JERSEY TO BETHLEHEM

We left Amish town for New Jersey the second time around. The second time around redeemed the state of New Jersey. Not gonna say we LOVE New Jersey or would want to move there, but it was definitely better. We managed to snag a Candlewood Suites for the entire week. We did have to revisit the Cheesecake factory, we got to cook our own meal for the first time on the road, we fell in love with "Shop Rite," discovered the beauty of Red Box video rentals, got our hair cut at the Aveda Beauty School, and even went to a concert at the Electric Factory in Philly. All in all it was a good time. After our week in Jersey, we made our way to Pittsburgh with a stop on the way at Amy and Harpo's place in Lewistown. We got the opportunity to meet Bobby, one of Karen's friends from college (Karen=our boss). We stayed in a house right downtown near the University of Pittsburgh. Bobby showed us around town and even took us to the incline. It was really cool, the incline is a little tram that climbs up the side of Mt. Washington, overlooking the city. It was an amazing view, we saw lots of bridges and even Monday Night Football (go Steelers!) We had our first snowfall of the season while in the Pittsburgh area. We left the city behind and headed to the rustic middle of nowhere. We thought we had seen the middle of nowhere before, but this topped them all. We drove north towards Westfield PA, only to find that the nearest hotel that answered their phone was either an hour north into NY, or 3 hours south. We opted for 3 hours south so we didn't have to add to our already 4 1/2 hour drive and then back track in the morning. We found ourselves in bed by 8:00! A feat our parents couldn't even accomplish when we were children:). We got an early start (3am early) the next morning and drove and drove through a PA national forest. I'm pretty sure Erin's driving would have been more scary had I been coherent that early in the morning! Our uneventful morning drive suddenly became eventful around 6 am when we entered "God's Country" a.k.a Potter County. Erin's lead foot finally did her in, you can't get away with anything once you've entered God's Country, He's always watching! Needless to say we had our first run in with the law. You can image the conversation trying to explain an unmarked white van with California plates, a Michigan driver's license, and insurance and registration in our company's name. Thankfully the PoPo was very generous and let Erin go with a warning and a promise to slow down. Driving around a drug awareness program has it's perks. After our show that day, we ventured further into no man's land to check out the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. We had "one heck of a lunch," at "One Heck Of A Place" restaurant (yep, that's it's real name) and spent the afternoon walking around the woods and taking pictures of random signs and such we found along the way. We spent the rest of the weekend in the birth place of our Lord...Bethlehem.