May 24, 2008 - Pittsburgh, PA

Did our marketing and post office this morning and then left Columbus. On our way to Pittsburgh, we stopped in Zanesville to look at some pottery. Bought a new pot for our dwarf lemon tree. The RV park we planned to stay in was just outside of Terentum which was 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. This was the closest RV park to downtown Pittsburgh. The GPS took us on a route that we thought would be OK until it took us down a very narrow country road and then we came upon a tunnel. The tunnel had a clearance of 10’ 6”. Naturally, I am driving and I am saying no way. Larry, being the optimist that he is, said, “sound your horn and stay in the middle.” So, off we went. We made it through the tunnel and then we went a little farther and hit a gravel road. The GPS said to keep going so we did. Finally, we saw a small sign that said Mountain Top RV park. It really was on top of a mountain - almost a mesa. Its was all green grass and very few trees. We told the owner of the park about the tunnel and he just laughed. He said, “you used your GPS didn’t you, instead of using the directions in the Woodalls”? He said that they try to tell people when they call for a reservation but some how they forgot to tell us. He said that a Prevost went through that tunnel and tore everything off the top, air conditioners and satellite dish, which then landed on his tow car. I guess we were very lucky that our RV isn’t real tall.

We quickly parked the RV and then changed our clothes because we had tickets to the baseball game downtown. We got directions from the park owner and off we went. It was so easy and most of the driving was on a freeway. What a difference from the way the GPS brought us. We found a place to park close to the stadium and walked into the park. It was a nicely designed baseball park and our seats were right behind home plate. Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Chicago Cubs and we were surrounded by Cubs fans. The stadium is supposedly the best park in the nation with not one seat being farther than 88 feet from the home plate. We had a view of the downtown skyline and as it got darker, the buildings lit up. It was beautiful. The food was really good, had a cheeseburger that was actually grilled on a BBQ. The game went into overtime and finished in the 14th inning with Pittsburgh being the winner at 11:30 p.m. It was a great game and we had some nice people seated around us. By the time we got home it was 12:30 p.m. Very long day.

May 25, 2008 - Pittsburgh, PA

Got up this morning and decided to take a drive to Laurel Highlands where a house, “Fallingwater,“ was located. It was about an hour’s drive from our RV park. When we arrived, we were told that all the guided tours had been sold out but we could tour the grounds on our own. In 1935, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a modern vacation house for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family, extending it over a waterfall in a beautiful forest. The house was dedicated to outdoor living - a retreat from the hectic lifestyle that the Kaufmanns led in Pittsburgh. Local laborers built the main and guest houses between 1936 - 39, under the direction of self-taught buider and three of Wright’s apprentices. Immediately, it was hailed as a modern masterpiece, its reinforced concrete cantilevers extending out from a masonry core expressed a new freedom in structure. The family used Fallingwater until 1963, when Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

It was fun walking the grounds and hearing the sound of Bear Run, a mountain stream that flows into the valley. Coming up the driveway to the house, you could see the cantilevered terraces. Huge glass windows looking out to the stream and forest. We walked to the back of the house and then up to the garage and guest quarters. Bedrooms for the Kaufmann’s servants were located above four carports. Walking toward the back of the guest quarters we found the spring-fed swimming pool.

Also, when the guest house/servants wing was built in 1939, Wright linked it to the main house with a canopied walkway. It’s also an engineering feat - folded concrete supported by posts only along the outer edge. We went to a view point where you could see the house and the Bear Run falls flowing next to the house. We walked back to the visitor center and had a quick lunch. We had to hurry back to Pittsburgh because we had a 4:30 reservation on a Duck tour at the Station House.

The Station House was located on the Monongahela River. Downtown Pittsburgh is known as the golden triangle because the Alleghany River and the Monongahela River are on each side of the downtown area and then come to a point where they merge and create the Ohio River.

At 4:30 p.m. we climbed aboard the big red duck. The DUKWs (pronounced duck) is a World War II amphibious vehicle. We toured the downtown streets and looked at all the tall buildings. Then they took us down by the water and we drove right into the Monongahela River. It was amazing to feel your self floating in the water when just prior to that you were driving on the streets of downtown Pittsburgh. We could see the skyline and also the football stadium. On the south side of the river at the very top was fine-dining restaurants and apartments. They built two inclines to help people get to the top easier and faster. The tour was fun and we got to see the city from a different viewpoint. Once again a long day but so much fun.