Fallingwater

The whole purpose of our journey way out into the west of Pennsylvania (and it is a long way out west) was to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. This is arguably the most famous house in the world, a truly iconic home.

As Chris was packing the bags on the bike, a young girl from an adjoining room knocked on our door and asked "Is that your bike?"and "Would he like to take me for a ride?"  So now you know - it isn't necessary to have a Harley to pull chicks. During the day two other women said that they would drop what they were doing and enjoy a ride.

 A short ride up Highway 40 had us back in Farmington, where we turned north on Pennsylvania 381. This is an insanely beautiful motorcycle ride: the rode rises and falls and twists and turns as it tracks through lush green forests which shaded us from the hot sun.

Six miles up the road is the town of Ohiopyle. Originally called Falls City, it was renamed in the late 1800's presumably because the original name wasn't ugly enough. The waterfalls here were famous, and it was a booming resort town for some time. It is now a centre for kayaking, conoeing and white water rafting.

We stopped in a cafe there for breakfast before wandering over to look at the falls.

We rode on another few miles to the well-signpoted entrance to Fallingwater. As we had no reservation we were informed there would be a 1 hour wait before we could tour the home. Had we arrived a little later whole day would have been booked out. You can pre-book an 8.30am start.

The visitor centre has plenty of glass windows and open walkways with a central support. Apleasant design in itself.

We spent the time waiting by wandering around the bookstore/gift shop and the art exhibition at the visitor centre.

After 50 minutes we received the call for our group to meet at the bottom of the hill. It was a pleasant walk through a clearing that led to the house. Our group was met by a cheery and informative guide who took us right through the home. It was every bit worth the $18 per person entry fee.

The conditions of entry forbid photography inside the house, and the use to which other photos may be put excludes posting them on a web site, so we can't show you our photos. More information including photos can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater

The exterior walls of the house did seem to mimmick the hillsides we saw during the day; layered rock that jutted out in a few places. One rock face had these layers in waves, something that would be very difficult to incorporate into a house.

When we finally dragged ourselves away, we continued following scenic routes, first east, then south into Maryland. We rode through the ominously named town of Accident.

Our route took us along the crests of ridges, down into valleys and past a lake buzzing with speedboats.

We stopped for a very late lunch in Oakland. Chris bought some decongestant tablets at a pharmacy. When the sales lady heard we were ridiug around the USA she said she would really like to ride on a motorcycle. As we left the store, she came out to watch us ride off.

We turned west into West Virginia and then south towards the town of Parsons. Our GPS took us on an incredibly beautiful road along a river. However it was only one vehicle wide and wound back and forth with many blind corners. Chris's caution in keeping to the right and riding slowly was rewarded on four or five occasions as cars came the other way.

When we did reach Parsons, the only motel in town had a No Vacancy sign out. We had to ride another 20 miles to Elkins. The last 20 miles are the longest. Our GPS has listings for numerous motels. Unfortunately it doesn't know where they are, and we had to go to three before we actually found a motel where the GPS was correct. Again, when we went out to find a supermarket to buy dinner, the GPS took us to a spot that was half a mile away from where it actually was. Exhausted by the heat, we resorted to asking the locals.