Back to the Previous Leg

Hello Dear Dibbers, I thought as it was a quiet Sunday evening, I would update you all with the next two legs of our tour. The first of which was our trip from Toronto to Pittsburgh.

We got up early (about 9am), grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel before checking out and heading to the Rainbow Bridge and entry into the USA. Immigration was easy (no photos for obvious reasons) and we were done and dusted in about 30 minutes. It costs $12 per person for a "Land Visa" and it helped that we had updated our ESTA as they could copy the details from there on to our visa. The break also allowed time for our USA sat-nav to find a satalitte and start working.

The journey to Pittsburgh was going to be about 270 miles as we wanted to go via Punxsutawney. This is about 5 hours driving but mostly down straight country roads.

Our first stop was unscheduled and about two hours in to the journey. We had stopped for a couple of times for drinks, comfort breaks and food and one of the took slightly longer as we were in the middle of Amish County and it was just like the movies...



It was a real treat to see the buggies and the dress, everyone was so friendly and polite, we were only there briefly as we didn't want to be staring, but I am glad we went.



Next stop, just over an hour and a half later, was another treat for film buffs like us, Punxsutawney and Phil the Groundhog.



Phil (and his wife Philomena) live in the Library from one 2nd Feb to another... If you don't know the story, every 2nd Feb, Phil comes out and if he sees his shadow, we can expect 6 more weeks of winter.





Even though the film was not shot in the town, its very proud of Phil and his weather predicting abilities. There is a whole trail of Phil's to follow and spot, I am only going to share a couple.





Its a very quiet, quaint town with nice cafes and coffee shops, if you are in the area, it is well worth a visit. It doesn't stop there, we then headed up to Gobbler's Knob to see where the magic happens.



There is a little stage and parade area and a walk around the woods.







The woods are dotted with sculptures made by the local high school (one per year) and again its a nice, pleasant quiet walk. We headed back into town for one last goodbye to Phil and to pick up the car and head to Pittsburgh.



It was about 90 minutes into the centre of Pittsburgh and we were stopping in a hotel in the centre which had parking included but there was no space when we got there. We had to go a business carpark opposite which was going to cost us about $75 dollars for two nights. I was not happy about this and told the reception when got into the hotel.

To give Doubletree their dues, they gave me a voucher for the value of one night (which paid for our meal that evening, drinks over the two days and breakfasts), as it happened the ticket machines were not working when we left and we got the parking for free.

The Bigelow restuarant attached to the hotel is better than most hotel eateries and our waitress gave us some great tips for our trip around Pittsburgh next day.

Next Leg - Pittsburgh

I just wanted to post on here as I'm amazed no one else has! Really enjoying your trip report. We found it as we are planning to travel around the same area and your trippy has given us so many great ideas, none more so than visiting Punxsutawney.

Appreciate all the hard work you have clearly put into the trip report as I have done so myself and it take AGES!

Great to see Phil and Punxsutawney! We are heading there next month so glad to hear it’s worth a visit.

Absolutely fabulous...
It's on my 'to do' list to go to Gobbler's Knob.