Avon, Indiana to Altoona, Pennsylvania    521 Miles (1475 Miles Total)     Sunny - 93F - Strong Storms - 68F

Size 133 sneaker, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

Sometime during the night it stopped raining and the day started off sunny and muggy. Heading east on I-70 past Indianapolis, I made a stop in New Castle, Indiana and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Although the hall was closed for the long weekend, the exterior surrounded with flags of schools that have won the state championship make it clear which sport is the most important in the great state of Indiana. One of the highlights of my time at the U of I was the his morning was the Illinois - Indiana game. There's nothing quite like it.

State outline superimposed on a basketball... only in Indana

New castle, Indiana

Leaving the land of Larry Bird and Hoosiers, I continued across Ohio and a narrow sliver of West Virginia. The crossing into Wheeling is interesting from an engineering perspective as it features a unique bridge-tunnel combination. On a previous trip I toured the Air Force Museum on Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio so I didn't stop on this trip but if you are ever near Dayton, it is definately worth a visit.

Columbus, Ohio

Pennsylvania is where things really started slowing down today. Heavy rain combined with massive reconstruction projects on the Pennsylvania Turnpike created traffic delays and large backups. The wait to get on to the Turnpike backed up I-70 for the final ten miles into New Stanton. Once I was on the Turnpike things became even worse. The temporary drainage provided in the construction zones was not up to the task of the heavy rainfall so there were some sections with lots of standing water. The result was 70 miles of stop and go bumper to bumper traffic that took close to three hours to negotiate.

Note the speed: zero... Monsoon sound system?

Amazingly in the middle of the traffic mess a black New Beetle caught up with me. Although you can't tell from the blurry pictures, it turned out to be Kelley from the newbug email list with her black NB Cheech (aka the bug with the Maryland plates reading "Roswell" that led the parade at R2K in Roswell this year). It was surprising to come across a familiar NB!

A final engineering highlight was passing through the Allegheny Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This route was actually originally surveyed for the South Penn Railroad, which was planning to construct a route across southern pennsylvania and compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad (The Standard Railroad of the World) for traffic between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The route was surveyed and work was beginning on grading and the tunnel at the crossing of the alleghenies when financing for the project fell apart. Much of the unfinished route was incorporated into the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Blurry tunnel portals... inside the tunnel

I exited the turnpike at Bedford and headed north on I-99 to Altoona. Thanks to the traffic, construction and weather delays, my arrival was rather late and I grabbed a meal at a Cracker Barrel just before it closed. After nearly ten hours behind the wheel and a frustrating day of driving, it was a welcome meal.

 Bug Splat of the Day (presented by Armor-All Glass Cleaner)

Again a washout due to the rain!

Tomorrow: Horseshoes, ice cream and baseball

posted July 6, 2003 by Tyler Made with Mac