Thursday, November 22, 2007

Ohio River Scenic Drive

We left the city and took the Ohio Byway Drive that followed the curves of the Ohio River as it forms the boundary between Indiana and Kentucky. It was a warm sunny day with a blue sky. The leaves were falling making a colorful carpet around the trees. Several places we could see tugboats pushing barges up or down the river. There are several lock and dams to make navigation possible. Several power plants in the area. They are coal fired using coat that is brought in by the barges, unloaded on the bank of the river. One plant was inland and used a covered conveyor to move the coal from the riverbank over the highway and to the plant. Coal will be seen going both ways on the river because the high sulphur eastern coal is mixed with the coal from Wyoming in order to meet EPA emission standards.
One of the groups of barges of coal had smoke coming out of a couple of places, like the coal was smoldering??? Another group of barges were loaded with cranes and heavy equipment. It must be interesting to live along the banks and see all the different loads going up and down the river.

Derby, IN
Derby, Indiana has a park along the riverbank where the packet boats used to stop in the days of the steamboat. This was a place where immigrants from the eastern United States would stop and purchase land and settle, or stop to pick up supplies on their way further west. The local farmers could ship their produce back east for sale and mail was sent and received. This area saw battles in the Civil War.

Oil Wells, Farming, Hunters
The flat areas along the river banks has large fields of corn and soybeans. Oil wells dot this area, too. In the local paper the price per barrel of Indiana Oil is quoted along with the price of cattle and hogs. Hunting season was in full swing and each area of trees had a pick-up sitting and you could see the orange vests of the hunters headed out.

Rivers
We crossed the Wabash River at the Indiana- Illinois border. Later we crossed the Mississippi River at the Illinois-Missouri border and the Missouri River in St. Louis. The Wabash flows into the OhioRiver in eastern Illinois. The Illinois & Missouri River flow into the Mississippi river near St. Louis, MO and the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River at the tip of Illinois. What happens on one of the rivers affects all of them!!

Back in Iowa
Found some interesting sites to visit on another trip as we read the Brown Signs along the Interstate. A few days stay at family in Southern Iowa and then back to the Prairie before the snow that was predicted.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!
Prairie Schooners


Monday, November 19, 2007

Howard Steamboat Museum in Jeffersonville, IN

Jeffersonville, IN

The Howard Steamboat Museum at 1101 East Market Street in Jeffersonville, IN was our destination for Friday morning. Before we found it we walked the riverfront area along the Ohio River beside the original bridge that spanned the river leading from Jeffersonville, IN to Louisville, KY. The approaches are removed, but the bridge stands next to the new interstate bridge.

Jeffersonville is located in a plot of land that was given to Thomas Jefferson after the War of Independence. Everyone that served in the army were given land. He plotted the town with streets and a park area around each block of houses. He felt that the separation would help control the diseases he had seen become epidemics in populous areas.

As we drove down to the waterfront we passed through an opening in tall, thick concrete walls with metal flood gates built to protect the town from flood waters. We learned that in January of 1937 it rained for 14 days straight. The rain turned to sleet and snow. The flood stage for the Ohio was 48 feet at Louisville and Jeffersonville had 24 feet of water flowing through it at the height of the flood. Buildings were turned over and there was 2 feet of mud in the streets and 4 feet of mud in basements that had to be cleaned up afterwards. People moved what possessions they could to the top floors of their houses. Some even stayed in the upper floors during the flood. Some moved into tents while they cleaned up after the flood waters receded.

Restaurant Review

On Spring Street are many small shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at Ann's. It is a cafeteria. The deep fried cod was crisp. The corn bread was tasty, made in the shape of a thick pancake. We did not try the barbecue ribs or roast turkey. Salad was crispy. Portions were generous and reasonably priced. Side dishes were mediocre. Would give them a 2 spoon rating!

Jeffboat

Jeffboat manufacturing plant is located along the Ohio River. It is 1 1/4 miles, covering 68 acres of specialized cranes, buildings and open air assembly used to manufacture barges and special order ships/boats. It is the largest American inland boat manufacturers. They give tours on a limited basis. We could see the welders working as we drove by.

One of the Human Resource employees told us that they have about 1200 employees. Some of the jobs are very specialized. A launch of a new barge/boat is very impressive. Originally the Howard Family started the boat building manufacturing in 1834. When there were no more sons or brothers to keep it going they sold it to the Navy in 1941. They built LST ships. The TANK LANDING SHIP (LST) proved to be much more rugged and versatile than her planners ever dreamed of producing. They were used for the transport of tanks , general cargo, locomotives, casualties, railroad cars, prisoners and numerous other purposes during World War II. The sailors said the LST stood for Large Slow Target! Jeffboat purchased the shipyards from the Navy.

