Sunrise to Sunset

 

The flashes and bangs of the 4th of July had disappeared and thankfully, some of the heat of the past few days. I woke up on Sunday to a world filled with fog. I rapidly got dressed for church and left early, hoping to find some nice pictures. Unfortunately, the fog had mostly dissipated by the time I left home, but I did get to watch the sun as it rose over the Alleghany River.

    The rain of the previous night had dropped the overwhelming temperatures of the past few days into a bearable range. Ann Marie and I decided it was time to take a road trip. We were actually able to roll down the windows and enjoy the breeze on our arms. I am a big believer in “460” air-conditioning; rolling down 4 windows and going 60 MPH!

    We decided to do a couple Adventure Labs located around Apollo. Adventure Labs are much like Geocaches. You use your phone to direct you to various places and once there, answer a question to claim a find. It is like a virtual scavenger hunt. Some may be tough but most are really easy and like caching, they’re fun and take you to some interesting sites.

    We started out in Apollo, located in Armstrong County, sitting along the Kiskiminetas River. The first stop was at a log cabin built around 1816. Then we visited a local cemetery where we found a couple mausoleums.  Then we located a couple of the houses in the town, one that Nellie Bly’s family owned, the house she grew up in! Nellie Bly was a journalist in the late 1800’s. She became famous by traveling around the world in 72 days, following Jules Verne’s story Around the World in Eighty Days. She also wrote an exposé about sanitariums by getting committed to one. Not far from the town are the remains of the Biddle Iron Furnace, one of the first furnaces built in Western Pennsylvania. It was built in 1817. When the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal was built, the furnace used it haul iron to Pittsburgh.

    On our way to the next Adventure Lab, we stopped at Dolly’s Diner for lunch. We sat at the counter and watched the serving staff rushing around, dealing with the Sunday morning crowds. It was a good meal with good service and best of all, it was inside a restored, air-conditioned diner from the 1950’s!

    From Dolly’s we drove beside the river to Leechburg. This town was founded by David Leech who in 1827, came to build a lock and dam for the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. We visited the “walking bridge” that crosses the river and a couple other sites to claim a few more finds.

    Enjoying the searches, we decided to visit Saltsburg next. Saltsburg is located in Indiana County, about a half hour away from Leechburg. The town got its name because of the abundance of salt in the area. Since this town was also along the Kiskiminetas River and along the route of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, it had a thriving boat building industry. The finds here were quickly located, taking us to a large grain mill built in 1912 and the route of the canal as it passed near town.

    The day was getting warmer; the “460” air conditioning was abandoned for actual AC. We drove through New Kensington and crossed the Alleghany River. In Springdale we stopped at Glen’s Custard where we treated ourselves to large milkshakes. While we were there, we met Rick Sebak, a popular Pittsburgh producer and documentarist, who had stopped by for the same reason as us. We BS’d for a few minutes before we left for home.

    Rain came and dropped the temperatures once again. Let me tell you, sitting beside an open window and listening to the rain falling through the trees is one of my favorite things!

    I wasn’t quite ready to hit the sack yet, so I grabbed the camera and went to search for the evening train as it came through Glenshaw. I caught it as it was passing behind the old Glenshaw Glass plant. 

    Walking back to the car, I was greeted to a beautiful display of sun rays coming through the clouds. The sun had given me a nice picture as it rose and here, it was giving me one as it set. It was another good day, from sunrise to sunset!