Two weekends ago, hubby had to travel to northern Virginia to pick up a piece of equipment for work.

(One of the marvelous perks of being salaried!) We decided to take advantage of the fact and turned his have-to trip into a weekend excursion for the two of us. The road to Virginia passes through the Laurel Highlands, a section of the Allegheny Mountains, which is chock-full of interesting places. Theres Seven Springs, Laurel caverns, Fort Necessity, Ohiopyle state park, and Fallingwater. We decided to target Fallingwater and Ohiopyle. We only had Saturday for touring, as Sunday would be spent making the rest of the trek to Virginia and then driving the whole way home. Fallingwater Fallingwater was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1934. It is nestled along Bear Run Creek, the main house perched above a small waterfall, while the small upper house climbs up the hillside. The grounds to this place are simply gorgeous ~ dappled light, filtering through the trees, highlighting thousand of rhododendrons. (We were about two weeks to early for the shrubs to be blooming, which was a tad upsetting.) It is so gorgeous that I felt none of the photos I clicked came close to expressing the sense of tranquility the woods held, so I dumped all of those shots. Somethings have to be experienced. There is a short hike from the parking lots to the visitor center and then on to the house itself. Once again, a beautiful walk. Along the way, the remnants of an old orchard decorate the valley. Here is a very old, very interesting apple tree.

Soon we were at the entrance to the house.

Since we hadnt paid the extra ten dollars a piece for the tour, we were restricted to the outside of the house, which was just fine. The house is built into a hillside with rocky outcroppings, which is pretty cool in itself. Here is the back of the lower part of the house.

And crossbeams made to look like theyve been imbedded into the rock.

The stairs that connect the two parts of the house are fabulous and dropped more than one hint that WE could incorporate a copy of them into our own landscape. (Though I believe I was largely ignored.)

My favorite part of the house was the patio that bordered the southern side of the upper house.

It had its own small swimming pool, fed from a spring further up the hill. Or maybe it was an ornamental pond but there were steps built into it. Either way, once it was cleaned, it would make a great place to lounge in on a hot summers day and just watch the world go by. The corner of the pool is just visible in this photo.

Heres another view from the upper patio.

And we couldnt leave without getting a few shots of the traditional view of the house ~ with the waterfall cascading under it!

OhioPyle State Park Around fifteen miles south of Fallingwater is Ohiopyle State Park. Like Fallingwater, I had never been before. Now I cant wait to return. Its beyond fabulous. Our first stop was at Cucumber Falls (I never did find out why a beautiful waterfall was named after a spiny, green vegetable.). The walk down into the gorge is fairly easy even though the steppingstones are uneven and even missing. And theres even a nice rail to hold onto the whole way down to stop tourists from pitching headfirst down into the ravine. When we reached the bottom, a family was holding a picnic on a large, flat rock in the middle of the creek. How cool is that?? Me too!! Anyways, here are a few photos from below the falls.

And, of course, pics of the falls. (BTW, the second shoot is my favorite from the entire day.)

After slowly climbing our way back to the top of the hill, we backed tracked to the natural waterslide area, another very interesting and cool place. The bedrock in this area has worn down rather smoothly, the water from the creek is shallower, theres algae that blooms along the rock and its all on a tilt that dumps into great trout fishing pools. The day we were there, the water was running a bit fast and a lot cold. Still one hardy soul ~ a young male ~ went down the slide. Im betting he had some bruises the next day. Id definitely like to try it, sometime in July or August. Area above the slide. Note the people who just walk on up the stream.

The slide itself.

The great trout pools at the bottom of the slide. One lucky fisherman caught a nice one while we were there.

Next we took in the Ohiopyle falls; not as nice as the Cucumber Falls but noteworthy as they sit in the middle of some very nice whitewater. Or so I am told. Not like Ive ever gone whitewater rafting myself ~ perhaps one day. Above the Ohiopyle falls.

The Ohiopyle Falls.

Onward and upward! Although its looking like it will storm any moment, we decide to head up to Sugar Loaf, one of the higher peaks around at just under 2900 feet. (Note: If you decide to visit the area, bring gum. Riding around means either going up the mountain or down the mountain and your ears will be constantly popping.) Stopping at Baughman Rock provide an excellent photo opportunity. Actullay it provide something even stranger. From this vista, not a single manmade building was insight and the only manmade sounds came from the occasional car on the road behind us. Its not something Ive often experienced. The view from Baughman Rock.

During the remainder of the ride to Sugar Loaf, it began to rain in earnest. Since the road to the lookout there was on a washed-out road, the rain was now falling hard and there were a few rumbles of thunder, we decided to call it a day and head to the motel. A few thoughts in retrospect: I preferred Ohiopyle to Fallingwater. Sure, Fallingwater was beautiful but Ohiopyle was beautiful and fun. There are a lot of bike trails up in those mountains. The last one I saw was posted on the bottom of a sign that warned trucks about the downhill grade for the next thirteen miles. Hmmmm. Personally, when I return, Im planning on a mode of transportation that doesnt rely on my own power!

June 1, 2009