An Unexpected Adventure

It was Saturday following a  Friday where the rain poured continuously all day.   The forecast predicted rain all day Saturday too--from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm that day.  So I made sure not to set an alarm the night before and prepared for a "boring" day inside.   However, by the time 9:00 a.m. rolled around, the clouds had burned away and the sun had come out.  By 10:00 a.m. the sun was blazing in all it's glory and a light breeze was blowing. At 11:00 a.m and still sunny, we started to think maybe it wouldn't rain after all.  A re-check of the forcast showed they had revised it to be sunny all day.  At noon we started to make plans and after some debate settled on a walk of the Tri-river Heritage trail, which we had never done before.

The Tri-river Heritage trail runs parallel to the riverbanks and provides a fantastic view of the city.  We thought we would walk from Millvale to the Point (where the Monongahella and Allegheny rivers unite to form the Ohio river). Josh estimated this to be roughly a four mile walk roundtrip.  It is a good place for yakaking, canoeing and biking, with lots of rental facilities and restaurants along the rivers.

The trail was paved and very wide and gently sloped around and up and down with the river.  Ryan was enjoying riding his scooter and Josh and Dylan was enjoying riding in his stroller and looking at all the sights.

Before long we came to this cool little piece of architecture.

There were some dogs playing in the pools and some older kids wading in the water.  Ryan wanted to try it so we let him.  He was so careful to roll up his pants and walk gingerly so as not to get wet.

Dylan on the other hand....

He did not care about getting wet.  In fact, he sugmerged himself sweatshirt and all and loved every minute (despite the fact it was a breezy 65-70 degrees outside).  

Eventually we were able to coax him out and continue on our walk. Dylan spent the rest of the walk sans pants and covered up in my jacket.  Eventually we decided to cross over one of the bridges to reach the Point on the other side.  This was very exciting for both kids since they had never walked over those monstrous bridges before.  Cars were whizzing along on the left side and on the right side boats and barges were floating by. 

(one of the barges floating by) 

On the other side, I took Ryan to see some of the cannons in front of the Fort Pitt Museum and to go inside the old bunkerhouse.  Eighty percent of the building is still original wood and stone.  They had some glass fragments and some nice DAR ladies who were able to tell us about the history of the place. 

Then finally we made our way to the Point and enjoyed the spray from the fountain and the incredible view. 

It was time to turn around.  Just going as far as the Point had taken about two hours (of course we did stop and let the kids swim--I mean "play" in the fountain).  Ryan was starting to get a little tired.  He let us know by telling us things like, "I don't think I can make it much longer!" and "I think my legs are gonna wobble off."  We decided it would be in our best interest to stop and get him a bite to eat and something to drink.  

Josh settled on Jerome Bettis Grill because the food is great (and I can attest to the service being great too!) not to mention Jerome Bettis was a great Steelers player. 

Even though the wind was something fierce, because the outside seating was not protected by the building itself, it was so relaxing to sip on a cocktail, soak up the sun and fresh air and take a break.  Dylan was asleep at this point so we didn't worry about getting him anything.  

This was such a great little adventure into the city.  We can't wait to try the bike rentals next time (bicycle built for two anyone??) or even the canoes or kayaks!