The Iron City welcomed us on a sunny Monday afternoon - timed perfectly with happy hour. We knocked back a few and started to warm up to the Industrial city of Pittsburgh, PA. Betsy found a donation only hostel on couchsurfing.org called 'Pay it Forward Hostel' and we rolled into the neighborhood knowing we would be their 11th and 12th guests since they had officially opened about 2 weeks prior to our visit.
I'll admit to being a bit apprehensive at first, but the hostel turned out to be a funky 3 story townhouse hosting a few more like-minded travelers. We ended up meeting some great folks and giving our super accommodating hosts their first guestbook. I'm a big fan of the donation only hosteling concept. Not only because I'm traveling on a threadbare budget, but with donations you can interpret your contribution to be more than just monetary value. Taking donations instead of having a set fee also helps organizations escape following the rigidities of city codes for things silly things like fire safety...
Since we were only in Pittsburgh for 19 hours we didn't have loads of time to explore. We did manage to ride a restored cable car up the Duquesne Incline, a railway that climbs Mt. Washington and was built in 1877. The view of the city was incredible. It captured a panoramic view of the golden triangle, Pittsburgh's business district located at the merging point of the cities' three major rivers... and bridges as far as the eye could see.
Morning came and we jumped in the car, armed with peanut butter sandwiches and iced coffees, prepared for our 8 hour drive to Deer Creek. Ready to trade a tired industrial city for the corn fields and windmills of Indiana.
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