Planes trains and automobiles - USA summer, are we mad?

[bPeteb]

VH-OEI off to be checked by our onshore maintenance team

 

[bPeteb]

Away we go. I'm just going to post pictures, there'll be lots. Exterior, kitchen with original, and very cool appliances, living room, the 'landing' you'll work that one out from some different views of it, bedrooms, bathrooms, terraces, guest house (that also included servants quarters) and finally the money shot...




















the rock the house is built on poking into the very tiny laundry/services room (below the kitchen)

 

[bPeteb]

The exterior/window walls cab be 'anywhere' as they don't support the roof. It's hard to imagine the timber formwork that would have been used to support the all concrete construction of the house. The frameless corner windows allow you to bring the surrounding forest into the house. The timber joinery is built into and around the beautifully crafted stonework. The stone floors flow from indoor to terrace.

there is glass in this corner!









the pot/boiler swings into the fireplace

 

[bPeteb]

Room after room of FLW magnificence. Inside, outside, below, above. Magical.

I was surprised that to find out that the Kaufmann’s son was gay. He handed Fallingwater over to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy lock stock and barrel. It was to look like you were visiting and that meant no ropes. In prep he had 140 of one of the original rugs made by the original rug maker in?? (Morocco? Turkey?) so they could be replaced as they wore

the rug

 

[VPS]

Stunning - there is a room of his at the Met which is amazing too Thanks

 

[bPeteb]

It was truly amazing to be able to walk through every room (bathrooms with cork flooring expected) and see how Edgar had left it.





they were of the school that believed that squatting over the loo was healthy. For this reason they had all of the loos set down into the ground.



Picasso



Tiffany lamps and vases







the light on the bedside table is repeated throughout the house. It spins to provide more/less light. It is used both vertically and horizontally

 

[bPeteb]

guide wanted to provide a true picture of the wealth of the Kaufmann’s and Edgar Jnr in particular. To do this he explained that when Edgar died, his partner decided to sell the artworks in their New York home that he didn’t like. The sale raised US$41m. That was just the unloved stuff, from one of a number of homes he was left.










The visionary Kaufmann family







this concrete walkway roof leading up to the guest house and servants quarters was poured in a single day!

 

[bPeteb]

The guest house was built to provide the Kaufmann's with privacy when they had visitors, and provide the guests with the same. The servants quarters were on the other side of the guest house. They were not the poor cousins. They had two big bedrooms and a living room with their own terraces.















the three carports converted to the visitors centre with the servants quarters above and to the right

 

[bPeteb]

if only we could stay forever but it was time to go



the landing... imagine opening that sliding glass roof and walking down here to dangle your feet in the river





Finally, the money shot (we took quite a few!)

 

[bPeteb]

Our guide was fantastic and 90 minutes stretched to 120. This left us only enough time to walk very quickly to the view point to get that iconic Fallingwater shot. Then we walked even faster up the hill for the 15 minute drive to FLW house number two – Kentuck Knob. No gift shop or souvenir for me ☹

The Hagen House aka Kentuck Knob, now owned by Lord Palumbo, was again a no ropes house but this time no photos. Based on FLW’s ‘Usonion’ concept of single level kind of open plan it was a much more’ ‘family scale’ home than Fallingwater. No servants’ quarters or guest house. Family did mean family of small size. One bathroom required you to turn on your side to get through the door. Design based on a hexagon with a (very dark) hexagonal kitchen at the core. It was/is a beautiful home. The Palumbo art collection had been caringly added to the house, and their sculpture collection, spread throughout the forest and grounds, was incredible







you only get the 'red tile' when FLW approved your home after construction was completed









the inside of the house photo when you're not allowed to take photos inside of the house

 

[bPeteb]

A couple of the grounds of Kentuck Knob









Of course we had to have a Hagen ice-cream (where the Hagen’s made their money)



but again missed the gift shop as I still wanted to visit the Flight 93 memorial. It just didn’t happen. No T-Mobile available, pretty much no mobile coverage at all, so our maps didn’t work and we went in the wrong direction. Then when I eventually got to the Pennsylvania Turnpike (after driving past Yogi Bear's home Jellystone National Park), I again went in the wrong direction and we had no chance of getting to the memorial and back to Polymath Park in time for FLW visit number three.

 

[bPeteb]

Four houses, privately owned by a young couple with a passion for FLW and nature. You can visit three of the four, two FLW’s, Duncan, an enlarged Usonian that was originally built with one of FLW's hates, a basement

 

[bPeteb]

Stunning - there is a room of his at the Met which is amazing too Thanks

Thanks VPS. Yes, we were very surprised, and delighted, to stumble across the room at The Met.

 

[bPeteb]

Mäntylä was the second FLW property. The story about how the house ended up here was very interesting. It was deconstructed during a number of nights and then brought to site in shipping containers. A beautiful home













and one by Peter Berndtson, an FLW apprentice, the Balter House









Best of all you can stay in all four of them! Not even expensive!

Again no ropes, it would be difficult to stay in them if there were, but I’ll say the tour was a little rushed. That made sense as people were waiting to check into the three we visited.

 

[bPeteb]

With that our FLW visits were over. Just incredible. My drive wasn’t though. Time to get the car to Pittsburgh for our first overnight train, the Amtrak Capital Limited to Chicago. Only one wrong turn, literally the last turn before entering the carpark, so no harm done.



We left our bags in the boot and went in search of the Andy Warhol Museum on the other side of the river.

This tree is an art work, not real! Fake even.





Pittsburgh was pretty much as hot as DC had been, so another long and sweaty walk. Fabulous museum except for the rubbish that was the exhibition of Kim Gordon ‘art works’. Half price day. Bargain!













what I was until the Friday before we left to go on holidays

 

[bPeteb]

Baseball was on and if we’d know beforehand, we most likely would have bought tickets. Instead we took pictures of the stadium and crowd from one of the many bridges that cross the river.









