Since my semester wrapped up last week it was time to head back to Indiana, PA for summer classes. My wife had came home from a workshop mid-day Friday. We caught up, then Saturday morning I left out at 5:30 without her for a month in PA. She'll come up eventually.
I strapped what I needed for the summer to the back of the bike. I stowed the laptop, camera, shaving kit, and a few notebooks in one saddle bag. The other saddle bag was shoes and research materials.
I left at 5:30 am to beat the traffic.
It was threatening rain so I didn't want to rush.
Last year this ride up was quite an ordeal of missed turns and extra scenic loops around WV to find my way. This year the ride was fairly uneventful. Traffic was light until I hit the outskirts of Morgantown, WV and then it was still manageable. I hit all of the turns on the first try.
I pulled into town at 3:00 with an appointment to meet the landlord at the rental property at 4:00. Since I had a few moments I went up to a scenic vista that Dino had shown me last summer. This is the result:
This is overlooking the town that I'll be in until early August.
Home of Jimmy Stewart and this great view is not a bad place to be.
After a few of these shots I went to find where I'd be staying. I was still a half hour early, but when I cruised by the landlord was on the front porch. I circled around (up a wrong way street accidently the wrong direction) and pulled into the parking spot. The landlord was impressed that I could do an entire summer with what I had packed on the bike. He has had people move in for five weeks in multiple u-hauls. He was very impressed that I remembered the clothes hangers (bunge-netted to the sissybar).
We chatted for a bit inside of here:
This will be my home away from home. It is steps from campus. The school wireless almost reaches my living room when the wind is blowing right.
One half of this furnished duplex is almost too much room, but since the price was cheap and the location is good I am happy.
Monday started the intense one week workshop. Half a day of html crash course was not enough for me to learn it, but it was enough for me to learn to hate it. We've also worked on wikis, blogs, and podcasts and how to use them in the college literature and composition classrooms (as well as ESL classes). It has been fun.
Next week will settle down and I can build a rhythm and get back to PA friends and riding again.
So hopefully I'll be posting new photos and ride reports again soon to replace my commuting post...
