(25 miles)
I stayed at the Red Roof Inn on the Lincoln Highway, which is also US30. I woke up to a low 50’s, foggy morning.
Parallel to US30, and about one mile north of it, is PA340, which is also known as Old Philadelphia Pike. Both roads lead to Philadelphia, and I’m guessing that US30 (a four-lane road) was designed to replace the two-lane pike as the main route to Philadelphia.
With the heavy traffic travelling on US30, the ride on PA340 was very enjoyable, with multiple opportunities to buy Amish stuff. The town here is called Bird in Hand.
Given that the half marathon takes two days to complete, I’m guessing it is actually run with horse and buggy as the advertisement indicates.
I had gotten off my bike to take the photo above, and while standing on the side of the road I snapped this photo of a buggy that passed by.
I blacked-out the boy’s face, as face photos are not allowed in the Amish community.
New and Old: Amish home and an Amish riding mower
Amazon distribution center for the Amish?
Three paths worn into the pavement: two for the wheels, and one for the horse.
Surprisingly, no comment comes to mind.
(Editor’s comment: he’s lying.)
The last 8 miles to the motel just north of Coatesville includes a 450′ rise in elevation, and near the top of the rise is this display just off the road: a cross, some American flags, some flowers, and two cans of beer. I wondered what the backstory is.
It’s on the uphill side of the road, so I doubt it involved a cyclist going too fast.
As I continued toward Coatesville I thought about what I would say to my old friend John who contacted me on our shared 70th birthday in January. I hadn’t seen or talked with him since we met as volunteers at Holy Redeemer Church in Kentucky 47 years ago. In the January call, John told me he had kept in contact with Joe from Pittsburg, another volunteer whose company I enjoyed, and after the call I decided to visit them both this summer. Today is the day I visit John.
Before I left on the trip I reworked a old rear rack to be a support under my handlebar bag. To raise the height of the rack I had to create longer support posts, and when I got into the motel room I realized that one of the support posts had come apart.
I also realized I didn’t have with me the tools needed to fix this.
It’s about 5 miles from the motel to John’s place, and he had earlier offered to pick me up at the motel. Just after I got out of the shower at about 4 PM I got a text from John asking me if I like seafood. I said sure, I’ve been on the seafood diet my whole life: whenever I see food, I eat it. He replied that’s the response he figured he would get from me. I asked him to bring some tools to help me fix my bike when he came to the motel.
I took my bike outside the motel and waited for John. He drove into the parking lot and headed directly my way as if he immediately recognized me.
(Editor’s comment: Hmm . . . how may other 70-year-old guys were standing in the parking lot holding a bike?)
We embraced, and the years vanished. He was still the John I remembered. We fixed my bike with the tools he brought, I put the bike back into my room, then rode with him to St. Joseph’s House.
I didn’t take notes, but my recollection is while he was in the Glenmary novitiate (training to join the Glenmary order of priests and brothers) it became clear to him the the Lord had other ideas. He left the novitiate and went Catholic University in Washington DC, where he met Donna, who became his wife. At some point he and Donna went on a six-month sabbatical (?) in 1999 (?) staying at a convent (?), and to make a long story short, they founded St. Joseph’s House and St. Philomena Academy, and over time adopted 17 children. This older video from the website tells the story better than I can
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k9O_wdcAnI
At the house, I met John’s wife Donna, an educator and a faith-filled person. Both John and Donna are seriously Catholic, and a loving, Catholic spirituality permeates the house. Here’s a wedding day photo of John and Donna that I snagged from their website video, and one I took after their 40 years of living in God’s providence.
John introduced me to at least a dozen people from age 2 on up as he showed me around the place. There seems to be two main buildings, St. Joseph’s House and St. Philomena Academy, and several other buildings. And maybe a half-dozen vehicles parked in the driveway.
Organizations in the area donate food to St. Joseph’s House, and they have an open house two days a week where people can come to the front porch of the school and take what food they need.
John told me that the pandemic had actually drawn all the community resources in Coatesville closer together, and now there is a much better coordination of charitable activities.
Here are two views of the house kitchen
Apparently a local caterer recently arrived with leftovers from a conference that just ended. It was chicken with a sautéed mushroom parmesan sauce, potato salad with the skins on, and some mix of vegetables as seen in the photo on the right. John said they usually fast on Fridays, but there was so much food and just they couldn’t let it go waste so everyone had it for dinner.
The main dining room seems to also be the place where homework is done. Along the wall near the ceiling is a chronology of the saints, a crucifix, an image of the Blessed Mother, a chalkboard, and a pair of old geezers.
Hanging from the ceiling are two rolls of fly paper.
John drove me back to my motel and I was glad to have the ride. The sun had set log ago, the road was hilly and poorly lit, and it would have been a tough bike ride.
John and Donna founded St. Joseph’s house 25 years ago. I am retiring at the end of 2024, and John was born the same day I was. I don’t know what’s next for them, and they may not know either, but I’ve added them to my daily prayer list that that will be blessed with wisdom to discern what is next, energy to do whatever it is they are called to do, and most all, the peace that only comes from walking with the Lord.