I've Been Everywhere in PA
8/14/00   Monday

The Big One

After a good nights rest we are up and out by 9:00 AM for our biggest IBET day yet.  After a quick stop at Wal-Mart to pick up an extra camera we're off to Idaho, a mere 15 miles away from Indiana.  The sign was easy to find on Rt. 156 so we snap our first photo of the day and we're off.

From Idaho we take 210 North to 85 to 839 into Dayton.  It's a beautiful day, cool, sunny, low humidity, perfect morning for riding.  We found the sign on 839 just north of the fairgrounds.  Cathy poses for yet another IBET photo and we hop back on the bike and slide down into town for a quick look at the map.

It quickly became obvious to me that I hadn't planned this part of the route out very well.  I was now backtracking south to our next stop before hit Pittsburgh.  The target Oklahoma, the route seems simple enough, go west until we hit 66 south to Apollo, cross the river and bang we're there.  We quickly got muckied up in the go west to 66 part of the plan.  Just outside of Dayton I must have taken a wrong turn, the road became increasingly narrower.  Then I came to a four way stop.  The road heading west was in the process of having fresh oil and stone put down, no way was I going to ride over that, so I turn left and head south hoping for another chance to turn toward the west.  No such deal, after riding a few miles the blacktop turns to a dirt road and makes a big loop back to where we started.  This time I turn right heading north and after what seems an eternity we find 66 south.

The thirty mile trip south to Apollo also seemed to drag on with slow moving traffic and no good opportunities to pass.  Finally we arrive, cross the river, but I don't see a sign.  We head north on 356 and turn right to head back to the river and suddenly there is what we are looking for, Oklahoma.  Two long hours and 58 miles later we add another location to our log.

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Idaho 9:48 AM

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Dayton 10:20 AM

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Oklahoma 12:27 PM

 

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Pittsburgh 2:15 PM

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Houston 3:20 PM

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Buffalo 3:52 PM

 From Oklahoma all navigating would have to be done by the map I picked up at AAA.  I couldn't find an easy route to Pittsburgh, and never having been in this part of Pennsylvania before, we chose to travel on the highway as much as possible.  Heading north we picked up PA 28 near Garvers Ferry and shot southwest toward Pitt.  Crossing the Allegheny River at Highland Park I expected to find a city limit sign.  No such luck.  We head toward the center of the city.  Traffic was horrendous, it was hot, and now I'm lost.  Eventually I took a right hand turn and crossed the river again amongst a web of road construction.  To my left was Three River Stadium and, tada, the Allegheny Station, Pittsburgh PA, United States Post Office.  Getting out of the city was just as bad as our trip through it.  Traffic was at a standstill trying to get through the tunnel on 279 and shortly after exiting into the sunlight, was an accident that snarled it up again.   Sitting on the Concours in traffic on a hot day with all that engine heat is not my idea of fun.

 

We were wilted when we pulled off I-79 at exit 8 to snap a picture of another fine government building.  We had to wait a while for the cars to move to get the motorcycle in a spot where I could get the proper composition for the picture.  At 3:20 PM we added Houston to the growing list in our log book.

 

From Houston it was back to I-79 south to Washington where we picked up 844 west for a nice ride out to Buffalo.  There is not much there in Buffalo.  I went through the village and didn't see a sign, but Cathy signaled to me that we had passed one facing the opposite way.  A quick u-turn and we found it.   It was in a bad spot, soft shoulder on the bend of a steep hill.  After more camera quirks we managed to get the shot we needed.  I was beginning to feel tired and suggested that we stop and have supper and relax when Cathy unfolded the map in front of me and pointed to our next destination.  "After we get these two" she insisted.  So we mounted up and were off again.
From Buffalo we continued west on 844 and crossed into West Virginia.  844 becomes 27 for the next six miles to the Ohio River and 2 north.   Ten miles to the north we crossed the Ohio River into Steubenville, Ohio and picked up 7 north to Toronto.  There we were greeted by a large red sign claiming Toronto as the Gem City.  I don't know of the cities history or claims, but the sign worked for me.

From Toronto it was a quick ride over the hill to Knoxville.   We found a green sign across from the elementary school.  The sign seems to have seen better days, as it appeared to have been run over several times.  As long as we could read it, it was good for us.  About this time I was beginning to let the long day get the best of me.  You can probably see it in Cathy's expression in the photo.  "C'mon Mark, get a grip".

We wound our way north on 213 to Hammondsville then back to 7.  In East Liverpool we took 11 north bound for Youngstown.  Around 6:00 PM we found ourselves in Columbiana and pulled off for a bite to eat.  I was never so happy to get off the bike.  We relaxed over a leisurely supper and looked over the map for our next stop.   Reno, PA and Panama, NY were next on our list.  I figured that there was no way of getting to them before dark so we decided to start heading home.  We would travel east on I-80 until around 9:30 then get a room for the night.

After supper my energy level was restored and my mood improved.  I looked at the map and surmised that Clarion, PA would be a good spot to stop for the night.  I was making good time on I-80 when the engine lagged, time to switch to reserve and maybe look for a gas station.  I pulled off exit 5 and refueled.  Cathy, studying the map, saw my markings for the second Eldorado location.  It was about 8:05 and still light, could we make the 16 or so mile trip south through Eau Claire and try to find it?   We'll try, after all it's not that far out of our way.  South on 38 to Annisville we tuned left onto Eldorado Road.  It soon became a very narrow road that looked like went nowhere but into the woods.  A few miles later and just before dark we stopped at an intersection where there were a few homes.  There were several children playing outside so we asked one little girl if she knew where Eldorado was.   "You're in it" she replied.  Great, was there a sign anywhere?   She pointed to a memorial stone with the name Eldorado painted on a sign at the top near the intersection.  Just about then, two women out for their after dinner walk came by and we posed the same questions.  "At the top of the hill there used to be a sign, but it's been gone for the last two weeks or so, somebody must have knocked it down or stole it."  They were inquisitive as to why the sign for such a small out of the way place was so important to us.  We explained the whole IBET thing to them.  A few minutes later we had a small gathering of townsfolk there listening to our narrative.  Just as it got dark, Cathy posed in front of the memorial for a picture I wasn't sure would qualify under the rules.  We had come all this way, might as well try.  It wasn't until we had gotten home and developed the film that we found the Eldorado picture hadn't come out.  Even though it was getting dark at the time it was taken, the photo came out severely overexposed and nothing could be made out.  Oh well, Eldorado eluded us twice, maybe, did it really even exist?

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Toronto, OH. 4:35 PM

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Knoxville, OH. 4:50 PM

 

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???Eldorado??? 8:30 PM

Was it our imagination??

Tuesday, the road home  ==>

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