Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): Covered Bridges

Showing posts with label Covered Bridges. Show all posts

Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part I

“Life is too short to worry about what others say about you. Have fun, be yourself and give them something to talk about.” -Aunty Acid

This was our fourth trip to the Adirondacks and our longest stay. We spent the week with our family in a pretty house in the woods not far from Jay, NY. I usually only do one blog post on our trips together, but this time I’m going to break it up a bit. The Adirondacks deserve more attention than one post can give.

The Adirondack Park was established by the state of New York in 1892 to protect the region's vast forests and vital watersheds from rampant logging. It was also established for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure". At 6.1 million acres, it’s the largest park in the contiguous United States. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park is a patchwork of public and private lands, governed by special state provisions to balance conservation with the needs of the communities.

The park contains 46 High Peaks, 2,800 lakes and ponds, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, an estimated 200,000 acres of old-growth forests and is home to 105 towns and villages. The park makes up approximately one-fifth of the entire area of the state of New York. The Adirondacks also have the largest system of hiking trails in the country. With more than 2000 miles of trails wind through this amazing wilderness. There’s something for everyone in this unbelievably beautiful park.

On our way from Montreal we stopped in Rouses Point for lunch. This was our entry point back to the US in 2012. We checked out the marina we stayed at and then moved south to the Ausable Chasm. The chasm is a scenic gorge carved by the Ausable River near Keeseville, New York, sometimes referred to as "the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks". It’s one of the oldest natural attractions in North America, opening to the public in 1870. We wanted to visit this amazing spot on our trip to Lake Placid last summer but the area was a bit flooded at that time. Just seeing it from the bridge is all we were able to do on this trip too. It’s beautiful and one day I hope we can explore it a bit more.

Our final stop before checking into our house was the Jay Covered Bridge. The bridge spans the east branch of the Ausable River. The original bridge was built in 1857. We spent two days playing in this beautiful spot.

We could literally watch the foliage changing colors before our eyes while we were here. The top photo was taken at the covered bridge on Sunday...the bottom photo was taken on Wednesday.

The first day of our vacation we hiked through High Falls Gorge. It's a 22 acre privately owned nature park along the Ausable River. This park was opened in 1890's offering a safe trail to view the narrow granite walls of the gorge with four spectacular waterfalls. We hiked the gorge trail and then returned to the entrance by way of the nature trail. After our workout we drove into Lake Placid for lunch.

Lake Placid is beginning to see some beautiful colors.

Whiteface Mountain is the high peak on the right.

PA Cover Bridges (Part IV)

"Love is the bridge that joins all the world together." -Frederick Lenz

Chasing covered bridges isn't as exciting as chasing waterfalls because they aren't as unique as each waterfall. In fact they all look a lot alike, but it's fun to find them and explore the countryside. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state and we do love exploring new places. On our way home from our anniversary getaway we found a few new ones plus a few close to our home in Lewisburg.

Hubler Covered Bridge is only a mile from our home. Getting to the bridge requires driving through the property of the high-security Lewisburg Federal Prison. In fact, half of the bridge sits on their property. Hubler Covered Bridge was built in 1850, roughly 80 years before the prison was built. It crosses Little Buffalo Creek just a few yards above Buffalo Creek. The bridge is 33 feet long. A chain-link fence keeps visitors from passing through it.

The Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56 was built in 1847 and is one of 23 covered bridges in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest existing covered bridge in the county. The bridge is located between the Town of Bloomsburg and Montour Township and is still used to cross Fishing Creek.

The Knoebel Covered Bridge, officially named the "Lawrence L. Knoebel Covered Bridge," is a historic wooden covered bridge located at Knoebel's Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. It was originally constructed in 1881. It spans the South Branch of Roaring Creek, connecting Cleveland Township, Columbia County, with Ralpho Township, Northumberland County.

The first White Rock Forge Covered Bridge was built in 1847, but was swept away in 1858. The existing bridge was built in 1884. The bridge is 103 feet long, 13 feet wide and spans the West Branch of the Octorara Creek in southeast Lancaster County.

The Colemanville Covered Bridge spans Pequea Creek in Lancaster County. It's Lancaster County's second-longest single-span covered bridge still being used. It was originally built in 1856. It is 155 feet long and almost 15 feet wide.

If the weather would have been better we could have done a little hiking around this bridge. It was a pretty area.

The Baumgardener's Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans Pequea Creek in Lancaster County. The bridge was built in 1860 and restored in 1987 after it was damaged in a flood the previous year. During this restoration process the bridge was raised by 4 feet and lengthened by 9 feet to protect it from damage in potential future flooding.

The Forry's Mill Covered Bridge is the last covered bridge that spans Chiques Creek in West Hempfield in Lancaster County. It is painted red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges, on both the inside and outside. Both approaches to the bridge are painted in the traditional white color. It's 103 feet long and almost 13 feet wide.

See other Pennsylvania Covered Bridges that we've discovered at the following sites.

PA Covered Bridges (Part I)

PA Covered Bridges & Cute Towns (Part II)

PA Cover Bridges (Part III)

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” —Dr. Seuss

We've been chasing covered bridges since Kyle and his family moved to Pennsylvania in 2016. Pennsylvania is one of the leading states with the remaining number of covered bridges. At one point in time, it's estimated that Pennsylvania had more than 1,500 covered bridges. Today there are 209 that can be found throughout the state and a total of 900 in the US. The first covered bridge in the United States was built over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia in 1805.

