Day 343
5 hrs, 10 kms

Actual date: April 9, 2015
Next morning I decide to get off to a really early start . I drop off my bicycle further down the road, then head back to Huntingdon to wander around town a bit. A fairly standard Pennsylvanian small city--except that it has cargo trains running through it every couple of minutes.

A Sheetz gas station is just starting to wake up, I go to grab a bagel or something. Sheetz is one of the most innovative companies around (actually based in nearby Altoona) and is constantly tweaking their food menu.

"Isn't Sheetz open 24 hours?" I ask the older fellow at the register.

"We're the only store in the company that isn't. Neighbors complained, so an ordinance was passed limiting our hours. Maybe they were worried about the noise" A little odd for a city with trains running through the middle of it all night.

We get to chatting. "I retired as a store manager after 33 years--now I just work a couple of days a week" He tells me . And despite it being 5 in the morning, he seems quite cheerful.

33 years as a manager? I'm quite sure he's not working now because he's hurting for cash. As I walk away, at first I think of doing a rant about folks that have so little imagination, and are so conditioned by the system, that when they retire they can't think of anything else to do with their lives then... just keep going to work!

But then I think... This guy doesn't show up for work just to sell people coffee and cigarettes. He does it to feel connect with people... to share some positive energy... to have conversations with random customers like me.

I guess there's nothing wrong with having a "purpose in life" like that...

I reach Juniata college campus as dawn starts to break. Theres'a nice bench by the clock in a large grassy area, so I figure it's a good spot for fulfilling my "purpose in life": playing music in every town that I visit .

On up the road the scenery quickly changes to an upscale, new neighborhood at the edge of the forest. Supposedly there's a road through the forest to get me to my next town, Petersburg, but I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I do see a little footpath, but it's marked "Private Property".

I ask a well dressed lady coming out of her house. "Excuse, me where is the path to Petersburg"

"Oh, you can take that path there, then veer to the right"

"But it says 'Private Property'..."

"Oh don't worry, people walk it all the time..."

I guess sometimes you just need to ask...