So I just sat down at home from a long weekend of camping with the boy scouts! We unpacked all the camping gear from my van, including our bikes and I have the washer and dryer going with all our camping clothes. I had to pick up Cookie from the kennel this evening too(she is always so happy to be home)and I took her for a walk around the neighborhood when we got back. At least I didn't have to cook dinner. We stopped into Sonic on the way home and filled up on Chicago hot dogs, burgers, onion rings and milkshakes. Sonic is an old fashioned car hop restaurant(no eating inside-just in your car). The waitstaff wear roller skates and you pull up and order off the menu at your parking spot. Just like a 50s restaurant. So far the Sonic by Allison's school is not too good. This one in western Maryland was better. So we were stuffed.

We headed out for the camping trip in Pennsylvania on Friday evening. Scott's Troop was trying out the caving trip at Laurel Caverns near Pittsburgh for the first time. Scott was the only one in the troop that had been there before. About 20 scouts did the 3 hour crawl around in the dirt through tiny passage ways. Scott did the tour last year and really enjoyed the experience so he recommended it to the troop. We also joined him last year and just did the walk through tour of the cave. We decided this year we would try bike riding while he was caving with the troop. So on Saturday morning we dropped boys off at the cave and took off to the town of Ohiopyle for a quick bike trip. There is a 100 mile bike path that used to be a railroad track that runs from Pittsburgh all the way to DC. It runs along the river, so there are great bridges to cross and woods to travel through. It also follows the C and O canal in Maryland where they pulled barges up and down the river with donkeys and horses to transport people and goods. It is a terrific bike path-very flat and wide and no bugs. We only biked for an hour before stopping for lunch and heading back to pick up the boys. The rest of the afternoon was free time. Tom and I read and napped while the boys played frisbee and paddle ball and entertained the camp owner's dog with games of fetch. A few boys worked on scout skills. I would have liked Scott to do the Forestry badge offered at the cave. Last year he completed the Geology badge.  But Scott's scoutmaster is very picky about who puts on the badges and did not give the boys permission to complete them. I did not push it since the scoutmaster said at times they have taken the badges away from the boys if they don't believe it was approved by the BSA! I did not want Scott to lose his geology badge! He spent 3 hours working on the badge and I believe the staff did an excellent job covering all the requirements(since I sat with him and had another tour of the cave last year!). So no badge this time.

But the troop was much more organized than his last troop. Everyone started dinner around 5pm and we sat down to eat around 6. The parents always eat well and this was no exception. Our cook made fish(tilapia), brown rice, cold bean salad, spinach salad, rolls and butternut squash soup. All very good. I shared a bag of marshmallows for s'mores for dessert around our evening campfire. The boys had spaghetti and chicken stir fry. They did a great job cooking, cleaning up and packing up on Sunday morning. Friday night set up was a little disorganized though as the Venture scouts rolled in around 11pm and started setting up their campsite. We understand when members of the troop arrive late, especially after getting off work and school, but this group was exceptionally noisy with their radio playing and lots of discussions(not necessarily about pitching tents or canopies). Anyway, around midnite I had to use my GS Leader and Mom voice and ask them to shut it. And lo and behold it worked and we all went to sleep!

Allison was not so lucky back at school. Her suite mates had a party on Friday night until 4am. She(and we) hope it does not become a habit. Allison wanted to get some sleep. She had a busy week of classes and has just made the Club Field Hockey Team after two practices. She will be  playing goalie on a traveling team in some games on the weekends that will bring her to the universities near our house. It will be fun to watch her play again! She also enjoyed her first college football game on Saturday night. Sadly her school lost(kinda like our sad Ravens against Denver). That was an agonizing game to watch Thursday night. It was on late and I was up putting Allison's GS Gold Award report together in a scrapbook for her to drop off to GS council for review on Friday.

On Friday I was also busy dropping Cookie off to the kennel and packing up our camping gear. I did not even have time to get the van into the dealership for an oil change and to repair my window seals on the back side windows. The seal has come unglued and when you open the windows, the seal catches in the sliding side doors. Very annoying. So I made an appointment to take it in this coming week. At least I did not have to pack up food for the trip! That involves a whole lot more planning. I did however order tickets for another house tour on our camping trip. This time to Frank Lloyd Wright's Kentuck Knob house just down the street from Falling Waters.

On Sunday morning we stopped by the house for a tour and walk around the grounds. This house was built about 20 years later than Falling WAters and also used as a vacation home. The family had a dairy farm and sold their ice cream under the name Hagen. They were friends with the owners of Falling WAters(and founders of Macy Dept store). Their house was smaller, more modern and more wooded. Tom and Scott did not enjoy the tour as much as Falling WAters, but it was interesting to see another example of his work. More recently the home was owned  by a British family, so it has a few english accents! Besides English phone booths and mailboxes, they had photos inside with Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher.

So my photos include our camp site and trip to the cave, along with the bike ride Tom and I took. We stopped over the river to watch the kayakers and rafters, as well as groups taking a class in fly fishing(busy place!). On Sunday we stopped at Kentuck Knob(short for Kentucky). The house was designed to blend into the mountain top. They have a great view of the Appalachians(or Alleghany as they are called in PA). At the front door you can see a red tile with Frank Lloyd Wright's initials(he always signed his work). And the carved windows all along the roof line are actually the blue print of the house. No photos allowed inside, but we entered through the front door next to the car port(he did not like garage doors). Out back was a long deck that opened up from the kitchen and a patio with a fountain. Inside were a large family room, 3 bedrooms and bathrooms, a modern kitchen and dining room. Down in the meadow was a strange collection of Yard Art and an interesting piece of the Berlin wall. The British owners added their phone booths and post boxes. And of course no yard is complete without an apple core! Overall, Tom and Scott report they like the Falling Waters house much better. And there were lots of bugs at Kentuck Knob.