Some ten years ago, my brother invited Diane and me to accompany him and a group of his fellow Chicago-area MSF instructors on a ride to Ocoee, Tennessee, over the Fourth of July week.  Little did we know at the time that the simple trip would grow into what has now become an annual event that we eagerly look forward to each July.  Over the intervening years, destinations for those trips have included the fantastic roads of the Ozarks, Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and a tour of lighthouses around Lake Michigan.  For our tenth annual ride this year, we decided to see how many covered bridges we could include in a trip through southeast Ohio, central Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Since that first trip in 2000, the group has become geographically dispersed, with regular members living in northern Illinois, southern Indiana, the Washington, DC, area, and South Carolina.  This year's designated meeting point was Cincinnati.  Diane and I, along with first time participants, Brian and Beth Hirshberg, departed the morning of Friday, July 3rd, for a backroads jaunt to SW Ohio.

Along the way, we stopped for lunch at Hinkle's Sandwich Shop on Main Street in downtown Madison.  Nature Dave had introduced us to it last year.  It's a 75-year old lunch counter renown for its White Castle-style hamburgers and malts made the old-fashioned way.  Since it was Unlimited Hydroplane race weekend in Madison, the place was packed, and we ended up enjoying the weather at a picnic table on the sidewalk. After meeting up with the rest of the group that evening, we caught up on events since last year's trip over dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

The objective for Saturday was to get to the cabin in Logan, Ohio, where we had arranged to stay for three nights.  Along the way, we made stops at several covered bridges.

We ran into a little rain just before we reached our destination.

Sunday's activities included a day ride on some wonderful SE Ohio roads with several stops at covered bridges, where Jennifer enthralled us with readings from the Big Book of Bridges.

After visiting so many bridges, we became quite adept at identifying the various types of truss structures.  This is a prime example of a simple kingpost truss.

Monday brought another day ride with visits to more...you guessed it...covered bridges.  This is the Bay/Tinker Bridge which is located at the fairgrounds near McArthur, Ohio.

The R.F. Baker Covered Bridge, which sits just upstream of a scenic waterfall, is an example of an unusual design with open sides.

And it was at the waterfall where we learned Brian's response when his mother asked, "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you?"  His reply obviously was, "Yes."

We also visited the Buckeye Furnace Park which features a restored early-20th century iron furnace.  The park manager graciously opened the musuem for us, where we watched a video which explained the workings of the furnace and life in the accompanying company village.  The park includes a restored company store, and they are working to add examples of the cabins where the workers would have lived.  And yes, there was also a covered bridge in the park.

Gary, Dwayne and Cy debate the structural merits of this double Howe truss design.

Tuesday was a travel day as we headed some 400 miles east to Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania, where we had arranged a house for three nights.  Because of the distance we needed to travel, we kept bridge stops to a minimum.  But we did visit a few along the way.  The most notable was the 285 foot long Philippi Covered Bridge in Philippi, West Virginia.  Not only is it a spectacular covered bridge in its own right, but it has the distinction of being the only covered bridge on a US highway (US 250).  It is also the sight of the first land battle of the Civil War, when it was used as a barracks for Union troops.

<== Dwayne ponders the historic structure. Diane and Gary on the pedestrian walkway along the outside of the bridge. ==>

Gary spotted this reptilian resident of one bridge.

An interesting aspect of these trips is arriving at a house or cabin that we've rented, essentially sight unseen via the internet, and finding out what it's like.  Sometimes they are good; often they are a bit of a disappointment.  The Iron Horse Inn in Gettysburg turned out to be a real delight.  Perhaps the best place we've ever stayed.  It is apparently run as a bed and breakfast part of the year, but we were able to rent the entire house for ourselves.

Chris and Diane's bedroom in the original portion of the stone house.

Two of the three dining room tables.

Diane and Jennifer share a joke.

After a short trip to York Wednesday morning, we spent the afternoon at the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield touring the museum and cyclorama at the Visitors Center.

Thursday brought a fabulous ride along some nice Pennsylvania roads, with stops at several picturesque and well cared-for covered bridges.  The first one of the day, the Sachs covered bridge just outside the National Battlefield park, was my favorite of the trip.  It also has a place in Civil War history as it served as the route of retreat for Lee's Confederate army after the battle.

It provided a nice example of a Town's truss stucture.

Later in the day, we hit a covered bridge jackpot with some six bridges spanning Sherman Creek all within a distance of less than 10 miles.

<== Jennifer and Cy celebrate our arrival at another bridge! We don't need no stinkin' bridges. ==>

We're going to use this as our next album cover.  The working title... "Trolls Under the Bridge."

The bikes at sunset after our return to the Stone House.

We packed up Friday morning and headed southwest into Maryland where we found a nice bridge or two.

Chris attempted a little offroad excavation and managed to get the GS stuck. Look, Ma...No sidestand!

Later in the day, we stopped at the unique Humpback bridge in Virginia.

You never know what you'll find by the road.  Seems like a strange place for someone to lose a wig.

After calling it a day in Lewisburg, WV, we continued our trek westward on Saturday.

On our way to our final destination of Dry Ridge, KY, we found the twisties of KY 22 to be an excellent ride.

Sunday brought the inevitable end of the trip as we split up and headed back toward our respective hometowns.

If you've made it this far, I'll wrap up with a few more examples of the types of trusses we saw...

<== A nicely restored Howe truss. And a Queenpost truss. ==>

A Multiple Kingpost truss with Burr Arch.

And finally, this one has a little bit of everything...it's a Multiple Kingpost, with a couple of Queenposts, all overlayed with a Burr Arch.

Chris Hancock July 2009