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.






googlef90539838d7357c8.html