Pennsylvania, Washington DC - September 2015

In late September early October, we took a trip to the east coast.  The main reason for the trip was to participate in a Sierra Club Service Trip to Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house south of Pittsburgh - a week of moderately physical work maintaining or building trails in the park adjacent to the home.   We flew into Washington DC and tacked on a few extra days for a bit of sightseeing in the capital.

Arriving into Dulles airport in DC on a Saturday evening we sidestepped DC and headed towards Western Pennsylvania, our destination for the service trip.   We didn’t have any definite ideas of where to stay for the evening and we ended up in Hagerstown, a fairly large town in Maryland.  Not the most impressive of towns, but it showed up at the right time and it had hotels.  We had an OK meal at a German restaurant where they made the waitresses dress up in Bavarian garb.  There is a lot of German influence here in this part of the country.

The next morning we were treated to a most mediocre breakfast at the hotel (actually not mediocre, just plain bad) where everything was served in polystyrene containers with plastic cutlery.  It has been a while since I saw that quantity of polystyrene.

On the road again we did not have to be at our destination until late afternoon so we took a detour to Gettysburg,  Obviously I was expecting some Civil War related sights but nothing on the scale of what we found there.  There were statues, monuments and plaques at every turn – a crazy amount of memorials to what went on there in the Civil War and in the town itself copious tourist related hotels, restaurants, shops and the like to detract from the true gravity of the place.  We wandered around from the David Wills house (where Lincoln wrote his famous “address”), over to a graveyard and then to the National Park Visitor center.  We were a little overwhelmed by the entire affair and we were pushed for time so we left with only a minor understanding of what went on their.   Maybe a candidate for a return visit on a more serious Civil War history tour.

Gettysburg

From Gettysburg we headed towards our destination for the work week which was near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.  Frank Lloyd Wright built Faillingwater near Ohiopyle for the Kaufmann family who at that time were the owners of a fine department store in Pittsburg.  We were to be working on the land adjacent to the house owned by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

When we reached the house we were staying in during the week there were a few fellow volunteers already there.  The Sierra Club always invites one or two strange folk and this was no exception.  We were greeted by one lady who informed us immediately that they were assigning beds by arrival time and all the beds were now taken.  Not exactly welcoming, and when the leader of the trip arrived later with his own room/bed assignments then this same lady got outraged and went on a rant about how unfair that was.  For the rest of the trip she remained an outsider and continued to irritate people.  One wonders why she put herself in that situation.

Our lodging was fairly comfortable – as a couple we had a room to ourselves (alas only a single bed, I slept on the floor) and everyone except the previously mentioned lady seemed to be fine.  Our project for the week was to create 2,000ft of new trail.  We kicked off the work week on Monday morning bright and early and were introduced to Brian Jones an employee of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy who was to direct our work.  It was raining so we were all decked out in waterproofs.  Before we started work we had a little tour around the grounds of Fallingwater which gave us our first chance to see the house.   It truly is a remarkable structure.

Fallingwater

Following a brief tour of the exterior of the house we started work on our trail.  We had a 2.5 mile hike in to our trail section and by the time we got there we were all quite damp.  That didn’t stop us however and we labored on throughout the day, taking only a short break for lunch.

The first day's work was a bit confusing – we were all finding our feet and figuring out how best to do things and which tools we liked the best.  We had the usual shovels, rakes, hammers, pry bars, clippers, etc and then a few more specific tools like McCleods and Pulaskis (both fire fighting tools and great for cutting new trail).

Old Growth Hemlock

I was working on one particular section, hacking away at the entangled roots when I noticed some bees flying around.  Of course I had to go and investigate further and I found the hole that lead to their nest.  I should have left well alone but I stood close by watching them until first one stung me, then another, and then another and then I was running down the trail flapping my arms like a wild man.  No one else got stung and the next day we routed the trail away from the nest.

We finished work around 3:00 pm and made our way down the hill to the road.  A little damp but not too uncomfortable.

For our meals we each took turns with cooking.   Fortunately Nancy and I didn’t cook until Friday so we had plenty of time to figure out how things were going to work.   The food ingredients were provided along with the appropriate menus so it wasn’t too difficult to figure out what to do.

