Our first stop on day three, after a delicious breakfast at a local diner, was QVC studios, for a tour and some shopping in the studio store.
QVC is a 24 hour cable shopping chanel, and both KLS and Joyce buy many things (especially makeup) from them. KLS and I have also developed a bit of a fascination with the mechanics of the sell, and I’m pleased to say the tour (which was about an hour long) was extremely interesting, showing us all around the studios – and even let us watch a show in progress (QVC is live 24 hours a day).
Photography was not permitted, hence the lack of images. But I can say that even if you have no interest in buying from QVC, I doubt you’d be disappointed in the very well organized tour.
After QVC, we were about six hours from Albany. We had one last destination, which was on the way back, and that was a tour of an old coal mine. Not knowing much about this destination, we let Giles guide us through the wonderful scenery (including a tunnel through a mountain) to Lackawanna Coal Mine:
Not much to see from the outside is it? At Lackawanna (which is near Scranton, PA), a disused mine is open for tours. Imagine our surprise when we learned we would actually be riding a mine car deep into the earth, and that the tour (which was about an hour in length) occured underground!
These pictures are a series, looking backwards as the car entered the mine. The descent along an at times steep slope was 1.3 miles in length, and ended 300 feet from the surface.
< Mine entrance
Photography inside the mine, due to the darkness, was obviously difficult. The guide took us along a series of tunnels, showing us how the miners worked, what the conditions were like and just what coal veins (and a coal mine) looks like from inside. I think it’s safe to say this tour was an unexpected treat to say the least, and perhaps one of the most entertaining aspects of our trip!
< The Underdark
With Lackawanna behind us it was time to wave goodbye to PA, but not before a stop off at a rest stop to buy some fireworks (which are illegal to sell in NY state)!
Here’s a couple of random shots from the trip:
< Advertisement on the diner placemat
< Sign in the Burger King mens toilet
And last but not least, KLS and I had to wave goodbye to Giles, who was on his way back to Joyce. He served us very, very well, and one of his final salutes was to provide us with a log of our trip:
< Trip statistics
750 miles travelled, on about $100 of gasoline. Not bad…