October 12, 13, 2013 Monticello and homeward

Monday, Tuesday October 12,13

Parking lot sweeper/cleaner made for an early morning (for Greg - Beth didn't hear it).  Coffee and sandwiches at McDonalds and gas for under $3.00/gal for the first time!   We headed up the mountain for Skyline Drive.  Unfortunately it is part of Shanendoah National Park, so the road is totally blocked.  It was extremely foggy at any rate, so perhaps this was for the best.  Checking the map, we decided to head to Monticello instead, Thomas Jefferson's home near Charlottesville.

Apparently all the tourists who couldn't do things in Washington DC because of the shut-down headed down here, because the place is packed.  It is 10:30AM and we get tickets for a 1:20 house tour.  In the meantime, we watched a short film, did a tour of the gardens, and listened to a guide talk about slavery in Jefferson's time.  The slavery talk was interesting, as it ties in with a book I am reading about Lincoln and slavery. Lincoln was greatly influenced by Jefferson and his enlightenment ideas.

Gardens at Monticello. Below these gardens were orchards and vineyards.

Beautiful Linden Trees

All the services, laundry, kitchen, cooking, etc. were in rooms under the main house.

 Monticello means small mountain, and the house, designed by Jefferson to reflect his fascination with Greek and Roman architecture,  sits in a beautiful spot atop a small mountain.  Jefferson was a pretty amazing person, speaking 7 languages, reading extensively,  traveling worldwide, and dabbling in several sciences. Many of his staff were trained in French cuisine, as he lived there as ambassador for several years and apparently loved French food as well as wine.  He had a wine cellar and also grew grapes for his own wine, as well as wheat for a wheat-based beer.

Monticello

Jefferson's Wine Cellar

Emblem at Jefferson graveyard  

 He extolled the benefits of education and founded and designed much of the University of Virginia.

The house tour was interesting, as it featured many items that were actually used by Jefferson and his family, such as books, dishes, and furniture.   I got a kick out of thinking (as I did at Samuel Clemens' house) that we were walking the stairs and using the railings that these men used.

From Monticello, we headed west and south to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Even though the sun had come out after noon, the mountains were still quite foggy.  Bits of color here and there were mostly obliterated by fog, but the peak color is yet to come in these areas.  The speed limit is 45 and we often went slower than that due to the fog and steep hills, so after about an hour we exited.

We decided to call it a trip and head for home.  We were on Interstate highways the rest of the way to Texas, stopping at a rest area for a few hours sleep.  How Greg did it, I don't know, but we arrived home safely the next evening after over 8,000 miles.

Oct 13 West Virginia, Coopers Rock, Blackwater Falls, Color

Sunday, October 13

54 degrees and overcast this morning, but a few hopeful patches of blue sky.  We had breakfast and went back to the overlook. Yesterday it was covered with people – this morning it is quiet and peaceful.  The fog or clouds above the river looks like wispy smoke. "Smoke on the mountain..."

We decided to take 24 South towards Blackwater Falls, and, we were told at the visitor’s center, earlier color.  West Virginia is pretty much all mountains, so we did lots of climbing, descending and winding.  Went through some very small towns.  In Tunnelton we got a kick out of the only eating/drinking establishment, called Bubba’s Bistro!

roadside beauty

tunnel of gold

Stopped at Cold Springs Park which, for being in the middle of nowhere, was really hopping.  It is a combination gas station, restaurant, souvenir shop, produce stand and park.  The park part featured a few turkeys and donkeys roaming around lots of antique tractors, trains and other equipment which were mostly rust.

They did have huge crates of locally grown apples, which people were buying like crazy.  We bought just 2 of the Stayman variety to sample on the road and wished later we'd gotten more!

Next stop was Cathedral State Park, mostly out of curiosity as to its name.  Turns out the Cathedral was just the overall feeling in the midst of a forest of huge hemlock trees.  Apparently once numerous, they are a dwindling resource now. Some of these were over 300 years old.

A short while later we arrived at Blackwater Falls State Park featuring a 57 ft very photogenic falls.

After walking the 200+ stairs down and back up, we drove to another overlook trail where the tree roots were amazing.  Not a bad view either.

It was extremely unusual to find a stretch of road in West Virginia of more than 100 yards long that wasn’t a 7 – 10% grade, or part of a winding curve.  Many mountains, obviously, and Greg got a lot of practice using those 2^nd and 3^rd gears!  A few small towns, quarries, farms, beautiful countryside!.  Very nice fall color in some areas until the clouds began moving in.  In Canaan Valley the clouds were almost completely blanketing the mountainsides, and on a few high mountains we drove through the clouds.

