day 3 - blakeslee, pa to stillwater, pa

day 3 - blakeslee, pa to stillwater, pa

i awoke this morning to sunshine and crisp temperatures. i shared some coffee with barb and paul and i was off for a 70ish mile day - nice and short.

after 15 miles i felt as if i had gone back in time. suddenly i was traveling through rolling hills and small small towns. towns with one stoplight or no stoplights. cars were few and far between and to my dismay, restaurants or markets were obsolete. i had no idea how sparse PA is.

after countless rolling hills, narrow roadways, and great views, i found myself in shickshinny, pa. here i refueled for the last 18 miles which appeared to wind through more hills.

as i devoured a meatball sub, fries and chocolate peanut butter custard i asked the server for the best route through the hills. she spouted some route that involved an incredibly steep road. the men in the next booth chimed in with a route that avoided the hill so i agreed to it. before departing the older of the two guys, joe, 81, introduced himself and asked me to come by his place to check out all of his antiques. i thought this to be a bit strange but i imagine he just wanted to share some words with someone else.

i went by his house, which he built decades ago, where he had hundreds of antiques lying around, all of which are going to be sold at auction. when he shook my hand good-bye he gripped it as hard as he could to show me he still had tons of strength, even for an old feller. i snapped some photos and hit the road as it started to rain.

this is a new philosophy i'm adopting out here: if someone wants to visit or hangout or show me something, then i'll agree. safety and time permitting of course.

after some time in the rain, i rode upon Whispering Pines Campground. Here i met the Wojton family who could not have been nicer. they offered me some hot chocolate and anything else i needed, which turned out to be propane.

they told me of their daughter, Valerie, who died of leukemia last november as tears swelled in their eyes. Teresa, Valerie's mom, handed me a picture of their daughter and asked me to carry it with me throughout my trip. "of course" i replied. there is a facebook group titled 'remembering valerie' for anyone who would like to take a look.

after some tender moments they showed to the trailer in which i stayed the night. a warm and cozy place that allowed me to dry off and sleep well as it rained and poured all night.