Sunday, February 7, 2010

No. 38 - Pennsylvania Turnpike

We spent over 7 hours on the PA Turnpike this weekend as we traveled between the Philadelphia area and the Pittsburgh area for some incredible skiing at Hidden Valley Resort. There was a major winter snow storm settling into the area as we traveled on Friday afternoon and the salt trucks were out in full force preparing the roads. Every so often we would see a plow truck perched on the side of the road, ready to jump into action when the time came. Most areas around the turnpike got 1-2 feet of snow and some areas got a bit more than that. On the return trip on Sunday, the turnpike was immaculately clean. So kudos to the turnpike workers for a job well done!

The PA Turnpike itself is a terribly boring ride on the east-west route. The history of the turnpike was equally as boring. But I did learn that the PA Turnpike system encompasses 532 miles. When it opened in 1940 as the nation's first superhighway, it was popularly known as the "Tunnel Highway" because of the seven mountain tunnels along its route.

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