Rocky Gap, Maryland & Pennsylvania

A few weekends ago Jason and I went to explore the "skinny part" of Maryland (aka Western Maryland), and nearby Pennsylvania. Of course, because this happens on all of my vacations, it rained most of the time. Because I know my luck, I planned ahead and bought myself a new rain jacket. Go me! We stayed at the Rocky Gap Resort near Cumberland, Maryland. The hotel is actually in a state park, which is great: we could just walk to trails. And also a random cemetery in the woods:

Even though it was raining, we decided on the Evitt's Homesite Trail, which would take us through a canyon and up a mountain. This trail was marked "difficult", but it wasn't really. There was a 1000' elevation change, but it was spread out over many miles. There's no way this was actually 5 miles, like the trail map claimed. If you add up the numbers on the signs, you get more like 6 or 6.5. So, who knows. After hiking down into the canyon, we crossed a small stream. There was a pretty impressive waterfall leading from the dam enclosing the lake, but it was hard to see through the trees.

The trail was marked quite well, with white blazes on what seemed like every other tree. This is a far cry from a lot of western trails that use rock cairns, which cause you to panic every time you see a small mound of stones. "Wait, is that a cairn? Or a pile of rocks? OH GOD I AM GOING TO DIE THE MOUNTAIN LIONS ARE GOING TO EAT ME."

Then, all of the sudden, we were in Pennsylvania! We walked to another state! Here I am hugging the Maryland side of the Mason-Dixon line, which I took to add to my collection of "people hugging Mason-Dixon markers." Right now there is only one other picture in this collection, taken in Delaware, but we're working on it.

Hmm, how about proofreading your signs before making them and lugging them up a mountain? Can you spot the error?

The next day we decided to act more civilized (i.e., shower), and drove up to Pennsylvania to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. I can't really think of anything funny or cynical to say about this house (other than you really have to have some balls to build a house over a waterfall) because it really was pretty impressive. I loved the walk-out from the living room down to the water... but see how close it is to the waterfall? Super dangerous! They don't allow photography inside, but to me it seemed like this house was built for small people. Sign me up! Also, extremely humid. The whole place was very damp, and the upholstered furniture gave off a musty smell.

So, Cumberland, Maryland? Totally like this.