2015 Vacation: Saturday...another day that feels just Wright

Relaxing morning, our tour is not until 1:30, so we can just take it easy. Tidied up a few things in prep for heading out tomorrow, then headed over for the tour.

Kentuck Knob was another commission of Wright, for the Hagan family, owners of a major dairy outside of Pittsburgh, and friends of the Kaufmanns. The Hagans had been to Fallingwater a number of times visiting their friends, loved the house, and wanted Wright to design one for a piece of property they owned, just down the road from Fallingwater.

2015 Vacation: Friday...Fallingwater

Fallingwater today. Our tour started at 8:30, so we were up and out early. It is only a short drive from the site, but we will be going down SR2019 to Ohiopyle, which is the road they recommend that large RV's avoid. They are right!



Even going downhill without a trailer was a bit unnerving, as the road is quite steep, with many blind hairpin corners. I imagine pulling a trailer uphill would be a challenge, regardless of the size.

Fallingwater is nestled into the forest, just a short drive off the highway.

2015 Vacation: Thursday...the hills of Pennsylvania

Thursday
Big drive today, so we were up early to catch the ferry. A woman in a shop told us the big ferry leaves on the half hour, so that was our target time. The lake was much calmer today, and our passing was relatively smooth.



Today is another of those A to B days, where the interstate is used to just chew up the miles. Along the way, in Akron, we stopped at a Camping World, which, truth be told, did influence the route today. Never been to one, so it became a way point in our journey. Nice drive, stopped for gas and a bit of breakfast for the road. Amazing how tasty a McD egg mcmuffin can be when you are sitting in a car cruising along the blacktop. Egg white fever.

2015 Vacation; Wednesday...who knew a golf cart was on Dale's bucket list?

Wednesday
Heading back to Kelly's Island to get the Alto and an overnight stay. The storm of the past couple of days has blown by, so it will be interesting to see how rough Lake Erie is.

Good drive back, and as luck would have it, the larger ferry was just arriving at the dock. If it had been the smaller one we would have waited the 1/2 hr to the next one.

2015 Vacation: Monday & Tuesday...time to catch up

Monday & Tuesday
Up early to catch the ferry, Alissa and Richard following us. We have left the Alto at the campground and are off to see Bill & Ann. The small ferry was in dock and we soon pulled on. There is a big storm closing in from the midwest, and although it may pass above the campground, we may feel the effects. As soon as we got offshore a bit, the wind and the waves became very apparent. The little ferry was doing a lot of tossing and rolling, we were chatting outside and we had to lean against the cars to prevent ourselves from stumbling on deck. Needless to say, it was a bit unnerving. It did not help knowing that we had two future ferry rides ahead of us to come back to pick up the Alto, and that there was a storm coming. We vowed the next times to only get on the bigger of the two ferries.



We made our way up the 75 to Detroit, the relaxing drives we experienced on the I81 & I90 was soon replaced by the congestion and dominant presence of massive transport trucks. We knew this would be the case, as the I75 is one of the key north/south highways to transport goods. We encountered many transports that consisted of 3 seperate trailers, hitched together to make a massive train of a vehicle. I still have no idea how one of these rigs would be ever backed up, but I guess they are. Took a few quick shots of an impressive bridge in Toledo.



2015 Vacation: Sunday...breakfast and farewells till next rally

Sunday
A pot luck breakfast this morning, starting at 9:00, as a number of people are pulling out and heading home. The drizzle of rain could not put a damper on the breakfast, as we all just started talking where we left off last night.

2015 Vacation: Saturday...you can never have enough Altos for a tour

Saturday
An Alto tour this morning, followed by a group BBQ in the evening. For the tour we started are doing the rounds of all the Altos, with each of the owners providing a little insight to what they have done to their Alto, their favorite accessories, and any other anecdotes they wish to add.




We started in the far row, and will make our way back to our row, with Mark and I being the last on the tour.

2015 Vacation: Friday...Altos, Altos everywhere

Friday
Set the alarm for a little before 5:00am, to give us a little leaway to make coffee, a bite to eat and get squared away to pull out. On the road by 6:00, a little overcast, so it should be a good day for a road trip.


We are heading to Interstate 81, which will get us to Syracuse, where will we catch the 90 all the way to Cleveland and a bit beyond. It will be a good hike, easily most of the day. Today is what I call an A to B day, where we are not so much concerned about what we may see along the way, but rather how much distance we can cover. Our aversion to the big 4 lane highway is well documented here, but sometimes it is the neccesity.

2015 Vacation: Thursday...a bit of a head start

Thursday
We are starting our 2 week vacation a day early this year. Something special taking place on this vacation, we are attending an Alto Rally being held at Kellys Island State Park in Ohio. Now this is a fair hike from Ottawa, and as the rally starts Friday night, we decided to head out Thursday after work to shorten the long drive tomorrow. We are headed for Grass Point S.P., just across frrom the Ivy Lea bridge. This will cut about 3 hours off our drive, and get the border crossing out of the way.

We arrived at the campsite around 8:00pm, a nice little park right on the Seaway. There are sites right along the water, offering a great view of the Seaway and the goings on.



2015 Trip 5: rain, rain, rain and more rain...

Sandbanks PP - June 2015

Friday
On the road by 8:30am, as Sandbanks is a good 3 hours from Ottawa and we like to get there early to catch a little beach time, since today is forecasted to be sunny all day. Important this weekend as the long range forecast calls for an extended rainy period.



There is a huge front moving in from the US Midwest, and it looks to pass right over us. This may be the only sun we get.