A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

bridge

Beating the heat with a little kick of adrenaline

And out they go!

The heat really seems to be able to make people do crazy stuff.

During a week in July, we had a pretty good heat wave in the Northeast. Though I’m sure it went longer than a week, there was one particular day it really stood out to me.

Two of us were doing a full day of geocaching as we did a bunch in New York, crossed into Vermont and then into Massachusetts, where were heading for a mega (more than 500 people) event. We knew it was hot because we were crossing certain caches off our list for the day — ones where we’d need to hike a bit.

How hot was it, you may ask?

This is one way to beat the heat!

It was to the point where when you were out of the car for a few minutes, you started sweating. We left the vehicle running at cache stops because we wanted to get back into an ice box.

A side thing, too — ever notice in the middle of a hot summer, we want to be cold? Yet, in a cold winter, we’re looking for heat. Go figure.

Anyway, I digress.

We arrived at one covered bridge, where a geocache was hidden. With a parking area close, the car was once again left on. A few minutes later, another car showed up. Two kids — probably in their late teens — showed up. They parked and walked past me and headed to the bridge. I didn’t think anything of it.

Until I heard a splash. And then another.

What the hell?

I started peeking around, got into the bridge and looked out the windows and, sure enough, those kids had gone jumping. Turns out they climbed out one of the windows. From there, they either jumped straight down or climbed on the little roof over the window and jumped from there.

There didn’t seem to be any scouting, either. You know, to see how deep things were etc. I’m sure this isn’t the first time they did it, but still … it had been awful hot. What if some of the depth had gone away?

We watched one more time and started talking to them some. It seems they enjoyed the adrenaline of it all (though one seemed a little more risk-taking than the other) and liked jumping in the water from higher heights. I took some photos and a couple of videos. They even humored me by switching sides, as the light was better.

Of course they did some recon on that one and checked the depth before jumping. Check out some video footage (sorry that there’s some shake in he footage):

These guys were daredevils. I’ve never been much of a person who is willing to do crazy things like that. I know there are adrenaline junkies out there, but it still amazes me when I see these things.

This wasn’t the only place we saw this. Over the course of the day, we visited eight covered bridges. I’d say we saw jumpers and no fewer than three of those bridges. One of them, people were climbing out the window and going to the roof of the bridge and then jumping down below.

Nuts!

Maybe I’m missing something in life not taking some risks like this. I imagine it’s quite exhilarating when you splash down on something like this. Or when bungee jumping or something along those lines.

The craziest thing I’ve done is para-sailing, which took some prodding for me to do. But I felt secure and it turned out to be quite a fun experience.

So, for those reading today — tell me, would you go bridge jumping? Or have you done things like this? And what’s the craziest thing you’ve done? I’m interested to see what others say.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Soundless Sunday: Sept. 8

“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”

— Henry Miller 

Millbrook Covered Bridge

Soundless Sunday is a weekly feature where I’ll try and feature a favorite quote and a photo that I’ve taken. Enjoy life — it’s the only way to go!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2013): Bridges

OK, so being the procrastinator, I waited until the end of the month to actually take my photos. That being said, I knew from the beginning what I was going to do … I just needed to decide how to do it.

A quick side note — when I finally got to doing this, something is wrong with my 17-40 mm lens. It won’t focus — even manually. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do this with a zoom lens, so I decided to get a bit artsy and use my Diana lens for all of these shots, which is why you’ll see that “dreamy” look to all of them — the older, plastic lens sort of idea. I like how they came out, too, so it made this even more fun.

Anyway, back to scheduled programming…

I’m a covered bridge nut.

For those of you who don’t live around or haven’t seen covered bridges, I feel for you. After all, these are some amazing structures. If you get the chance to see them one day — especially older historical ones — they are worth checking out and exploring a little.

