Tuesday, October 01, 2019

Palm Trees in Pennsylvania?


Headed down to Carlisle, PA to visit my daughter for Parents Weekend at Dickinson College.  My wife insisted on me bringing my bike because I am an early riser and she likes to sleep in. I asked around the interwebs for routing recommendations and only one person from USMES suggested that I ride to the top of King's Gap.  I had also found some routes on RideWithGPS, too. What I really wanted to do was ride to Gettysburg but that was a little too far.  I ended up creating my own route that included King's Gap and tried to stay off busy roads.




After a delicious Hotel Breakfast of what tasted like powdered scrambled eggs and unappetizing mini breakfast sausages I headed south along some backroads towards Boiling Springs. I only saw one store along the way for the first 5 miles but it was way to early to stop.





One of the fun things of not knowing the area is thinking that a road goes through but it really doesn't. Not sure why Ride With GPS didn't pick this up. Fortunately I was able to walk across the bridge.


Another routing surprise was finding a dirt road instead of a paved one. Should have checked the satellite photo.


Always have to stop for a picture with railroad tracks.


So this is where Land-o-Lakes butter comes from! Remember the old packages that if you folded it right you could make the Indian woman's knees look like breasts? That was a hit back in the 1970s!


Up until the turn off for King's Gap, the roads that I were riding were small rollers and I thought now came some real climbing.  It wasn't so. The road to the top of King's Gap never got above a 3% grade!  Still, it was worth the views.



I was expecting a big climb and seeing my average speed take a big a hit



But it wasn't bad



Even if it did the views of the Cumberland Valley were worth it!



The only other store I saw on my ride was the King's Gap General Store



The store, however, was pretty sparse.



I really wanted to buy an orange hunting cap but didn't think I could carry it back on my bike.



The snack selection was pretty sparse. I found this lone back of BBQ potato chips and a few Slim Jims.



Then it was back to riding rollers along rows and rows of corn and soybeans.



The center of the road was really scratched up and I couldn't figure out why



Until I passed an Amish farmer riding up the road. The road was scraped up from the horses and their metal horse shoes.



What I found truly astonishing was that not once did I see any sings of solidarity for Trump. No bumper stickers, signs, or flags. However, there was one flag that was on a fence however everything was cut out. I guess this farming community was is really helping to win the trade war with China that Trump started.





These potato chips were not exactly bursting with flavor



I took a wrong turn and came upon Palms Ct



And found Palm Trees!



Bolting them down must be a way to protect them from getting stolen.
























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