The next day, Tuesday we were off again at 8:15 and it was raining but much harder and more consistently this time.  I think a lot of us, including myself, thought that we would not work in such conditions, but no, we labored on despite the conditions.  I discovered my favorite thing to do was to mark the uphill side of the new trail using my favorite tool – the McCleod.  The trail had been roughly laid out with colored ties on the trees every 20 ft or so.  I just went ahead and figured out what I thought was the best path through the trees and excavated a line for the uphill side of the trail. 

We broke early on Tuesday afternoon in order to take a tour of the inside of Fallingwater.  We were back to our lodgings by 2:00 most of us totally wet through.  We dried off, cleaned up and headed down to Fallingwater.

The house is really wonderful and it must have been an amazing place to live (it was the summer home of the Kauffmans).  A lot of FLW quirky design features – narrow doorways opening up into beautiful spaces, built in furniture designed by the architect, toilets lowered so they are only 18 in above ground,  leaking roofs, etc.  

Rail to Trail in Ohiopyle

The next day, Wednesday, we had a day off work and we all went rafting on the Youghiogheny River.  Ohiopyle, which is quite a small town, has become a center for outdoor activities and there is a lot or rafting and kayaking done on the river from there.  We did a short section of the Yough downstream from Ohiopyle.  It was a grey day and it was raining intermittently but the conditions weren't too bad.  We loaded up into our 6 man plus one guide paddle rafts and after a bit of instruction took off downstream.  It was nice enough, but we didn’t really do much paddling and the rapids were not that thrilling.  The countryside was beautiful however – a steep sided river valley with forested slopes. 

Rafting the Youghiogheny

After the raft trip we cleaned up back at the house and then went for a short hike – to Cucumber Falls and then on the banks of the Youghiogheny back into Ohiopyle.  We had dinner in town with everyone that evening.  Not great food but an enjoyable time all the same.

Thursday was another day of work and while it was overcast and occasionally drizzled it was for the most part dry.   I continued outlining the trail and then went back to work on widening it.  We made good progress and things looked good for finishing the whole section before the end of the week.

The Start of the Trail 

The idea with the trail building was to scrape off the top surface layer of leaf debris (called duff) down to something a bit more substantial (clay or whatever the subsoil was).  If there were any holes then we would fill them in with rocks and pack the rocks in with clay retrieved from around fallen tree roots.  The subsoil is a yellowish clay and when a tree falls down its roots drag up a lot of clay which we could then transport in buckets to stabilize other parts of the trail.  Where the terrain was uneven or climbed too steeply we would build steps by placing larger rocks in place and again binding them with clay and other smaller rocks.

Kentuck Knob

Thursday afternoon, we again finished early and went to visit the other Frank Lloyd Wright house in the area – Kentuck Knob.  This is a more modest Usonian house of Wright’s and in some ways more enjoyable (it would have been easy to imagine living there).  Again there were the quirky narrow spaces opening to more expansive rooms, the fine details of the builtins, etc. The house is now owned by Lord Peter Palumbo an English aristocrat who made his money in UK Real Estate.  He has added a sculpture garden to the property with some nice pieces – Red Army, a couple of Andy Goldsworthy’s, an Oldenburg Apple Core, a piece of the Berlin Wall, etc.   Palumbo also owns the Farnsworth House in Illinois, a Mies van der Rohe design.

The Red Army at Kentuck Knob

Friday, our final day, was good weather and we were able to finish up the entire section.  It looked pretty good by the time we were done.  A nice single track trail with some more technical challenging steps through the tricky bits.   I think we were all quite proud of our efforts especially when you consider the conditions earlier in the week.   However when one thinks that we were 16 people, admittedly some old, and in a week we only did 2,000 feet of trail and then you think of how many miles of trail there are in the USA, it is quite mind-boggling to consider the effort that might have been required.

Friday night was our night to cook and although I say it myself we did a fine job of cooking steaks in the oven.  We wanted medium rare and by some fluke of circumstance we got medium rare.  Enough for 18 people.

The Trail Crew

The final morning we all chipped in to clean the house.  By 10 o’clock we were pretty much done and people started to depart.  It was kind of sad to leave these folk behind after bonding so well over the week.  Laura the lady who had annoyed everyone early in the week, was still pretty much an outsider, despite her efforts to buy her way back into favor with wine, beer and snacks the previous evening.  Big thanks to Marty Joyce our leader and Jerry and Pam his assistants.

