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Shells, Acorns, Coal, and Shark Teeth
5 years ago
Our final full day at the cabin was yesterday. Without a big lynchpin reservation these last few days have felt like extra days tagged at the end of our vacation but they have been enjoyable days and they made our vacation feel longer than it really was which is a good thing. Since we went swimming the day before, Wednesday was given over to a good bike ride and doing whatever else we wanted to do in Ohiopyle as long as we weren't in the water.
We had cereal for breakfast as we worked on finishing off various foodstuffs so we'd have less to bring back. Angie and I had the last of the Fruit Loops. She wanted to watch TV but I told her no cartoons, she had to watch one of the DVDs she brought. She picked Khumba, which of course has a Zebra as the hero, so naturally once I had the few things I needed to prepare ready I watched with her. After the movie was done we got dressed, packed my saddle bags with snacks, filled my camelbak with ice and cool water, and then headed on over to Ohiopyle for one last day of fun.
In case you aren't familiar with Ohiopyle, here is their website which actually has pictures of many of the places we've been in the last week: https://ohiopyle.org/
And here is the official parks website with more information: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/.....s/default.aspx
I really cannot recommend this wonder of western PA enough!
So we parked in the riverside parking lot ad then rode our bikes through town to the GAP trail and then headed north. Heading north on the trail takes you over two bridges crossing the Youghigheny in quick succession as you traverse the Ferncliff peninsula. The first is the low bridge where the river isn't far down. The second is the high bridge after the river has rounded the peninsula and dropped ten stories in height (going through a squat waterfall as well as six class III and IV rapids). It's a pretty stark visual reminder of just how quick the Yough drops and how much fun the Lower Youghigheny is for rafting!
Mile marker 72 is at the start of the low bridge and I said we were going to get to mile marker 77 before turning around, making for a reasonable ten mile trek. No rush on how long it took though, so we stopped several times along the way for pictures, for water, for snacks, etc... At one stop there was a staircase and trail leading down to the river and so we parked our bikes and climbed down to a river view. While I scrambled around trying to get good views and pictures of everyone (and seeing if it were safe to climb the rocks) Angie began collecting little shells she found among the rocks. She also collected more acorns on the path as she went.
Two years ago we'd biked this trail but back then my daughter had been five and had training wheels on her bike. She didn't last too long and wore out very quickly. We'd stopped at a culvert with some very beautiful rock strata only one and a half mile in. I completely missed this culvert on our way out we were going so fast and so easily. I won't recount all of the places we stopped for pictures, just a few. One of them had an informational sign in front of a tall rock face. We stopped to get a look and saw that it was about coal. Back in the late 19th century coal mining was vital to the economy of the area and in that location you could actually see an exposed vein of coal in the rock strata and find pieces of coal strewn about the ground. Angie snagged a few of the smaller ones for her collection. My wife and I mused about getting her a collection case for her wall so she can organize some of this stuff and get them off of her dresser.
Everyone was thrilled when we reached mile marker 77 after about a hour-and-a-half of biking (including all the stops) and after having some snacks, I forged on ahead to see what was just a bit further down the trail. I went another two miles down before stopping at a spot where the trees opened up to reveal a field of black-eyed-susans and part of the river far below. I took a few pictures and headed back; I was pedaling at a little faster than my usual speed so I wouldn't be gone too long and felt it in my legs. I was away for twenty minutes, and in that time my daughter practiced her gymnastics routine on the trail, played with a catydid, and found a little frog she held a few times before letting it hop along and off into the woods.
On the way back we spotted a massive rock formation that just towered above us and showed the power of water very well as well as some of the strata of the region. Seeing exposed rock like this is something I yearn to see, there is just so much power and so much antiquity to it I feel very humbled and awed in its presence. We also found that culvert where we'd stopped two years back and we paused to grab a couple more pictures.
When we got back to Ohiopyle, we biked through the town to where we knew some restaurants were. We found the sandwich shop, parked our bikes, and while waiting for our order, delighted in watching the antics of a small bird darting and hopping around looking for crumbs. I was wearing my bear mask that day and did get a couple of compliments on it. It amazes me how many people are running around with plain masks on; I wasn't surprised I didn't see anybody with an animal mask like me, but there were a decent number with designs on them at least. If we have to wear masks at least have fun with it!
After we got our sandwiches Angie spent some time picking off bits of bread to toss to the bird trying to get it close. Her side was a dill pickle and I mean the whole pickle. My wife had to help her finish eating it; I'd expected her to get a spear, not the whole thing! But at least Angie did eat and had fun at the same time. The bird never let her get too close of course, but he was fun to watch too.
