This week dad had something he calls spring break. I'm not sure what that means since it's looks like winter outside as I type this. But anyway, each year he declares it's spring break and take a full week off of school. He usually wants to go somewhere for the week and mom says she doesn't. Mom said that this year she would take two days off from work and they could do two day trips. One day I heard mom and dad talking about covered bridges. I wasn't sure what they were, so after mom had uploaded her pictures to the computer, I checked them out. They are kind of cool looking. I heard mom say that the one was the longest covered bridge she had ever seen. She mentioned they followed a map and her and dad visited 8 covered bridges in the Lancaster area. She had tons of pictures so I took these to show you the kinds of pictures she took. Mom said that when she can get back on Facebook (after Lent, she gave it up for Lent you know) she will post a ton of pictures from their two day trips. I think these things look pretty cool. I read a little about them, wondering why cover a bridge? I found two answers the one said that the fact that they were covered helped the bridge to last longer, since the bridges were only made of wood, the weather would be a major factor in the lifespan of a bridge. The other reason I read, was since they had to take cattle across the bridge, the fact that it was all covered in, kind of like a barn, made the cattle feel more comfortable, without the covered sided and stop, the cattle heard the rushing water and freaked out. Personally, I go with the first one, because of the weather. I'm really thinking if a bunch of cattle are crossing the bridge there would be so much noise they wouldn't hear the water rushing under them.
The second day mom and dad went to see the statue of Liberty. I thought that was in New York, but they went to visit on in Dauphin County. Mom mentioned every time her and dad go to State College PA (where Cody is living right now at college) they travel along Rt 322 west of Harrisburg and see the State of Liberty in the middle of the Susquehanna River. That's weird isn't it?? I thought the state of Liberty was in New York Harbor. I did some investigating and found that there is a miniature State of Liberty in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County. I found a great story about it. It seems that back in the early morning hours of July 4, 1986 some mystery group set up Miss Liberty on and old pier of a railroad bridge that had been gone for years. The statue was made of venetian blinds and plywood. (Sounds like a cheap way to make her) This statue stood until 1992 until the wind knocked it into the river. No one knew who had made or put the statue in the river. By this time the people of the area were attached to the statue and raised money so a more sturdy statue could be placed in that spot. In 1997 a much sturdier statue of Lady Liberty was place on that same pier but this time by helicopter and it was fastened securely. After over 20 some years, the actually person who built the first statute came forward and his buddies who helped him place her on the pier back in 1986. The river is very swift and it must have been an interesting sight these college age guys doing it in the middle of the night! The mystery guys had the enjoyed the mystery that the town had carried for so many years.
Mom and dad also visited a huge antique market called Sled Works in Duncannon. Mom said there was so much stuff and the building was so huge it was too much for her to take in. It must have been, mom came home with no treasures from it.
The last adventure they took on that day was checking out a really long, big railroad bridge. The bridge was built in 1900 and amazingly is the world's longest stone masonry arch railroad viaduct. It's over 3800' long (7/8th of a mile) and over 52' wide and supports 4 railroad tracks. The 48 arched bridge crosses the Susquehanna River and can bee seen from Rt 322 west of Harrisburg.
Mom had borrowed Katie's zoom lens for the camera and got some great close up pictures of the bridge and the bridge with a train on it. You can even see the graffiti on the train cars!
Now were all are, enjoying the last day of Spring Break. I think our deck has at least 1 or 2 inches of spring on it already! They say Tuesday we may get a Nor'easter. Wow, does mean more spring break?
Your Friend,
Leonard
