4th Annual Camp Qwesty Aug 11-20

[Dual Port]

Hey Gang:

Camp Qwesty is going to the Allegheny National Forest in PA! Friday, Aug 11 we depart Cle area and spend 2 nights in Sparrow Pond campground, Waterford PA. From there we go to Oil Creek campground for Sunday night, Sinnemahoning State Park Monday night, back to Oil Creek Tuesday night, Mountain Top campground Wed/Thurs nights, Adventure Bound campground Fri/Sat nights, and back home Sunday. There will be a lot of side trips and sights to see- Kinzua Viaduct, Oil City and Titusville Railroad, etc plus the magnificent views in the forest. Oil City is where the Standard Oil Co was formed by JD Rockefeller and there are great old buildings both there and Titusville that we'll explore. Sinnemahoning State Park will be the furthest east that we'll go, with great mountain/valley hill views. We'll stop near Pittsburgh on the way back and see the Inclines and other attractions there. We're open to changes so if there's an attraction nearby we're all in.

Currently it's me, Rob, Lee, Luke, Ron, Hank and Sue, we had someone back out so we have availability if anyone wants to join us. All sites are electric and I think they all allow multiple vehicles on each site so there's room for additions. Limited cellphone reception in some of these areas. We made these reservations in the winter, I'm sure they're all sold out right now.

We take all back roads with a 50mph top speed, a typical day is 2-3 hours max spread out with multiple stops to enjoy the ride. We'll split cooking at the campgrounds and eating in restaurants about 50/50. The route shows a total of 679 miles for the trip.
This is our fourth trip, and all have been a blast!

[Dual Port]

Wow, what a blast! 10 days, really good weather, no breakdowns and lots of fun. Started off with Lee and I having lunch on the E55 marina before hooking up with the rest of the gang. Then on to Erie, Presque Isle State Park, Titusville Railroad, eating in a 1700's hotel, touring the Erie Maritime Museum and tall ship, and running into a pirate's pub crawl on the water.

[Dual Port]

Titusville RR, a steel mill turned into a bar/restaurant, and Kinzua Viaduct was a high spot on the trip- a railroad trestle built in the 1800's that came down in a tornado in 2003. It's a lookout now and a really cool place to stop.

[Dual Port]

A 1911 dam that collapsed and killed a hundred people, typical nighttime antics involving alcohol in the rain, and Mexican food at the campground. We ate mostly in restaurants.

[Dual Port]

Toured Straub Brewery, one of the oldest breweries in the US with free beer!

The National Transit Building was a highlight- JD Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Co here and ran it from the boardroom in the picture. A steam elevator was not in operation, thankfully. The Drake Oil Well was the first oil well in the world, drilled in 1859. Completely functional campus, a very cool destination. Obligatory picture of Dirty Hank's Bus.

[Dual Port]

Almost all backroads on the trip and PA is really fabulous to drive through. I don't remember what river this is, but it was beautiful, and had a really great meal on its banks.

Camp Qwesty T-shirts finally got a splitty after having to endure stupid Vanagons for the last 3 years.

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh was a highlight, Hank gave us a great tour of the city.

[Dual Port]

More Pittsburgh, the blue '48 GMC bus was pulling an Ecotec powered Vanagon in one of our campgrounds. The green Vanagon was spotted parked in front of a house in Pittsburgh bearing a LO magnet, we stopped and chatted with the lady who owned it. Snyder Specialty Cars near Jim's VW has many millions of dollars of rare cars to view.

What a great trip overall, about a thousand miles and no breakdowns. Extra thanks to Lee for organizing most of it and Hank's help in Pittsburgh since that's where he's from. We missed Allen and Tucker due to medical issues, Ron due to mechanical issues and Luke due to school issues. We're already talking about next year, maybe Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit, then through Canada and back down through Buffalo.

What a long great trip it's been!

[Marla]

Great trip! Thanks for the pictures. This looks great and glad you all made it without issues.