We then biked over to the playground for a bit so Angie could run around freely. She wasn't too interested in playing there, but there was another family there with a young boy and Angie took to trying to help him with all the equipment. It gave my wife and I a moment to sit and relax and watch, and gave her a little of the social interaction she's been missing. After the other kids left we saw a squirrel by one of the trees being rather bold in coming close to us. I started taking pictures while Angie crept closer and watched the squirrel move around. He was watching her in turn which delighted her no end!
Once we lost sight of the squirrel we rode our bikes back to the parking lot and got them secured on our car again. We then walked down to the river for a while. Angie really wanted to collect some more shells and so I took her to a section of the water it was safe to wade into and where a bunch of Canadian Geese were swimming getting scraps from other folks come out to enjoy the day. Angie took her shoes and socks off, I helped her roll up the end of her shorts, and she went right on it searching for shells. She also, of course, had to try and get close to the geese. One of them hissed at her at one point and she squealed in delight even as she backed off. She did find several shells, but she also found a few feathers from the geese, an old rubber fishing lure (without hook) in the form of some caterpillar thing, and a still living crayfish which darted away from her to her and a couple other kids delight.
A little after three o'clock we made her get back out of the water; she'd gotten her shorts pretty wet when she bent down to pick stuff up, so after sitting in the sun a few minutes so her feet could dry and we could get her shoes and socks back on, we walked along the riverfront to the museum at the falls again. This time I insisted that I be allowed to read - if only to myself - the information and "travel journals" in the museum. So Angie looked at a bunch of different stuff, asking us what some things were from time to time, and ended up looking at the various diaromas with my wife as I wrapped up the last of the info. The history of the location is actually quite interesting and varied from its time during the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, the creation of the National Road which later became US-40 which helped settlers travel across the Appalachian mountains to the mid-west, and of course the aforementioned coal mining during the Industrial revolution, and then to the decline of the area as the rivers got polluted to the setting aside the area for protection and the cleanup that followed, even to the successful reintroduction of otters to the river back in 1992, and of course the first white water rafting east of the Mississippi!
Once I was done with the Museum we went to the General Store so Angie could sift rocks one last time. This time we got her the fossil bag and she was thrilled to find six shark teeth, some petrified wood, and plenty of other shells and mollusks and other things we have yet to identify. She's got lots of classification to do when we get home! Once we finished with the sifting we bought some waffle cone ice cream and sat down in the shade to enjoy the treat. My wife and I discussed coming back and bringing the dogs to just enjoy the day out; I know I want to come back here some weekend in the fall to see how beautiful it gets.
With ice cream done we said our goodbye to Ohiopyle and headed back to the cabin. Once back my wife and I did a little bit of packing and sorting stuff we know we're not going to use again. I got most of Angie's collections sorted and in bags for ease of transport home. Angie was busy drawing pictures and wanted to sit in my car to finish the one she was working on so I let her. Once I had enough sorted and Angie finished her picture, she came in to help my wife cut up one of our cucumbers to eat with dinner. With that done we went outside to play I thought, but Angie wanted to pick some of the wildflowers growing around the yard to put in the 'vase' we had on the deck table to surprise Mommy. I walked around with her while she picked the flowers (I made sure she didn't pick any of the actual garden flowers) and we talked about all the fun stuff we did and I asked her what she wanted to do again. Pretty much everything we did was on the list of course!
Dinner was fried chicken strips seasoned with thyme and rosemary along with the cucumber and the last of the orange drop cookies we bought at the Farmer's Market. It was the perfect temperature for eating outside in the shade and the food was good, but after having ice cream not two hours before we couldn't quite finish. We played a game of "I spy" while we ate.
After dinner was done Angie helped me collect some kindling for the fire we wanted to have that night. It didn't take long before we had enough and had the fire going. While I took care of getting everything ready and getting the seats around the firepit cleaned up, Angie took some of the scrapwood leftover in the shed and fashioned a little house out of them and a cross beside it. I am always impressed by her creativity and love of making things.
With the fire safe and her house complete we did a few other fun things one last time, like visiting the creek behind the house, playing on the tire swing and playing "Ship" on the playset - it had a ship wheel at the top and she wants to pretend we're pirates but this mostly involves me calling her "Milady" and she calling me "Pi Rat" and then me saving her as she slides down the slide or whatever. Oh, that and making Jaws sounds. We also played a few more rounds of monster while we still have a huge yard to run around in. I also snagged a few more pictures of the cabin and the yard and so forth.
