Post Apocalyptic America.

That's how I saw it described on a website months ago. I was so enthralled with the idea that I posted on it over the winter. I'm talking about the Abandoned Turnpike. Yesterday myself, Baby Dague, and Roverine (formerly known as "The Fiance") braved the unknown and made a visit. For those of you who don't remember, the Abandoned Turnpike was originally part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike until increased traffic volume made its two tunnels inadequate for use. The PA Turnpike Commission constructed a new route through the mountains and the life of the Abandoned Turnpike began. After a tumultuous history the Pike finally appears to have found a home with a non-profit organization that has plans to incorporate it into a coast-to-coast bicycle superhighway. Restoration work has yet to begin, but the highway is open for would be adventurers to explore at their own risk.

Early yesterday morning the three of us loaded up and headed to South Central PA to take in the two gems of the Abandoned Turnpike: the tunnels. Along the route of the old highway are two old highway tunnels that cut under the local mountain ranges. The longest of the two, Sideling Hill, is over a mile long. Ray's Hill, the second tunnel, is around 3/4 mile. The Pike itself is somewhat hard to find. If you want to visit it call me. Don't trust directions you found online. Upon arrival I was kind of surprised that there actually was a highway out there in the middle of nowhere. The pavement was in bad condition and vegetation had grown up all over the place, but there it was! One of the nice things about the Pike is that, although it is in a pretty hilly area, the highway is graded for Interstate traffic. That means that there are no steep hills, only long gentle ones. Sideling Hill lies a short ride away from the parking area, and my neurotic mind had been pondering everything that could go wrong in the belly of that beast for days. I had developed a safety system that hinged on redundancy. Bicycle headlamps were backed up by Maglites which were backed up by glow sticks. Two separate individuals would contact authorities if we weren't heard form by a set time. Like I said, neurotic. As it turned out, Sideling Hill turned out to be much closer to "cool" than to "horrific." Several web pages touted it as being so long that you cannot see light at either end when in the center. That may be true, if you visit at night. It does get dark though. There were rooms at either end of the tunnel leading up into the ventilation and service areas above. Unfortunately the stairways were so rusted that we couldn't venture beyond the first floor rooms. The tunnel itself was long and dark. Its subterranean chill was a welcome break from the summer morning. The rooms at the far end proved to be equally inaccessible. Beyond Sideling Hill we faced several miles of deteriorating highway before reaching Ray's Hill tunnel. To our chagrin, the near side access room's doors were welded shut. We ate lunch on the near side and then rode through. The ride was fun for sure, and the tunnels were great, but as far as adventure goes the trip had been lacking. The meandering subject matter of the local graffiti kept us entertained. At the far end of the tunnel we found more welded doors, and were about to head back to the car until Roverine pointed out a trail of sorts leading up a steep hill along the tunnel's entry way. It wasn't long before Baby Dague and I scampered up the hill and gained access to the tunnel's second story maintenance area by way of a ladder and an unsecured window. The inside was amazing. There were giant ventilation fans, maintenance tunnels running on top of the tunnel for its entire length, and the amazing "triangle room." I felt like I was in Lost. The entire place was littered with paintball and airsoft pellets. Initially we thought some kids had had some fun there, but I recently learned that the Army sometimes uses the buildings to train troops before they head to Iraq. After exploring for a bit we mounted our bikes and headed for home. On the way back Baby Dague showed us why he can always fall back on a circus career, and we decided to blow our glow stick backups on an impromptu rave in the heart of Sideling Hill. It was a great trip all around and I plan to go again. Baby Dague and I would love to go at night. I have attached some pics for your viewing, unfortunately most of the ones we took can't be posted because the local graffiti probably isn't appropriate for public viewing.

Exterior view of Sideling Hill Tunnel

Inside Sideling Hill, looking back at the Pike.

Deeper inside Sideling Hill.

Ever get the feeling that you're being watched?

Looking down at Roverine from the Ray's Hill complex.

Stairway inside Ray's Hill.

Baby Dague showing off his ninja skills.

My bike on pot.

Glow stick party!

And some more of that.

Deep inside Sideling Hill.

Honeymoon Pics

Here is a small collection of honeymoon pictures from Puerto Vallarta.

Sunset from the bar.

In the seaside pool.

On the beach.

Still on the Beach.

The view from our room.

The Church of the Lady of Guadelupe in Puerto Vallarta proper.

Hotel view again.

I'm Back.

