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Steel Cities Book Tour--Days 5-6
July 28, 2007
Steel Cities Book Tour Day 5
We’ve seen a lot of road this trip. Flying from North
Carolina knocked about 1,200 miles off the trip up and
back, but we’ve covered a lot of territory since then. My
rough estimate says we’ll drive between 1,600 and 2,000
miles this week.
We headed down through the rolling green hills of central
Pennsylvania headed to the PA Turnpike and on to
Pittsburgh. Today, Averil, Pink, Bon Jovi and Greenday
ruled the iPod. It’s a beautiful drive past forests and
picturesque farms. Got some great photos from the top of
Mt. Washington, overlooking the ‘Burgh. Kyrie had never
seen streets steeper than roller coaster hills before.
Gotta love the houses cantilevered off the hillsides and
the onion domes of the Greek and Eastern Orthodox churches
that are famous South Side landmarks. Then in to the heart
of Pittsburgh, to the bohemian South Side and the new
Joseph-Beth. Met a lot of SF/F readers and had a lively
event.
Quick lunch at an Irish pub, then back across one of
Pittsburgh’s many bridges and through the heart of the
university district, past University of Pittsburgh and the
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and back East to the
Borders at Monroeville Mall. This drive was easy—I lived
in Monroeville for 10 years before moving South. The
Borders folks were real friendly, and despite being a
Thursday night, the place was busy. I love to see
bookstores filled with people! Met one guy who was wearing
a time turner necklace like the one in Prisoner of Askaban.
Some fantasy fans are easy to spot!
Next stop….Erie!
Steel Cities Book Tour Day 6
Almost at the end of the road! Up to Erie Pennsylvania in
the Great Lakes wine country. Not the place to drive in
the winter—I’ve been caught in many a “white out”
mini-blizzard on I-79 when I lived here. That’s when the
snow comes down so thick and hard that you can see only the
tail lights of the car ahead of you and you inch your way
down the highway. My hometown, which is 45 minutes south
of Erie, averages about 100 inches of snow a winter. Erie
and Edinboro get more.
Winters here are harsh, but summers are glorious, and good
for growing wine grapes. The tour photos don’t do this
landscape justice. In the summer, Pennsylvania is lushly
green everywhere you look. We’re in the foothills of the
Appalachian Mountains, and the land is hilly to downright
vertical. There are still a lot of farms, and as we drove
along I-80 in the top third of the state or along the
Turnpike in the bottom third, miles and miles of unbroken
forest, sometimes as far as the eye can see. Quite a bit
of the inspiration for the topology of the Winter Kingdoms
come from this beautiful landscape.
We’re at the Borders Books and the Barnes and Noble at the
Millcreek Mall today. This is home turf.
Tomorrow…..the Confluence Science Fiction Convention in
Pittsburgh.
New tour photos are on the web site!
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