LFS: The Storyteller

© Text & Photos by LeeZard Tuesday August 27 – New York, NY-Cooperstown, NY I am leaving New York City via its maze of parkways and expressways, Belt Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway, Whitestone Expressway and the Hutchinson River Parkway, on my way to the New York State Thruway. The Thruway – I-87 – is familiar ground; it is the gateway to the rugged and beautiful Adirondack State Park (2.6 million acres!) where I spent many happy youthful days. When thinking of New York, most people think of the city and they assume the whole state is like that but heading into Westchester County and away from the tumult of the Big City, the rest of New York State reveals itself, lush and green. At Albany the Thruway turns west, eventually becoming I-90. After too many miles of freeway I exit onto U.S. 20 west in the town of Waynesburg. The route gently twists through long stretches of forest, dotted by some fine old homes and the occasional farm. At one farm I spot a “Produce” s

Thursday August 22 – Latrobe, PA-New York, NY via Yardley, PA Yes, I am technically on the East Coast. After all, Pennsylvania is an Atlantic port state. I won’t really feel it, though, until I hit The Philadelphia area and then drive up the New Jersey Turnpike to New York City. I’m stopping later today in Yardley, PA, just west of Trenton, NJ, to visit my Cousin Roberta, the daughter of my Dad’s brother. A few years older than I, she was my very first boyhood crush and remains to this day an easy audience for my unique sense of humor. I can’t stay long in Yardley; I’ll have to find camping as I near New York City early this evening. The closest camping to the city is 35 miles south of NY at the strangely named Cheesequake (sic) State Park. My drive from Latrobe to Yardley will be mostly on the Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-76. Getting to the turnpike is a soothing 45-minute drive along the lush and rolling state roads of Western PA. I’m glad it is so soothing; when I reach