On the road in western Pennsylvania
This particular speaking mission — two consecutive days in Pennsylvania — is a little different from most. Rather than flying or driving my trusty Deerslayer, my wife, Sharon, is serving as my chauffeur and assistant.
Once we got through the traffic nightmare that is the Washington D.C. metro area yesterday, the fun really began.
And I’m serious about that fun. I love traveling. Especially when it’s to a place I’ve never seen. And I’ve only been through Pittsburgh once, and that was at night.
So I was looking forward to seeing the gorgeous mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania.
You’d think, given that there are so many tunnels in Hampton Roads, that I’d have enough of them. But you’d be wrong. Tunnels are always fun — as long as you’re not stuck in traffic trying to get into them.
This one was the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel. All 6,070 feet of it:
Just like back home in Virginia, they don’t want you to pass anyone while in the tunnel:
Traffic moves along pretty quickly, though:
The light at the end of the tunnel. Literally:
Hey, what fun. And all it costs you is the toll for the Pennsylvania Turnpike itself — In our case, $8.20.
Something I didn’t expect to find up here yesterday: Power generating wind turbines. I’d seen a bunch of them back in Iowa years ago, but I didn’t know there were so many in Pennsylvania. Several nice groupings, in fact:
We discovered the Flight 93 crash site was a lot closer to the highway than we expected. Because we were ahead of schedule, we took a break from the turnpike and drove the 12 or 15 miles to the site.
The site, administered by the National Parks Service, was charmingly modest. They plan to break ground this fall on a more elaborate memorial to be built in time for the 10th anniversary of the crash of Flight 93.
The site itself is a couple hundred yards in the large meadow across the gravel road. A U.S. flag hanging on the side of a chain-link fence marks the filled-in crater.
Facing the field are rows of benches and a few memorials — many of them homemade:
A parks ranger gives a brief talk about the 9/11 hijackings, the struggle for control of Flight 93 and the crash itself. Everything at the site is very low-tech. Her visual aids consist of a three-ring binder full of laminated pages.
The other historical exhibit is a series of binders that contain transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder of Flight 93:
A 15-foot tall wall contains paintings, flags, hardhats, T-shirts, patches…
Lining the fence is a row of stone markers and monuments. The small brown granite one at the very bottom, in fact, was dropped off by a nice couple from Texas while we were there. Inscribed in the brass plaque is a poem about the crash of Flight 93:
And, on the next hill, is a peaceful family farm. The crash site itself is just off to the right of this photo. Can you imagine the view they had of the crash itself and its aftermath?
Find the NPS Flight 93 National Memorial web site here.
As you can see, we had a wonderful day for driving and sightseeing. It was warm here in Pennsylvania, but not nearly as hot and humid as it is in Virginia Beach.
Squirrel!
And just before the exit to our hotel — smack in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon University area — we received a nice bonus: Another tunnel! WooHoo!
I wanted something quick and easy for dinner — so I could run through my slide show one more time — so we went out in search of fast food. We settled on a local chain called Eat ‘n Park.
Oddly though, the one we went to had no place to park. Go figure. The burger itself, though, was so tall I couldn’t fit it into my mouth. And believe me, that’s a feat.
Today, we’re up very, very early. My show for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and hosted at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — begins at 9 a.m.
Added degree of difficulty No. 1: I began to lose my voice yet again last night. We’ll see how well it holds up today.
Added degree of difficulty No. 2: At 3 a.m., the fire alarm in the hotel went off. Clearly there was no fire. Good thing, too: It wasn’t very loud. Some guests slept right through it, I’ll bet
As soon as we’re done this afternoon, Sharon will wisk me away to our next stop: Williamsport, Pa., about four hours away. That’s where I’ll be presenting tomorrow.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Senior Apple,
I want to foremost express gratitude for your presentation in Pittsburgh on July 25. I left your show with latent inspiration. But what does that mean?
In this world, this industry of layoffs, downsizing and pay cuts, I understood a feeling of legitimate passion for journalism. Whatever your job, as manager, designer or professor, you are providing a damn important service to us as editors, designers or whatevers. Your wife is pretty funny, too (my apologies to your ego).
Maybe I’m a doe-eyed idealist who believes in giving the public information at any cost — even reduced profit margins. But I think your mantra that “content is king” exists from the first keystroke to that last graphical embellishment.
Seriously. I’m a straight-out-of-college, live-in-my-parents’-basement, work-at-the-paper-that-taught-me-how-to-read kind of nerd, but I believe in what you’re selling.
Still, lest I look like a total butt-kisser, let me say this:
“Unemployed,” “underutilized” — whatever you and your peers call yourselves in this news transition — you are wrong.
Every brilliant thing you (and people like you) do for design is totally applicable on the Web. It just takes a little learning and a smart editor to make it a reality. (I’ll explain in detail when Bev sends us the review forms).
Keep fighting for what you do: good design is good design. The future of newspapers is not nonexistence, it’s 72 dpi brilliance.
Jesse James Helfrich
Beaver County Times