Homeward Bound

Tuesday morning we start the long trek from PA to MO.  We will be staying in St. Charles a couple of days to catch up with my Mom then we pull into our driveway on Friday!

This has been a wonderful trip (aren’t they all?). We have made some new friends, seen vibrant cities, beautiful country, lovely shoreline communities, and eaten some great foods!  I think we have had our fill of lobster and crab, at least for the foreseeable future. We got our exercise with hikes in provincial and state parks, bike rides around towns and on trails, and more hikes up stairs or mountains. We had fun playing games, dressing up in period costumes, listening to local music and dancing with an Ugly Stick. We have learned the history of the Native Americans from the northeast, the history of our ancestors who settled this area and the many battles they fought to gain the freedoms we all - Canadian and US - enjoy.

But the one thing we never did see - MOOSE!  I think someone out there is lying about there being lots of Moose or hiding them from us! 

Until our next adventure - Bless you little white socks!

Kentuck Knob, Falling Water, 9/11 Memorial

The forecast was for rain all day today (remnants of Florence) so we visited the two Frank Lloyd Wright houses, and a somber memorial.

The most famous house by Wright is Falling Water but we stopped at Kentuck Knob first since it was right next to the campground.  I.N. Hagen and his wife were friends of the Kaufmanns and loved their house, Falling Water, so they asked the Kaufmanns to introduce them to Wright so they could ask him to design a home for them. Wright agreed, and without ever seeing the land in person, designed a lovely home that has the signature style of incorporating the outdoors to be a part of the whole structure. This 1957 house was built for $96,000, has 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, a 3-car carport, and at the insistence of Mrs. Hagen a small 2-room basement for utilities and storage.  The open concept living room and dining room look out over the deck in the back and has a monstrously large fireplace.  The floors are flagstones like the front porch; the back wall is all glass with a feeling of being outdoors; the wood is Red cypress from S. Carolina and is used because it is rot resistant; the roof is all copper; and the whole house is based on 60° and 120° angles around the hexagon shaped kitchen.  A unique feature we did not like is that Wright likes the concept of ‘compression and release’.  The hallways were 19” wide and 6’6” ceilings that would ‘compress' you until you entered a room that had tall ceilings and felt very open to ‘release’ you. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the house.

Falling Water was designed in 1935 and completed in 1939. It was built as a retreat for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family, owner of Kaufmann Department Stores in Pittsburgh. It exemplifies Wright’s concept of organic architecture or the harmonious union of art and nature. This house has three levels and is cantilevered over the waterfalls so that the falls are incorporated into the house.  You can open a glass hatch on the main floor and walk down steps to the top of the waterfall or walk out on the deck to look down into the Bear Run River. In this house Wright incorporated straight lines with a few arcs or curves; cantilevered each floor as well as some of the furniture; and used a cascading effect with roof lines and exterior walls to mimic cascading water. He also built a guest house and servant’s quarters up hill from the main house. When Edgar and his wife died, their only son gave the house to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963 to run and maintain as a living museum including all the original furniture and artwork..  Tours started in 1964.  No photography was allowed inside the house.

An hour and a half from Falling Water is the Flight 93 National Memorial dedicated to the men and women who, on 9/11/01, forced the Delta airline to crash in a field instead of in Washington DC. They have marked the crash site with a boulder and have left the remains buried there.  The visitor center looks like a plane, the flight path before the crash is lined with white marble inscribed with the names of the deceased.  The Tower of Voices is not quite complete so we heard no sound but it is impressive to see. This is a memorial we should all pass through so we never forget these brave souls.

On our way back to camp we passed three different covered bridges but only stopped at one to get a picture.  They were all built in the early to mid-1800’s.

Ohiopyle State Park

We left Hershey on Friday morning and drove along the southern border of PA and through parts of Maryland before landing at the Ohiopyle State Park near Ohiopyle, PA.  If you're like me you have never heard of this place.  It is south of Pittsburgh, north of Cumberland WV, and in the Laurel Highlands so look in the south west corner of PA.

We realized once we got here that we drove past Frank Lloyd Wright’s house Falling Water and another of his houses called Kentuck Knob.  We are also not far from the Flight 93 National Memorial. It seems we might have been in this area a whole lot of years ago when we owned a Bricklin and attended a car show at Seven Springs Resort just down the road from Ohiopyle.

What drew us here is the Great Allegheny Passage, a rails-to-trails walking and biking route. It runs from Pittsburg 148 miles south to Cumberland, WV and in this area it follows the Youghioheny (pronounced ‘yawk-ee-oh-gainy’) River through the heart of the Laurel Highlands. The campground is 1/2 mile off the trail but it is a very, very steep hill one would not want to ride on in either direction and at the end of the day I would not want to walk my bike up it! So we moved the bike rack to the Jeep and drove to the trailhead in Ohiopyle.

Saturday we rode 13 mile up river to a short distance past Confluence, ate lunch, explored the town and then rode back to make for a 27 mile round trip.  We then patted ourselves on the back by visiting a couple of different pubs and exploring the tiny town of Ohiopyle.

