After visiting with Mom for another day in Kansas City, I finally turned the venerable CRV to the east and began our return to Rochester. We spent our first night in Terre Haute, which is becoming our regular way station on I-70. Then we pulled into Morgantown WV to spend three days with Brendan, Eileen and the kids in their new hometown.
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| Brock and Brady as zombies! |
As it turned out, we arrived in time to celebrate Halloween and got to go with the kids as they went trick or treating in a nearby neighborhood. The neighborhood was actually a gated community is a leaky back entrance. The residents were expecting a lot of kids and had decorated their houses in some very creative ways.
You can get an idea by looking at some photos.
Click here for the Halloween album.
The next day was Friday and all the West Virginians headed out to work or school while the two New Yorkers headed out for a day of spectacular views, a nice meal and compatible companionship. Our first stop was
Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed summer getaway home in the Pennsylvania mountains about 50 minutes from Morgantown. I had been there about 20 years ago but Marilyn had never seen it. We took one of the house tours and then ate lunch in the cafe at the visitors center.
It was a glorious fall day, cool but not cold. Breezy but not uncomfortably windy. The sky was a mix of brilliant blue and puffy clouds passing in and out of view. We also stopped at
Kentuck Knob, another Wright designed home in the area but decided not to go up to the house and take a tour. We didn't want to miss our next stop.
You can view photos by clicking here.
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| View to the east showing Cheat River in distance. |
Our final stop that day was
Cooper's Rock State Forest. These dramatic rock formations form the bluff high above the Cheat River. Cooper's Rock got its name from a legend that an escaped prisoner successfully hid out from the law around the view point promontory. He was a cooper by trade and plied his trade for several years providing barrels to local residents. His first challenge would have been to stop looking at the awesome views and get back to work. That may also account for the law not being able to find him.
You can view more photos by clicking here.
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| Brock directing traffic at midfield |
Our last full day in Morgantown was taken up with sports: watching Braden and Brock play soccer and then college football on television. They played teams from Pennsyvania. Brendan pointed out there is not a lot of level terrain for soccer fields in West Virginia. When you do find some, it is almost certain that it was the site of strip coal mine. On this field, in addition to that little bit of West Virginia lore, there was a field-side waste treatment plant and a railroad track on which several cola trains passed during the four hours we spent there
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| Braden hustling into position |
watching both games. Unlike the previous day, this one was cold, windy and often heavy rain.
See photos of Brock's game by clicking here.
See photos of Braden's game by clicking here.
The next day we had an easy drive back to Rochester and our home sweet home. Note the sun shine and dry walks. I was able to watch the second half of the Kansas City game and got to see the Chiefs go to 9-0!
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