About 7:30 the fire had settled down nicely and so we started roasting marshmallows. My wife was still pretty full so only had one while Angie and I had two each. My first got a little too crispy on the outside, but the second one I did was perfect and gooey all the way through. Angie made a mess of herself both times; my wife and I concluded that the Jumbo marshmallows were just too big and we needed to get the mid-size ones next time we did a roast. I got a damp washcloth for her to clean up the mess off her hands, face, and clothes. Once we finished the marshmallows she changed her pants so she could sit in Mommy's lap for the story.
I am currently reading her Redwall and so while we still had enough light I read two chapters to them both. Once done Angie wanted to do some scary faces and stories. She started first and did something silly with werewolves and bears and so forth and somebody being dead for ninety million ears and then springing to life again. I was reminded of the "scary" stories I used to tell around the campfire back when I was in camp as a kid. My wife elected not to tell a story. I had a few ones in mind, but not wanting to give everybody nightmares I concocted a story about a family with a little girl around a campfire in the woods, the little girl finds a flute she tries to play but it makes no noise. Then something starts coming toward them and all the sounds of the forest go quiet. I made stomping noises with my feet that got louder and louder. The shadow in the woods, for it never came into the light, called out to have his flute given back; and once they tossed the flute toward the shadow, it disappeared back into the woods and everything went back to normal, but the next day the little girl went to that spot to find her flute, but there was nothing there except huge footprints the size of her chest with claws!! I made scratching noises at my daughter at that last little bit. I apparently did a good job building it up because my wife says she was actually starting to get a little scared of the story too.
I started trying to tell another story about the lights going out but I lost the thread of it and we were all pretty tired, so we opted to go get ready for bed. Angie helped me douse the fire, and then we did our nightly rituals. Angie needed a bit more reassuring than usual before she fell asleep; final day of vacation and everything. But we did all get to sleep.
Today is our last day and we'll be having breakfast and doing the last of our packing soon. We should be home in time for lunch.
Dominus vobiscum
We had cereal for breakfast as we worked on finishing off various foodstuffs so we'd have less to bring back. Angie and I had the last of the Fruit Loops. She wanted to watch TV but I told her no cartoons, she had to watch one of the DVDs she brought. She picked Khumba, which of course has a Zebra as the hero, so naturally once I had the few things I needed to prepare ready I watched with her. After the movie was done we got dressed, packed my saddle bags with snacks, filled my camelbak with ice and cool water, and then headed on over to Ohiopyle for one last day of fun.
In case you aren't familiar with Ohiopyle, here is their website which actually has pictures of many of the places we've been in the last week: https://ohiopyle.org/
And here is the official parks website with more information: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/.....s/default.aspx
I really cannot recommend this wonder of western PA enough!
So we parked in the riverside parking lot ad then rode our bikes through town to the GAP trail and then headed north. Heading north on the trail takes you over two bridges crossing the Youghigheny in quick succession as you traverse the Ferncliff peninsula. The first is the low bridge where the river isn't far down. The second is the high bridge after the river has rounded the peninsula and dropped ten stories in height (going through a squat waterfall as well as six class III and IV rapids). It's a pretty stark visual reminder of just how quick the Yough drops and how much fun the Lower Youghigheny is for rafting!
Mile marker 72 is at the start of the low bridge and I said we were going to get to mile marker 77 before turning around, making for a reasonable ten mile trek. No rush on how long it took though, so we stopped several times along the way for pictures, for water, for snacks, etc... At one stop there was a staircase and trail leading down to the river and so we parked our bikes and climbed down to a river view. While I scrambled around trying to get good views and pictures of everyone (and seeing if it were safe to climb the rocks) Angie began collecting little shells she found among the rocks. She also collected more acorns on the path as she went.
Two years ago we'd biked this trail but back then my daughter had been five and had training wheels on her bike. She didn't last too long and wore out very quickly. We'd stopped at a culvert with some very beautiful rock strata only one and a half mile in. I completely missed this culvert on our way out we were going so fast and so easily. I won't recount all of the places we stopped for pictures, just a few. One of them had an informational sign in front of a tall rock face. We stopped to get a look and saw that it was about coal. Back in the late 19th century coal mining was vital to the economy of the area and in that location you could actually see an exposed vein of coal in the rock strata and find pieces of coal strewn about the ground. Angie snagged a few of the smaller ones for her collection. My wife and I mused about getting her a collection case for her wall so she can organize some of this stuff and get them off of her dresser.