Sunday we went the opposite direction, riding down hill with the river to Connellsville and then back up for a 35 mile ride.  That was the longest up hill ride I have ever done.  But I shouldn’t brag too much as it is only a 1% grade up hill! But, still we were pooped!

We enjoyed a nice hot camp fire both nights.

Largest RV Show

Sure enough, it rained buckets while we were in Cooperstown so I did laundry, shopped for groceries and read a book.

We arrived in Hershey late Tuesday afternoon, got set up then ate BBQ for dinner.  The RV show starts at 9 AM on Wednesday and runs until 8 pm each day so we could spend as much time as we wanted on the grounds.  A shuttle runs from the campground to the show which relieves us of driving and parking with the crowd.

Almost every RV made is showing at this show.  We looked at pop-up campers, trailers, 5th-wheels, Class B, Class C and the biggest group, Class A.  The brands ran from Jayco to Tiffin, from tear-drop to 50+ feet, gas and diesel.  We focused on the Breeze made by Tiffin and the newest Newmar coach, the New Aire.  

The Breeze is a diesel pusher, 31 feet or 33 feet in length and a pretty high class coach.  After looking for a bit and visiting with two different salesmen we arranged to test drive the 33 foot rig. It was a short drive so we are still not sure how it really handles at highway speed or on bumpy roads.

Next we checked out the Newmar coaches.  We looked at their newest BayStar (short and gas engine like ours but re-invented) and then the New Aire, a short diesel pusher.  They did not have one to test drive so we could not compare it with the Breeze.  We liked the floor plans on both coaches and they both had things we did not like.  At this point we are still totally undecided.

We did all this for two full days! We were generally unimpressed with the area particularly the campground since we were parked within 50 foot of railroad tracks. As in freight trains rumbling throughout the day & night.

Covered Bridge

In the process of driving from Franconia to Hershey, PA we traveled across the rest of NH and into Vermont and then to Cooperstown, NY.  But just before we got to the Vermont border we drove through this cute little town of Bath and were surprised to see a covered bridge.

According to the sign it is the longest covered bridge in NH and one of the oldest bridges since it was built in 1832 and has stood the test of time with only one restoration in 1988.  This bridge is known to locals as The Kiss’n Bridge.  We also stepped into a quaint country store before continuing our journey.

We plan to hunker down in Cooperstown for 2 nights to avoid driving in a massive rain system that is predicted to last more than a day. We’re guessing it’s the same storm that apparently dumped upwards of 6 inches on our home in Missouri.

Cascade Trail to Lonesome Lake

Today is the day for our ‘Big’ hike!  Unfortunately it is Saturday and everybody and his brother is out hiking on this beautiful day.  There was zero parking available at our planned hike so we went to Plan B and this turned out to be the best option.

Our hike started at The Basin where the Pemiwassoc River flowed over a ledge and created a 15 foot deep basin. The trail traveled up the side of the mountain, through deep forests and along a cascading river flowing from Lonesome Lake.  Along the way were several nice waterfalls like Kinsman Falls and Fallen Rock Falls.  The trail was covered with tree roots that wanted to trip us, then boulders that we had to walk on top to keep our feet dry.  We had to cross the river at least twice by jumping from rock to rock.  But the last one mile was the hardest as we literally walked over, around and on top of boulders the whole way up and then the whole mile back down. But Lonesome Lake was beautiful with the Lafayette and Lincoln Mountains as its backdrop. This is a 6.4 mile hike with slightly over 1,100 feet of vertical climb, but it sure felt longer!

To celebrate that accomplishment, John took me out to dinner!  Tomorrow we head south starting our homeward trek, especially since there are freeze warnings here for tonight.

Mt. Washington on Crawford Notch

A Notch is really a valley between two mountain ranges and was named that after settlers notched trees to mark the route through the mountains.  Along Crawford Notch are the Presidential Mountains - Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Eisenhower, and Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the Northeast at about 6300 feet.

Sylvester Marsh got the idea to build a railroad up the mountain to make it easier for tourist to get to the top.  He proposed his idea and requested permission from the state legislature in 1866 to build this railroad and they laughed at him and said as long as he was going to build a railroad up the mountain he might as well build one to the moon!  The cog is a big toothed wheel in the center of the engine that moves up a slotted track and pulls the train up without letting it roll backwards.  The engine pushes the passenger car up and leads the car down.  The first engines were steam but now they use bio-diesel engines except for the first run of each day they use a steam engine.
Parts of the track are at a 37.4% grade as it winds its way straight up the side of Mt. Washington. At the top is a visitor center and a weather station that is manned year round.  Winds of hurricane force are not uncommon with an average velocity of 37 mph and with temperatures of minus 40° or lower there is 177 inches of snowfall.  The highest wind was 231 mph in April,1934. The warmest it has ever gotten is 74°.  The ground is permanently frozen.

At the bottom of Mt. Washington is the Mt. Washington Resort and Golf Course.  We walked through the enormous lobby and contemplated champagne on the porch while watching a train climb the mountain but drove over to the golf course instead.  We did not play but did shop for shirts & hats but found nothing to our liking.

