October 3, 2011: Monaca to South Pittsburgh: (30 miles)

On part II of our trip, as of today Cal has ridden a total of 777 miles. 

Today was a short day on the bike, as we spent time in downtown Pittsburgh! As we neared the downtown area we encountered congested traffic, so we loaded the bike on the rack and drove the rest of the way.  As I mentioned earlier, we planned to go to the Heinz Football Stadium. The ‘scared acre’ to Pittsburgh Steelers fans!!! There were no tours of the facilities this afternoon to Cal’s disappointment, but he was able to leave some money in the gift shop!!

After we left the Stadium, we tried to negotiate our way to a certain bike path along the river.  After making a ‘wrong turn’, we ended up on Mount Washington.  What a wonderful view of the rivers and city.  It was one of the best ‘wrong turns’ I have made!  Here is a photo of the Stadium from Mount Washington.  I am sure a night time view of the city from that location would be fabulous.

Pittsburgh River in the Afternoon Haze

Monongahelia River Flowing into Pittsburgh

Confluence of the Three Rivers - Mongonhelia, Allegheny and Ohio

Pittsburgh River Bridge

Pittsburgh Skyline

Pittsburgh is a city on three rivers.  I don’t know what other city we have visited that has as many bridges as Pittsburgh.  In the central downtown area alone there are 11 bridges.  As we were driving over one of the bridges, I snapped a couple of photos.  It shows today’s weather! – Cloudy, rainy, and slightly foggy – this morning was miserable again.  The temp was up to 54 degrees which was better than yesterday, whereas at home in Iowa it was in the 70’s today.

Tonight we again had dinner with Rotary friends.  They live southeast of Pittsburgh.  It is great to make connections with these Rotarians outside of official Rotary meetings - (both are Past District Governors – Cal’s classmates).  

The weather is supposed to change!  We sure hope so. Tomorrow Cal will begin riding on the Great Allegheny Passage.  When people hear where we are going, they tell me the ‘most stop’ locations for me.