Day Six – June 23, 2018 – Pittsburgh to Chautauqua


Day Six – June 23, 2018 – Pittsburgh to Chautauqua

There isn’t much to do this morning except clean up and get on the road by eleven or eleven thirty.  Betsy does a load of laundry and Roddy runs the dishwasher one last time.  Hopefully the kids will empty it before Barbara and Jim get home Sunday night.

It’s beginning to rain before we get a chance to load up the car, so we enlist David and Skye’s help in getting everything transported.  It all fits in the back, but we put the cooler in the back seat because it’s easier.  And away we go again!

We stop for gas at a Pilot which also has a McDonalds and a Cinnabon and the most amazing coffee bar!  

lots of bridges in Pittsburgh

fun with tunnels!

blue sky through the raindrops

playing with my phone photo!

More blue sky and no rain!  Hope that lasts!

Somewhere along the line the rains have begun.  Sure glad I’m not driving.  Have I mentioned that before??  Betsy and Ginger and Nick are communicating and they seem to be not too far behind us.  Myra is about an hour behind them because she stopped in Pittsburgh to check out some of the sights.

We arrive first, locate the rental office and the gate by which we need to enter and return to wait for Ginger, Nick, Paula, and Jorge.  Ginger gets all the info for the rental house and her group goes there while we go to the main entrance to get Roddy and Betsy’s gate passes.

rental office

The house is three story with the entrance between the first and second floors.  There are two bedrooms and two baths on the first floor.  The second floor has the kitchen, dining area, and living space.  The loft has two twin beds and the steepest staircase in the world.  Ginger has brought her blow-up mattress and it’s in the loft as well, so Roddy, Betsy, Myra, and I are up there.

While Ginger and Paula go off to meet Myra, Roddy, Betsy, and I go to the closest grocery store, Tops, to lay in some initial supplies.  The sisters, meanwhile have gone to Pete and Kris’s house to say hello and organize pizza and wings for dinner.  We all arrive back at the house at about the same time and dinner begins as the groceries are put away.

There's Lake Chautauqua!

View from one of our porches

And another, about ninety degrees out.





All the houses are gorgeous!  There will be lots more photos!

That's the amphitheater.

The opening-night concert is Alison Krauss in the amphitheater at 8:15.  We herd the cats out the door and find G.G. who drives a open-air shuttle that, with a little effort, holds all of us and she takes us to the theater.  We’re in time to get pretty good seats and settle in well before the show begins.  The amphitheater must hold at least three thousand people and nearly every seat is filled!

pre-show warm up

part of the huge crowd

The lady herself!

Fun lighting, with the three windows changing color to coordinate with the shifting stage lights.

Thanks, y'all!

Encore

The concert is very, very good.  She has a six-piece band and another female singer, Suzanne Cox, (from the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” sound track), and they play until after ten.  

So much to see!

After the show we all walk back to our townhouse and make plans for the morning.  There is a UU service at 9:30;  but there is a 90% chance of rain, and that doesn’t make for great walking conditions.  Instead, we opt for a leisurely morning, brunch, and the klezmer concert at noon.  Gradually everyone drifts off to their sleeping areas.

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