Caledonia & Ohiopyle...pics from the trip

Pennsylvania barn-Chris

falls at Caledonia

fishing pond at Caledonia

I "lead" this 20 something class at church and it has been a lot of fun. We call it 20x for short. It is largely comprised of guys, which is a blast and my wife joins in to add a feminine touch to it and to add moral support to the few girls in the class. A few months ago one guy mentioned he wanted to go back to Gettysburg....I said I had never been and so our road trip evolved and at one time eight guys were going. We shrunk to 3 by the time Friday morning rolled around. But the guys that went, Dave and Chris, were great to hang with and many kudos to Chris for being an all-around hardcore camping sorta guy. He's also an excellent photographer and a few of these shots are from his eye. And Dave & I have become pretty tight since we lead youth on Wednesday nights together and have coffee every Tuesday morning downtown. Shout out to PA-both the state parks we camped at did Pennsylvania proud.

trail at Ohiopyle

falls at Ohiopyle - Chris

Chris-the photographer

doesn't this look perfect?-Chris

The town of Ohiopyle, surrounded by Ohiopyle State Park, really comes alive with outdoor recreational tourist. It is essentially a town comprised of outfitters, primarily for rafting and kayaking. The unfortunate thing is that there is no place to buy bratts at 9 o'clock at night. Which meant a long trip into Uniontown on the National Road to Wal-Mart (eerily similar to the one we have in river city and the one we stopped at in Wyoming, and...hmmm...). This meant supper at about 11 p.m. and showers at midnight. Great times though.

honor system around midnight

restored train depot in Ohiopyle

this store was like stepping back in time-good place to get trail mix

And this was my second trip to Ohiopyle. Back in 1995 a group of us architecture students went here to see Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water"...house built over a waterfall. And we did a little white-water rafting. Unfortunately this time the river was high, and therefore the rapids as well, so being a little older and wiser than almost 15 years ago, we passed on the rafting and day-hiked along the river.

1995-rafting the Youghey: Andy, Darius, Angie, me, Krazy and Val

me rock hopping on the Youghey-Chris

marking the trail-our names etched in stone-Chris

Dave & me, end of the trail-Chris

I love the outdoors....and while there are times I miss some comforts of home, I never grow tired of the trail nor the company that goes along with it. It is always where I feel closest to God.