Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Another Tick Problem

Thursday June 13 & Friday June 15, 2013
Tub Run COE Campground
Confluence, PA

 

 

Leaving Virginia

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We leave the farm and Charlottesville on Thursday June 12.  We get a late start and only go a short 80 miles to an overnight at Endless Caverns RV resort.  It’s close off I 81 in an area where there really isn’t any place else to stay.  Good thing it was a short trip since we ended up driving in the rain which I hate to do.

 

 

 

 

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The Campground has full hook ups and there is the Endless Cavern to tour if you are there long enough.  Campsites on hillsides.  Questionably level.  We use Passport America which is good for only one night.  I think $26.88 for a night on a fairly unlevel campsite on a hillside is a bit steep and can’t imagine who pays the full price.  But it’s the only game in town and is fine for what we need - one night.

 

 

Next stop Tub Run COE

 

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On Friday, I’m thinking of Karen who doesn’t like driving in the mountains as we leave the interstate and drive 161  curvy and winding miles uphill and down to Tub Run COE campground in Pennsylvania.  Your diesel would have had an even easier time Karen.

$22 ($11 for seniors) for electric sites of which there are only about 15.  Water available to fill your tank and a dump station.   Of course there is a lake for boating and swimming although none of the sites are on the water.  Lots of fishermen.

 

We are here to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Ohiopyle State Park whose campground I felt I needed to see before committing myself.  Since we are arriving on a Friday during the summer I elected to make my reservation at Tub Run a 10 mile drive to the Park and then another 2 miles to Fallingwater.

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Another tick problem puts David down for the count.

After we arrive on Friday David isn’t feeling well, he has a fever apparently from another tick he left in too long.  Yes he was out and about on the farm and did not tuck his long pants into his socks in good tick avoidance practice.  Who knows why not.   I am envisioning another hospital horror visit like the one in Harrisburg last year.  His temperature goes up and down from 98.9 to 100 and back and forth.   But mostly he is just tired and sleeps all afternoon.

 

Guess we need to get tickets to Fallingwater.

 

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In the later afternoon on Friday, while he is napping and things seem stable, I drive down to Fallingwater but it closed at 4pm.  The sign informs me that I’d better have reservations if I actually want to see the house.  Well then……….problematic since we have no Verizon internet or cell service at Tub Run in spite of David’s latest antenna and booster plan.

No answer when I try to call Fallingwater from the foot of their driveway.  So I get on line and make the reservations using my cell phone.  Boy is it hard to type on that thing.  I really hate to do any money transactions on a phone.  BUT…………….   I was hoping to get an early tour, they open at 10am.   What I find is that all of the times are taken until 2pm so that’s what I take.  $22 for an hour tour of the house and as much time as you like to walk the grounds.   Pretty expensive I think.  But it’s what I came here to see so I put my money down. I buy one for David too, in hopes that he will feel well enough to go.

 

Ohiopyle State Park is a really unique park.

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On the way to Fallingwater I go through Ohiopyle State Park and find it is an entire town.  Once I have my tickets secured, I return to the park to check out the possibilities.

The park is 2500 acres including the town and a long section with a horseshoe bend of the Youghiogheny  River.  The river has lots of rapids and waterfalls.  It’s a whitewater kayaking haven.  Because it is a town, there is no charge to “enter” the park.   There are many private outfitters for river rafting or kayaking, several restaurants, private homes, single room motels for bikers and kayakers, a Methodist church, and a post office.  It’s a town in a state park; looks like fun.

 

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The park is building a brand new Visitor’s Center so there is construction going on right on the river front.  For now the tourist information bureau is housed in the great old train station.

 

 

Running right by the station on what was the old train bed (tracks removed) is a wonderful rails to trails path called the Allegheny Passage which runs 70 miles from Pittsburg, PA to Cumberland, MD.  From there the very serious bikers can pick up the C&O Canal towpath trail and ride another 75 miles to Washington, D.C.   The trail is hard packed and great riding.  Just beyond the train station, it goes over the river twice heading west.  Super bridges in both cases.

