A Journey Along the Ohio

Section 1 ----- Pine Mountain News

Hello again from Pine Mountain. It has been a bit cool this week. Several mornings we have had dense fog that stayed around for most of the day.

We are trying a new gardening system called hydroponics in our little greenhouse. It should increase vegetable yields and produce fresh fish too.

Local news

A garbage truck hit and killed a bear near Pine Mountain Club this week.

The Forest Service will remove the toxic tailings from the Black Bob Mine area. The mine operated from 1932 to 1934 and the tailings have polluted the area around the mine for the last 75 years.

3 Residents of Kern county are recovering from swine flu.

Well enough about Pine Mountain, next we have poetry of the week and then our travel story about a drive along the Ohio river.


Section 2 ----- Poem of the Week

Sunset Sorrento

written six.twenty-two.eight

by emily d stine

We've landed on the Isle Capri.

It is turquoise shudders on sun-toasted buildings.

It is aqua-marine splashing the beach for

sunbathers' enjoyment in technicolor paradise.

I take it in as the sea.air tickles my throat & ruffles my hair.

We journey to Sorrento for the night, adjacent to Capri.

We dangle our legs over the cliff, wine in hand, for a front row

view of Sunset Sorrento. There is a busy road behind us,

but nobody notices the motorists or the sound.

The grapefruit sun pushes its way into the ocean, dancing

behind the waves, set against soft pink clouds on a

tangerine sky. The Mediterranean sparkles in the

last gasp of sunlight and the sun touches the water

oval-shaped from our cliff-view seats. It bobs for a moment,

a deep orange and slowly descends below to its bubbly depths.

We look at each other, sip our wine and shuffle slowly

back up to the road, sunsent sorrento still fresh in our mouths.

Section 3 ----- A Journey Along the Ohio


Last time you were with us, we had arrived in Pittsburgh after exploring Pennsylvania in our Tiger motor home. We were trying to decide if we should go west or go south. In the end we decided to go west to the Ohio state line then follow the Ohio river west. It made for a very scenic journey.


Sub on the Ohio at Pittsburgh


We left Pittsburgh on I-70 then just outside of Wheeling, West Virginia, we took the I-470 bypass across the Ohio river at Bellaire. We turned south on Ohio route 7. We passed Boggs island and the old Bellaire bridge. We left Bellaire and passed through Shadyville population 3675.


Barge and tugboat


The next town was Powhatten Point then on to Clarington. Creeks and rivers kept joining the Ohio increasing the width and flow. The Ohio is the largest tributary of the Mississippi river and one of the few rivers that is navigatable along the whole 981 mile ( 1579 kilometer) length. There are some 27 major waterways that flow into the Ohio by the time it reaches the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois. The Ohio is a mile wide when it reaches the Louisville Kentucky area.

We continued on through Hannibal, Duffy, and Sardis. We passed the Carpenter memorial bridge at Newport and stopped for lunch. After lunch we left Newport and went through Newell Run, passing First Brother and Eureka islands and finally ending up in Marrietta Ohio. I-77 crosses the river here. We meandered through Marietta and found route 7 again.


Paddlewheeler on the Ohio


We went through Moore Junction and passed Muskingum and Vienna islands. We passed through Little Hocking and Route 7 swung inland away from the river. Eventually we rejoined the Ohio River at Pomeroy.


Blue day Bridge


We passed Kanauga and the Shadle bridge then on to Gallipolis. We stopped for an afternoon snack. We continued on and route 7 became route 52 at Chesapeake. We passed through Portsmouth, Manchester, and Aberdeen. We passed through Ripley and Levanna then Higginsport and Utopia.

The next towns were Chilo, Neville, Moscow and finally Point Pleasant. The side roads changed to mile number roads. 10 mile road, 8 mile road and so on.


Big Mac Cincinatti

Route 52 joined I-275 just outside of Cincinatti, Ohio. Cincinatti is the Queen city of Ohio and the last city before the Indiana border.


Roebling built 1866



It was evening already and we were tired from all our river driving, so we stopped for the night. In the morning we will decide if we go west through Indiana or go south through Kentucky. In three weeks we will be back with further adventures and you can see which way we went. See you then.


Section 4 ----- Pine Mountain Evening

It is evening once more on Pine Mountain. We just had a big dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, fresh baked rolls with butter, corn, and apple pie for dessert. We have taken our pie and coffee into the family room. Tonight I am trying Snoodle Doodle from http://www.coffeefool.com This coffee combines Swiss chocolate, coconut, cinnamon, and Hazelnut with American roast coffee to form a truly enjoyable drink that goes great with apple pie.

My pie and coffee are finished now and it is time for bed. Good night all see you next week.






