Day 1:
We left Staten Island at 11:05am, 5 minutes after I had projectd.  An auspicious beginning, if I do say so
myself.  First on the agenda, after a brief stopover in NJ to visit my aunt and uncle, was the Shoe House
in Hellam, PA.  I76 is ugly, made even more so with the expensive tolls.  Speeding down I83 towards
Hellam, I suddenly felt a tire go and the rim hit the road.  I pulled over to assess the damage. The entire
tire was a mass of shredded rubber.  Joy.  Now Alexa and I have changed tires before, so we weren't
worried.  Our feelings changed when we couldnt even get the tire out of the trunk.  Now matter how hard we
pulled, it wouldnt budge.  Just then a guy pulled over and offered to help. Visions of Americas Most Wanted
flashed in my head, but I ignored them.  He reached in and unscrewed the lock holding the spare to the trunk,
making us feel like idiots for not noticing that little feature.  He changed the tire as well.
Sometimes its good to look like a helpless girl.

Spare on, we headed to the nearest Sears to get a new tire.  Loading the spare back into the trunk, the
vacuum packed bag of linens decided to open and expand.  Considering that my trunk was full this was
not a good thing.  We shoved the bag in the backseat until we could get to a vacuum to re-deflate it.
Finally it was time to go to the Shoe House.  We pulled up, and there was a big closed sign on the
gate.  Ah well, we still got good pictures in the twilight.

We then pressed on to Jones Mill, PA, site ofthe Log Cabin Motel.  Hungry, we were told there was one place
open til 10. We pulled up, and it had closed at 9. Auspicious day indeed.  While we were driving to the
unfortunate pub, we were greeted with a billboard that said, "The Bible...Good For Life."  Thanks, Jones
Mill, Pa, we really needed that little bit of salvation.  It must have worked because we found a
beer mart that sold sandwiches.  The Log Cabin Motel was really quaint, as I'm sure it was built to be.
Everything was made out of wood, except for the mattresses, thank god.