On our way to Ohio to see the eclipse, Kathy & I stopped off in western Pennsylvania to visit our friends Jim & Lisa. While we were there we made a trip to McConnell’s Mill State Park to do a little hiking. The mill itself has fallen into disrepair, but the covered bridge has been nicely maintained and makes for a picturesque scene on Slippery Rock Creek.
I had been to this park years ago, but enjoyed the time outdoors and with friends. I even managed to make a few photographs.
We’re on our annual ‘Friends & Family” road trip, currently in Avon, OH visiting my brother and his family. A few days ago we met some friends for lunch at North Park near Pittsburgh (sorry Howard, we were only there for a few hours! ð ). I “snagged” this photo while waiting for our friends and sitting on a bench alongside the lake. I hadn’t gotten my camera out of the car, but this little scene convinced me to go back and get it.
No, Pittsburgh is not on the way home from West Virginia! Kathy recently reconnected with a childhood friend, who lives part of the year in Pittsburgh. We cruised with them in March and visited them in Florida, so we decided that a detour north before heading south was worthwhile.
When I found out we were going to be in the area, I contacted fellow photographer and blogger Howard Grill and made arrangements to meet for breakfast at a park near where we were staying. We met there on Saturday morning, had a lovely visit and spent some time exploring the lakeside. By the time I got my camera out the light had gotten harsh, but there were still some interesting reflections.
After our breakfast, we headed to our friends’ home and took a jaunt into town to visit The Frick. The Frick Pittsburgh is an art museum which is the legacy of Helen Clay Frick, daughter of industrialist Henry Clay Frick and his wife Adelaide Howard Childs Frick. The family home was called Clayton, which is on the site of the museum, from 1883 to 1905.
I’ve still got a few photos to process, but have completed the best ones. As I typically do, I have created an Adobe Portfolio gallery of selected photos from this trip at My Adobe Portfolio page.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming. ð
After Staunton, VA we spent a night in Scranton, PA. We stayed at a Radisson hotel in the former Lackawanna railroad station in downtown, and the following morning visited Steamtown National Historical Site before heading off to Rhode Island.
From Wikipedia:
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located in downtown Scranton, PA at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities. The roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. site.
This is but a small sample of the photos I took there, and as usual mostly just scratch the surface of the place. A real railroad fan could spend days there!
I’ve posted a New England Part I gallery on Adobe Portfolio for anyone wanting to see more of my snapshots. The photos in that gallery take us through Rhode Island, which I’ll cover in a future post.
I spotted these tool boards while we were visiting Steamtown National Historical Park in Scranton, PA. I was on a catwalk over the work area and didn’t have a way to access the main floor for a better view. I’d like to meet this guy! ð
As I often do when we travel, I’ve been adding selected photos to a page on my Adobe Portfolio website. Check back periodically as I add more as often as I can. Just know that I’m a few weeks behind!
Scranton, Pennsylvania is known as The Electric City due to its early adoption of electric lighting in 1881. The sign is located atop the Scranton Electric Building in downtown Scranton. We spent our second night out at the Radisson Hotel, located in the former Lackawanna Railway Passenger Station. I have photos of that too, which will come later. ð
We visited PA last week before heading to Wisconsin. I found this photo postcard today and decided to go ahead and post it even though it will be out of order. ð
The Emlenton Bridge is a steel-deck truss bridge that spans the Allegheny River just south of the town of Emlenton, Pennsylvania, United States at approximately mile marker 44.4 on I-80. With a height of 270 feet (82 m) above the river, the Emlenton Bridge was the highest bridge in the Interstate Highway System when completed in 1968 (The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge is higher but is technically an international bridge, not part of the Interstate Highway system). This record was held until 1971 with the opening of the Fred G. Redmon Bridge near Selah, Washington.
The Emlenton Bridge remains the highest road bridge in Pennsylvania; with an overall span of 1,668 feet (508 m) it was the largest bridge constructed as part of the Keystone Shortway project. With the completion of the Interstate System, it is likely that the Emlenton Bridge will remain the fifth-highest bridge in the system for a significant time, behind the Glade Creek Bridge in West Virginia, the Pine Valley Creek Bridge in California, the Galena Creek Bridge in Nevada, and the aforementioned Redmon Bridge.
An interesting fact about the Emlenton Bridge is that due to its size, and geography of the land, it is actually located in three different Pennsylvania counties. One side of the bridge is in Venango County, the other in Clarion County, but the southwest abutment resides in Butler County.
(From Wikipedia)
As I sit here on a beautiful North Carolina day, middle of December, trying to decide whether I need a coat to take a walk this afternoon, I thought I’d post a few more photos from our Thanksgiving weekend adventure to eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Â These were all taken in the vicinity of the Kidd’s Mill Covered Bridge near Reynolds, PA.
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
Kathy & I spent a quiet and relaxing (except for the drive home) extended Thanksgiving weekend in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania visiting family and friends. As is my usual habit, I spent minimal time perusing the interwebs or watching television, so I enjoyed a blissful 5 days away from all of the messages telling me what I was supposed to be doing, buying or worrying about. Fortunately I returned to work today, so I was able to get my 5-minute daily dose (aggregated from all my visits to the break room during the day) of television ânews,â so I am now up to speed again. Fiscal Cliff, blah-blah, Black Friday, blah-blah, Cyber Monday, blah-blah, Petraeus (or not Petraeus), blah-blah, Egypt, blah-blah, football, blah-blah, William and Kate, etc.
Somehow all of that stuff pales in comparison to cherished and overdue time with loved ones. I hope you all had time to spend with yours.