Day #17- I Got That Tunnel Vision

Today turned into just a travel day.  The trip from Gettysburg to Pittsburgh was supposed to be around 3 hours.  We dont know if it was the GPS lady or the real route, but we spent well over an hour driving on one lane country roads that went up and over mountains.   It was a beautiful drive, but we started wondering if we would ever see a highway.  The highlight was getting to pass Amish farms.  We saw a man plowing his field using horses to pull the plow.  We also saw a home with a welcome sign and Amish quilts being sold.  I considered stopping,  but envisioned the plot of a bad horror movie unfolding. 
We finally made it to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  The first thing we noticed were toll signs.  Of course we had no cash and had to pull over and dig for change.  We came up with around $2 and headed on our way.  The toll plaza had 2 choices- ticket or no ticket.  Since we had no clue what that meant and had no ticket, we chose that lane.  No one was in the toll booth to take our money.  There was no button to push to take a ticket.  The only button was labeled "push to talk".  Since there was no one to talk to and the gate was open, we thought it must be like Texas and the toll people would just send us a bill.  Remember this thought because it is important later. 
The pike was very cool.  It sent us into tunnels that were cut thru the mountain.  That part was actually a little eerie.  There we are, inside a mountain, with trippy lights flashing, and tiles coming off the walls to expose the rock of the mountain.   We stopped at a travel plaza that had a historical marker.  Apparently the Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first long distance highway built in the US.  The travel center was an original stop.  Although I assume the Burger King came later.  Haha. 
At about an hour past lunch time, we decided to stop at Cracker Barrel to stretch our legs and get some chow.  This is where a whole new adventure began.  We exited the pike and immediately came upon another toll booth.  This one had a person.  I pull up and expected to hand the little old lady working the booth my hand full of nickels.  Instead she asks for my ticket.  I tell her we dont have a ticket.  She acted like this was impossible and we had to have a ticket.  I tried to explain what happened when we got on the toll.  She asked where we got on.  I said I had no idea, but it was after leaving Gettysburg and driving over mountains.  She wasnt impressed with my answer.  She said we must have gone thru an easy pass lane.  Now, I was 100% sure we had NOT done that and told her we stopped and tried to pay but no one was there.  She then acted like I was challenged and said I should have pushed the button for a ticket.  Wondering why any of this was relevant considering we could not go back in time and get a ticket, I told her there was no button.  She said I should have asked a person.  I told her there was a call button but no person to answer.  She said I should have pushed it and someone would have come out.  From where?  The side of the mountain?  I kept those thoughts to myself, but Loren was getting annoyed.  He leaned over and asked her to just tell us how much we needed to pay.  She says without a ticket, we had to pay the price of driving the entire turnpike which was $54.  I was panicking and reaching for my wallet.  He moves it so I cant reach and tells her we are not paying $54.  A back and forth arguement begins between the toll lady and an angry husband leaning across me from the passenger seat.  Meanwhile, about a mile of cars are stopped in line behind us.  He tells her to find a supervisor because we will not be paying.  She finally says, fine, but I'll need your lisence.   He hands it over, she does who knows what with it, and then hands him a paper to sign saying we refused to pay.  He signs the paper, probably with someone else's name, and she lifts the gate so we can go.  Still shaking from the unpleasant encounter, I try to shake it off and find Cracker Barrel.  This is where part 2 of the adventure come in. 
We are like .8 miles from the restaurant.   The GPS lady is giving her normal terrible directions.  We end up reenacting the scene with the Griswold's from European Vacation and we drive round and round two traffic circles, back on the highway, same exit, repeat for another half hour.  By the time we found the restaurant, we were done traveling for the day.  We had breakfast for lunch and reevaluated our plans.  Turns out, we were only about half hour outside of Pittsburgh.   This could really mean 2 hours, but we decided to risk it.  We have tickets for a hop on hop off tour tomorrow,  so we decided just to stay in whatever town this is for the night and then go to Pitt for our tour in the morning.  Happy with our decision, we headed to the Econo Lodge that we could see from the restaurant.
We are not hotel snobs and when we travel for 30 days, we have to be smart about what we pay for hotels.  We have found that Econo Lodge is cheap, clean, and for the most part, has comfortable beds.  This one appeared no different from the lobby.  And now adventure part #3 begins.  This Econo Lodge is enormous.   Somehow our room is in the basement down a hall that only be described as the Stanley Hotel and a scene straight out of The Shining.  We pass a laundry room being tended by the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  We enter our room and immediately see a towel laying on the bathroom sink.  The bed is rumpled and trash is still full.  Oh crap.  I think we are in someone else's room!  We try to turn on the lights for a better look- no power anywhere in the room.  We try to call the front desk- phone is broken.  Thinking we may die soon, Loren heads the mile down the hall and up the stairs to the front desk while I pace around,  gun in hand.  As I walk around, I see two light switches right by the door.  I flip them and the room springs to life.  One problem solved.  Loren then reappears with the owner/manger of the place who looks around and confirms the room was not cleaned.  No housekeeping is around anymore, so he sends the hunchback in for cleaning.  She is very disgruntled by this and keeps telling us this is her 1st day and she is laundry, not housekeeping.   We leave her to it and wander around the hotel for a bit.  Upon returning to a clean(ish) room, we try to get cooled down and relax.  As seems to be our problem wherever we go, the AC is not blowing.  Again to go find the owner.  For the second time he comes to the dungeon to inspect our room.  He confirms the AC is broken and moves us to another room.  He lets us in, but has no key for us.  Loren tells him we will just come get it later on when we go out for dinner.  Our new room is perfect.  Clean, cozy bed, cold air.  Finally happy we lounge around until dinner.  We got take out at a local restaurant and when we return, the owner again escorts us to our room to let us in because, well, I dont know why.  I guess he just likes us.  We still have no key.  Oh well.  We are in for the night. 
Tomorrow is Pittsburg, so stay tuned!