1998 Tom and Daddy Trip

Western Pennsylvania

After a family trip by the four of us to Cook's Forest in western Pennsylvania. Tom amd I took the long way home for a brief, but fun, Tom and Daddy trip. This trip inlcuded visits to Laurel Caverns (a cave trip is almost required at this point), the Pittsburgh science museum, Frank Lloyd Wright's FallingWater house, and the Gettysburgh National Milatary Park. I believe this also included two extra hotel nights but not sure since writing this 12 years after the trip!

Diary

Day One   The trip went something like this ... Leave Cook's Forest mid morning and head for the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. Spend many hours in the center -- it is a very good science museum. Get breaks from all the standing at lunchtime and for an IMAX show. The museum included a revolutionary (at the time) motion detector game that required one to wear a big yellow glove so the camera's could track its motion, and allowed you to play games by watching your computerized alter ego move on a screen. Here is Tom listening to instructions and then finally playing the game - and enjoying it!

       

  Here's a few more photos of Tom in action at the museum:

  And one of myself .. I think Tom volunteered me to take part in this "Energy Show", a shocking experience:

Day Two   After a night in a hotel, around McKeesport just east of Pittsburgh I think, we head to Laurel Caverns Geological Park, near Uniontown, PA. This is Pennsylvania's Largest Cave and of course the park included the requisite "cave store" that is always so much fun. Here are a few images borrowed from their site:

       

Not far from the cave is Fallingwater, a house designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935. I was a little afraid that this might be overkill after the museum and cavern but we both loved it. Wright was asked to design a house near a waterfall, by a rich Pittsburgh family .. he built right on top of the waterfall so that the house and the cliff and the waterfall all seamlessly fit together. Very very cool. If you are ever traveling east of Pittsburgh on the PA turnpike we highly recommend this interesting stop. Allow several hours, as they say. Here are a few images borrowed from their site:

While heading home on the turnpike we mutually decide we'd like one more night on the road. We grab a hotel near Carlisle, only about two hours from home.

Day Three Up, breakfast, and head to Gettysburg. As I recall we made this a relatively quick tour. It really is an important Civil War landmark and the park is very interesting but we were a day "behind" schedule. We looked around the museum a little bit, and took in the famous Electric Map show (as I write this it appears the Electric Map is not currently open to the public and may be sold by the park .. shame). Then we did a quick drive through the park, stopping only at Devil's Den to roam around to rocks. I had flashbacks to some childhood visit to Devil's Den which was very cool. Here are a few images borrowed from various places ... showing the Electric Map and Devil's Den:

After the drive we headed home, arriving home mid afternoon.

Links



End of 1998