Off the Beaten Path

On a couple of occasions I’ve been asked how I find the signs I find. There are a number of ways to answer that, but there’s no real good short answer. Some of them are obvious, some of them you have to search for, some of them are complete happy coincidences caused by taking the road less traveled. The best place to look for the signs I’m looking for are the old U.S. highways, especially the ones that used to be major thoroughfares before the days of interstate highways but are now largely untraveled.

I travel a lot. A LOT. One of my regular routes is the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which not only beats up my car, but has the added benefit of shearing me for nearly four bucks every time I use it. Not that I’m bitter.

This portion of the Turnpike was built at a time when Interstate 80 did not exist, so rather than create a new exit, the powers that be decided that what motorists would want to do is get off at the old exit, hit a stop light, continue through the intersection and then get on the new highway. Again, not that I’m bitter. The stop light is at PA 940, which chugs along through the Poconos. Up until a few weeks ago, I looked neither to the right nor the left, preferring to go straight on to I-80 and my destination, but one morning I had some time and figured What the heck? I knew 940 eventually met up with 80 again, so I might as well check out the old road.

Nothing much for a few miles, until the intersection at PA 534. And here’s what I found:

This shot was taken a few days later, during magic hour.

I’m not especially sure the age of this Mobil Pegasus, but the research of done seems to suggest that this is older than most. I’m not sure how long this place has been out of commission, either, but I giggled like a schoolgirl when I saw it.

I must have passed by this location a thousand times, and it was just a half-mile off the highway.

Never NEVER stop exploring.