Indiana, PA (USA)

Mollie and I left NoVA this morning so we would be able to visit our favorite weather forecaster tomorrow morning. It took a lot of work for me to get Mollie out of bed but we managed to get on the road by 1030.  We drove to Pennsylvania via I-495, I-270 and I-70.  Along the way, we traveled through rainy and cold conditions, with fog and snow at times.  We left I-70 near Johnstown and used a series of back roads (Mollie was looking at her Google Maps app) and we arrived at the Johnstown Flood NPS site after a relatively easy drive (1400). The Visitor's Center was in a location that allowed us to view the valley below where an earthen dam failed in 1889 and destroyed towns in the valley as far as 15 miles away. I’ve been here before but the somber memorial still had a powerful impact on me and Mollie (her first visit). One of the most moving exhibits was a first hand account of a lucky young man who somehow survived the devastation as his barn swept away in the flood - while he was forced to watch his family perish, along with thousands of others. We had some thought provoking discussions about who was to blame and whether such a tragedy could have been avoided. Even though it happened a long time ago, human tragedy like this probably can’t ever be explained or understood. Mollie got another NPS Passport stamp and then we took a walk along the remnants of the dam.  I got my Disabled Veteran NPS Access Pass and signed over the old one to Mollie.  After eating lunch (snacks) in our car, we used US-22 and some back roads to get to Indiana, PA.  We arrived at our hotel (a free Wyndham rewards night!) and found out that it had been sold out.  Fortunately, they still had our room (I felt lucky I’d made the reservation early).  After checking in (1600), we unpacked and looked over the Groundhog Day celebration package that the hotel gave us.  Then (1645) we drove to a nearby restaurant (Hoss’s) for dinner (steak, chicken, salad and dessert bar).  We had a nice conversation and took our time eating.  By 1800, we were back in our room.  I walked around in the hotel (to get my steps) while Mollie studied for her Bio exam.  In order to get enough sleep to see the Groundhog and drive home, I went to bed at 2100.  Looking forward to meeting up with a certain furry friend in the early AM!