Life Is a Highway

I slept in this morning and got a late start out to the Audubon Commons Shopping Center behind the Acme. Wal Mart was my first stop. I finally got Jessa her graduation present and a card. Stopped at Fashion Bug next to see if they had anything that could qualify as work pants on sale; nope.

I didn't feel like going home. I felt like doing something. I didn't know what. It was cloudy and humid, but warm, and I didn't want to hang around the apartment all day. I just rode down the Black Horse Pike. I've never really explored the other Pike on my own before. I rode, and just kept riding. I went by the PNC Bank, went by Walgreens. (No good WebKinz there, BTW.) By this point, the traffic on the Black Horse Pike had picked up somewhat.

I stopped at a Subway in Mt. Ephram for lunch, and just kept on going. I rode out of Mt. Ephram and into Bellmawr, passing crumbling 70s-era shopping centers, gleaming new drug stores, old houses with dented brick, and that cool 50s-style McDonald's. I finally stopped at a huge Goodwill store. I cannot resist the call of anything resembling a thrift shop.

The Goodwill was mostly clothes. Some of them weren't in bad shape, either, but there were very few my size. (I guess 16/Large is more common than I thought.) I had more luck with other items. I bought a video copy of the Disney Christmas half-hour special The Small One, a lovely hardback picture book of Beauty and the Beast, and six records. Turns out the records were on sale, making my purchase a grand total of approximately $6.50 for a video, a book, and six records.

And Mom wonders why I love thrift shops?

I could have continued on the Black Horse Pike, but it was about quarter after 3 by this point and traffic, which had been heavy to begin with, was increasing. I turned on West Browning and just kept following the road, riding past mostly houses dotted with the occasional church, tavern, or school. After about 20 minutes, I finally passed by something interesting...the back of a wall that said "Sears Essentials."

Turns out that wall lead to a whole shopping center I'd only seen once or twice while on car trips down the White Horse Pike. The Lawndale Heritage Shopping Center isn't much of a heritage. There was a Wendy's, a Church's Chicken (new one to me), a massive Home Depot, the Sears, and a Fashion Bug, Pathmark, dollar store, and Chinese place that looked like they belonged to buildings that were far older than the new-ish Home Depot.

I checked out Sears, mostly because I've never seen one that wasn't in a two-level mall or didn't specialize in hardware, but it was a disappointment. It was really the same deal as Wal Mart, and even in a larger store, there was a lot less selection. The place looked like it had been remodeled recently, but it would appear no one cared. The store was stone-cold dead when I was in there, except for the employees and one older couple.

A peek at Fashion Bug wasn't much more productive. It was larger and better-organized than the one in Audubon, but I still didn't see anything I needed. At this point, the traffic on the White Horse Pike was ungodly, and I thought it best if I found a WaWa to get a drink and some money (I was also broke) and headed home.

I thought I could just ride down the White Horse Pike, but not only was it rush hour, but Lawndale's part of the Pike leads into several major highways. The streets were teaming with cars, and the sidewalks were a cracked mess. As I rode over one particularly large crack, the black nylon bag with my Goodwill purchases went flying onto the concrete...and I couldn't stop myself from riding right over it! Thank goodness I at least slowed myself. I turned around and retrieved the remains of the bag (walking my bike over my foot as I did so; ow). The video and the records were fine. The book had protected them. It's cover now had a massive hole and the cover under it was scraped, but it was still readable.

The bag wasn't as lucky. There was a huge hole in the front where it hit the sidewalk. Well, I'm miffed. That was the bag I keep in a pouch in my purse. Mom gave it to me for my birthday about two or three years ago, and I've used it constantly ever since. Granted, it's gotten rather shabby recently, but it was still very useful.

I tried riding down the White Horse Pike, but it diverged to several highways at the edge of Lawndale. I just turned around the way I came. I saw train tracks along a service road behind the mall, so I just followed them. Turns out that they're the same tracks that run through all the local towns. I rode past the big antique store in Barrington, coming out in Haddon Heights...conveniently right next to the big PNC Bank there. I took out $10 for yoga tomorrow, then went across the street for a bottle of water from a tiny pharmacy.

I was so dead by then, I just followed the tracks and rode home to Oaklyn, stopping only for cars and the few traffic lights on that road. I read put chicken breasts in a bag to marinate in light Italian dressing for an hour, then read The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril and made a lovely dinner of Italian Chicken and Tomato Skillet, mashed sweet potatoes, and sauteed asparagus and mushrooms.