Not So Great Trip With Some Great Moments

by "Froggi Donna"

<--PART TWO-- Thunder in the Valley

6/27/04 Meanwhile, back at the hotel
This is where our vacation really took a turn for the worse. Originally we were to have continued on to Buffalo early Sunday morning to have a late lunch with a large number of friends, many coming from as far away as Ontario. That had to be cancelled, along with the restaurant reservation and the hotel reservation in Wellsboro for Monday night. Breakfast with Mike's sister in Rochester, NY on Monday was cancelled as was our stop in Wellsboro to see the Grand Canyon of PA and with more friends. We took it as a sign that SOMEONE was telling us to slow down and relax so that is exactly what we did all day Sunday.

6/28/04 Shanksville PA 9/11 Memorial
On Monday the good news was that it was only a battery and we were back on the road by 11 am on Monday. It was another drizzly day and since we had decided to visit the Shanksville 9/11 Memorial, it seemed appropriate that the sky was crying as well. The memorial site was buried in the country and imagine my surprise when the paved road suddenly turned into gravel (wet gravel mind you), then back into paved, then back into gravel...you get the picture. We stayed for about an hour and Mike left his Fiasco Bros M/C hat on the fence, honoring the true heroes. [see more photos of the memorial]

From there we decided on a leisurely ride straight up Rt 219 (an oxymoron, there is nothing straight about 219), ending up in McKean County where we were staying with friends for two days. We stopped just short of our destination, enjoyed a nice night in the hotel in Dubois, PA where we visited a great Harley-Davidson dealer, Dubois HD. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping in to visit. It has been built inside an old factory and inside they have recreated an old-time Main Street. You can see their photos here.

6/29/04 McKean County & Kinzua Dam
The next morning we headed on up to our old homestead in McKean County.  We stopped by the Kinzua Dam, one of the main attractions in the Allegheny National Forest in McKean County. The setting was perfect and Mike opted to eat lunch at a shady bench while I checked out the reservoir, the dam and the cliffs behind that had mountain water pouring down the sides. 

We spent two great days re-visiting the area and old friends and for me, gaining 10 pounds from everyone's cooking!

--PART FOUR--> The rest of the story...

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