West Virginia & Pennsylvania #69

After we drove over the Ohio River we were in the panhandle of West Virginia – a strange ‘finger’ of land sticking up between Ohio and Pennsylvania. This is an odd mixture of pastoral and industrial landscapes. A pretty drive all in all, though a bit twisty and turny for my sensitive tummy.







We pointed the Pod in a slightly southerly direction in order to find a Corp. of Engineers campground called Tub Run on Youghiogheny River Lake. Okay, here we go again with these really weird sounding, native American names of things! Youghiogheny – “yaw-ki-gay-nee” – and I have absolutely no idea what it may mean! If any of you fellow trekkers out there have any information on this word, please pass it back.





Kae had learned long ago about Frank Lloyd Wright, famous American Architect, and knew that there were a few of his buildings in this area. We went searching for the most famous of them – “Fallingwater”. We found it in western PA in the middle of a beautiful forest in the western Appalachian Mountains- www.fallingwater.org. It was built during 1936-39, as a retreat from the hectic lifestyle led by the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburg. A very successful department store owner, Kaufmann had purchased the old town site of Bear Run and created a summer camp for his employees. In 1933 the camp became the family’s private retreat and in 1935 they asked Frank Lloyd Wright to design a modern vacation home. His design was innovative and bold; integrating the home into the native rhododendron forest and anchoring it to the 620 million year old sandstone ledges above the waterfall of Bear Run Creek. Reinforced concrete cantilevers from a central anchoring core allowing three stories of extensive patios and terraces to embrace the sound, texture and sense of the outdoors at every turn and in every corner. The Kaufmanns used Fallingwater until 1963, when Edgar Jr. entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Now visited by more than 135,000 people per year, this remarkable home has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as the best example of American architecture in the country. It is also a National Historic Landmark. Although a bit pricey and a bit crowded the Gal Pals were able to see the most important features and marveled at this 70 year old demonstration of Mr. Wright’s belief that nature and living spaces should exist as one entity.












After our stroll through the magic valley of Fallingwater we turned northward toward Loyalhanna Lake and another Corp of Engineers campground. I really loved this spot too. Easy access shoreline for daily swims, fun forest to hike in and a really good looking German shorthair named Elsa next door. We stayed about a week and thoroughly enjoyed our camp hosts: Tom and Candy Stream (and, of course, the charming Elsa.) I also met a strange little critter on a leash one day; something called a ferret. She looked like a short eared raccoon that someone had run through an old time wringer washer; you know, sorta flat and really long. She smelled a little odd and I had a feeling she might like to nip a piece off the old snozezoola, so we didn’t play much.






Our next stop was another good C.O.E. project on the Tionesta River. It was so busy over the weekend in the regular campground that we had to settle for boondocking without electricity, for the first time in a long time. The weekend in Tionesta was filled with a parade and fireworks in the town for their annual Indian celebration. It was so hard to drive the Pod around on the narrow crowded streets that the Ladies opted not to go into town for the activities. I don’t think my Gals enjoyed this area very much due to the pack of people and all of the daytime fishermen, but I loved the grass, river and good smells. Off we went north again on scenic route 59 on our way to Niagara Falls. We had lunch one day at the unusual Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River. This is the beginning of the huge Allegheny Reservoir.






We then camped several days at Willow Bay on the reservoir near the PA/NY border waiting for mail to come to the Bradford Post Office. This too was a great place for wading in the creek, rolling in the grass and generally enjoying the quiet. The changing leaves make me believe that even though it is only Mid-August, we are on our way to the spectacle of fall in New England.






We know we haven’t seen a lot of PA but we plan on returning to eastern PA in a few weeks as we follow the fall colors down from Maine and visit a friend in Philadelphia. We had scheduled a busy time during the next week with repairs and maintenance on my precious Pod, a visit to Niagara Falls and other things in our world. We will get you updated in our next blog on the trip through NY.