Howard Steamboat Museum

This 22 room Romanesque Revival Style Mansion is built across the road from the shipyards. James Howard built it in 1892 using the craftsman he had hired at the shipyards. It looks like a brick castle. One corner has a three-story rounded tower covered with a metal cone shaped roof. You will see gingerbread woodwork, a grand staircase similar to what was on the riverboats, many different kinds of wood with intricate carving, a large collection of photographs showing how the early boats were manufactured, a collection of ship building tools, documents and blueprints, and full ship models from the Steamboat era.

The brass chandeliers in each room were lighted with both electricity and gas. Mr. Howard had a generator that he would run in the evenings. The 19 fireplaces were all gas logs and each unique. They each exhibited a feature from a steamboat, like smokestack shapes carved on the sides. The stained glass windows all pictured something from steamboating, also. One had an example of every know that a sailor knew how to tie in the border around the window! The enamel sinks had been painted with flowers and fired like ceramics, then set into a marble counter. One canopy bed was made from bronze with elaborate cut-work around the canopy, head & foot board. This was a design that was used in the steamboats, also.

This house had withstood three major floods, a cyclone and one fire over the years. There was still evidence in some of the rooms of the fire, but most of the damage was cleaned up. The oak floors were all set at a diagonal for strength. One of the ends of the huge hand rail going up the main staircase had to be redone because of fire damage. For such a large home the family had only one maid. We've toured many historic homes, but this is my favorite so far. It has a lot of wood, but many large windows to keep it light.

The steamboats that were manufactured by the Howards had an 18 inch draft to make them able to navigate the rivers. He was asked to go to Alaska and built boats during the Gold Rush. Since he really did not want to do that he gave them a bid that was 20 times what he usually received for a boat, thinking they would not accept it. But they did! He went and built several boats used to move people in and out of the gold fields.

It was interesting to see a model of a wooden flatboat that was used before the steam boats to move produce down the rivers to southern ports. It would float and they had long-handled oars to guide it. Since it had no motor it could not be taken back upriver. They would dismantle it and sell the wood. The wood used in the building of the steamboats was tree trunks floated down the river.

S & D Reflector

Before we left we were given a back copy of the S & D Reflector. This magazine was established in 1964 as the official publication of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen. It contains stories and events that happened on the rivers as they were related by Rivermen and passed on to their families.

Our Reflections

We were awed by the way these people could make so many items with the hand tools. We think we are so intelligent and knowledgeable because we have so many power-driven and computer run tools that do the work for us. Again, Solomon was right, "there is nothing new under the sun". We just adapt!








Thursday, November 15, 2007

Louisville, Kentucky

Another windy day for driving a motor home!! Going east, we had a great tail wind, but the south miles were hard! We actually got 13 mpg with this unit. It uses only Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel and no Biodiesel.

In Illinois there were a few fields of corn to be combined, but when we got to Indiana everything was harvested and tilled. The elevators have piles of corn stacked and most are covered.

As we crossed into Indiana the tall oak trees were colorful with their rust colored leaves and further on the yellow/orange maple leaves made an eyecatching accent to the oak leaves. Near the Kentucky border is the town of Floyd Knob. It is named for the local terrain of steep hills rising 400' to 500'. They are supposedly the remains of rock and dirt from the southernmost point of glaciers. They were tree covered showing shades of rust with the yellow accents when the sun shone on it. We were back into clouds after a few hours of sunshine.

Thanks to Map Quest we had good directions to get to the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center. It was well organized and we were directed to the Winnebago section, checked in and on our way in a half hour. We saw the line-up of Winnebago's included their new unit, called ERA, which is built on a van chassis. The show will not be until after Thanksgiving so the young man checking in the units is at Louisville until December 1 and he has all the units checked back out to drivers to deliver to dealers! He does have help to wash and set up the units in the giant arena. The huge parking lot was divided up between all the different RV companies.

We headed back north on I-65 and over the Ohio River into Indiana. There was a tug boat and many barges along the bank of the river.

Did you know?
The Frazier International History Museum, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory with the world's largest bat which is a replica of Babe Ruth's bat and weighs 34 tons, Belle of Louisville Steamboat, Falls on the Ohio State Park, and Church Hill Downs race track where the Kentucky Derby has been run on the first Saturday in May since 1875 are just a few of the interesting places to visit.

The original "Happy Birthday" song was written in 1893 by two kindergarten teachers, Mildred J. Hill and her sister Patty Smith Hill, who lived in Louisville.
Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken was born just north of Louisville in Henryville, IN. Thomas Edison once lived in Louisville.

We chose to stop at a Steamboat Museum across the river in Jeffersonville, IN. Tomorrow we plan to find it!





