April 28, 2010 - Pennsylvania cont.

I had no idea that it was already 9am when we finally woke up. My head was buried under inside my sleeping bag, hiding from the cold, so I thought it was still o’dark hundred. Mateo confessed he thought the same thing. Kitty was awake though. She was sitting upright on the pillow. I swear she looked just like me after an all-nighter: her hair disheveled, eyes puffy and red. I suspect that after our “there’s something outside” episode she did not go back to bed. At around midnight Kitty and I were both frightened and woke Mateo up when we heard scurrying outside. I was convinced it was a predatory animal, but somehow I was able to go back to sleep. Kitty stayed up and pulled security watch all night. So she slept like a peaceful kitten all day in the car as we traveled through Pennsylvania.
PA is picturesque. There are lots of forest lands, eagles, quaint old towns, and tourist traps centered around the mining industry and farming. We drove through rolling hills, past rotting barns, frolicking lambs and drive through liquor stores.“I always think ‘GREAT AMERICAN STEEL WORKS’ when I see these rusted and painted metal bridges. They’re works of historical art. Though I wish I could see an old wooden, covered bridge.”15 miles later we came across one.
It was clear early on that we weren’t going to make it past the PA-OH border. So, we took our time, stopping to take pictures of barns and see the Grand Canyon of PA! By late afternoon we had burned through all of our rations of random food items and didn’t have a drop left to drink, so we stopped in a SurFine grocery store for supplies. It’s amazing how easily you can spend $100, even when the store is short on what you’d consider viable supplies! (It was a small store, with a large fresh meat section, which we avoided due to lack of refrigeration.) I was able to get:
a bag of apples
grape tomatoes
salad mix
one onion
trail mix
granola
brown rice pasta
spaghetti sauce
Chef Boyardee beefaroni
Campbells Vegetable beef soup
chicken broth
Grandma Brown’s baked beans
refried beans
bean salad
canned apricots
canned tropical fruit salad
whole wheat tortillas
Polish leek sausage
Ziploc bags
New York sharp cheddar cheese
sliced Provolone cheese
Italian seasoning
a couple gallons of water
baby wipes/wet wipes
paper towels
four whole wheat bagels
jar of peanut butter
coffee
canned spinach
frozen peas

I am curious what would you have picked, considering you have limited space, only one burner and one small cooler? It needs to be enough food to last about two weeks and easy enough so that you entirely avoid eating fast food or at restaurants. I thought we could use the tortillas for sandwich wraps and burritos, instead buying bread which squishes in a packed car. I figure we’ll stop to buy fresh salad mix, ice and water every few days.
I also plan on buying chicken to cook in the broth with tomatoes, onion, peas, italian seasoning and some carrots and sweet potatoes that I already have.

After unloading the car to assist in loading all our new groceries, we attempted to find state hunting lands to camp on for the night. All of it was closed. So we parked on a dirt road and set up the kitchen to cook dinner. We felt like real “On the Road” hobos, although I’m sure none of the beatniks or hobos would have fresh sausage for dinner with their beans.

I took behind the wheel and drove us to an empty parking lot in the Allegheny National Forest a few hours away. We slept in the car and woke up with ice over all the windows (on the INSIDE and the OUTSIDE!) This time I woke us all up at 6am and got us on the road no later than 7:30am.

-CB