Part VIII

It's the morning of the 25th of August. I get up early and check out of my luxury digs at the 'Super 8'. I head to Volant, PA, where the filming of the big farm rally will take place today. I drive up to the location at about 0700, and already it's buzzing with activity!

I park down the road a bit, and brazenly walk right up to the base camp. I spy one of the ADs I've seen several times in Washington. I'm hoping she'll remember me, and I might get to accomplish my mission!

Anyway, I walk over to her and ask if I may have a moment of Ms. Janney's time when she arrives, to sign a photo of her that I have. She said that the cast wasn't even there yet; wouldn't be there for at least another hour, and then she'd have to rush them to the set.

I told her that I didn't mind waiting, and that I would only take up a couple of minutes of Ms. Janney's time. I even played the 'travelled up from DC' card...but to no avail! She was 'sorry' she couldn't help me out, then walked off. To say I was crushed was putting it mildly!

Since there was no point in lurking about and trying to catch the cast walking to the set (the distance was such that they would be driven back and forth), I decided to grab a few more pics and then head home.

I parked just up the road from the PA that was directing the extras onto the set. As I walked up to him, he asked if I was an extra today. For just a split second, I considered saying yes and getting to spend the day on the set. However, I still had a 7 hour drive to get back to DC, and filming would likely take all day.

So, I was a good boy...I said no, that I just wanted to get a few more pics before I left. He had no problem with that. Here are some more shots of the farm, this time with cars and extras beginning to get into place.

I decided it was time to hit the road and head home. I still wanted to try and find the diner location, if I could. I had a good idea where it might be, from one of the drivers I had talked to earlier in the week.

I cut across the back county roads to reach the freeway, and started cruising south. After about twenty minutes on the road, I noticed a couple of vans with dark windows heading north on the freeway. Lo and behold! It was the cast, heading to the location set! How do I know this? You could see the placard with the 'WW' on the dash! Let me tell you...it was very difficult to not turn around and head back, but I knew they'd be coming to DC soon. Time to move on...the windows went down, the Do Wop music cranked up, and the speedometer climbed as I headed south, in search of Ruffcreek, PA.

I found the place, south of Pittsburgh and pretty close to the Maryland state line. I followed the driver's directions as best I could, but I couldn't spot anything. Finally, I pulled into a church parking lot and asked the man who was sweeping the lot for directions to 'Lavern's Restaurant'. (Again, ladies...please don't faint!) He gave me great directions, and I was on my way. Turns out that Lavern's was back across town, and halfway up a mountain!

I rounded a curve and had to hit the brakes... there it was! I pulled off and got out to look around. Here are some shots of the exterior of the diner.

I went in and sat at the counter and ordered a Diet Coke. I noticed the sign as I came in...the restaurant would be closed that Tuesday...the day filming was scheduled. I chatted up a couple of the waitresses. They were kinda excited that a TV show was going to be filming there. They gave me permission to go ahead and take some pictures of the interior of the restaurant.

I thanked the ladies for their time and hospitality and prepared to hit the road to DC. As I was getting off the stool, they pointed out their resident 'Prairie Dog'. He was up on the hill, standing tall and proud. I took a shot of the 'Prairie Dog'. He was pretty large...I'm about a football field away from him, and he still looks pretty big!

Well, that's the end of my PA Odyssey. I hope you enjoyed it...I had fun getting this stuff.

I'll be posting more of my West Wing adventures and the ensuing pics on my site soon. Stay tuned!

Traveler

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

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