Everyone was thrilled when we reached mile marker 77 after about a hour-and-a-half of biking (including all the stops) and after having some snacks, I forged on ahead to see what was just a bit further down the trail. I went another two miles down before stopping at a spot where the trees opened up to reveal a field of black-eyed-susans and part of the river far below. I took a few pictures and headed back; I was pedaling at a little faster than my usual speed so I wouldn't be gone too long and felt it in my legs. I was away for twenty minutes, and in that time my daughter practiced her gymnastics routine on the trail, played with a catydid, and found a little frog she held a few times before letting it hop along and off into the woods.
On the way back we spotted a massive rock formation that just towered above us and showed the power of water very well as well as some of the strata of the region. Seeing exposed rock like this is something I yearn to see, there is just so much power and so much antiquity to it I feel very humbled and awed in its presence. We also found that culvert where we'd stopped two years back and we paused to grab a couple more pictures.
When we got back to Ohiopyle, we biked through the town to where we knew some restaurants were. We found the sandwich shop, parked our bikes, and while waiting for our order, delighted in watching the antics of a small bird darting and hopping around looking for crumbs. I was wearing my bear mask that day and did get a couple of compliments on it. It amazes me how many people are running around with plain masks on; I wasn't surprised I didn't see anybody with an animal mask like me, but there were a decent number with designs on them at least. If we have to wear masks at least have fun with it!
After we got our sandwiches Angie spent some time picking off bits of bread to toss to the bird trying to get it close. Her side was a dill pickle and I mean the whole pickle. My wife had to help her finish eating it; I'd expected her to get a spear, not the whole thing! But at least Angie did eat and had fun at the same time. The bird never let her get too close of course, but he was fun to watch too.
We then biked over to the playground for a bit so Angie could run around freely. She wasn't too interested in playing there, but there was another family there with a young boy and Angie took to trying to help him with all the equipment. It gave my wife and I a moment to sit and relax and watch, and gave her a little of the social interaction she's been missing. After the other kids left we saw a squirrel by one of the trees being rather bold in coming close to us. I started taking pictures while Angie crept closer and watched the squirrel move around. He was watching her in turn which delighted her no end!
Once we lost sight of the squirrel we rode our bikes back to the parking lot and got them secured on our car again. We then walked down to the river for a while. Angie really wanted to collect some more shells and so I took her to a section of the water it was safe to wade into and where a bunch of Canadian Geese were swimming getting scraps from other folks come out to enjoy the day. Angie took her shoes and socks off, I helped her roll up the end of her shorts, and she went right on it searching for shells. She also, of course, had to try and get close to the geese. One of them hissed at her at one point and she squealed in delight even as she backed off. She did find several shells, but she also found a few feathers from the geese, an old rubber fishing lure (without hook) in the form of some caterpillar thing, and a still living crayfish which darted away from her to her and a couple other kids delight.
A little after three o'clock we made her get back out of the water; she'd gotten her shorts pretty wet when she bent down to pick stuff up, so after sitting in the sun a few minutes so her feet could dry and we could get her shoes and socks back on, we walked along the riverfront to the museum at the falls again. This time I insisted that I be allowed to read - if only to myself - the information and "travel journals" in the museum. So Angie looked at a bunch of different stuff, asking us what some things were from time to time, and ended up looking at the various diaromas with my wife as I wrapped up the last of the info. The history of the location is actually quite interesting and varied from its time during the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, the creation of the National Road which later became US-40 which helped settlers travel across the Appalachian mountains to the mid-west, and of course the aforementioned coal mining during the Industrial revolution, and then to the decline of the area as the rivers got polluted to the setting aside the area for protection and the cleanup that followed, even to the successful reintroduction of otters to the river back in 1992, and of course the first white water rafting east of the Mississippi!
Once I was done with the Museum we went to the General Store so Angie could sift rocks one last time. This time we got her the fossil bag and she was thrilled to find six shark teeth, some petrified wood, and plenty of other shells and mollusks and other things we have yet to identify. She's got lots of classification to do when we get home! Once we finished with the sifting we bought some waffle cone ice cream and sat down in the shade to enjoy the treat. My wife and I discussed coming back and bringing the dogs to just enjoy the day out; I know I want to come back here some weekend in the fall to see how beautiful it gets.
