Home Sweet Home

For the past two months, Tim and I have been back home in Pittsburgh and now it is time to pack up the RV to get on the road again. It is hard to believe that this is our last week in the “Burgh”. Where did the time go? These past 2 months have really flown by. We were very busy while we were here, mainly filling our time getting in our annual doctor appointments, dentist, eye doctor, etc. and visiting our family and friends. With this new normal, we weren’t able to go out and enjoy our hometown as much as we would have liked, so we didn’t visit restaurants, bars, theaters, or museums. We had to find other ways to enjoy our favorite city.

Lucky for us the weather has been beautiful most of the time. We were able to invite many of our friends and family over for visits and spend our time outdoors, staying socially distant of course. My siblings and I managed a visit at my sister’s house and spent the day enjoying each others company on her deck even though it was quite hot that day. We made a couple of trips up to Tim’s brothers house and visited with him and Suzie. On one visit there, our niece Suzanne was able to stop by which was an unexpected pleasure. It was good that we were here for two months since that gave us more time to visit.

I was enjoying seeing everyone so much, and catching up on their lives, that I didn’t remember to take pictures for the blog. It just means we had our priorities straight. Focusing on people and spending time together is what is important. That probably explains why I haven’t written a blog entry for a month, too busy with living life to find time to write about it. I am only sorry that we weren’t able to see everyone.

Tim took one picture when our friends Bill and Kelly were here this past weekend so we have one to share. I started following their blog, Bill & Kelly’s American Odyssey, https://bkamericanodyssey.com , when I was researching for our full time adventure. They have been full time RVers for many years and have great insight to share. I learned about Mountain Top Campground from their blog which has been a great place to stay in Pittsburgh. They started spending their summers in Somerset, PA near their daughter and son-in-law, so we were able to meet them in person last summer. We have kept in touch while we were traveling and since we were both in Southwestern PA this summer, they were able to come and visit us this year. Hopefully, we will catch up with them again on the road in the future.

Enjoying our visit with Bill and Kelly

Our set up for social distancing visits

When we started planning our travels for the next few months, I realized we needed to write about our home town. Katie and I tried to get together to capture some of our favorite views of the city. Unfortunately between her schedule and ours, we didn’t get time until our last weekend here and got stuck with a rainy day. Even though it was pouring when we left her house, we headed up to Mount Washington to capture the views of the city from the many lookouts that are part of Emerald View Park. This park runs along Grandview Avenue and offers many wonderful vistas of the city as well as hiking trails along the mountainside. We focused on the views at 4 different overlooks. Lucky for us, the rain stopped at our first stop so even though it was cloudy, the view was great and the pictures turned out well. Katie brought Teddy along for the trip so he is featured in some of these shots. Thanks to Katie, I have these beautiful photos to share.

Even with rain frizzed hair, Katie got a decent picture of me at our first stop

Teddy is so cute in his raincoat

Perfect view of the Point

Teddy wanted a picture with George Washington at the Point of View statue

Isn’t Pittsburgh a beautiful city?

We left Mount Washington and headed over to the North Shore for a walk along the Allegheny River and a few more shots of the city. Luckily the rain held off for the rest of our visit and we were able to stop at North Shore Tavern to finish our day with a beer and soft pretzels, sitting outside of course. First time for me going out for anything other than take out during this pandemic. We felt pretty comfortable; it wasn’t crowded and the tables were far apart and masks were worn except while eating and drinking of course.

Katie caught the marquis at the Byham Theater as we were driving past. Hoping that intermission doesn’t last too much longer!

BLM mural along the Allegheny river

Teddy decided to take in the views from the bridge. Tim and I used to live in the brick apartment building in the background. I miss the views from that balcony.

We needed a cold drink after walking along the river.

Monday brought a warm and sunny day so Tim and I decided to visit a few local parks. Katie told us about a field of black eyed susans at Hartwood Acres so we checked that out first. It was definitely worth a visit. I loved walking among the flowers and watching the butterflies and bees. On our way back, we stopped at Deer Lakes Park and walked around the lakes. I am so happy that we found a little time to enjoy some local parks.

I found a spot with a little path into the flowers so I couldn’t resist.

A meadow of black eyed susans at Hartwood Acres

Tim got a few good close ups of the butterflies.

Deer Lakes Park was quiet and peaceful.

A bit scummy but still a beautiful setting.

I tried to capture the flag’s reflection but the water wasn’t quite still enough.

Tim and I have greatly enjoyed our visit to our hometown and seeing our family and friends. It has been wonderful spending time together, especially in this beautiful setting at Mountain Top Campground. It is definitely a great place to stay while in Pittsburgh but I will warn others, the road up to it is a bit intimidating with a large rig. The tree branches and power lines seem low and the road is not in the greatest shape. The view from the sites though are definitely worth it, especially the sunsets. I will close this blog with a few final sunset pictures.