What a trip!

[Laura's Babies]

Since my boat was in the shipyard, they had to put me on another one to get my days in. I knew when I left home that I was going on the Ohio River, just didn't know which boat.. I ended up on this one...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/MJG2.jpg

I was taken to just below Cincinatti to get on, spent 26 days on it and got off about 30 miles above Cincinatti. We made 2 trips up to Pittsburg, arriving both times just in time for those winter storms. Now, living in the deep south, we can not buy clothes for that kind of weather but I didn't have to go out in it so I didn't! I use to work on the Ohio river when I first hired in with the company and always wanted to do another trip up there, just not in the winter!

The boats regular cook is off due to having surgery and these guys were really excited to have me there without even knowing what kind of cook I was. I worried all the way to the boat about the type of crew I would have and afraid they wouldn't like my southern style of cooking. Ha! They LOVED my cooking, the pilot even told me he has been out there 30 years and never has seen a cook, cook as good as I do... and I thought up until then, that the man didn't even like me because he hardly spoke to me.

All in all, it was a great trip, not my choice of where I'd rather be but I am glad I had the experience and I did enjoy it. The Ohio is so different from the Lower Mississippi that I took tons of pictures and thought I would share a few with you. On to the pictures...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0125.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0127.jpg

A crew member getting off at a lock.. I had to climb a lock wall to get on and off that boat. The ladder is between those black and white strips on the wall.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0148.jpg

Going into a lock
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0241.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0270.jpg

more coming

[Laura's Babies]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0167.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0227.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0162.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0316.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0319.jpg

[Laura's Babies]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0318.jpg

Guys doing tow work
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0299-1.jpg

River freezing over... Now THAT'S cold!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0289.jpg

The other cook climbing down the lock wall the day I got off..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0348.jpg

Giz Welcoming me home last night... (Just throw it down and she will come)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0364.jpg

[catlover4ever]

Hi Laura, welcome home!!! We missed you!!! Thank you for sharing some photos with us. I loved all of them. Enjoy your time home!!! :)

[Karen]

Hee hee - Paul was at an event yesterday held at a Marriott near here. One of the people commented on "the lake" out in front of the hotel.
"That's not a lake," one woman explained - that's the Charles River."
"But, how can it be frozen? Don't rivers have a current? Doesn't that keep them from freezing?"

Yes, he was from Florida.

I am sure are glad to be back home, but welcome North whenever you are! :) Winter has its own kind of beauty, up here where the rivers can freeze.

[Taz_Zoee]

Welcome home Laura!! I had to think a minute because it just seems like a couple weeks ago that you left. I can't believe it's already been almost 4 weeks!!

[lvpets2002]

:eek: WoW this trip looks aweesome.. Such beauty.. Sorry about the cold/weather.. Well so glad your home safe & had a good working trip.. I am sure the babies were so glad to see you.. Snuggles & Huggss to the babies..

[Scooter's Mom]

Welcome home, and thank you for the photos!
We sure missed you.

[phesina]

Welcome home, Laura! What a sweet welcome home you got from all the kitties.

Thank you for all the pictures. Are those from around Cincinnati?

[snowbelle15]

This trip looked fun except for the weather of course. The pictures were beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[smokey the elder]

Neat shots! And, I approve of the name of the boat. :p

The Hudson is frozen to the point where there hasn't been ferry service at Haverstraw or Newburgh since mid-December!

[cassiesmom]

Wow, neat pictures! I hope DavidP gets to look at them. I especially like the last photo in the first post- it looks so serene.

When I worked at the Rehab Institute, it always used to amaze me that the surface of Lake Michigan would freeze. But it was never smoothly frozen because of the water movement under the ice. That was always one of the signs of spring for me, when we could look out of the windows from the patient rooms that faced the lake, and see the ice cracking, then melting.

[Laura's Babies]

phesina- Thank you for all the pictures. Are those from around Cincinnati?

Yes, I got on below Cincinatti and got off above it. I love that bridge!
Some are along the way up and some of Pittsburg one on the Monongahela River.

