Advertisement
Published: October 23rd 2016
Edit Blog Post
Paul ran in this run
He has done this 4 times Yahoos.....Time to catch up with all of you. Hope you all have been fine. I bet you've been wondering where we've been. Never wanting to stress you out! No fear - we are here! Underdog, the cartoon character, used to say a similar quote. I liked Underdog.
My cousin, Paul, came for a visit last week. I only have 2 cousins (small family). My other cousin, Maryellen, lives in Cary, N.C. One of Paul's planned activities, while here, was to run in our local RidgeWalk & Run as he has done in previous years. I think most of you met Paul before. He and his wife, Clare, visited with us last January in Florida. They were in some of my blogs. He's the guy who rented the new, fancy, red Corvette convertible so they could cruise around all the coasts of Florida. The sun in your face, the wind in your hair: that's the life! Perhaps Cory & I could add that scenario to our bucket list.
Paul & Clare live in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. They have a small home next to the airport runway where they store their single engine plane. Both Clare and Paul fly their
Paul & Clare
And their plane plane all over the country. Sometimes together, sometimes alone. I'm always in awe when Clare writes that she is coming to the East coast....flying their plane alone! Amelia Earhart lives again! Paul has made sure he doesn't have any grass growing under his feet. Not one blade! He has raced motorcycles, collected corvettes, does mountain biking, is a dedicated runner, and in recent years, has devoted his time to racing Formula Vee race cars. Whew.....in comparison, I am definitely 100% a couch potato. You're welcome to join me if you want. Or try and match my energetic cousin.....good luck. Catch him if you can....You probably think he's @ 30 years old. Wrong! His birthday is today and he's 69 years old. Happy, Happy Birthday, Paul!
Okay...time to get back to his Shongo visit. This year, he drove his 2008 Ford Ranger here. Clare remained back in B.C. His truck passed the 100,000 mile mark on his odometer. Had to stop in Wisconsin to drop off his race car engine. Stopped at various points of interest along the way. He's known for that. He loves to travel and check out everything interesting that he can. Once here, he shared his
itinerary plans with us that we could all do. Miles and miles to travel means nothing to Paul. He just likes to get up and go. And go, he does. On his first travel adventure, he went alone. We took a raincheck. He drove to Ithaca, NY to do a practice run along some wooded waterways there. When he sets his mind to something - it's full steam ahead.
On the next day, we met with our local newspaper reporter. Previously, I had contacted Katherine Ross (reporter) about doing an article on Paul. I figured he should be acknowledged for coming the furthest to participate in the RidgeWalk..... and she did. She wrote a nice article that was in our Sunday paper. Paul was pleased. Had his picture in it, too. He's quite humble but was able to give her enough interesting information about himself. Good job, Katherine....Thank you.
After this meeting, the three of us headed into Pennsylvania. Paul is a lover of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Outside of Port Allegany, PA. on Route 6, heading towards Smethport, PA., is an old home that has the look and design of FLW. Walter Hall designed and built this
house and its surrounding buildings. Now it is called Lynn Hall. Walter Hall, architect, was the builder of the Falling Water Residence in Mill Run, PA. It was designed by FLW in 1935. Years ago, Paul had stopped at Lynn Hall before. Then, it was in great disrepair and mostly hidden by trees. New owners are now in the process of restoring this landmark. Trees have been cut down so you can see it close up from the winding highway. Unfortunately, for our visit, no one was around. Rats! They have tours but not on this day. Paul was glad just to see the outside improvements and all the unique design similar to a FLW house.
And then we were off. We landed in Smethport, PA (Cory's hometown). He gave us a brief tour and ended up at the Old Jail Museum. It holds the history and artifacts of this serene, pretty town within the confines of its old jail. Smethport is the County Seat of McKean County. Rats...not our day! Closed! No way to visit this museum. W-H-YYYY, we wailed! (Nancy Kerrigan style) All I could do is take a few pictures of the outside.
Time to
Lynn Hall Residence
Frank Lloyd Wright style head out of town. Paul had the Zippo Lighter Museum (Bradford, PA) on his agenda but we ran out of time...IF we wanted to eat. We wanted to eat! So we ended up enjoying a nice meal at Sprague's Maple Farm restaurant in Portsville. Paul & Clare had been here before and really liked it. We like it, too. There was just a big article about it on Facebook. It was dark by the time we got home but of course, the days are getting shorter now.
However, Paul wasn't ready to call it a night yet. Just call him the Energizer Bunny. He convinced Cory to go with him to the Kill Buck Inn outside of Canisteo, NY. Paul grew up in Canisteo so wanted to check out a few of his old haunts. I strapped myself to our couch. I was not moving...couldn't anyway. Off they went, onto the back roads and through the small rural towns until they reached their destination. Cory and I had gone here before we were married so we are talking more than 52 years ago. He said now it had turned into a nice restaurant/bar. Family friendly. Not like the grungy
hole-in-the-wall we had gone to so many years ago. Nothing stays the same...neither knew anyone there so they didn't linger long. Cory was thinking he had run a marathon by now. His feet were bare-naked! No grass under his tootsies. Paul acted like it was still morning. Not a yawn out of his mouth. Geeze....are we really from the same family line?
Saturday was a rest-up day. Whew! Paul was still in preparation mode for his 10K run at the RidgeWalk the next day. He had run in the 15K race before but decided cutting back to the 10K would be easier on his bones. Yes, rest up, Paul. I'll rest, too. I bet you all are kind of worn out by now, too. Our couch was so comfy. Cory & Paul did go to a country auction in the afternoon for a brief time. Bought nothing but enjoyed their time spent. I didn't move from the couch and enjoyed my time there.
RidgeWalk day was upon us. Paul didn't have to check in until 11:00 AM. Cory dropped him off. We stayed on our couch until Paul called from the finish area. He was the oldest runner
in his group of 3. He was glad to finish and enjoyed the cookies and chili at the refreshment tent. He doesn't even take Motrin after all this exercise. Talk about being in good shape. I can't talk about that! Good shape is not part of my vocabulary.
We had a little surprise for him. Our daughter, Lory, and Jay & Sara came down so we could celebrate an early birthday for Paul. Pizza, cake, candles, ice cream, singing & presents were bestowed upon the birthday boy. He liked it. We were glad. Rest up.....we are traveling again in the morning! No more couch sitting!
Since I'm exhausted now from all this typing, I'm going to put the final journey in another blog. Hang tight. I'll tell you then where we are going. I know, the suspense is almost overwhelming. Just deal with it. I'm crawling off our couch and crawling into bed. Running races aren't for me. I'm lucky to just walk around. My Fitbit gave up on me.....probably from lack of use and decided it wasn't worth operating correctly for my dismal results. But I keep reminding myself: if you don't use it, you'll lose it.
Owner's House
Top entrance to Lynn Hall Even Paul reminded me of that. I'm resting now....goodnight.
Remember you can tap on the photos and they will enlarge on another page. ? Plus, scroll WAY down to see them all (17 photos). ?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0541s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Bob Andersen
non-member comment
Another Smethport Memory
I remember going to Lynn Hall when I was about 8 0r 9 years old for dinner with my mother and some other people on a Sunday afternoon. I do not remember the food but I remember I had to wear a shirt and tie. I also remember the tables were covered with white linen cloths. How do we remember this stuff!