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Pennsylvania Travels

Section 1-----Pine Mountain Ranch News

Hello again from Pine Mountain. Last weekend The Lilac festival was the best one yet.
In other news the three boys that said they were attacked by a mountain lion were really attacked by a homeowner who returned home to find them rummaging through his house. He shoved one against a table and the other one jumped off a balcony. The boys made up the mountain lion attack to cover their injuries.

Interstate 5 through the grapevine will be slow going through Memorial day. While Caltrans will not be actually working, the barricades will still be in place so traffic will be restricted.

Well enough about Pine Mountain. Next our resident poet returns with a new poem about her adventures in Rome Italy.



Section 2-----Poem of the Week

There is a Rome

written six.two-one.eight

by emily dawn stine

the [celebrated] poet

Bon annoto! [goodday]

there is a rome. there is a rome.

I hope to glimpse it. I hope that I sit

on the stoop of it. My feet slide over

years of people, of history, or war.

I walk over it all & more.

I walk in the twilight, rome is dead

to visitors in this dawn, wineladen tourists,

fat.asleep in their beds. I walk in the morning

& it strikes me yellow, as archaic, as hot.

there is a rome. there is a rome.

Does it reside in 6Euro gelaterias?

I do not know. But I hope it is not some-

thing to be bought, to be sold, but inhaled

& exhaled & ingested again. I want it to infect

me, to disease me so--to spread passion in

my every fiber, to swim in my veins as the fish

of the Mediterranean. I want it envelop me

whole & then envelop me again.

Section 3-----Pennsylvania Travels

Hello everyone I hope you enjoyed your visits to Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires.

Three weeks ago we left Howe Caverns in upstate New York and headed south on I - 81. When we reached Scranton PA, we headed east on I 380 until we reached the Delaware Water Gap. What is a water gap? A water gap is where a river cuts between two mountains.This is the famous Delaware river and at Delaware Water gap it separates Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is a scenic wilderness area that is a protected park.
The river flows on and later separates New Jersey and Delaware at Delaware bay.



The Delaware river is a peaceful river and the park stretches on for over 40 miles so we decided to take a canoe ride and discover the countryside like the Lenape Indians did for thousands of years.There are boat launching and rental sites about every 8 miles. Our friend Jim drove our Tiger Motor Home down stream and met up with us just as the sun was setting. It was a peaceful and tranquil trip. We watched squirrels scampering up the trees on the shore and birds singing and flying overhead.The canoe glided through the water with only the slight sound as we dipped our paddles in for another stroke.

We turned in the canoe to the rental store then enjoyed a steak dinner in our Tiger Motor home. Our Tiger has performed magnificently on our journey. This is the first new motor home that I have owned. I have owned other motor homes in the past but they were all used and always needed constant repairs to keep them running.

In case you just joined us and are wondering what a tiger motor home is:



Our tiger is a Ford extended cab F350 with a 6.4 turbo diesel.We have a 130 watt solar panel, heated holding tanks, a 2.8 K generator, an outdoor and indoor shower and a 38 gallon fuel tank. Inside we have all the comforts of home.We have a sink, stove, refrigerator,full bathroom with a shower, and a flat screen TV. Tiger is made by Provan at their factory just south of Columbia, South Carolina. If you would like to see what the inside looks like go to http://www.tigermotorhomes.com.There you can see a video 360 inside tour as well as different models and options available.

Our Tiger has 4 wheel drive and it is a comfort to know that the first slippery spot that we come to is not going to get us stuck.

We camped for the night in our Tiger at the Delaware Water Gap.The next morning we headed west on I - 80. We passed through Stroudsburg then on through Pocono. We saw a deer at the edge of a clearing that turned and looked at us before heading into the woods.



At White Deer we headed south and went to Hershey PA. We toured the famous candy factory and saw how all the Hershey bars are made.

Back on the road we headed west and saw peaceful country streams.



We saw Amish in their Buggies.



Finally we made it across Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh. We viewed The Monongahela and Allegheny where they come together to form the Ohio river.



The steel mills no longer operate and stain the air in Pittsburgh but somehow the city survives. We enjoyed our journey across Pennsylvania. This state has historic landmarks and battlefields in the east, country and wilderness in the middle and coal and industry in the west.

Next week Roxana returns with a story from the other side of the world. We will continue traveling in our Tiger motor home. Check back in 3 weeks and see if we decided to head West or south.

Section 4 -----Pine Mountain Evening

Hello again. It is another spring evening at the ranch. We have just finished dinner and are relaxing in the family room. Tonight I am having a slice of apple pie with my coffee of the day, Amaretto. This coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com combines the taste of almonds with fresh apricots in an American roast coffee. It tastes just right with apple pie.

Well my pie and coffee are finished now and it is time for bed. Good night everyone see you next week.




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