H-90 Bedford L H 68 L 51 H H 75 L 62 M H 88 L 67
L-63 C H 93 L 78
Bear update: The Bear says The Piratesses Escaped Over Afton Gap Party. TR says, “I don’t know what they’re up to.” Moose say, “Who knows what you’re up to either, Bear!” Lou says we will have a We Have To Head Them Off In Pittsburgh Party. We will serve Pennsylvania Dutch Foods. The Amazon says, “Alice The Goon Is One Of The Piratesses.”
We woke up to sun. Will it last? It lasted, and the temperature in Bedford climbed to 90.
Tucson 107/80 Pittsburgh 91/64 Brooklyn 92/74
We woke up at 6:05AM. We were trying to get up early because of Berkeley Springs and Cracker Barrel. We got dressed ane went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was a good thing we got there early. Lots of locals were there for breakfast, too. They didn’t have power. Even McDonalds was crowded. Servers at Cracker Barrel didn’t report to work so they were understaffed. We checked out of room 109 at 9:30AM after an incident in the parking lot with little doggies. Our first pit stop was at the rest area at exit 262. It was crowded. The dog liked the daylilies. Our second pit stop was at exit 283. We had to agree on it ahead of time because we can’t rely on the cell phone. We stopped at Shell to get gas, both Kenny and Gary. But we had to wait in line to fill up the tank. It’s crazy! Everything’s so crowded. The third pit stop was at exit 307 Stephen’s City, where we used to pick up this route coming from Charlottesville. That’s where Dinosaurland was located. We got on the ring road around Winchester 322 and got off at exit 310 to Berkeley Springs. At that point the Country Inn was 35 miles away. Our fourth pit stop was at a BP station along the side of the rural route on the right at Gainesboro. Then we entered West Virginia. I couldn’t even get a photo of the sign because it was too small. There was no fireworks stand this time. But t he road narrowed to two lanes, which shouldn’t be permitted.
You get a choice: no services, no towns, no place to stop or crowded rest areas, lines, stop all the time even when you don’t want to in traffic. This seems to be the choice between West and East. In Tucson you don’t often wait in traffic at any time of the year. On the highways you keep on moving usually at high speeds. But you can run into stretches like the 80 mile stretch from Cameron to Lake Powell in northenr Arizona where there is absolutely no place to stop at all, not even a gas station. Or in eastern Oregon you can find yourself traveling the Blue Mountains in vain looking for a place to stop to eat. We were once lucky to find a Dairy Queen. It was the only eatery for miles.
In the East you’ve got I-95. I remember it’s like a parking lot. Even driving up I-81 the past couple of days has been a reminder of just how crowded things can get. And today we had to wait in line to get gas, something inconceivable in the West. We’re now driving 522 through West Virginia. It’s a two-lane road but it’s mobbed. I haven’t been here in 18 years. But now you even have to make reservations to eat lunch at the Country Inn in Berkeley Springs. There are just that many people who want to do it. We ate lunch here. It took forever. It cost $75.00. It was highway robbery. I don’t think we’d eat here again. We got back on the road. Christine called while rain poured down. She’s supposed to call back at 8:30PM. We entered Pennsylvania and stopped at the Welcome Center and continued on to Breezewood. We anticipated having to stop in a back up. Rumble strips were ahead. It said be prepared to stop, but unlike Berkeley Springs we don’t have a delay. I recall in the past various backups and non backups at Breezewood. I see the Holiday Inn Express where we’re to stay next week. We get on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for the first time since 1994 and get a ticket at the toll booth. There are ugly concrete barriers in the middle of the road. They don’t look nice like grassy median strips. We stopped at Midway at Sbarro’s. Then we paid $2.05 to get off the turnpike at Bedford. We checked into room 109 at The Bedford Inn. It looks like another lousy, cheap inn that Gary picked out.
The Country Inn in Berkeley Springs isn’t what I remembered. They showed us into a tiny room called the West Virginia Room. I recall a much bigger dining facility. The gift shop was closed. Hardly anyone was there. The menu was rather limited. If you didn’t want a sandwich or fish and chips the only alternative was a chef’s salad. They took half an hour to serve us even though no one was in the restaurant besides us. For the privilege of the poor service we had to pay $75.00, and they wouldn’t even take travelers’ checks.
I have to come up with pointers to write out and hand the sitter tomorrow in person when we get to the kennel:
Putlitz:
1)show her how to use the rain shield on the cat’s stroller
2)show her how to use the two carrying cases and the cat stroller
3)show her how to fold up the stroller and put it in a car
4)mention that you can wash the cat bed and put it in the dryer
5)make sure that the bedroom window is shut especially at night, screen would have to be heavy duty
6)no wastebaskets in bedroom, no plastic or styrofoam cups
7)watch out for cat under the bed
8)remind her to keep cat in bedroom with door shut
9)feed PPP 4X/day in paper bowls, leave dish of water and crunchies to eat whenever
10)likes walks in stroller, likes to sit out in stroller, make sure zipped
11)placid but high strung
12)flea stuff July
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Sabaka:
1)over the top, excitable especially around other dogs
2)scared of the dark, scared of garbage cans, scared of hand dryers and vacuum cleaners
3)likes rice and meat for dinner, dog biscuit at night time and treats, also eats lunch and breakfast, in other words eats the same meals people do
4)likes to go for walks with Putlitz, make sure to use harness
5)likes two baths per week with special shampoo
6)flea stuff July 22
7)dog bed mat and blankets
Send email once per week to dorabenley@gmail.com to give status report. We will calll pets and would like to talk to them on cell phone from time to time. Local number contact: 412-835-4038 to give status reports and chat about pets. People there called Alice and Larry Bognar at 2632 Strathmore Lane, Bethel Park, PA 15102 about 5 miles from your house.