PEACE
ON THE ROAD
Hunting
Covered Bridges
July
5, 2012
I
came across a quote in a photo-blog that expresses well what I
believe is a big reason for my writing the POTR. A
traveler through this life collects photographs of and shares words
about the points of light discovered along the way. (James Jordan)
Here
are a few points of lights that I have seen.
There
are so many things in this country that are interesting to see. We
like to visit covered bridges. They are beautiful and fascinating,
and the history of them is always interesting. The stories behind
many of them are amazing. We were in Astubula County, Ohio in 2006 and saw many covered bridges. There was one that we missed. The
Forman Road Bridge was built in 1862. According to my calculations
it is the longest covered bridge in the world. As far as that goes
it might be the longest bridge in the world. One end is in
North Kingston, OH and the other end is in Andover, OH which is 25.4
miles away. Some people claim that in 1972 the county sold the 126
foot bridge to the highest bidder for $5.00 and the new owner cut it
in half and moved each end to a different location and put a pizza
parlor in each one. That cannot really be true! We made a point of
eating some very good pizza in each end. When you are in either one
of the two parts it looks like it could be a complete bridge.
ONE
END OF THE FORMAN ROAD COVERED BRIDGE
NOW SERVING AS A PIZZA PARLOR
We
also visited two other covered bridges which did not exist in 2007.
The Smolen-Gulf did not even have an official name when we saw where
it was to be built. It now is the longest covered bridge in the US,
forth longest in the world (except for the 25.4 mile Forman Road
Bridge). It is also rated to carry any road legal traffic like
loaded semis. It is 613 foot long and has a roadway that is thirty
feet wide with foot traffic passages on each side. It may also be
the highest bridge above the river below at 93 foot. It is expected
to last 100 years. An uncovered wooden bridge might last 10 years
and covering it extends its life to 50 or more. Some covered bridges
built to last 50 years have made it 150 years. How long might a
bridge last that is built for 100 years? Another covered bridge that
was conceived in 2007 is the West Liberty Covered Bridge in Geneva,
OH has a span of only 18 foot. It is the shortest covered bridge in
the US. It opened in 2010. Due to the walkways on either side it
may well be wider than it is long. As a tribute to the fact that
many covered bridges in the early days charged for passage it has a
toll booth built close by. Of course there was no toll to cross
today. So with that you have the long and the short of covered
bridges in the US, and they are both in Ohio.
1929
WEIDMAN HOUSE CAR
When
I think about the life that I have lived, I have to say that things
have been very good for me. I was born to good parents, with good
siblings, on a great place to grow up. As a young adult (still a boy
really) I married a very fine woman (well she was just a girl then
too), and then a few years later we had a wonderful daughter, who has
been the pride of my life. After more good years I decided to retire
and do things so I could write PEACE ON THE ROAD, which is of course
what I really wanted to do from birth, I just didn't know it then.
To have things to write I need inspiration in some way. Sometimes I
also learn how fortunate I have been to have lived in the times and
places that I did. While in Elkhart, IN we went to the RV & MH
museum. I am so glad that I was ready to buy a motor home when the
2005 models were first available. Some of the old RV's were
extremely innovative and were actually works of art and engineering.
There were several that had actual wood burning parlor stoves
installed for heating. Many had kitchens and eating tables that
required unpacking for use outside. That must have been great in the
wind and rain sometimes. The colors used for decoration are no worse
than the ones in many modern rigs but to my mind there were not
desirable. At the time they were so much better than the
alternatives of a horse and a tent that they were luxury. The
earliest item in the museum was from 1913. But back hundreds of
years, perhaps as much as a thousand, there were people who traveled
in wagons that served as permanent homes. Gypsies was one name they
were called. The motor home that I travel in is so much better than
anything that we saw in the museum and there was a showcase of the
latest technology In looking at units while at the Winnebago factory
we have had the same feeling. We were fortunate to have bought our
motor home when we did.
ONE
OF THE “WHITE” BUCKS OF THE SENECA HERD
(note the flies on its
back)
In
1941 a 25 mile long fence was erected around 10,600 acres in an area
between the Finger Lakes of Seneca and Cayuga in Upstate New York.
It was built by the Army to enclose the Seneca Army Depot. This
depot was used for the storage and disposal of ammunition from 1941
until the 1990's. It was also used to store materials used in the
Manhattan project in bunkers that they called igloos. Within the
area an airstrip long enough to handle large cargo aircraft was
built. Enclosed within the fence were some “white” white tailed
deer. They are not albinos but simply a recessive gene that is in
all deer. Because the fence isolated them from the rest of the gene
pool and their normal predators the white deer flourished. Also the
commanding officers at the base allowed the hunting of the “brown”
white tailed deer but not the white ones. Today it is the largest
herd of white deer in the world. To say that they are beautiful is
an understatement. It was a privilege to be able to see several of
them even if it was necessary to view them through a fence. It has
been estimated that about 600 deer live within the confines of the
base and that of those there are between 200 and 300 of the white
deer. There are a few that are brown and white. We did not see any
of the combination. On this excursion there were six of us in the
car. The deer were new to us all. While looking for the white deer
we also saw some pens with peafowl. One pen had pure white peafowl
and another had the regular colored birds. Males in both pens were
displaying their tail feathers. That was a delight to all of us. I
would never have guessed that at some point I would have the
privilege of seeing such a sight. They were beautiful.
What
did you do to celebrate Independence Day? Gather the family and go
to a park and have a picnic and then watch fireworks? Did you get
together with friends at a lake to swim and watch fire works later?
If you owned a home on the shore of Lake Ontario you might invite
your family and their friends and their friends families to come
enjoy your beach. There would be a lot of power boats, sail boats,
personal watercraft, and kayaks on the lake for them to watch and
maybe to go for a ride. The youth will play lots of beach games and
hike along the beach. All the neighbors for a mile each way will do
the same. Many will build large pyramids of wood and burn them after
dark. There will be fireworks of all sorts. During the whole
afternoon and evening there will be lots of food and drinks. All in
all you will provide a wonderful place and way for people to enjoy
the day and contemplate what the day really means. We are blessed to
live in the US and thank those who lived and died before for our
freedom. All our celebrations should remind us of the sacrifices and
efforts of so many.
AT
LEAST FIVE BLAZING PYRES IN ONE DIRECTION DOWN THE BEACH
It
is hard to realize that we have been in Rochester for a week now and
soon we will move on. To where we have not discussed yet, but it
will have to be moving southward I suppose. It will be a while
before going to our winter home in Mission, Texas again. So we will
look for more “Points Of Light.”
Till
Later This Is Doug Of,
PEACE
ON THE ROAD
