You can run but you can’t hide.  Once again, we have weaseled our way into the lives of good friends and former neighbors for three days of fun and music.

We traveled to northwest Pennsylvania in and around the Alleghany National Forest to join friends Kyle and Cherie at their cabin/camp.  While we have traveled in Pennsylvania many times, usually in route to somewhere else, this time we traveled as a destination, and it was SO beautiful!

To break up the drive, we made a stop at our favorite acapella campground, a Cracker Barrel parking lot. Acapella.  You know, no instruments except the sounds and smells of diesel engines from the nearby highway.  Rockabye baby.  Spare no expense for the little missus.

When I say cabin, I mean full on cabin.  However, I will say that it has running water and electricity, so we were not to be denied necessities.  It was fabulous.  Think of it as tailgating with a roof.

Like any self-respecting cabin, there was a firing range, and we were able to target some errant beer cans that some miscreants must have left.  I mean, we would never combine alcohol with the firing of weapons.  Dear me.

We were treated to several nights of culinary delights, starting at the cabin with burgers and dogs.  Hell yeah.  The second night we grilled up steak tips and chicken at our campsite in the national forest.

Lastly, we spent a night at the Westline Inn for dinner.  Now I have to say, this place may literally be in the middle of nowhere.  We traveled 20-30 minutes on fire roads through the national forest to get to this place.  After scaring out one other table of guests, we basically had the place to ourselves.  So.  Much.  Fun.  We laughed the entire meal.

Never ones to miss a bit of history, and with ready-made tour guides, we visited the Kinzua Bridge State Park in the Pennsylvania Wilds – one of the largest blocks of contiguous forest between New York City and Chicago and is comprised of over 2 million acres of public land.  Just amazing.

This was an interesting journey to see what remains of the Kinzua Viaduct, completed in 1882.  This marvel of engineering’s goal was to create a shortcut transportation method of moving coal, lumber and oil across central Pennsylvania by rail.  It crosses a valley over 300 feet down and was over 2,000 feet across.  It was once the highest and longest railroad bridge in the world.

The viaduct was destroyed in 2003 by a tornado but remains a footbridge for viewing purposes.  We experienced thunder and lightning during our visit, so could not travel to the midway point to see from there.  But clearly this was a feat of engineering!

Truly, if you get the chance to spend time in northwestern Pennsylvania, it is one beautiful area.