Day 9: December 29, 2023 Back to Ohio Comment via blog

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I did not really end yesterday's travels in Jim Thorpe. Instead, I made my way, with the help of I-81, to a motel near Grantsville, PA. This morning, rather than returning to the expressway, I moved onto US-22 which will take me to within a quarter-mile of my front door.

As I followed the US-22 Business Route through Lewistown, I spotted some "history-on-a-stick" with the words "TRAVEL HISTORY" at the top. My curiosity awakened, I turned around and parked to read it. The sign was at the south end of a short bridge over Jacks Creek which I crossed to read another sign at its north end. Mid-span I caught sight of the bridge in these photos which the sign explained. It was built in 1813 and was crossed by the turnpike between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. According to a sign nearer the bridge, it was restored in 2006.

I had never been to the "America's Oldest Gas Station" so when I saw I was within a few miles of it, off I went. Gasoline has been continuously sold here ever since a blacksmith named George Hinkle started doing it in 1909. In addition to pumping my gas and cleaning my windshield and rear window, the friendly attendant handed me a well written brochure about the station and its history. At $3.299, the gas was right in line with others in the area and much lower than what I was about to see as I approached Pittsburgh,

I put two tunnels and two state borders (one of them quite blurry) that separated me from home behind me.

I stopped for the night in Steubenville and ventured downtown to the Nutcracker Village. With Christmas having passed and the temperature in the 30s with bits of not-quite-snow-but-not-quite-rain in the air, it was far from crowded. I did not stay long either. I spent more time and took more pictures when I was here in 2019.

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