I hope Davidp gets to see I was in his neck of the woods!

[Killearn Kitties]

Welcome back! Your pictures are beautiful!

Frozen rivers! :eek: You weren't in danger of getting stuck until Spring were you?

[davidpizzica]

Laura, I'm sorry you didn't get a warmer welcome in Pittsburgh, but you did get some nice pics of the downtown area. I liked the shots of the Duquesne Incline and the Majestic, both of which I've been on plenty of times. I live less than ten minutes from the downtown (up the Allegheny river) so I know the area well.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Since my boat was in the shipyard, they had to put me on another one to get my days in.
I knew when I left home that I was going on the Ohio River, just didn't know which boat ...
I ended up on this one...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/MJG2.jpg


Michael J. Grainger
0529829
Length 168 feet - Width 40 feet -
Twin Screw GM 16-645E7B 5000 hp
Built 1970 by Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA
Originally named: Steel Courier
Renamed: Michael J. Grainger 12/1996

PS: The BOAT was visiting Its Hometown, too!
The Dravo Corp Shipyard, on Neville Island, right on the Ohio River,
is just south of The Point in Pittsburgh.




We made 2 trips up to Pittsburgh, arriving both times just in time for those winter storms.
... I used to work on the Ohio river when I first hired in with the company and
always wanted to do another trip up there, just not in the winter!

The Ohio is so different from the Lower Mississippi that I took tons of pictures
and thought I would share a few with you. On to the pictures...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0125.jpg


HUH?? :confused:

HEY - I lived in P-burgh for 25 years ... where'd THAT bridge hide all that time?
I spent 3 hours searching on http://pghbridges.com/index.htm
for that Mystery Bridge ... on an impulse - I tried Cincinnati ...
a "distant Suburb" :p of Pittsburgh. Yuppers, that snappie is of the
John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio,
and Covington, Kentucky.
see: http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/suspension.html

http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/suspension1.jpg

Hey - It's (sorta) close to Pittsburgh!
----------------------------------------------------




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0316.jpg


Now THAT's a famous Pittsburgh Antique!
The Monongahela Incline

The Monongahela Incline (built in 1870) is located near the Smithfield Street bridge,
directly across the Monongahela River from downtown Pittsburgh.
It has a length of 635 feet (193.5 m), a height of 367.4 feet (112 m), and a
grade of 78% (38 degrees). Its lower station is across the street from
the Station Square shopping complex, and is easily accessible from the light rail system (http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Pittsburgh/LightRail/)
at the Station Square station. It is operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County (http://www.portauthority.org/),
which operates the rest of Pittsburgh's transit system.

It's one of only two (out of an original 15) Inclined Railways that still operate
on Mt. Washington
(Pittsburgh's *BIGG* Hill) ... If you're ever in P-burgh, make a ride on either the
Monongahela or the Duquesne Inclines a Must Do!
The view of downtown P-burgh is BREATHTAKING from the Inclines!

Here's a site >>> http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Pittsburgh/Inclines/
with lots of details and photos of the Inclines.

THANKS to Laura for all those Memories ... :love::love::love:

/s/ Phred

[kuhio98]

Hee hee - Paul was at an event yesterday held at a Marriott near here. One of the people commented on "the lake" out in front of the hotel.
"That's not a lake," one woman explained - that's the Charles River."
"But, how can it be frozen? Don't rivers have a current? Doesn't that keep them from freezing?"

Yes, he was from Florida.

I am sure are glad to be back home, but welcome North whenever you are! :) Winter has its own kind of beauty, up here where the rivers can freeze.
It would probably blow his mind to learn that we drive on frozen rivers all winter. Much easier to get around. :D

[Laura's Babies]

Check this out Phred, they still have this on the boat, it was getting polished for crew change here..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0275.jpg

To clearify myself, I took pictures all the way up and back from the time I got on and off the boat...ALL the pictures are not of Pittsburg, they run from Cincinatti to the Monongahela River.

