Yesterday and today...

It has been tricky service here for uploading pics and keeping up to date on my posts.  I updated the Pittsburgh day, so be sure to go back and look at photos!
Yesterday we were in Ohio Pyle, PA which is fun to say! It is a small (really small) town know for tourism, especially white water rafting.

Unfortunately,  we didn't do any, but we did have a good time anyways. On the way there, we stopped at a playground for lunch and we were greeted by a few local boys.

Our riders from CA all wore the same jerseys, except Gene! (He's hiding in the back) 

Our boys played soccer with the boys we met and they shared their bikes. They also shared their life story with us, and we fed them lunch. Too bad we couldn't bring them along the rest of the way! Getting from there to the sleep spot was quite stressful because it was full of steep grades and windy roads. We stayed in several lodges, which were cute houses, kinda cabin like.  After we discovered that our key wasn't in our lock box,  someone put Greyson through the window feet first to open the door! It's a good thing he's small. The key was on the table just inside the door!!

Soon after we got into our lodge,  we went down to the river. 

We enjoyed some ice cream for a snack before dinner, and guess what we had for dinner? Leftovers! It was a good thing Todd insisted on bringing them along.  I made a ceaser salad and we happily ate spaghetti and meatballs along with some pizza we had hiding in the freezer.
After dinner, Todd and I walked down to "the falls."

It was another great day! Before leaving, we went back to "the falls" with Nancy and Ken...

Today we went to Falling Water! What a place! It was absolutely beautiful inside and out.  Sadly, no photography is allowed on the tour, so we only got photos from outside. My favorite part was a set of stairs that went right onto the river from the house!

Tonight we are in Meyersdale, PA. I'll tell you about this place tomorrow...

Day off in Pittsburgh

Today was a great day filled with lots of things to see and do....
Some of our highlights included the top of Mount Washington (Not NH), The Andy Warhol Museum, and a tour of the city. Unfortunately, once again the WiFi is slow, and I'll update this post tomorrow with more stories and lots of pictures...
We started at the Duquesne incline to ride the "finicular " to the top.

We had a fun ride up with a woman who was afraid of heights,  and slightly freaked out by Greyson's comment,  "if those cables broke, we'd be dead!" The view was spectacular! We could see all three rivers, lots of bridges, and the city!

Our next stop was The Andy Warhol Museum where we saw lots of artwork, and did some silkscreening. I really liked the way the galleries were set up in an organized manner.

We started at the 7th floor and worked our way down to the basement. Todd made a tshirt, and Tenrick did a tote bag as a small token of thanks to Ken and Nancy.
On a whim we decided to go on a duck boat tour of the city before we needed to be back to our hotel for meeting and dinner.

 We were glad we did! None of us had ever done a tour on a duck boat, and I've always wanted to.  The guides were hilarious. I imagine if our friends Pete and Chris ever needed a job,  they'd be perfect duck boat tour guides! We laughed a lot! Greyson and Elliot even got to drive the boat!!

We saw a different perspective of the city,  and found out that Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city totaling 445. We also learned that Heinz payed 57 million dollars to name the stadium.  We saw several memorials honoring men and woman who died in service,  and several sculptures including one of the friendliest neighbors, Fred Roger's!

We had a late dinner with everyone at Bravo Italian restaurant. Todd and I had a loving squabble about taking "home" the leftovers,  and he won! We had the table laughing!

Welcome to Pittsburgh!

Today has been an interesting day...we began our day at Das Dutch Village Inn with homemade donuts- way better than dunkin'! Mom, Eva, and Laura, you remember how the Amish make them- yum! Todd and the boys loaded bags with Ken while the riders prepared to leave.

Patriotic John! 

We checked out of the Inn,  and headed to the lunch spot in Pennsylvania, where we soon met police once again!

We came to the place we planned lunch, which was a park and baseball field.  The entrance had road closed signs and barriers blocking it. There was a sign with a website (which of course I couldn't get to with no Internet service) to get permission to access the property. After a brief, but helpful conversation with my mom, she found a phone number for the town (thanks mom!).  We got hold of the town to ask if any construction vehicles might need to use the entrance and inquired about parking in front of the barriers. The woman I spoke with did not understand, and said she'd send the police. In the meantime, Todd ended up going to another park with a woman who was scheduled to meet the foreman of the site. While they were gone,  I met the foreman!   The police were super nice and the foreman moved the barrier and let us in!

The riders were thrilled to see us at lunch because they had many hills to climb this morning.
Lunch ended and we headed to our hotel for the night.  It was late in the afternoon, and there was lots of construction along our route. Todd is doing an amazing job driving the "truck!" At one point we entered a tunnel,  and when we exited,  it was like Christmas morning.

We were extremely surprised to see a beautiful city skyline, including multiple bridges, as well as a train along a track!

Welcome to Pittsburgh!!
We will be saying goodbye to a few riders (Margaret, Greg, and Susie, we'll miss you!), and we welcomed a few more today!
We had a delicious Chinese dinner at a restaurant within walking distance, and we have the day off tomorrow. Tonight I took the kids to the pool and Todd is taking some well deserved down time at the movies across the road!

Dutch Treat!

When we left The Stanford House this morning, it was raining again.

We traveled on towards our lunch spot and went grocery shopping at an Acme. Those of you from Boyertown remember that store! The lunch spot was a church parking lot that had a pavilion and picnic tables, which was very helpful considering the weather. The boys watched some of the road construction next door,  which kept them entertained between riders coming and going.

They also shot some baskets at the church hoop. Tonight we are at hotel (yay!), which means we don't have to get out breakfast! On the way to the hotel we saw more corn fields, cows, and we spotted a giant nest on a telephone pole, maybe eagle?

 

For dinner we went to a Dutch restaurant. 

When we walked in and saw the homemade pies, we decided we needed to get a slice to eat after our evening meeting. Todd was fixed on getting a slice of cherry, but they were out of slices...after a brief hesitation,  he bought the whole pie!!

Although today wasn't filled with sights, the pool and hot tub were relaxing,  the food great again, and the company fun!