Dinner at Meat & Potatoes



No reservation (of course) so sat at the bar. We were maybe also a little under-dressed, or we were until the post-baseball crowd started arriving. It was a brilliant meal plus great conversation with our bar mates.





Al’s pork chop was obscenely large (and poorly photographed!



Deeeelicious!!!

So to our first Amtrak overnight train, the Capital Limted. Our luggage was still in the car when we went to get it (phew!). No lounge of any kind at Pittsburgh station, something passengers in sleeper compartments have access to if they’re available. We stood and waited for our train to arrive and 15 minutes after we were due to depart it arrived. At close to 12:30 am we were away...

 

[OZDUCK]

So envious of your FLW visit. I will go through the pictures again very slowly. Thanks.

 

[bPeteb]

Saturday Pittsburgh-Capital Limited-Chicago

The train was due to depart at 11:59pm but that time came and went with no sign of the Capital Limited. It eventually arrived at about 12:15 and we were underway by 12:30.

We put our big bags on the lower level in the luggage racks



and went up to 2902. It was already converted into bunks. It was tinier than I’d expected. That’s not totally true. The lower bunk is long and wide. Upper long but not quite as wide. It’s the space that’s between the bed and door and the near total lack of any place to put anything that’s the issue. Some ended up on the bed.

Being up on the second level there’s no wheel/track noise. There is the constant horn as the train crosses the gazillions of country roads along the line. It eventually got so hot in the compartment that I had to open the door a bit. After doing that, and changing the direction I was lying (laying?), I was finally able to get some uninterrupted sleep. Al even got a bit cold early in the morning but slept better.

The passing countryside on view when we pulled the curtains back







Food is included for sleeper passengers. For us this meant breakfast from the cafe. Anything we wanted from the menu. Nothing cooked, just microwaved or out of boxes/packets



Forgot to take pictures of the room made up with the beds but an Amtrak Roomette is two wide seats facing each other that convert into a bed nearly as wide as a single



The bunk above is much narrower. The one thing we didn't understand, and it was same on all three trains, was that the beds are made with pillow at back of bed, so your feet are closest to engine. I suppose the same as on a plane, but we found it uncomfortable.

A peak inside a Bedroom. These rooms have a tiny caravan sized bathroom where you shower over the top of the toilet.



Roomettes are on each side of a centre hallway



whereas Bedrooms are as wide as two Roomettes so have a hallway down one side. Each two deck carriage has a centre stairway



Floorplan of Superliner sleeper car



We enjoyed our first Amtrak overnight sleeper experience. The train carriages are REALLY old but that's part of the fun. The fares aren't cheap although the further out you book the cheaper they are.

Our two Acela trips left and arrived on time as they run on Amtrak lines. The long distance trains don't, they run on lines owned by freight companies, like Aurizon here in Australia. This means that the Amtrak trains have second priority and are constantly slowed, or move into sidings, to let freight trains through.

Never book a tight connection using the scheduled arrival time of a long distance Amtrak train as you will not make it. We left Pittsburgh late and arrived into Chicago even later.

 

[bPeteb]

So envious of your FLW visit. I will go through the pictures again very slowly. Thanks.

You're welcome

 

[bPeteb]

Some additional comments on the Capital Limited and the other Amtrak trains we travelled on.

Roomette compartment/cabin 02 is int the centre of the train so you don't hear any sound from the wheel sets/bogies or the connection between carriages. It's very quiet. Directly across from it is the carriage attendant's cabin (01) where they take their constant cat naps (they are on the train for the full journey).

VERY little storage room in roomette. We had the single carry on and backpack and carry on sat on step for bed, backpack was hung on hook.

Lower bed wide, upper bed narrow and difficult to get into with pillow at end you climb up to. There's a net thing that is attached to roof to stop person in upper both rolling out although more for perception than actual rough ride.

For daytime the seats are wide and comfortable but the windows are so narrow. They are on all of the regional Amtrak trains. Weird.

There's one toilet upstairs (next to 01) and three downstairs along with a shower. We heard the toilet door being closed more than any other sound. Also next to our were a cold water dispenser and a coffee urn. Neither worked on the Capital Limited. The toilet wasn't kept particularly clean either.

We both used the shower. Towels and soap provided, byo shampoo. Took me forever to work out how to get the water to flow - just turn the handle round!! I kept trying to pull it outwards like a mixer here at home.

On the fares we paid on our trains. The longer out you book in advance, usually the less you pay. Also the sleepers can book out, especially during summer. We booked our tickets last August. Changes to schedule were advised by email.

Boston - NYC - Acela Business (other option is first class) - we paid US178 (2 x 89), sched 9:10 - 1247 - ran pretty much on time, for next week same train US147 each

NYC - Washington DC - Acela - paid US260 (2 x 130), sched 09:00 - 11:53 - ran pretty much on time, for same train next Monday booked out, can't get a seat until 17:00 and then it's US173 each

Pittsburgh - Chicago - Capital Limited - paid US310 (2 x adult fares 72 each plus roomette 166), sched 23:59 - 08:45, actual 00:30 - after 10:00 some time, can't get a roomette for next couple of weeks, best price found US350

Chicago - Salt Lake City - California Zephyr - paid US660 (2 x adult fares 148 each plus roomette 364) sched 14:00 - 23:05 (+ 1 day), actual 14:00 - 03:10, for roomette in a couple of weeks US955

Salt Lake City - Emeryville (San Francisco - California Zephyr - paid US379 (2 x adult fares 101 each plus roomette 177), sched 23:30 - 16:10, actual 03:45 - 22:20, apparently this train isn't popular, in two weeks only slightly more than we paid - US388