The Trip

In July of 2008, I took a trip with my family to Pennsylvania. We flew into Pittsburg and drove to a small town in the middle of the state named Ebensburg. My mother grew up in Ebensburg, and most of my mother's side of the family still live in Pennsylvania today.

While in Ebensburg, we stayed with my aunt and took many day trips around the area. Near my aunt's house, there is an old railroad bed that has been converted into a walking trail. As we walked along the trail, I imagined an old coal train back in the day chugging along the tracks, as the path curved back and forth through the trees. The foliage off the side of the trail was so thick and dense, the light came through the tree top canopy in beautiful little golden rays. The atmosphere the forest created was peaceful and surreal.

The next day we visited the Johnstown Flood museum, and rode the Johnstown Inclined Plane.

We later took a drive just outside of Ebensburg and I took pictures of the architecture; because the buildings were different from what I see in New Mexico.

On our way to the family reunion, we stopped by the Portage Rail Road museum, just outside of the town of Portage. The Portage Rail Road was a set of stationary steam engines and pulleys used to pull canal boats up a series of inclines, over the Allegheny Mountains. Crossing the Allegheny Mountains was quite an achievement in 1860, and I was amazed at the ingenuity used for it's construction. Unfortunately it was close to closing time when got there, so I did not get to see everything, but from what I saw, I really want to go back some day.

From Portage, we drove into the mountains, where we met up with my relatives, at a hunting lodge. The lodge was the perfect get away for the reunion and my family enjoyed many fun activities, while staying at the lodge.
We enjoyed fishing in the near by ponds,
playing guitar hero,

singing karaoke,

and sitting around the camper fire, having a good time.

I really enjoyed myself at the reunion, and it was nice to catch up with my relatives.

The last leg of our trip took us to Scranton Pennsylvania, in the north eastern part of the state. We visited Steam Town USA and took a ride on a full size steam train. I had ridden on a narrow gauge rail road before, but I had always dreamed of seeing a full size steam engine in operation. We took a tour around the round house at Steam Town USA and rode the old coal route to just outside of town. It was an amazing experience, and I was glad we got a chance to visit Steam Town USA and ride the train.

The trip was the perfect opportunity for me to put the camera to work, and I tried really hard to document the trip along the way. I took a lot of photos during this trip, probably more than I had ever taken in my life time. It just was such an amazing experience, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly through out the trip, and I'm glad I took all of those pictures along the way.