Friday, May 13, 2016

Adventures in Pennsylvania

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” 
– Jawaharial Nehru

On Thursday, we drove across Indiana, Ohio, a tip of West Virginia, and into Pennsylvania. It was a long day in the car for us and it was pretty uneventful except the moment when we were going 70 mph with a semi on our left and a semi decided to merge onto the road right in front of us. That left no place for us! Ray did some fancy braking and driving. I held my breath. All ended well - whew! We are now in Greensburg, PA.

We walked around our neighborhood on Thursday evening and saw this neat log cabin.

Log cabin in Greensburg, PA
Log cabin from the back
We are big Frank Lloyd Wright fans and love Prairie Style homes so today was very exciting. We began the day with a tour of Kentuck Knob in the Allegheny mountains. What an awesome place! No photos are allowed inside. The morning was cloudy with some rain.
Kentuck Knob
Outside balcony of Kentuck Knob
View from lookout at Kentuck Knob
The next planned stop was Fallingwater. On the way, we stopped at Cucumber Falls and hiked down. So pretty! 
Cucumber Falls, Ohiopyle State Park

Then we stopped in Ohiopyle and saw this small waterfall right in town. Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater are only about 15 minutes apart.

After lunch at a local bakery/sandwich shop, we decided to make one more stop before heading on to Fallingwater. We were walking down an incline and there was a curb in a strange place that I didn't see. Well, I went down - hard. My right ankle is swollen while my left hand and knee will heal in a few days. When we got to Fallingwater, the check-in ladies called the Security Director/First Aid Man Extraordinaire.  He bandaged my knee and applied ice to my ankle before bandaging it. 

The best part of all this is that I did not miss the tour! We were given a shuttle ride to and from the house (about 1/4 mile each way). I hobbled around for the tour and the 100 steps were painful. However, I was able to sit down in almost every room - this in a museum-like house where you can't touch anything! The staff was great - this evidently is procedure for them.

Fallingwater is in a watershed created by the Appalachian Mountains, and it is incredible - oh, how I wanted to take photos inside. The use of lines, shapes, the stone, the wood...everything! I did not know that there are actually 2 residences. The guest house is above the family home. It was entertaining to hear the stories of the house being designed and built. And I loved seeing the corner windows open in such a way that there was no obstruction to the outside. Wow!
Fallingwater

Can you imagine being in your living room, opening a couple of small glass doors, pushing back some horizontal glass, and walking down your own personal steps to the water?! Unbelievable but we saw it!
Fallingwater - the steps to the water
After the tour, Ray got his tripod and hiked back to the house to get some outside photos. I did not get to see the iconic picture of the waterfall which is just to the left in the above photos. I think Ray got some great pictures that I'll see later.


It was a really good day. The rain stopped and we even saw the sun. Tomorrow is a travel day. I'm hopeful that I'll have good use of my ankle soon. I'm very grateful that I was able to tour Fallingwater. 

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos of this neat place. Sorry about the fall but so glad it was not worse. Awful tumbles are scary. Rest up and heal quickly.

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  2. Ouch! I hope your ankle heals quickly.

    Thanks for sharing the pictures ... looks like that, other than your tumble, you had a great day.

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  3. OUCH! Hope your ankle, etc, is better by now.

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