Greetings from Somerset, PA.  What am I doing in Somerset?  Just passing through on my way to Baltimore to marry off two young kids.  Really.  My cousin Chad and soon to be cousin Amy flattered me a few months ago by asking me if I would officiate at their wedding.  Very very excited to do just that in two days in Baltimore. 

Our last summer trip also began with a wedding.  Five weeks after that wedding  we returned home from Cincinatti.  We took the long way home to Chicago (all the way past Toffino, BC).  Now we have to balance school and plan on being home in just a few days.  Hopefully we will get a chance to see some of the museums we missed last time we were in D.C.  And tomorrow we hope to take a small detour to the 9-11 memorial that is nearby(Somerset is the county where the heroes on 9-11 made a stand against the terrorists).

Quick thoughts on the Ohio and PA Turnpike:  They sure like to pay tolls on the East Coast.  My I-Pass sort of worked meaning that each time I approached a gate I had to cross my fingers that it would work.  Twice I had to hit the help button in order to tell the attendant the pay code on my pass so that they could remotely open the gate.  There is a national park just south of Cleveland near Akron (Cuyahoga Valley N.P.)   Is this new?  I visited Cleveland several time in my years of being a Bobcat (O.U.) and do not remember such a park.  Are there campgrounds there?  The views from the PA turnpike were really stunning- lots of hills and trees.  But unfortuantly Somerset smells.  Really bad.  Like a steel plant and a dump got together and made a stinker.

We will post some more from this mini trip and will hopefully have some pictures to share.