My trip to exotic locales has ended for this year, and I'm pretty darn happy to be home. Maintaining a rigorous schedule of leisure was more taxing than I had anticipated. The last two days were mostly spent napping. I only ventured onto the beach once, to watch the moon rise. I'm hoping to get some pictures up for you while on night shift tonight at which time I will also review the three ocean front locations I visited. No big shock here, New Jersey didn't fare well. While on vacation I was able to read Exodus and The Da Vinci Code. Here are my thoughts:

Exodus is an epic novel of historical fiction by Leon Uris covering the Jewish migration to Israel from the late 1800s to the 1948 War of independence. Overall I would rate this book as very good, bordering on excellent. On the historical end Uris has done his homework. The reader gets an excellent overview of the plight of the Jewish people throughout Europe and Palestine from the Diaspora up until the founding of the state of Israel. Uris is able to adeptly weave fictional characters into the historical events, enabling the reader to become more emotionally attached to the events than would be possible with straight fiction. The fictional plot focuses on the activities of the Israeli Ben Canaan family, mostly on the son Ari Ban Canaan as he fights to assist ships in running the British blockade of Israeli ports and later is a leader in the fight for independence. Along with Ari on most of his journeys is an American nurse named Kitty Fremont. Kitty begins the novel as a typically ignorant American with some underlying Anti-Semitic feelings. As the novel progresses she gradually falls in love with Israel and also with Ari. Overall I feel that Exodus is kept out of the "excellent" category by two main flaws. The historical portions can be a tad lengthy and tedious. Beyond that it is clear from the novel that Uris is a fervent Zionist and makes his opinion well known, which is certainly his right as the author. However, his blatantly biased slant becomes increasingly annoying as the novel wears on. One begins to get the feeling that no Jew has ever so much as violated a traffic law while Arabs feed on Israeli babies in their free time. When it comes to the Arab/Israeli situation I firmly support the Israelis, so if I find the slant to be annoying, others may be far less tolerant. Uris' bias does have a positive aspect to it though. Exodus is the perfect primer for understanding the Israeli side of the issue. If you want to get the Arab's point of view, look elsewhere.

With all of the hype surrounding the recent release of The Da Vinci Code movie I decided to finally break down and read the book. Before addressing the religious issues involved I would like to look at the literary merits of the book. Overall I was greatly disappointed. The Da Vinci Code reads like any other cheap paperback thriller that you could pick up at K-Mart. The characters are mildly unique and the plot is heavy on fluff and relatively predictable. It is a nice read if you don't enjoy being mentally engaged and have some free time to waste. It is so run of the mill that I am still trying to figure out why the religious establishment even bothered to respond to it at all. Without their ranting I can't help but think that sales would have been significantly less than what the have been. Anyone with a smattering of brain cells can see that the novel is a factless fairy tale created by a man with a clear agenda to smear persons of faith.

I guess that brings us to my analysis of the religious claims that Dan Brown makes in his book. His basic premise is that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene with whom he had a child. The Church, mainly through Constantine's hijacking of the Council of Nicea in 323 AD, suppressed this information in order to consolidate their own power base. This has far reaching implications including Brown's claim that it eliminated the "sacred feminine" from religious worship and turned the world into a male dominated society. In order for the world to be truly balanced and peaceful we must worship both male and female deities. To begin with, it appears that Dan Brown did the equivalent of a google search when researching the Council of Nicea. Beyond the date Brown presents little else that even approaches accurate information. For example, Brown, through the fictional character Leigh Teabing, claims that Constantine used the Council to elevate Jesus to the status of God, prior to that he had only been considered man. Brown/Teabing claim that Constantine barely succeeded in this manner by winning a very close vote. In fact, there were writings in existence as early as 200 years prior to the Council of Nicea establishing Jesus Christ both God and man. It was hardly a new concept in 323 AD. Also, out of the 318 bishops present at the council 316 supported Christ's deity, two dissented. Hardly a close vote. Brown also ignores the fact that, beyond assisting with some procedural items and providing opening statements, Constantine was a spectator at the council. Brown claims that the council established the current configuration of the Bible, intentionally choosing books that eliminated the importance of Mary Magdalene. In fact, the council never even discussed the issue of Canon. These items are part of a much larger list of factual errors that Brown makes ranging from central religious doctrine to the basic construction of the Louvre. Brown doesn't even agree with himself at times. Characters in the novel claim that the true relationship between Jesus and Mary must be revealed so that the "sacred feminine" can also be worshipped allowing for spiritual balance to be restored to the world, but at the same time argue that Jesus was only a man and should not be worshipped as God. In the end The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction and should be read as such. Even then, I would be hard pressed to advise that it is worthy use of your time.