With ice cream done we said our goodbye to Ohiopyle and headed back to the cabin. Once back my wife and I did a little bit of packing and sorting stuff we know we're not going to use again. I got most of Angie's collections sorted and in bags for ease of transport home. Angie was busy drawing pictures and wanted to sit in my car to finish the one she was working on so I let her. Once I had enough sorted and Angie finished her picture, she came in to help my wife cut up one of our cucumbers to eat with dinner. With that done we went outside to play I thought, but Angie wanted to pick some of the wildflowers growing around the yard to put in the 'vase' we had on the deck table to surprise Mommy. I walked around with her while she picked the flowers (I made sure she didn't pick any of the actual garden flowers) and we talked about all the fun stuff we did and I asked her what she wanted to do again. Pretty much everything we did was on the list of course!
Dinner was fried chicken strips seasoned with thyme and rosemary along with the cucumber and the last of the orange drop cookies we bought at the Farmer's Market. It was the perfect temperature for eating outside in the shade and the food was good, but after having ice cream not two hours before we couldn't quite finish. We played a game of "I spy" while we ate.
After dinner was done Angie helped me collect some kindling for the fire we wanted to have that night. It didn't take long before we had enough and had the fire going. While I took care of getting everything ready and getting the seats around the firepit cleaned up, Angie took some of the scrapwood leftover in the shed and fashioned a little house out of them and a cross beside it. I am always impressed by her creativity and love of making things.
With the fire safe and her house complete we did a few other fun things one last time, like visiting the creek behind the house, playing on the tire swing and playing "Ship" on the playset - it had a ship wheel at the top and she wants to pretend we're pirates but this mostly involves me calling her "Milady" and she calling me "Pi Rat" and then me saving her as she slides down the slide or whatever. Oh, that and making Jaws sounds. We also played a few more rounds of monster while we still have a huge yard to run around in. I also snagged a few more pictures of the cabin and the yard and so forth.
About 7:30 the fire had settled down nicely and so we started roasting marshmallows. My wife was still pretty full so only had one while Angie and I had two each. My first got a little too crispy on the outside, but the second one I did was perfect and gooey all the way through. Angie made a mess of herself both times; my wife and I concluded that the Jumbo marshmallows were just too big and we needed to get the mid-size ones next time we did a roast. I got a damp washcloth for her to clean up the mess off her hands, face, and clothes. Once we finished the marshmallows she changed her pants so she could sit in Mommy's lap for the story.
I am currently reading her Redwall and so while we still had enough light I read two chapters to them both. Once done Angie wanted to do some scary faces and stories. She started first and did something silly with werewolves and bears and so forth and somebody being dead for ninety million ears and then springing to life again. I was reminded of the "scary" stories I used to tell around the campfire back when I was in camp as a kid. My wife elected not to tell a story. I had a few ones in mind, but not wanting to give everybody nightmares I concocted a story about a family with a little girl around a campfire in the woods, the little girl finds a flute she tries to play but it makes no noise. Then something starts coming toward them and all the sounds of the forest go quiet. I made stomping noises with my feet that got louder and louder. The shadow in the woods, for it never came into the light, called out to have his flute given back; and once they tossed the flute toward the shadow, it disappeared back into the woods and everything went back to normal, but the next day the little girl went to that spot to find her flute, but there was nothing there except huge footprints the size of her chest with claws!! I made scratching noises at my daughter at that last little bit. I apparently did a good job building it up because my wife says she was actually starting to get a little scared of the story too.
I started trying to tell another story about the lights going out but I lost the thread of it and we were all pretty tired, so we opted to go get ready for bed. Angie helped me douse the fire, and then we did our nightly rituals. Angie needed a bit more reassuring than usual before she fell asleep; final day of vacation and everything. But we did all get to sleep.
Today is our last day and we'll be having breakfast and doing the last of our packing soon. We should be home in time for lunch.
Dominus vobiscum
By the way, did not know if could be interested, but this is Eurofurence online this weekend, it free, you can participate in twitch, discord and VRChat, I probably be a lot in VRChat this weekend in the convention hotel they replicated in the virtual world, hotel lobay, atrium, conference room, working elevator and event room and suit... that rely impressive
take care
I've heard that they're having some real trouble moderating the rating of the VR Chat experience, or that they're not bothering.
Dominus tecum
I do meet with people twice a week on Friday and Saturday night, if you are interested to meet some interesting furry you are welcome to join:)
Dominus tecum
Any way do me a sign if your interested, I will point you in the basic thing to know about the game / chat to be able to join.
Take care
Dominus tecum