Reached the edge of West Virginia after Seneca Rocks and after one more very high mountain pass, we rolled into Virginia and some nice relatively straight, smooth roads.  

Seneca Rocks

Reached Harrisonburg around 6:00 and found our local Lowe’s where we will stop for the night.  Made some cheddar worsts , followed by a Klondike Bar!

October 12, 2014 Indiana, PA

Saturday, October 12

Left Dubois about 7:30, heading south to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) where Greg and I went to college and met.  First we rolled through Punxsutawney, home of Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-forcasting groundhog.  Didn’t see Phil , but did see some of his relatives along the highway, alive and not. 

Billboards were advertising things like local Buckwheat cake breakfasts, fabulous unscented hunting boots,  and lumbering rights (money does grow on trees).

 The Oak Grove, the heart of the IUP campus, looks about the same. Beautiful old oak trees, benches, and criss-crossing paths.  Recognized a few of the buildings, like Sutton Hall, built 1875, which was my dorm for 2 years!  They razed part of it and turned the rest into offices.  Fisher Auditorium was having admissions gathering – the same place we sat years ago for the same reason!  New Library, many new dorms, new athletic complex, etc.   We found the apartments we lived in junior and senior year – still looking pretty much the same.

Indiana University of PA, Oak Grove

Sutton Hall, 1875

Moved on southward on some small windy roads, through Latrobe with St. Vincent’s Carmelite Monastery still looking fine. Rolling Rock beer started here, but has since moved – Greg thinks to New Jersey.  We are definitely in Steeler country.

Many small towns and steep mountains.

Horrible traffic in Legionaire  (Remember Legionaire’s Disease?)for a festival.  After inching along for several miles, we turned around and took a different route south to Frank Llyod Wright’s Fallingwater.  Beautiful woodland setting with water features, and of course the house is amazing.

Then into West Virginia.  Drove a bit to find a welcome center with map and info, then went to Cooper’s Rock State Park.   Found a nice campsite, despite the no vacancy sign, then went to a massive rock overlook.  

Oddly, the leaves here  are just beginning to turn, while up in Pennsylvania they had already peaked.   A local told us there is usually 5 or 6 degrees temperature difference between the two, so perhaps that explains it.  So many factors go into when and how bright the Fall colors are – daytime temperatures, nighttime temperatures, altitude, rainfall, amount of sun, etc. 

Greg made a good fire while I did a load of laundry.   Enjoyed chili by the fire and called it a night.

October 11, 2013 Letchworth St Park, NY

Friday, October 11, 2013

Slept in this morning and had steak (leftovers) and eggs for breakfast.  Then set out to explore the Park.  The color is great and there is lots of green grass and evergreens to make the colors even better.  After an hour or so we began to see some welcome sun.

 Billed as “The Grand Canyon of the East”, there is a large gorge that runs through the park with cliffs and rock walls and stunning scenery.  We traipsed to all three water falls and then had a picnic lunch in what had become warm afternoon sunshine.

canyon wall among color

Golden trail

Interesting seed pods 

Upper Falls

Here, fallen leaves carpet the rocks and ground

Middle falls

Stopped at several overlooks with names like “Inspiration Point” and a small Museum which gave a history of the park, named after a man named Letchworth no less!  The museum had his collection of artifacts from archaic peoples and Indians (mostly Iriquois and Seneca), as well as information about the founding of the park.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built much of the infrastructure – bridges, retaining walls, restrooms, etc. from stone during the 1920’s and 30’s.  These men and women really made huge contributions to many of our parks throughout the country!  

Decided to start heading south from here, taking smaller roads that wound through farmland featuring corn, pumpkins, dairies, cattle and goats.  Mostly modest homes, some trailers, smaller churches.   We pushed on to Dubois,  where we found a Lowe’s and were given permission to boondock there.   Found little in the way of dining options, so we had Beef on Weft sandwiches (roast beef with au jus) at the Dubois Diner (or Dubois    er, as the sign read).   Watched a little of the US vs Jamaica soccer match (quite possibly their best offering J).

  Most interesting person I met today was a little girl of about 7 in the restroom of the Diner.  After informing me that she was not my child and I was a stranger, she proceeded to tell me her name and where she lived and asked my first and last name, etc.  Dad was waiting for her outside and I heard her repeat to him everything I'd said.  Close second was a group of male Chinese students who were having a blast tossing leaves in the air and taking pictures.  I took a shot with the four of them on their camera.