Norvelt, Pennsylvania, named for Eleanor Roosevelt, was where my mother grew up and where some maternal relations still live. The town was established during the depression when President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a plan to help people who were struggling at that time. My grandfather was a Navy Veteran and a coal miner, one of many workers  who was not being paid by the mining company for their work. Thus, he qualified to receive a plot of land, and a home... with a chicken coop on the property. 

From Wikipedia, "Originally called "Westmoreland Homesteads", Norvelt was established April 13, 1934, by the federal government as part of a New Deal homestead project. With 250 homes, Norvelt provided housing, work, and a community environment to unemployed workers and their families during the Great Depression. It was renamed "Norvelt" in 1937 in honor of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her interest in the project."

 Norvelt was a neat place to visit when I was a youngster. It was quiet, had an agricultural landscape, and there was lots of open space for we children to run around in. We loved it there. I planned to drop in on my cousin Leslie, who still lives there and who I haven't seen for a long while. My mother made contact with her, so she at least had an idea that we were coming. 

To re-cap the day: The hills of Western Pennsylvania make for very challenging bicycle riding... even without being fully loaded. While the elevations are not as dramatic as they are out West, the hills are steep and close together.  They keep on coming without much of a break in between. 

We left Ingomar using a series of winding and hilly residential streets that eventually led us to the Allegheny River, near Oakmont. A highlight was descending another very steep hill, called Guys Run Road. It was quite a fast ride and a technical one, due to trying to avoid the potholes and traffic, all the way down to the river. There, we crossed the Hulton Street Bridge (now, in 2024, closed, in favor of a newer bridge), climbed a big hill out of Oakmont, and then headed to New Kensington. 

At New Ken, as the locals call it, we got onto SR-366, which led us to SR-66. At that point, we were about 15 miles from Greensburg. From the time when we crossed the Allegheny, traffic seemed to become heavier than it had been before we had crossed. We persevered, making it to Greensburg as the afternoon rush was beginning. We "shared" our small piece of the road with cars, trucks, and business traffic all the way down Main Street until we reached our turn at Mount Pleasant Road (MPR). Once there, traffic quieted down but the terrain became more challenging.

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Mount Pleasant Road lived up to its name, climbing several steep hills on that 7-mile stretch that led to Norvelt. Coming into the town, I recognized a number of landmarks and signs from childhood visits to see my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins who lived there. We made it to Leslie's house at 6:00 PM. Because we hadn't seen each other for so long, conversation was a bit difficult, at first. But that didn't last long. 

We marveled at all that Leslie had accomplished, all without having had a husband around for a long time. Besides being very handy around the home, she managed to raise two very good daughters. Melissa, age 11, is the captain of the junior varsity cheerleading squad. Sharon, age 9, is bright, talkative, and loving. Leslie described for us how she managed to lift a 500-pound wood stove from the floor and up on a rock ledge that was a foot and a half above the floor. She used a heavy steel pry bar and a series of bricks to gradually raise it until it was at the height of the ledge and then slid it on. Who needs a man around when you have that kind of know how?

Leslie did eventually remarry. It was to a fellow, named Bill-S, who was a local businessman and a decorated Army Veteran. Bill passed away, from cancer, a few years ago.

We had a wonderful evening and I was very glad we had stopped to see them. Paul enjoyed the visit also. Our quarters were in the living room, where Leslie put on the Air Conditioner because it was a very hot and humid evening. Our good fortune continued for yet another day.