Leftovers Day 9 -10 Williamsburg VA to Toronto ON

October 2016 - Toronto ON

Day 9 Williamsburg VA to Altoona PA

We left Williamsburg at 8:30 and headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, just beating the crowds.

Browsing through Cracker Barrel.

Soft drinks or do they call them sodas?

Day 10 Altoona PA to Toronto

On the road by 9:30 and had a gorgeous sunny day for the five hour drive to Altoona PA for the night.

Getting around DC wasn't busy other than the massive backup of traffic for the Clarksburg factory outlets. The highway sign stated that "outlet parking is full, use overflow lot". Seriously, people, it is Saturday, a gorgeous fall day at noon and you are going shopping?

Bathroom break in Maryland

Got to the Hampton Inn in Altoona by 3:30 and relaxed until dinner.

We walked across to Champs (photo taken next morning) and had a fabulous steak dinner with fries and pierogies, the best I've ever had.

Sunday morning we're on the road heading home.

Weather was great until Pennsylvania when it turned dark  and poured.

Fascinating for us, as Canadians, to see the proliferation of these signs throughout Pennsylvania.

Rain!

The GPS shows the fog.

HOME! And dinner is whatever is in the freezer, even though we had steak last night.

Monday unpacking and laundry.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day and John golfed. I started prepping for a birthday brunch on Saturday.

Checklists

Getting organized, checking ingredients.

Wednesday we did a Costco run.

Thursday was the monthly coffee meet in our building.

The view from the club was gorgeous.

Then John bought some frames to add to our wall so we can add to our travel gallery. This turned into an  all afternoon activity as we looked through many files of photos to find the perfect one.

Made some brownies for Saturday but they didn't turn out well. No worries they weren't part of the menu anyway.

Friday was shopping and getting ready for Saturday brunch. Roasting beets, peeling potatoes, chopping onions etc.

BOOKS

Reading City on Fire, an epic of 911 pages. Totally enjoying the interactions and relationships between the characters. Here's the blurb:
New York City, 1976. Meet Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city's great fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who, for better or worse, love them; Charlie and Samantha, two suburban teenagers seduced by downtown's punk scene; an obsessive magazine reporter, Richard, and his idealistic neighbor, Jenny, - and the detective trying to figure out what any of them have to do with a shooting in Central Park on New Year's Eve.



DINNER
Saturday - on the road steak
Sunday - steak and sweet potato fries
Monday -  hamburger stew
Tuesday -  liver onions and mashed potatoes
Wednesday - pork chops and colcannon
Thursday - homemade pizza
Friday - loaded baked potatoes

Day 1 and 2 - Toronto to Johnstown PA

October 2016





We left Toronto in the rain and it continued pretty much all day.

We must have gotten into the slowest line at US Customs, we watched all the other lines speed through. John said "must be a woman" and sure enough it was. Totally unfriendly and took forever to check our passports, even asked who owned the vehicle... But never asked us to lower the back seat window, odd.

Just a quick stop for Mc D's, not sure the last time we were in one but it served its purpose. It's a long drive in the rain so fast food works. Took a wrong turn finding McD, but snapped these.

Some more photos on our way.

Not sure why the GPS took us the way it did away from major interstates but it worked.

Johnstown was formally organized as a town in 1800 by the Swiss German immigrant Joseph Johns (born Josef Schantz). The settlement was initially known as "Schantzstadt", but was soon anglicized to Johnstown. From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. Johnstown was at the head of the canal's western branch, with canal boats having been transported over the mountains via the Allegheny Portage Railroad and refloated here, to continue the trip by water to Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley. Perhaps the most famous passenger who traveled via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842. By 1854, canal transport became redundant with the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which now spanned the state. With the coming of the railroads, the city's growth improved. Johnstown became a stop on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was connected with the Baltimore & Ohio. The railroads provided large-scale development of the region's mineral wealth.

In googling the town it turned out that we just missed Trump earlier this afternoon. This is definitely Trump territory.

We stayed in the Hampton Inn and ordered Chinese food for dinner.

The room we had was on the first floor near the lobby, it was like sleeping in Grand Central Station. The clerk when we checked out just said sorry, and nothing else. I received their online survey and complained and received this note.

Dear Jacqueline McGuinness:

Thank you for taking the time to complete one of our guest surveys.

I'm sorry that you had an unpleasant experience at our hotel, and didn't get any sleep due to the noise the office door caused.   We did adjust the hinges on it so it hopefully won't be as disruptive in the future, and I'll bring it to the staff attention, especially at night, to try to work more quietly.

I have gone ahead and adjusted your room rate and refunded your credit card for your stay, as we want you to be 100% satisfied.  You should see the credit on your account within a few days after everything is processed.

Once again, please accept our apologies.

Sincerely,

Karen Mansfield
General Manager
Hampton Inn Johnstown, PA


We had the free breakfast at the Hampton and got on the road around 10. The sun is out and the temperature is rising.

Crossing into Maryland.

Lunch in Germantown.

Getting through DC was slow due to heavy traffic.

We stop at a rest area in Virginia.

Virginia has always used the slogan "Virginia is for Lovers".

We're in a 2 bed 2 bath condo for a week at the Patriot's Inn.

A quick grocery shop and we put our feet up.