Tuesday April 27, 2004

Tunkhannock to Meshoppen and mine tour in Scranton

Conquered Mile Hill, which wasn't as bad as I feared. But I know there are more mountains ahead, so I'm not bragging yet.

Found out why there were so many tractor trailers on the road. The
states largest warehouse (about a half-mile long, with up 2,000 trucks entering a day) is in the tiny farm town of Meshoppen. Folks here are very friendly. Lots of "Hi's" - even from people who didn't know who I was, I suspect

There was some nastiness as we checked out of our hotel this morning (not necessarily the hotel's fault) but that faded when my wife, Pat showed up. We had lunch and headed for a tour of the Lackawanna Mine.

It was a nice tour and a great reminder that our prosperity is built on the hard lives of the people, including children, who came before us. Eight year old kids worked in those mines, and virtually every one who worked there wound up with black lung. And they worked for a pittance, while the mine owners got rich.