Huffman Mill Bridge

 

First thing I want to do today is congratulate my beautiful grand daughter, Chelsi.  She made the honor role again for the last semester.  I am not only proud of her, but also her parents for helping her, and responding to her aid when they discovered she had a problem.  She was diagnosed with ADS a few years back.  Jon and Angie immediately took her to good Doctors, hired Tutors for her, and I must say the school system also helped them out.  Instead of sticking her in a special class, as they usually do, they put her in extra reading and comprehension classes to boost her ability to learn and understand.  It has made such a difference in her grades and her overall look at her future.  She has always wanted to be a Chef, and still does.  To say I am proud of them is putting it very mildly.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Wizard Oron.  I could find no site for you, but please share it with me if you have one.  I will be glad to post it here.  Hope you enjoy ridding along with us as we get back on the road.

We had a great time with Herb and Willie on Thursday evening.  We played games at their house until around 5, when their daughter, Charlotte picked up the grand dog.  Shortly after we hopped in the truck and drove out to Leopold, Indiana to get our chicken livers.  Again I forgot to take any pictures.  Marcy’s is where we go, and it is a nice little Bar/Restaurant, and they do serve the best chicken livers, and plenty of them. Not as many as they once put on a plate, but still enough for at least 2 meals.

Friday we put Rusty in the truck and rode out to visit Huffman Mill Bridge. The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge crosses the Anderson River on County Road 1490 North connecting the counties of Spencer and Perry.  This single span Burr Arch Truss structure has a length of 136 feet, or 156 feet including the 10-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet 6 inches wide by 11 feet 6 inches high.  built by William T. Washer in 1864 for the sum of $5,700.00, this bridge was named for its close proximity to the nearby Mill that had been built by George Huffman.  Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 the Huffman Mill Covered Bridge was for many years secluded beneath heavy foliage as it carried local traffic across the Anderson River between Spencer and Perry Counties until 2004 when a new road bypassed the old structure; though now much easier to view, I’m always a bit sad when these grand bridges are no longer able to perform their designed task.

The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is listed in the 1989 “World Guide to Covered Bridges,” published by The National Society for the Preservation of covered Bridges, Inc., as 14-62-05.  It is so sad that at one time in Indiana there were over 600 covered bridges, and now only 90, with 2 others being repaired. 

I took lots of pictures and will share them with you.

Most of the pictures are self explanatory, but let me help you with a couple of them.  The water is Anderson River, a small river most of the time, but in spring floods it is always way out of it’s banks.  The first collage is of Donnie and Rusty hiking over the bridge.  That gives you some kind of idea how long it is.  The next collage is of a small little town, Bristow.  The feed mill is very old, but I couldn’t find any info on it. In the same collage is my favorite green house.  This is where we always got our bedding plants, both vegies and flowers.  The last collage is of one of the weeds that grows all over Southern Indiana and Kentucky.  They are lilies, and I think they are beautiful, but most people treat them as a weed.

It is much cooler here today, but the humidity  is unbearable.  We are planning to take a hike with Rusty later, on another new trail here in Tell City.  I will write more about it, the Relay, and Mason’s Birthday on another day.

I really would love your opinions on this.  I have been thinking about adding AdSense to my blog, but would like to know what all of you think about that.  I have broad shoulders, so please don’t spare my feelings.  I can handle the Con as well as Pro.   Thank you, all of your opinions mean a lot to me.

Stay cool…