Getting dressed in the back of a Toyota Corolla is really difficult. That obstacle overcome, I started driving south. Lots of fog this morning, cloaking the hills like clouds dropping from the sky.
Gray skies again. A Dollar General every mile. Notices of weddings and funerals on church bulletins. The weather was gross until midmorning, after I finished breakfast in Pennsylvania. Then the sky turned, I found a great radio station, and arrived at the gorgeous town of Westboro. Life was beautiful for about five minutes, until I realized I had taken a wrong turn to the west and the radio started playing Neil Diamond.
Once I made it past Route 202 and started driving through southwest Pennsylvania, I discovered the joy of hills. Each time I climbed one, the valley below revealed farmhouses and silos, or groves of trees, or fields of vegetables (which are much more interesting to look at from above). I dove into dozens of them. I feel bad for the house that decorated their two acres with plastic palm trees. Hopefully they still appreciate the scenery.
I drove through to West Virginia, making a stop at Morgantown to check out WVU and play some music. When I bust out the guitar, people are either very appreciative or don’t care at all. Morgantown didn’t care. Probably too big—I do best in small towns
I’m going to camp at Monongahela National Forest, which is the setting of the best Adventure Zone arc, Amnesty. Maybe I’ll find Sylvain. Fingers crossed.-
Hey…you drove through our original little corner of the world in southwestern PA! I grew up in Connellsville, and Kevin is from Uniontown, although he spent a few years in Morgantown while his dad got his doctorate at WVU. Have fun and be safe!!
Hi Jake,
To find out why there are so many Dollar Generals, go to http://www.Forbes.com. Currently there is an article all about why they are concentrated in rural areas. We have a bunch of them in our neck of the woods. Your pictures and descriptions of what you are seeing are good, very enjoyable. You are seeing a slice of America that will give you a whole new perspective on what it is. I hope you will be dealing with mostly kind people. That’s what we ran into in our early days in PA.
Love, Grandma
I was wondering why you couldn’t find a can opener with all those Dollar Generals?:)
They didn’t have any!
Thanks for the suggestion, Grandma. An interesting read:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurendebter/2022/05/20/dollar-general-opening-new-stores-across-small-town-america/?sh=307cd507ce5f
Well I’m very disappointed in Morgantown! My hometown where John Denver sang Country Roads in person on many occasions. I saw him in 1972 in a small theater in town when he introduced WVU to Country Roads!!