Day 25: Making friends at tollbooths

I'm almost there. Today I left Ohio and passed through Pennsylvania and now am just east of Syracuse, NY. But today also marked the start of toll roads - and with all my stops I felt like I got to meet every tollbooth worker in the state. At least most of them were friendly :)



But my day started with visiting a giant chair. I was glad to see this one, because there was one way back in Wyoming (or was it South Dakota? I forget) that I missed. Not really a world's largest, but still really big

After that, I went looking for a pontoon airplane that was made to look like a wall-eye fish. It was supposedly at the Erie airport, but I couldn't find it. After driving through the dropoff spot three times, I figured I should just give up rather than risk being stopped for casing the airport. I don't need to get put on any government lists or anything.

I also passed by a kazoo museum. I thought I should buy my brother's kids something to give them when I show up. Kazoos sounded fun, but then I thought since they were nice enough to let me stay for a while, my brother and his wife might appreciate something a bit quieter :)

So I was hoping to find something to buy at the Jell-o museum shop. But I was totally disappointed. The museum wasn't so interesting, but I did find a sign commemorating the birth of jell-o (in LeRoy, NY). The inventor sold the rights for only $450 - I think he got ripped off.

Then I went looking for a house shaped like several mushrooms. I had a hard time finding it, and at one point thought it wasn't going to happen. So instead I stopped at a state park I came across and enjoyed a short hike along a river. It was so nice to get out and walk around. Sometimes I get stuck in the car for long periods because most of my stops are just something to jump out and take a picture of. Hailey likes stops that involve walks, too. Here's a picture of the river.

But on the way back to the highway, I spotted the mushroom house. My picture really didn't come out, so it's not posted here, but it is goofy looking. I only had to drive down a private driveway to see it (I just choose to ignore the no trespassing signs :)

Maybe the oddest of today's sights is a two-story outhouse. That's right, the fancy rich folks could poop upstairs, too (just be sure you're not downstairs at the same time). This one has 3 holes up top, and 3 down below.

And not to be outdone with fancy architecture, this factory in Syracuse was build with a two story victorian house on top of it! I'm not sure why they wanted to do that - just to draw attention I guess, but apparently it wasn't good enough to keep the company in business (maybe if they opened it as a bed and breakfast?)

For basketball fans out there, I did also get to see the birthplace of the shot clock. There's a small memorial to it in Syracuse where they held the first shot clock game. It continually cycles through the shot clock; I was practicing my east coast parking and was double parked to take this picture - so maybe it's telling me that I have 11 seconds before I get a ticket :)

Syracuse is also home to some fun ethnic neighborhoods. I drove through the Polish and Irish neighborhoods. The Irish one has a super cool stop light that has the green on the top! Yep, it's backwards. It might be tough to see in this picture, but notice that the green light is where the red should be. I guess on St patricks day, they paint the road green underneath.

So, now I'm just getting ready to make it the rest of the way to my brother's house in New Hampshire. As much fun as it has been to drive across the country, I'm ready to have it behind me. Just think, I usually only ever drive about 9,000 miles per year and when I'm done, I'll have covered well over 4,000! Crazy.

Anyway, today's random thoughts:

• I thought Wisconsin was big into their year-round fireworks stores (available at the first gas station you see upon crossing the state line), but Ohio seems to have it, too. Even better though, Pennsylvania ups them both with a sign advertising fireworks, knives, swords, stun guns and tasers. Now there's a fun party waiting to happen!


• Why is there a Niagra Falls visitors center at the NY/PA border? Who falls for that when the falls are still so far away?


• I had a scary moment today, when a momma deer and too little babies ran across I90 in NY. All us cars had to slam on our breaks to avoid them. Pretty impressive that I went this far before having such an incident.


• I saw a sign that says: Correctional Facility Area Do not pick up hitchhikers. Really? How does this go at the facility - Inmate: "You can't keep me here! I'll be over these fences tomorrow!" Guard: "Forget it, we have a sign on the highway. No one will pick you up" Inmate: "Dangit! I guess it's hopeless. I guess I'll just serve my time" Instead of relying on drivers to not pick up inmates, how about just build a better fence? I'm just saying...


• I'm amazed at how many of the Curves workout places there are across the country. I think I've seen more of those than Starbucks. Seriously. No really, I'm not kidding.


• Here's how you know I'm a product of the Internet generation. I drove by a church called "Free Will Baptist Church". At first I thought it said "Free Wi-Fi Baptist Church". I thought it was just a marketing gimick :)