From Ohiopyle we headed north towards Pittsburgh,  Of course it was a grey day with intermittent rain but we were getting used to that.  We wanted to visit the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh so we headed straight for it.  It is a great museum celebrating the life and art of Andy, the local Pittsburgh kid.  We got to try our hands at a silkscreen printing too.

The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh

We had a little wander around town – over the MonongahelaRiver, around the downtown area, a quick look at the now closed but very fine Kauffmans Department Store (The Kauffmans of Fallingwater fame).

Since we weren’t really interested in staying in Pittsburgh, we headed out in the direction of DC and ended up not far from Ohiopyle again.  We stayed at the Summit Hotel just outside Uniontown.  A wonderful old hotel that once hosted Edison, Ford, and a host of other inventors.  We enjoyed a swim in the pool, a dip in the Jacuzzi, and a fine meal of liver and onions in their restaurant.

We moved on the next day towards DC with no particular route in mind.  We ended up going to a historical site called Fort Necessity where George Washington, whilst in the British Army, encountered the French and was taken prisoner.  Not much of a site really but interesting history and it was also located adjacent to the National Highway. The first Federally Funded highway in the US dating from the early 1800’s.

Fort Necessity

From Fort Necessity we progressed to Harper’s Ferry on the junction of the Potomac and  Shenandoah rivers.  This was a beautiful old town with lots of history and lots of nicely restored buildings.  The town had been quite important in arms manufacturing before the Civil War and several breakthroughs in the manufacturing process were initiated there (e.g. rifling), it was also renowned for the failed attack by the abolitionist John Brown who was captured in the town.  Unlike Gettysburg which had a patina of tacky commercialism, Harper’s Ferry was nicely done – you park your car in the Visitor Center outside town and you are bused into town.  As a result the town is quite free of commercial clutter.  The Appalachian Trail passes through the town.

Harper's Ferry

From  Harper’s Ferry we moved on to Shepherdstown where we stayed at this relatively cute Bavarian Inn.  Sherpardstown is a nice college town with a lovely high street.  We had our second German meal of the trip in the hotel’s restaurant

The following morning we headed for Washington DC.  We left our car  back at Dulles airport and Ubered into town.  We stayed at The Churchill Hotel a nice place on Connecticut Avenue beyond Dupont Circle.  We decided to visit the National Portrait Gallery which turned out to be a great historical education.   Each portrait had a brief description of the significance of the individual.  It also has the only complete collection of presidents outside of the White House.   Again a very educational display.

The White House

Tuesday morning we were scheduled for a White House tour.  After a few hiccups like having to go back to the hotel to drop off Nancy’s bag (no bags allowed in WH and no storage outside) we were in line for our tour along with hundreds of others (somehow, I imagined a more intimate tour).  I must say, I was not overly impressed – a few overly ornate rooms, the odd portrait, some fine china and other bric a brac  and that was it.   Worth doing but it's not Buckingham Palace.

Washington DC Mall

In the afternoon we walked down the Mall – the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool, the Vietnam, Korean and 2^nd World War Memorials, and the Lincoln Monument.   We didn’t get to the Jefferson Memorial.  I think the Korean was perhaps the most moving monument.  I never fully appreciated it was a United Nations affair with a majority of those killed being non-US soldiers.

Korean War Memorial, Washington DC

We visited the Museum of Art which was really good and then made it back over to the National Portrait Gallery to finish off the 2 floors we didn’t get to see before closing on the previous day.  Again we didn’t manage to complete the Gallery as there was an event that forced us out with half a floor to go.

Washington's Home, Mt Vernon

The next day we went out to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home near Alexandria.  Uber proved to be a reasonable and very efficient way to get there – only $30.  The home was interesting and I enjoyed it much more than the White House.  Washington had quite an estate there and apparently in inflation adjusted dollars he was the richest of all our presidents.   Maybe that will change if Mr Trump gets his chance.

I liked the “rustification” of the house siding where planks were shaped like large bricks, painted and then peppered with sand to give a stucco type finish. 

Uber again provided the best way to get back to town and even in the relatively remote setting of Mt Vernon we didn’t have to wait more than 10 mins.

We had time for a third trip to the National Portrait Gallery to visit the remaining rooms (thank goodness admission is free) before we left for the airport and our return trip to Sacramento.

Photographs of Fallingwater are here and the other parts (mainly Washington DC) are here.