Fallingwater

 Vanlog, Uniontown, PA

August 14, 2020

After sleeping late, we drove to Fallingwater, the famous Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Bear Run Nature Preserve. We had a guided walking tour of the outside and then enjoyed the grounds. It was the only thing on our agenda for the day, s we relaxed back at camp in the evening. 

Ohiopyle

 Vanlog, Uniontown, PA

August 13, 2020

Today we drove into Ohiopyle. First, we took a very short hike from the parking lot ot Cucumber Falls, which was fairly dried up at this time of year. 

Then we did a much longer hike along the Ferncliff Trail to see Ohiopyle Falls. 

Then we did another hike along the Great Gorge Trail to see the people rafting on the river below. 

After over 5 miles of hiking in 90 degree weather, it was time to cool off at the natural water slides, where Brian brought out his inner child and joined the other kids sliding down the rapids on his butt.

 

We also went to overlooks at Baughman Rock and Kentuck Knob.

On the way back to our campsite, we stopped at Kentuck Knob, another of Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses in the area. We will see Fallingwater,t he most famous one, tomorrow. 

In the evening, we laid out on the picnic table and looked up at the stars until we each saw a shooting star from the Perseids metoer shower. It was cool and the only sound was the cicadas chirping in the treetops. 

All Things Pittsburgh

 Vanlog, Uniontown, PA

August 12, 2020

After a loud night at the Cracker Barrel near the Pgh International Airport, we drove into downtown Pittsburgh this morning to see the Carnegie Museum. Already limited to 10% capacity because of COVID-19, the 10-12 time slot was even more limited for immunocompromised and elderly individuals. It almost felt as if we had the museum to ourselves at times. I have never been to the Carnegie Museum that I can recall. I was inspired to visit when I was at Dinosaur National Monument last summer and learned that most of their famous dinosaur fossils wound up in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Well, I will tell you. I have been in a lot of museums in the world, and this one is right up there. This is a well-organized and well-run operation. The first thing we saw was the amazing mineral collection, which rivals that of the Natural History Museum in Washington DC and the one in Freiburg, Germany. Then we entered intot he dinosaur exhibit. Wow! Just amazing. Full-scale fossils of all sorts of dinosaurs organized by period: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. And hardly anyone there!

Then we walked through the mammal collection, botany specimens, and birds. The mammal dioramas were painstakingly designed to be as true to form as the real habitat. Having been to many of htese places, I agree. 

The Carnegie Museum of Art also has a fairly impressive collection.

After three hours int he museum, we drove to Mt Washington for beautiful views of the city.

Then it was on to Fort Necessity, where George Washington learned how to be a soldier during the French & Indian War. This little palisade built of necessity housed about 300 soldiers. 

Then we checked into our free campsite (reserved through the forest service) at Forbes State Forest for the next three nights. Very private, but not far from a paved road. 

A Day at Presque Isle

 Vanlog, Cracker Barrel Parking Lot, Pittsburgh, PA

August 11, 2020

One of the nice things about being so far north is that they have a bunch of Tim Horton's in Erie PA. Tim Horton's is the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts and it is far superior. Their Canadian maple donut s my favorite, a custard-filled donut dipped in maple glaze topping. I had two for breakfast before we drove into Presque Isle State Park. We drove around looking at the light houses and the Perry Monument (from the War of 1812) before settling at Beach 8 for about four hours. 

It was very breezy and cool on the beach, so after we had lunch in the van (with this view), I stayed in the van with the sliding door open and laid on the couch looking out. I could still feel the breeze and hear the waves crashing into the ocean but without any sunburn or sandy mess. 

Jessica really wanted to go kayaking, so we rented a tandem kayak for an hour and tooled around the lagoon. We saw a heron and several turtles, as well as lots of waterlilies. 

Something borrowed, something blue

 Vanlog, Cracker Barrel Parking Lot, Erie, PA

August 10, 2020

We left our campsite at 8:30 AM and drove 1 hr 30 min to Tygart Lake State Park in northwestern West Virginia, hoping to do some kayaking. However, their kayak rental was closed, so instead we rented a fishing boat for an hour scenic excursion on the lake. It was my first time driving a motorboat, but it went pretty smoothly once I got the hang of turning the rudder the opposite direction that I wanted to go. We enjoyed a sunny morning on the lake and a picnic lunch at the park. 

The next stop was at Cooper's Rock State Park just outside of Morgantown WV, where a short walk takes you to an overlook of the valley below. 

Then we said goodbye to West Virginia and headed north past Pittsburgh all the way to Erie PA. We arrived at Presque Isle State Park along hte coast of Lake Erie around 7 PM and cooked chicken fajitas in the van. Then we took our camp chairs out on the beach and waited for the sun to go down over the lake. 

Then we went Crackerdocking at the local Cracker Barrel parking lot overnight. 

 

Country Roads Take Me Home

 Vanlog, Blackwater Falls State Park

August 9, 2020

A sunny Sunday found us cooking bacon and eggs in our private free campsite in the Monongahela National Forest before driving the 11 gravel miles out to civilization. We headed north to Seneca Rocks, where we hiked rapidly up the 950 ft elevation gain in 1.6 miles to these unique narrow rock outcropping. A favorite spot in West Virginia for hikers we were on the trail before the crowds and the heat. In fact it was only 55 deg when we started out. Brian climbed over the first of the two humps at the top but the second one was a bit more dangerous.

The second part of our day was spent at Blackwater Falls, a very popular and short 0.8 mile RT hike on a boardwalk to the spectacular waterfall shown below. 

We then experienced a low point as we struggled to find the remote Dolly Sods Wilderness and then decided the narrow steep gravel bumpy roads through the wilderness were not intended for our Vanna White. But it was beautiful. 

But the day finished on a high note back in our campground at Blackwater Falls State Park where we saw a bunch of deer at dusk including this guy right in our campsite as tame as can be and captured a beautiful sunset!