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Unfortunately due to a medical appointment at Dana Farber in Boston, we have only this afternoon and tomorrow here to see both the park and Fallingwater.   This is definitely a return to spot.

 

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After a short look at the town and a visit to the bureau for information,  I get the lay of the land and what there is to do in the park and in the town.  I set off hiking on the Allegheny Passage across the bridges and then to the Cucumber Falls trail  down a lovely path through tall trees reaching for the light.  The falls are full and beautiful.  I walk down stream to where the falls run meets the river and find wild azalea blooming all along the bank.  Upriver in the rapids, the kayakers are playing.  As I walk back up the falls run and see the falls from a distance below it is just as lovely.  Music to my ears.  I can walk nearly up to it and would have walked behind it but I had no one to hold my camera.   Another next time.

 

 

 

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I’m really sorry I can’t stay and stay, but it is nearly dark and I must go back and see how David is doing.  

I find him awakened from his second nap.  His temperature is down.  I insist he take a couple of Ibuprofen when it goes up again before bedtime.   He has been sleeping now for about 6 hours or so and has had a light supper.   He goes back to bed, and even though he’s been asleep half the day, he sleeps all night.

Time and rest do the trick.  His immune system is not as strong as it once was but it is strong enough to get through this.  His comment is that he guesses he will just have to try to remember that even though he feels fine, he isn’t really.   I SIGH…………

But we can thankfully now go on to our whirlwind Saturday here in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.  

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28 comments:

  1. Don't you love waterfalls?

    Please be careful of ticks as you delve further into the northeast. Most people I know have had Lyme's and it is not fun. Thankfully my one bout wasn't too serious.

    Great area. Can't wait for your report on Falling Water!

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  2. That bike trail looks really awesome. I love it when old RR beds are repurposed like this.

    Ticks are so disgusting. The worst I ever saw was at the Dick Cross WMA in Virginia. They were everywhere.

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    1. This. That place was so beautiful, and so creepy-crawly.

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  3. Sherry, I love your description of the area. I was born nearby and we moved away when I was 12. We would go to Ohiopyle on weekends to wade in the river and cool off. I think the distance on the C&O canal from Cumberland to DC is about 175 miles not 75. My husband and daughter rode the whole thing over a Memorial Day weekend about 18 years ago. Anyone interested in Colonial history can see Braddock's Grave and Fort Necessity nearby.

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  4. Now you are in MY kind of country! The falls are beautiful and your pictures are so good. I hear that ticks are spreading to states that never had much of a problem before, so everyone should be alert to their presence.

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  5. I had forgotten about David's previous tick experience. Hope this turns out better.
    The C&O Canal towpath is a great bike trail. We rode part of it many years ago near Cumberland.

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  6. I never got to see Fallingwater. We'll get to it sometime!

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  7. Love the waterfall. Absolutely HATE ticks. So glad they aren't here. Very different to have a town in a State Park.

    So looking forward to the Wright tour.

    Hope David is feeling better.

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  8. Yes... this is my kind of nature too... love it. so sorry about David! what a bummer.

    gorgeous pictures....

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  9. Hope he continues to improve. Loved the waterfalls and river shots. As much as my intentions are not to leave an area until I've seen all that I want and do all there is to due, the reservation systems don't support that. Guess life is a series of adjustments.... rving or stick and bricks. Just Happy to find fun along the way!!

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  10. Well we seem to be following right behind you;o)) Stayed one night at Endless Caverns, last night in Moyers Grove (I80 & I81), moving up to Willington CT tonight. However, we are bypassing Boston and heading to Wells, ME on Wednesday. Hope David gets all his strength back and the Drs. appts go smoothly. We will be in Wells, ME until Monday, the 24th. Holler if you are anywhere close:o))

    Ohiopyle SP looks amazing. Have to put that on our NEXT-TIME list;o))

    Safe Travels and Happy Trails.....

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  11. I'm sorry to hear that David is having trouble with ticks. They seem to be really bad all over the country! That's a wonderful park you reviewed for us today. Going to put it on my to do list....thanks for sharing.

