldn't take as long as going east. In fact, I'd chosen only a couple of possible touristy stops, leaving what we would see largely to chance and our whims as we traveled the 2941 miles home.

We'd driven down the coast of Pennsylvania--now we would drive it east to west on I-70. We drove 224 miles that afternoon, and stayed overnight in Belle Haven, PA overnight.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this wonderful restored

car in the town of Everett on the way. How about those colors!

Click to enlarge or for slide show

Mostly, it was rolling hills cloaked with deciduous forests or lovely farms, the vistas made somewhat somber by overcast skies--rather restful after the whirlwind tour of Washington D.C.

See that little black cloud overhead?  Maybe my sister

is right about my attracting bad weather when I travel. 

Couldn't pass by this bank of red clover without gathering the memory.

Whoa! We made it back to California quicker than we expected! Wait, hold on folks--that's California, Pennsylvania.

Try saying this one quickly three times in a row. Monongahela is a Native American word meaning "falling banks." It is the second smallest city in Pennsylvania and hometown to three NFL quarterbacks, including Joe Montana. The town was named for the Monongahela River, which converges with the Allegheny at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River.

What a surprise. We never expected to go through West Virginia, but there is a thin finger about 15 miles wide that juts up between Pennsylvania and Ohio.









We crossed the Ohio River outside of Wheeling, West VA, with views of Wheeling Island (the most heavily populated island on the Ohio) and the Fort Henry Bridge, which connects the island to the main part of the city. (the bridge photo was actually taken first)

The Ohio River marks the border between W. VA
and Ohio, so we were soon in yet another state.
I think that makes 19 so far, counting the tiny foray
we made into Minnesota (but not counting D.C).

 Why is this man so happy?

Join us next week to discover

what stop in Ohio could elicit

such a response from Greg.