Highway to Hell

I took a trip to see my sister in Philadelphia this weekend. We had a great time Friday night and then I continued on my journey home to see Rome and others. As I was driving to Philadelphia from State College on 76 (aka the Pennsylvania Turnpike). I realized that I was tired of people picking on the New Jersey Turnpike. What's so special about the Pennsylvania TP that makes it any better than the NJTP, huh?

I'm determined to find out.

So the first negative of the PATP was the ticket. I found it difficult to read and almost smashed into a divider trying to see how much it would cost me to get to Valley Forge ($5 and some change). Not to worry! I did not almost smash into anything as I was taking this picture! =)
I know it's hard to read but the yellow represents the exit I got on. I found this difficult to understand because I would assume that since it is in the lower right corner that I got on at the last exit. I didn't. So I had to back track and search this entire ticket to find Valley Forge. Why was I finding Valley Forge if I was going to Philadelphia? Shouldn't I just get off at the Philadelphia exit? Apparently not. Who would know this?

So I'm driving the 79 miles to get to Valley Forge and I smell this horrendous smell. Everyone complains about the smell of the NJTP, but I've been driving that for years and never smelled anything like this before. Could it be that I walked through a dog park on the way out of my townhouse to my car? No. It was fertilizer. January fertilizer? I'm not a farmer so I'm not sure of the rules but I never knew that fertilizer could smell so ripe in mid winter.

I felt better about the fertilizer when I saw this. My Berks branch campus exit. I wanted to go but resisted the urge.
So after hitting traffic I finally get to Philly. Drexel's campus is on the streets of Philadelphia by the way. When you're at Penn State, you know when you're on campus. It looks like the stock college campus. Lawns, buildings, little walkways with benches. All very typical. My sister needed to tell me that I was on campus because Drexel looks like it was just dropped in west Philly. I wish I had a better picture but this will have to do.
You'll never find a four lane street going through the middle of University Park. Anyway...we had a good time and took lots of pictures. Why? Because we're really cute girls.
So then I continued my travels to the New Jersey Turnpike. I love driving in when you first see the sign "New Jersey Welcomes You". It's always nice when you're away from home all the time to come back and be welcomed. I really feel that the state of NJ misses me while I'm gone.

Onto the Jersey TP. The ticket is in order. What a concept! The exit you get on says No U-Turn and you know if you're going to higher exit it's north and a lower exit is south.I enjoy driving on the NJTP over the PATP for serveral reasons. The first reason is that the NJTP is 3 or more lanes wide while the PA version is only 2. NJ doesn't allow trucks in the left lane so they can't slow me down. Another reason is that everyone drives faster on the NJTP and that makes me happy. Also, I've never smelled any rotten animal droppings in NJ. Everyone says it smells but I don't get it (or maybe I'm used to it...who knows?) I'm guessing that this is the part everyone thinks stinks.
Finally the reason I prefer the NJTP...my town has it's own exit.