[Freedom]

Hi Laura, welcome back!

You have such a good eye for a photo, I always marvel at how you can snap a photo of something others see everyday, and yet, it is awesome! The photo with the reflection of the trees in the water -- :eek: WOW!

The ladder you must climb up and down, glad someone does it, also glad it is not me! :p

That 3rd photo, with all the murals! I've seen some wall art, but nothing that extensive.

And the picture with the mist rising from the water, brrrr!

And thank you, Phred, for the insight and detail for Laura's pictures. For now, I can only do arm chair tours, so I enjoyed this entire thread SO much!

I can't believe NO ONE has commented on the last photo, I was laughing the moment I saw Giz. Good caption, "just throw it down and she will come" she misses you -- or your bag at least! :D I know, your scent is just so strong, and she needs to catch up!

[davidpizzica]

Yes, I got on below Cincinatti and got off above it. I love that bridge!
Some are along the way up and some of Pittsburg one on the Monongahela River.

I hope Davidp gets to see I was in his neck of the woods!

Laura, a short ride up the Allegheny river and we could have had a mini PT meeting!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Check this out Phred, they still have this [Bell] on the boat,
it was getting polished for crew change here..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0275.jpg



< gasp >
:cool:

WOW!
Nice polish job the Crew did!

:D

[Laura's Babies]

Laura, a short ride up the Allegheny river and we could have had a mini PT meeting!

I thought about you and told the guys I knew someone who lived up there. If I'd had a way to get your phone number I would have called you but the weather was so bad I doubt you could have come out. That would have been so cool though, wouldn't it?! We spent a day up there the first time we were up there. Right here! (On the Monongahela River)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0162.jpg

[Randi]

Welcome back! :) Glad you had a good trip, Laura, you had some stunning views and I know the crew loved your cooking. :D

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[davidpizzica]

I thought about you and told the guys I knew someone who lived up there. If I'd had a way to get your phone number I would have called you but the weather was so bad I doubt you could have come out. That would have been so cool though, wouldn't it?! We spent a day up there the first time we were up there. Right here! (On the Monongahela River)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0162.jpg

Laura, I think that day was one of our below zero days and even for Pittsburgh it was bitterly cold. Maybe one day when it's warmer you can make a trip.

[Trinityagain]

We basically pass this on our way to and from work each day!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Grammy707/OHIO%20RIVER%202009/IMG_0162.jpg[/QUOTE]

[Laura's Babies]

David, someone gave us a newspaper and it said it was -3 that night and warmed up to 4* during the day. :eek: WARMED UP? :eek:


We basically pass this on our way to and from work each day!


Well heck, we could have held a big party (me doing the cooking of coarse!) and had a great time!

While I would love to go do another trip on the Ohio during the SUMMER... those 2 days in a car like to have killed me and it is something I hope I never have to do I again. I am not fond of having to climb those lock walls either.

It is so pretty up there and I can't get over how everything is built right up to the river up there. On the lower Mississippi we see nothing but levee's and woods. I love the mountians! We don't have those in the deep south.. :(

[davidpizzica]

David, someone gave us a newspaper and it said it was -3 that night and warmed up to 4* during the day. :eek: WARMED UP? :eek:



Well heck, we could have held a big party (me doing the cooking of coarse!) and had a great time!

While I would love to go do another trip on the Ohio during the SUMMER... those 2 days in a car like to have killed me and it is something I hope I never have to do I again. I am not fond of having to climb those lock walls either.

It is so pretty up there and I can't get over how everything is built right up to the river up there. On the lower Mississippi we see nothing but levee's and woods. I love the mountians! We don't have those in the deep south.. :(

Laura, that was the actual temperature. Figuring in the wind chill that night it was more like -18 degrees! When it got to 4 degrees it felt like a relative heat wave!

[Laura's Babies]

I kept asking the guys "...and people REALLY live up here! ":eek:

I have to say this, it sure is pretty up there, even frozen!