Just down the road from the Cog we found a ‘short’ hike. Kedron Trail left the Willey House and was supposed to be .75 miles up to a waterfall.  We had no poles and thought it would be an easy, short hike.  Were we ever wrong!  It was steep, narrow, rutted with tree roots and boulders. If we hadn’t gotten to the waterfall when we did we would have just turned around and gone back down with nothing to show for it.  And our FitBits said we walked over 2 miles!  I rewarded our efforts with a scoop of Moose Tracks ice cream!

Bridal Veil Falls

The weather in the mountains can be unpredictable and the weather forecasters are very often wrong!  We knew it was predicted to rain today but we thought it would be this afternoon so we wanted to get in a hike before it got wet.  The campground host had given us several ideas and loaned us a big book full of trail descriptions.  Bridal Veil Falls was just on the other side of the mountain from the campground, was supposed to be only about 4.5 miles long with not much elevation change.  It would be perfect for the first day of hiking after being fairly inactive. 

And it was a pretty hike through forest and along a burbling brook, up a gradual hill on a trail of pine needles, leaves, moss, mud, large rocks, and roots!  Yes, it got steeper and then it rained!  We were prepared with rain jackets in the backpacks and it was a very warm day so the rain felt good for awhile. It poured down for a short time then tapered off just as we arrived at the falls so we could take pictures without worrying about the camera getting wet. Then in poured again.  There was a backpacker's shelter at the falls that we sat in for a while hoping the rain was almost over but it wasn’t.  Impatient, we started back down in the rain.  By the time we got to the Jeep it had quit again but we were drenched from head to toe!

Hot showers and a nap were needed!  We then drove down the Franconian Notch to Lincoln to have dinner. Along the way we stopped to see The Old Man on the Mountain, an iconic rock structure that used to be at the top of Profile Mountain.  It was a series of ledges and rocks that looked like a man’s face when viewed from a certain direction.  Unfortunately about 15 years ago it fell down!  So instead of trying to rebuild the rock face they have created a plaza with several tall poles with a rod at the top pointing to the mountain.  On the rod are a series of protrusions that recreate the face when you look along it towards the mountain with one eye closed. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant called “The Common Man” but before dinner we found a dive bar for a cocktail.  That’s always an interesting experience.

Back in the USA

Labour Day in Canada is just like in the US - picnics, camping, day trips with family.  We took that day to write blogs, balance the checkbook, pay bills, take a walk and then dine out at a very nice restaurant.

Tuesday we crossed back into Maine and spent the day picking up our mail and prescriptions, grocery shopping and washing the RV and Jeep. 

Wednesday we visited with our wagon master, Jim and Cherrill, before pulling out and driving to Franconia, NH in the White Mountains. It was a lovely but short drive.  We wanted to stay in the state park but it was full and we discovered later that we would not have been able to squeeze our RV into any of their campsites.  We did find a nice private campground, Fransted Family RV Park, that was very handy to the state park.  After we got set up we drove around the area just to check out things to do and hikes to plan.

Ministers Island and The VanHorne's

Just outside of St. Andrew is a small island called Ministers Island because a minister built a home on it and then struggled to meet the needs of his parish because he couldn’t always get off of the island due to tidal changes.  Then William Van Horne built his summer home on the island but it was still known as Ministers Island.

We crossed during low tide and rode our bikes on the sand/gravel tidal road along the ocean floor onto the island with the warning that we had to be back across before 2:30 or we would be stuck there until the next low tide tonight.

William Van Horne was the owner and builder of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the many buildings, train stations, hotels, inns an lodges all across Canada along his railroad. He is quoted as saying “If we can’t export the scenery, then we’ll have to import the tourists.”  The huge hotel we saw in Quebec and the lodge in Banff are just two examples.

His summer home has 50 rooms, he had two dozen servants and many, many visitors. Mr. Van Horne was a corpulent man and his taste in furnishings reflected that.  Everything was huge.  The billiards table, the dinning room fireplace, the board room on the second floor and the many bedrooms and sitting rooms.  Out buildings included a round bath house on the shore, a huge barn where they raised cows, horse, pigs and more, a windmill to run the water pump and a carriage house with living quarters for the horse master.

The trails were more for hiking than biking so I pushed my bike along most of the trail but it was pretty. We crossed the sand/gravel road before the tide covered it.

Time to Say Goodbye

The Caravan officially ends today with breakfast together and lots of hugs and handshakes. We have made some new friends and shared some wonderful adventures with them on this trip not to mention seen many truly beautiful sites. We hate to say goodbye but we know that somewhere down the road each of us will reconnect and renew these friendships and shared memories.

We reluctantly packed up and drove on down the road to St. Andrew on the Sea while others headed back to Maine, some to Fredrickton and some back to the Hopewell Rocks.  But all will eventually head to new adventures.

The campground in St. Andrew is right on the Bay with brisk ocean breezes keeping us cool and comfortable. It is Labor Day Weekend, even in Canada, so the place is packed.  We walked into town, just a half mile away and shopped, ducking into each shop and checking menus at each restaurant.  One place caught our eye so we went back to it and had a glass of wine and charcuterie appetizers before going back to the RV for a steak dinner.