Pennsylvania!

Once again there was pouring rain and plenty of thunder during the night.  Our freshly washed clothes were not dry, our freshly dried tents were soaked again...

 All the wet clothing we ended up stuffing into a plastic bag and strapping onto the trailer.  We filled up with water, ate breakfast and soon were on our way. 

Today we were planning on entering PA and reaching the Pine Creek Rail Trail. 
As we neared the border we traversed a very pleasant back road through the woods...

Once, when we passed through a cluster of dingy houses (I think it could be considered a small town) we suprised a young couple making out on a porch.  When they noticed us passing by, the girl suddenly stopped, turned, and hollered " 'Ello!" then watched us ride past, as if acting like nothing had been going on....

We got back on route 19 to cross into Pennsylvania...

 The wide shoulders were great...especially when there was truck traffic...

Thankfully the truckers were usually considerate and respectful and we had no problems with them.

I didn't get a photo of my NY maps...but they were just Google print-outs.  I stuck the maps in a Ziploc bag and clothes-pinned that to the top of my handlebar bag.  I was very pleased with how well such a simple map case worked!  The yellow line was our route across the map...

 For lunch we stopped along a stream in a grassy mowed area.

Tuck is searching for food...

I tried to dry the clothes in the sun...but they didn't have time to completely dry out.

 People continally waved at us!  We kept being surprised by the friendliness of strangers.  Gradually we were learning to expect a wave....and to respond in time.

We found out today that sometimes roads that look like shortcuts on the map, are actually too much trouble.  My route directed us up Parker Hill Road...just out of Loucks Mills.  It was a dirt road...up a mountain...with a very steep grade at the beginning.  The road was labeled at the intersection, but there were no other markers along the length of it, and I was very unsure about whether it was the correct route!  As it turned out, it was the right way, but we will be finding another route home!

This photo wasn't of the steep section....but it was definitely dirt!

There were wild strawberries in places along the shoulder...and those things are some of the tastiest morsels!

It rained a little as we were working our way through the back-country hills of PA.  The road was warm from the earlier sunshine and that caused rising steam...

It makes for poor visibility...but an amazing picture!

Here is a photo of the first main road we pedaled in this state...Grand Army of the Republic Highway, or Route 6.  Just the name made the highway deserve a picture!

This route brought us into Astonia, where we picked up the Pine Creek Trail.

It was such a lovely place!

 We discovered that only 20 years ago Pine Creek was dying from mining pollution.  We never guessed.  Everyone that has worked on it is doing such a good job cleaning it up.....it is beautiful!

There are countless 'runs' where water runs off the mountains and into Pine Creek.  Here is one with a nice bridge...

Tuck convinced me to push onward until we accomplished 60 miles before camping.  We ended up camping in very tall grass and stinging nettle...

 There was an uncalled-for amount of this painful plant!

 We hoisted the bag of food into a tree about 100 feet from our campsite to deter bear visits.

It was a little difficult, but with me hauling on the rope and Tuck throwing the food bag, we got it maybe 7 or 8 feet above the ground.  Our rope wasn't terribly strong, and we didn't want to break it...or we would have both just hauled on the rope until the bag was high enough.

 Here is a final photo of both the food and bikes, and the tents...

 It was lovely and quiet since there wasn't civilization very close by. 

Tuck ate leftover spaghetti for supper, and I ate raisins and peanut butter. 

We expected rain, since it had rained every night so far, so we didn't even bother to try to dry the still-damp and now-smelly clothes.