A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof and siding, which creates an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structure from the weather, extending the life of the bridge from roughly 20 years to 100 years. But there are other explanations for covering the bridges. The spans were built to resemble barns so farm animals would feel more at home and not stampede as they were driven across the streams and rivers. Other explanations were to keep snow and rain off the bridge to keep the oiled planks of the roadbed from becoming dangerously slippery, to cover up unsightly trusses, to provide shelter to travelers caught in a storm and to provide a place to court your lady and secretly give her a kiss (the "Kissing Bridges”). The roof also strengthened the entire structure.

The Hassenplug Covered Bridge is located in Mifflinburg built in 1825. It's the oldest existing covered bridge in Pennsylvania and believed to be the second-oldest covered bridge in the United States. The bridge is 80' long and 16' wide.

The Millmont Covered Bridge is the longest covered bridge in Union County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1855 and spans the Penns Creek. The bridge is also known as the Red Bridge or the Glen Iron Covered Bridge. It is 131' long and 14' wide.

The Hays Covered Bridge is located in Union County and was built in 1882. It spans Buffalo Creek and is 63' long, 16' wide.

The Rishel Covered Bridge is located in Northumberland County. It is a single span bridge built in 1830. It crosses the Chillisquaque Creek and is 94' long.

The Sam Wagner (Gottleib Brown) Covered Bridge was built in 1881. It spans the Chilisquaque Creek in Pottsgrove and is a single span bridge that is 85' long.

See other Pennsylvania Covered Bridges that we've discovered at the following sites.

PA Covered Bridges (Part I)

PA Covered Bridges & Cute Towns (Part II)

PA Covered Bridges (Part IV)

PA Covered Bridges & Cute Towns (Part II)

"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God." –Ronald Reagan

When Kyle and Brytanie moved to Pennsylvania in 2016 we enjoyed finding covered bridges in their county. We haven't visited them all, but we've found seven just doing a little exploring. Pennsylvania is one of the leading states with the largest number of remaining covered bridges.

We really enjoyed driving the back roads through Lancaster county. We had the chance to see some beautiful farms, cute little towns, lots of horse and buggies and we found six magnificent old covered bridges. There are 27 covered bridges in Lancaster County...so finding a few bridges was pretty easy.

The Leaman's Place Covered Bridge spans the Pequea Creek and was built in 1845.

The Hunsecker's Mill Covered Bridge spans the Conestoga River, it was built in 1843 and is the longest single span covered bridge in Lancaster County.

The Pinetown Bushong's Mill Covered Bridge spans the Conestoga River and was built in 1867.

The Zook's Mill Covered Bridge, also known as Log Cabin Bridge, spans Cocalico Creek and was built in 1849.

The Keller's Mill Covered Bridge was built in 1873. This bridge once spanned the Cocalico Creek at Rettew Mill Road, but due to increasing traffic, it was dismantled in 2006 and reassembled at Middle Creek Road in 2010. It's the only white covered bridge in Lancaster County.

The Erb's Covered Bridge spans Hammer Creek and was built in 1849.

I've never seen tobacco growing in a field before, but in Lancaster County it's one of the leading cash crops. There are 964 tobacco operations in the county and it ranks in the top 10 in the country in tobacco production.

One of the little towns we discovered was Lititz...it's advertised as the 'Coolest Small Town in America'. The town is known for picturesque, tree-lined streets, unique shops, cafés, architecture and it's friendly atmosphere. We found all that to be true. The town was established in 1749 when the Moravian Church established a church settlement there. In 1784, a small bakery was started along Main Street that became the first pretzel bakery in America.

This building was built in 1877 and served as home to the Lititz Record Express newspaper until 2005. It's now home to the Zum Anker Alley Shoppes. The shop has a lot of cute stuff, but the store itself was the interesting part for Stan and me.

See other Pennsylvania Covered Bridges at the following sites.

PA Covered Bridges (Part I)

PA Cover Bridges (Part III)

PA Covered Bridges (Part IV)

July 31 – What Happened to July

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way." –Barbara Bush

Wow it’s almost August...this summer is flying by. We’ve been very busy, but we haven’t done any of the things we did last summer. We just haven’t found the time to do the beautiful hikes or visit some of our favorite places. Although, we're having a great time. Hopefully we'll make our way back to some of those gorgeous spots before we go home in the fall.

The past few weeks have been all about family. The unexpected passing of my Daddy took us home to Texas for a week. It's unfortunate that it takes a funeral for families to find time to get together. It was a sad time, but also a celebration of my Daddy's life. He was 89 and lived a wonderful life, full of amazing travels to amazing places and in the end he left this world as he had wanted...he laid down for a nap and never woke up. He was able to take care of himself to the very end and that's the way he wanted it. So even through a few tears and the pain of missing him, we celebrated his life and the life he gave all of us.

Our greatest legacy are the ones we leave behind.

The rest of July was spent in Pennsylvania, playing Nanny to Graham and Cora and celebrating our oldest son's birthday. We love to cruise but we really enjoy spending time with our kids and their families...it's what makes our life complete. We feel blessed that we can spend so much time with all our grandwonders and their parents.

These kids are growing up way too fast...they are little people now. Not babies.