Again we are so thankful for the opportunity to see the USA together, for the ability to flex in all circumstances and for traveling mercies as we dealt with traffic, finding gas stations, wind, and finding our destination!

Prairie Schooners

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Louisville, Kentucky delivery

Galesburg, Illinois
We got our "call" that the unit we were to deliver to the RV show in Louisville, KY was on the lot and ready to go! We hooked up on the lot at Forest City, which is always hot or cold or windy!! Needed some extra time to get the electrical connections revamped to fit this chassis.

It is a Navion with a Mercedes diesel engine on a Sprinter chassis painted a bronzemist color with the Winnebago decals in dark brown, white and gold. It is rather attractive and compact. The interior color scheme is rhubarb/raspberry with cherry cabinets. One bed is over the cab so it is tall and did "sway" with the wind today when we were not headed east. Then we had a tail wind to help with the gas mileage!

We are in Galesburg, Illinois tonite. Carl Sandburg, the author, was born here in 1878. There is a birthplace cottage and museum downtown that commemorates the life of this Pulitzer Prize-wining poet and Lincoln biographer.
Only a Micky D and Hardees within walking distance so that will be supper tonite.
We are thanking the Lord for a warm, safe place to sleep tonite!
Talk to you "along the way"!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Branchville, New Jersey/ Sioux Falls, South Dakota/South Sioux City, Nebraska

We got on the road on Nov 6 after the high winds of the day before. This put us behind our schedule of delivery and then being back west to Sioux Falls, SD for a wedding on Saturday afternoon the 10th!
This unit was a 35 ft long white Sightseer. It did not have very many windows in the living area. It's unique feature were the 2 bunk beds on the wall opposite the bathroom. Each of them had its own DVD and pull down screen in the ceiling of the bed!
If you take the Atlas and follow Interstate 80 from Iowa City, IA across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania to Exit 2 in New Jersey and go north that was our route. We took basically the same route on our last trip to Rhode Island, but this time the trees had dropped their pretty leaves, except for an area in Eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains. It looked like "the party was over and only pieces of the decorations were still hanging!" But the oaks were colored in shades of rusts, browns and yellows that were pretty when the sun shone.
We drove in and out of snow flurries. In that area they call it "lake effect" snow! Not a lot of accumulation and it melted on the road just making it wet. The white snow did accent the tree trunks and the carpet of colored leaves on the ground in the forest.
In the farming areas the farmers were harvesting the last few fields of corn & beans, applying fertilizer, chopping and baling corn stalks and chisel plowing.
Branchville, New Jersey is on the east side of the Delaware River in the area called the Delaware Gap Water Recreational Area. We explored that same area on the west side of the river on our way home from the Rhode Island delivery.
We can recommend eating at Rockne's Restaurant in Streetsboro, Ohio! It is located beside the Super 8 and across the road from several other motels. The dark wood booths, completely separate lounge, and good service make a good atmosphere for relaxing over a meal. Their black bean soup was hot and tasty. The side salad was a minature chef salad, crispy and fresh. The chicken quesadillas were warm and crispy with a generous, well-seasoned filling and served with sour cream and salsa.
While we were on the road we received a call that there was a unit available for us to deliver to Louisville, KY RV show and we could pick it up on Monday. But had a message later that it would not be ready then and we should wait for a call since there were 8 units to be manufactured to go to the show and no one knew which would be done first.
Home on Friday night and on the road north and west to South Dakota on Saturday. What a contrast to the mountain driving the days before and now the wide open spaces of south western Minnesota! A beautiful day for a fall wedding.
It was a short Sunday morning drive south to our Sioux City family where we spent the day and helped our granddaughter eat her birthday cake! It was good to catch up on their activities and family news, see their projects, "walk", and introduce the neighbor girls to the game of Pit!
On Monday morning they are headed to school and work and we are headed back to Iowa.
The unit we were to pick up at Forest City to deliver to a RV show in Louisville, KY was still not ready so we could not pick it up on our way home.
Today our suitcase is packed, the hitch equipment is in Saturn and we are working on various projects here at home while we wait for "the call" that the unit is done. Actually they are waiting for 6 units to be "made" and ready to go so we might not get ours for another day!!

We are thanking the Lord for His traveling mercies and provision for all the circumstances on "the road"!

Thank-you for taking the time to read our blog!

Prairie Schooners

Monday, November 5, 2007

Bumped and Winded!

We were bumped from the Louisville, KY show because Winnebago decided to drop 3 of the models they had planned to send.
We did find a short delivery to fit our schedule, but today the wind is gusting to 40+ mph and it is dangerous to be on the road with a high profile vehicle. We are waiting it out at home and will take off for Branchville, NJ tomorrow early AM following the wind instead of driving in it!!