Mile 670

This morning we started with slightly cloudy skies in Lawrence, PA heading into several state parks like Shawnee S.P. and some other summits along the Lincoln Hwy, just to be driving into the morning mist and fog.  But the sun burned all that away quickly, and gave way to a hot and sunny day.  Loosing my way in Pittsburgh it was a sweaty exercise to find our way onto the northern path along the Ohio river to find the Lincoln Hwy again.  Maneuvering a more than fourteen hundred pound bike on a Friday through downtown Pittsburgh is no fun, and so I was happy to find the long, winding road along the river leading us to Rochester, PA, Midland, PA, and finally to Canton, OH.  It is a very sad picture to see along the way around Pittsburgh and up the Ohio river many steel factories just falling into pieces, as well as many other heavy industries.  A once healthy area has lost its identity and the Lincoln Hwy is just another picture highlighting the change in time as many portions of the original Hwy are today swallowed by a modern two lane Hwy.  But we were still able to find snippets of the old charm, partly in murals depicting the old times, or in old buildings.  Not all is lost yet, but the days are counted.

Coffe in Bedford, PA or Tee in Chester, WV

George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge, East Pittsburgh, PA

"A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people." - Mahatma Gandhi