Well, Mike and I looked at pictures of Kentuck Knob after seeing it referred to on the Falling Water site. Did not know of it.
Sounds like another good trip for the Boogs.
BTW-what's the story on the ball of string thing? Know it's come up before, but can't remember what it's all about (something marvelously metaphysical, no doubt?).
Dee
17 Sept.
Catching up as there was no post yesterday. Yesterday was a ball of string day with the ball being a visit to Fallingwater, the Frank Llloyd Wright designed "house" that reenergized his failling career.
Decided to pass on Kentuck Knob – enough string for one visit. Nice house, fantastic setting, but not for the Boogs.
Perfect ride again. Weather, road surface, views and river all melded with state parks and a number of other riders to chat with (Elderhostels, locals on recumbents, tour groups).
Sharon has the pics of Fallingwater as well as some trail shots from her
Walks today. Her feet are currently worn out.
There were wonderful wild turkeys on the path. As QB went to look and photograph a bike rider shreiks "look there are turkeys"; then there were not.
Moin
Indeed, Ah am proud to confess that Ah was born South of tha Mason Dixon
Line…. but, chile, I don't display no confederate flag
15 Sept.
Staying in a resort about 8 miles from the trailhead at Ohiopyle, in a state park with rafting, biking and numerous outfitter for various sports.
The terminus was chosen due to the proximity to Fallingwaters, the Frank Lloyd Wright house of the same name. We have tour tickets for the morror. Decided to splurg and stay in a resort, Nemacolin. Quite a place, dinner is jacket and tie but we have found that there is a place for us. More on the resort follows below.
Breezy ride on roads not as well tended as yesterday but with outstanding views of multiple rivers. Confluence is at the joining of three rivers. Suspect no one will know the rivers without research.
QB did nature walks in the Park – found them a bit creepy as she was alone on the trail.
Met Carole, a friend of Becky and Ted Baer; she too was riding but the other way. Chatted for a while and then each had to move on.
The resort is a full service one: archery, badmitten, driving school for hummers, golf, etc. Etc. Hopefully the dinners will match.
The hot tub was good, out doors and a decent temperature.
Surprised to hear about the maple syrup as far down as Maryland? Well, whaddya know!
Do you feel different every time you cross the M-D line? It must be tiring to keep switching accents.
A friend once told me about going to a Kentucky Fried Chicken place that was out of chicken. Always a good idea to carry pretzels in case of emergencies like this. You might want to get a pretzel holder to put on your bike, so you can carry many pretzels at once. They are also good for juggling acts in case you need to earn money for your next meal.
Dee
14 Sept.
Drove to Meyersdale and biked back to Cumberland – up and down the hill a bit.
Well groomed trail with excellent tunnels, bridges, views and folks on the trail.
QB walked the trails until exhaustion – then went back to the room to nap. Wise move in the 95 degree heat. I kept cycling for a while as the views and road were a great treat after the bone shaking of the past week.
The Eastern Continental is the point where one side flows to the Atlantic and the other side to the Gulf of Mexico.
Crossed several times over the Mason Dixon line. Pictured.
Found, on the trail a collection point for maple syrup. Many trees linked together with tubes running to a big tank.
Entrance to "bone cave" a place where 200K year old mammals and other fauna were found while building the trail. Full reconstruction of now extinct species; apparently a big find.
Savage tunnel, over 3300 feet of lighted road surface. Nice cool break.
Dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and jambalya. All out of the Maryland Crabs even though a crab shack.
HiHi
13. Sept.
The car is now trashed in a way reminiscent of the Foster"s Farm chickens. That plus the pretzels. This is pretzel country and there are many many types, all good so far. Hard ones. Excellent.
Beautiful muddy ride to Paw Paw where a 3100 foot tunnel was built to avoild six miles of canal building. It was planned to take 2 years but after six million bricks, ethic fights among the laborers, and lots of construction problems it took 14 years. By the time the tunnel was completed the canal was made obsolete by the rail road.
Unlighted tunnel, very creepy inside.
The B&B in Hancock was a former doctor's office, old style with the office downstairs. Wonderful home from 1904. Good breakfast; found that even a good waffle lasts but 21 miles.
The path is in many ways as good as the Danube without the long distance travel and with good food places along the way.
In Cumberland, the birthplace town of our esteamed LIbby. The Trudells lived here until Libby was two. Sharon has taken a number of pictures of the town and the old homestead – these pics should be up around the time this post is up.
The pictured bank may be one that Marv remembers, seems to be of an era long past. Same can be said of the art deco period movie theater, ins Sharon's pics.
Looking forward to the food photos.
Re: Confederate flags: we ran across one just a week or so ago, when we stayed in the historic town of Dunsmuir (CA) on our way to Ashland, OR. It was in front of a house right across from our motel. There was both an American flag and a Confederate flag, both full-sized. I have to say it made me a bit nervous.
So you don't have to go very far south for the experience.
Dee
12 Sept.
Rain and more rain followed by mud and more mud. The Boogs do not get rain on the days that they both ride (see Pacific Northwest,Denmark, Southeast, Middle America, and recent Europe trip, for proof of concept. Today Sharon told long walks and I rode in the mud, lots of it.
Mud increased while riding from Williamsport to Hancock.
Had to take off my shirt and change before going into a lunch restaurant. A perfect diner-family restaurant with all the classic American dishes, home made pies and waitresses that smile and act perky. Very perky and friendly and helpful – just have to give them a fistfull sized tip.
We also ate dinner there. When QB puts up the pics proof positive of items like curley fries, pork chops, club sandwiches that make a mockery of "tower food".
We will miss the Canal-Apple Day as it starts afternoon of the Morrow. They do have a parade for us, will try to document.
After lunch rode the Western Maryland Rail Trail. A perfect asphalt surface. It runs paralled to the canal trail and is, of course, without mud. Did a 20+ mile loop at high speed (high for me) just to see if I could do a 50 mile day and still feel OK. So far, so good. Maybe it was the curley fries.
Pics are of Dam 5, one that Stonewall Jackson repeatedly tried, and failed, to demolish. The canal was thought to be very important to the North for supplies and commerce. The Dam was well defended and cannons were not strong enough to destroy it.
As a side note breakfast at the B&B in Sharpsburg was good but the company was excellent. All civil war history buffs, we expertise on the revolutionary war thrown in a well. Three other couples, from different parts of the US, one with a confederate flag on his car, were visiting the battlefields and other items in the area.
Question for the day: is a confederate flag display still a marker for segregation? Is it stilll considered racist? Everywhere?
HiHi
11 Sept.
Little forward progress but excellent touristing.
Rode the trail for a while while QB walked. Then we met up at Taylors Landing and drove to Antietam and the National Park. Saw the film, listened to the ranger talk, and then rode the rolling trail of the battlefield. QB walked a piece.
The amount of pain, misery, futility, death are all unimaginable. 23000 killed or badly hurt. No real leadership on the battle field leading to "shooting galleries" for some of the troups some of the time. All for very little. It hurts to tour especially when you see the geography and layout of the conflict.
Dinner in a really good restaurant back in Shepardstown. We are in Sharpsburg where Lee and his forces started from. Just a few miles from where we stayed last evening. Little forward progress but significant lateral experience.
A few pics attached. QB has put up her flickr pics.
HiHi
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