Well folks we are out of Pennsylvania...and out of Ohio. This post will mostly be a retrospective of the great state of Pennsylvania: home to the Amish, Appalacian hicks, the Poconos, and the most adorable and nicest folks. We left the Wilkes-barre/Scranton area in hopes of hauling ass out of that state..... Over a week later.... After being broken down with the best possible folks in Huntingdon we were actually on our way, but not without more ridiculousness. We found the best bike shop ever, a real gem, which had been open since the seventies. This shop had a great selection of modern merchandise but also had stock from their earlier years. Casey got a fantastic retro hat and I a Sesame St handlebar bag with the full cast on a bike for five. Eventually we did make it out and into Ohio.

Ohio: we cruised into Youngstown which was incredibly ghetto from our point of entry. No businesses for about three miles in and definitely not a place to whip out the handy dandy iPhone, even for directions out. Just in time we hit downtown which had been gentrified and went into a coffee shop for liquid energy so we could push into the night a bit to a state park. A man outside commented on the bike and then said to us, "I think you'll like it here. About twenty minutes after leaving we heard and saw a huge rainstorm. We waited in a McDonalds and watched it dump on poor Monty, the bikes name. We finally rode into the campground a little after midnight as tired as can be. We awoke early the next day to avoid paying the camping fee and were off to find a laundramat. That night we were cooking dinner in a gazebo and were offered hospitality but stupidly turned it down in hopes we would ride further that evening, but alas, it was cold, we were tired and sketchily camped on the outside of rifle range. We awoke to find out we were in Amish country! What a score!

The Amish: Picture a homely lady in old dress and in a bonnet with big ole butter churning arms.... Her husband with long beard who makes furniture and their children. Oh and the horse and buggy. WRONG! Well partially false. Like the rest of America they love their doritos and minute maid, the only difference is they do it with style. They can't drive right? No they can't, but they can ride in your car. We watched several of them get into a truck with a regular man to go do construction work. Imagine an electrician who supposedly is not allowed to use this modern convenience. Weird. However I still enjoyed them and definitely their baked goods, they make a mean muffin in that electric oven!





Ohio part II: Ohio is the most sterotypical picture of America. This state can be summed up so easily: farms with big beautiful picturesque barns, and the most well groomed suburbs you could imagine. Perfect little houses with American flags, well trimmed yards, and terrible lawn decorations. Despite it's plain-ness, I really liked it. It truly is "small town USA". We were a site to see to these farmers and townspeople. Everywhere we went people slowed down in their cars and gave us a good stare down and most were very friendly and would wave and shout something nice to us. Upon telling one man what our plans were he said to us, "I ain't ever heard nothin like that before." Besides blowing the minds of these people we also blew through the state thank you to roads like pancake st. We also had some help from a few bored farm dogs. We were just the right speed for chasing!