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.