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  12. Cumberland! Where I grew up- The waterfall is really pretty. I love water in any form. (Well....not icky pond scummy water.) We had another torrential downpour yesterday afternoon with lightening and thunder AND 3 thunderstorm phobic dogs in day camp. Poor things! Kelly and I did our best to make them feel better. Millie ended up on the bottom shelf of our supply shelf in the utility closet. (Picture a hound on a shelf.) Beek just took a pin-head sized tick off my back. Seems it's almost impossible to not get them. I'll have to get David a Scalibor collar like our dogs are wearing@#@! I'll look forward to the pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright's place.
    XXXOOO Pam

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  13. Glad to hear David's feeling better.

    We went to Fallingwater and Ohiopyle several years ago when Mom was visiting us. Couldn't have picked a worse time to be there. We went without hotel reservations, and wouldn't you know it, there was a major golf tournament at the nearby resort and every room for miles around was booked. Finally found a very basic motel further out with a couple of rooms, but boy was it a challenge. Didn't get to do the trails at Ohiopyle since we were in the area just for the day, and much of it was taken up by Fallingwater, but did enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds of the SP.

    We stayed the weekend at Endless Caverns when they were doing a weekend promotion a couple of years ago. Did the tour of the caverns, which we enjoyed. We had a decent site that was level; one of the terraced ones toward the back of the first section (they were still building out the second section. Unfortunately, the gnats were swarming in clouds, so we didn't get to do much outside. At least they weren't biting ;-)

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  14. My great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents are buried nearby Ohiopyle in an old church cemetery. You captured the feeling that I get when I visit that area. That bike path is lovely any time of year, but spring is my favorite. Hope David starts feeling better soon.

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  15. Beautiful, beautiful waterfall! We haven't ventured much further than Amish country in PA but it's obvious we need to see more next time.
    Hope David continues to improve. Those tick bites can be nasty. Definitely keep an eye out for a bullseye!

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  16. Really nice to see some of your travel scenes - lovely shots! I hope David feels better and no more ticks!!
    Hope to see you next time you're in town.
    Take good care,
    Maggie

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  17. Wow...another tick. What is it with David and ticks? I had forgotten about the problems he has with the last one. I hope he gets to feeling better and doesn't have another hospital stay. I sure think I'd be tucking in my pants and wearing long sleeves. At least they don't seem to be as bad as where Judy is. Please watch for a the big red spot which would indicate lyme disease. He surely doesn't need to get that.

    Thanks for thinking of me, and you're right. I hate those twisty roads in the motor home and we certainly do our best to avoid them.

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  18. oops...I forgot. I loved the waterfall pictures today. What a beautiful area and you took great pictures.

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  19. Glad to hear that David did okay despite the fever caused by the tick. Not fun, I'm sure you were worried.

    Used to ride 22 miles of the Rails to Trail path into DC almost every day, it was wonderful and a great recycling of railroad right of ways.

    We made the mistake once of staying at the KOA right next to Endless Caverns. It was $48/night for an unlevel site. KOA = Never Again for us! We should have stayed at Endless Caverns that time, Mike and Terri were there at the same time, we found out later. :c(

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    1. I hear you Paul about that KOA, we stay there for 3 days and trying to get my 38' Georgetown out cracked left front window all most out of the rig and $500.00 deductible later in Va beach did not make my day...

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  20. Great essay on the park Sherry and that Rail Trail to Cumberland sounds great for early fall.....Hope Dave's tick isn't a bad one.

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  21. Hopefully David has recovered from the tick bite --pretty scary considering his weakened immune system. I think the ticks are especially bad this summer. I've found several on me and I'm pretty cautious. Ohiopyle SP looks like my kind of place. Love the pictures of the waterfalls and I'd love to get on the river there. Looking forward to your review on Falling Waters.

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  22. Ugh about the tick thing. My pants are tucked into my socks every time I go outside, and I do tick checks about 25 times a day.

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  23. Frustrating that a tick can cause these problems. I hope you can slow down after your next appointment and spend more time in one place.

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  24. I do hope Dad learned his lesson!! Those falls look gorgeous!! I think I would have liked both that and the little town in a state park :)

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  25. Hope David feels strong enough to go to Fallingwater with you. Looks like a beautiful place to explore.

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