Day 1, State 4

Starting out the trip out west has been long awaited.  Dad and I started out around 9:15 in the morning and headed north.  We traveled through some nice areas in VA that we had ne'er been to, then into West Virginia (Where we stopped and took off the Virginia Tech magnet from the back of the car because we were going to be heading through Morgantown), then into Maryland, back into WV and finally into Pennsylvania.  Let me say, the Allegheny mountains look the same in WV as they do in PA and as they do in Virginia... beautiful!

We got to Pittsburgh for our first stop and headed into town.  We rode the Duquesne Incline (A funicular rail car) up and down Mount Washington and got a beautiful view of downtown Pittsburgh.  From the top of the hill, you can see the convergence of the rivers known as "Three Rivers" which is where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet up and create the Ohio River.  It's a cool sight to see all the steel bridges that span the rivers.  There is also a great view of Heinz field, where the Steelers play.

After leaving there, we traveled over to the University of Pittsburgh.  There is a huge tower there called the Cathedral of Learning (I hear the other area colleges call it the "Tower of Ignorance" in the spirit of sibling rivalry)  The tower is about 40 stories tall and there are offices and classrooms all over the building.  Walking inside is an interesting mesh of old and new.  The high vaulted ceilings and wooden benches and tables make it feel like an old gothic cathedral and then there are students sitting at those tables with laptops open, wearing Beats headphones, and playing Mahjong on their smartphones.  We went up to the 36th floor and there were some observation windows where you could see all around the university.  There were also some rooms on that floor that are used for classrooms.  I think it would be cool to have class over 300 feet in the air.

As we were heading back to the car, I noticed a large group of people playing Quidditch (Game wizards play in Harry Potter)... nerds!  ...but I kind of wanted to play.

For dinner, we ate at a Primanti Bros. restaurant.  They have sandwiches that are stacked tall with meat, cheese, coleslaw and fries.  Yep, that's right! They put the fries right in the sandwich.  From what I hear, these are a uniquely Pittsburgh sandwich and it was good.

Tomorrow we head to Cincinnati and continue leaving states behind us.  Looking forward to seeing some great people there!!!

Duquesne Incline

Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet.

Cathedral of Learning.

Heinz Chapel.