Jon's Journal (jon@3blooms.net)

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Wednesday, Aug 25, 2010: Allentown, PA to Yellow House, PA (43.6 mi)

I left Connecticut about 8:30 AM for the drive to Allentown. I hit steady rain in northern New Jersey, but by the time I got to Pennsylvania it had stopped. It was cool and overcast all day, but no rain.

Thanks to the rain slowing traffic, I decided to stop for lunch on the way rather than get riding, then stop. As a result, I didn't get to Allentown until about 12:30. After parking in the economy lot at the airport, I loaded up the bicycle with the panniers, locked the car, and took off. I wheeled the bike over the grass at the end of the lot to get to a short access road leading to the main road going past the airport.

Once out of the airport, I headed more or less due west toward PA bicycle route L. The approximately 15 miles I had to go began by passing through a fairly built-up area then became more rural. Finally, I hit bicycle route L and turned south.

Route L started out gently, then became more hilly. For the rest of the afternoon I went up and down hills. (Mostly up, or at least it seemed that way!) In a few spots, the uphill was steep enough that I ended up walking the bike up the hill rather than exhaust myself pedaling up the slope at a speed only slightly more than wallking speed.

From the airport until I was well down route L, I was circling Allentown, a few miles out from the city. This area is beset with suburban "sprawl," with one farm after the next having been converted into housing developments. Often, the development was ironically named such-and-such "farms."

Once south of the town of Topton, I was well into rural Pennsylvania. This is mostly farm country, with a smattering of other activities. My chosen destination for the night was Yellow House, a small hamlet named after the Yellow House Hotel where I had reserved a room. This is a small old inn dating from the 19th century -- most of their business now is from the restaurant, I think. I checked in about 5:45 PM. Once I had a room, I went back outside and moved my bike around to a fenced-in area behind the hotel, using my cable lock to secure it to a post of the fence. Then I grabbed my panniers and returned up to the room. (These old hotels aren't places where you can easily get a bike into the room.)

After showering, I went down to the dining room. The menu was excellent, and the quality proved to match it. I had a crock of French onion soup, house salad and a nice filet mignon. Oh, and a Yuengling's lager, too.

Afterwards I went back up to my room. I read for a few minutes, but having been up since about 4:30 AM, I was asleep by 8:30.