I am lucky enough to have several in my area, all of which are historical. There are three within 30 minutes of me, with a fourth about 60 minutes or so. There are more than 20 historical covered bridges in New York, but I’m not sure of the exact number at this time. A couple of years ago, there were 24, but when Irene came through, it took out at least Blenheim, and there’s a chance one other was taken, too. That one is on private property, however, so I’m not sure.

These bridges are a throwback to yesteryear. The basis behind the covered bridges is they lasted longer because the roof protects the wooden bridge. There’s an old tale that it also helped farmers as having cows cross bridges with tops was easier. I’ve not seen that printed too much, so that might just be something that used to be said.

Anyway, these bridges are pretty amazing. The way they are built and how they stand are pretty amazing.

What I decided to do was deal with just one of the local bridges and take images from different angles, in and out. This is Fitch’s Bridge, which spans the West Branch of the Delaware River on the outskirts of Delhi. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, the bridge was built in 1870 and moved to its current location in 1885. In 2001, the bridge received a massive restoration and it still stands strong today.

Without further adieu, here are my five photos for June.

1. One Lane Bridge

I love this view of Fitch’s Bridge, though it’s better other times of the year. I took one during the winter a few years ago and it’s still one of my favorite images of this bridge.

One lane.

2. Five Dollars Fine

I love these old signs on the covered bridges. And I always like trying to catch when people walk through the bridge as the silhouette is a cool piece to a photo like this.

Five Dollar Fine.

3. Looking upstream 

This is a view through one of the windows on Fitch’s Bridge, looking up the West Branch of the Delaware River.

Fantastic view.

4. Fitch’s Bridge

A view of the bridge from Back River Road.

Fitch’s Bridge.

5. Magnificent structure

Of all the covered bridges I’ve seen, Fitch’s Bridge is still my favorite.

Still the best.

And that’s my five for the month of June. I hope you enjoyed the series.

If you took part this month, make sure you link up below. And for those who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment and visit so we can continue to grow this challenge.

Don’t forget, too, to come back Monday and see the theme for July!

NOTE: I also set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Perrine’s Covered Bridge

Perrine's Covered Bridge in Ulster County (New York)

During a recent geocaching outing to the Poughkeepsie area, I had the chance to see Perrine’s Covered Bridge.

Perrine’s is the second-oldest covered bridge in New York, so that was kind of cool.

For those who didn’t know already, I’m a bit of a covered bridge nut. I’m a big fan of seeing new ones and photographing as many as I can. In my area, there are three historical covered bridges within 30 minutes of each other.

In New York, there are 24 historic covered bridges. These are my favorites as most have stood the test of time, though some may no longer be open to vehicle traffic. I’d love to, eventually, see all 24 of these bridges. Alas, a few are private and at least one of those appears to be near impossible to get permission to see the bridge. That’s a shame as these are magnificent structures.

Two of those said private bridges are in my county. I’m going to see what kind of research I can do to attempt to be able to eventually see these bridges, but I don’t know if it will work out well or not.

Apparently, too, there is a non-historic covered bridge in my county as well. I’ve found a little info on it, but I’m not sure if it’s on public or private property. It seems to be an “authentic” covered bridge, but just not historic.

Of the 24 historic bridges in the state, I’ve now visited nine of them. I’ve also seen three in Maryland, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Vermont. I’d like to try and see a few more in New York this summer and maybe a couple in other states, if the chance is there.

As for Perrine’s…

It’s a really beautiful bridge. The main road zips past it on one side and the other side is picturesque. There’s a trail on the opposite side of the bridge from the road which is where one of the caches is. The bridge, itself, is also a virtual geocache.

The bridge was built in about 1844 and appears to still be in good shape.

According to Wikipedia, the bridge hasn’t had vehicle traffic since 1930. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1973.

This is worth the stop if you are in the area.

And if you see covered bridges anywhere, check ’em out. They are usually quite a cool thing to look at — especially the workmanship and craft of the historical ones.

You can see the rest of my photos of Perrine’s Bridge on my Flickr site.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.