Barn Charm Tuesday

Blue Ridge, VA....to see barns from all over the world, visit Barn Charm!

Mellow Yellow Monday - Signage One

Taken @ the Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

Linking to: Mellow Yellow Monday  click on the link and go brighten your day!

Ozzy Sunday

Children and dogs are as necessary to the welfare of the country as Wall Street and the railroads. ~ Harry S Truman

SkyWatch Friday - Scenes From Harpers Ferry VII

Built by the Pencoyd Construction Company in 1893 this railroad bridge crosses the Potomac River into Harpers Ferry, WV

Linking to SkyWatch Friday!

Scenes From Harpers Ferry VI

Cobblestone, rock and brick...these are a few of my favorite things!

Watery Wednesday - Scenes From Harpers Ferry V

A different kind of "watery" shot for today. I thought this measurement of the flood levels gives a great perspective of how high the water was!

Memorable Floods at Harpers Ferry

	Here at Harpers Ferry, where the waters of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers converge, floods have inundated the Lower Town since the first white settlers arrived here more than two centuries ago. The town's more memorable floods are listed below. 1748. According to local legend, floodwaters drove Robert Harper from the log cabin he had acquired from Peter Stephens. 1753. "The Pumpkin Flood," so named for the great numbers of pumpkins washed down from the gardens of nearby Indian villages. 1852. The greatest flood since the first settlers arrived at Harpers Ferry. Waterpower dams on the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers suffered considerable damage. 1870. (September 30-October 1). The Shenandoah River rose so rapidly that residents were trapped on Virginius Island. Floodwaters swept away much of the island's homes and industry and claimed 42 lives at Harpers Ferry. 1877. (November 25). High water caused considerable damage to the C&O Canal and closed the old Shenandoah Canal for good. The flood crest was 29.2 feet. 1889. (June 1). The rivers rose to a record height – 34.8 feet – destroying the Shenandoah wagon bridge and forcing the Child & McCreight flour mill on Virginius Island to close for good. 1896. (October 1). One of the worst floods in the town's history. The rivers crested at 33.0 feet. 1924. (May 3). Floodwaters swept away three spans from the Bollman highway bridge across the Potomac River and permanently closed the C&O Canal. The rivers rose to 27.6 feet. 1936. (March 18-19). 36½ feet – the all-time record crest at Harpers Ferry. The Bollman highway bridge and Shenandoah bridge were swept away for good, while many businesses in the Lower Town were left in ruins. 1942. (October 16). All-time record crest for the Shenandoah Valley. Floodwaters reached 33.8 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry. 1972. (June 23). Floodwater from Hurricane Agnes swelled to 29.7 feet here but caused relatively little damage. 1985. (November 5-6). The Potomac and Shenandoah rivers crested at 29.8 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry, leaving behind several inches of mud. 1996. January 20-21: Rain and snowmelt from the record Blizzard of January 1996 – which dumped more than two feet of snow in the valleys of the Potomac and Shenandoah – caused the rivers to rise to 29.4 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry. September 8: Devastating rains from the remnants of Hurricane Fran fell across the Shenandoah and Potomac river basins. The rivers rose to 29.8 feet, marking the first time in the town's history that two floods in excess of 29 feet have occurred in a single year. (from the National Parks Service website) Linking to Watery Wednesday

Barn Charm Tuesday

A little Catawba Valley barn...to see barns from all over, visit barn charm :)

Scenes From Harpers Ferry IV

I know, I know, I'm obsessed with these neat little houses/buildings!

Ozzy Sunday

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside
on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring, it was peace."
Milan Kundera


Is anyone having trouble with their font? blogger keeps changing it on me. I've had trouble yesterday and today with it.

Saturday Sareenity - Scenes From Harpers Ferry III

The view from Jefferson Rock

Jefferson Rock is several large masses of shale rock piled one upon the other that overlook the
Shenandoah River just prior to its confulence with the Potomac River. The name of this landmark
derives from Thomas Jefferson, who stood there on October 25, 1783. He found the view from the rock impressive and wrote that "this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic".

Linking to Saturday Sareenity and Weekly Top Shot


Ozzy Saturday will now be moved to Ozzy Sunday!

SkyWatch Friday - Scenes from Harpers Ferry II

Looking up at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. The original church was built in 1833 and was the only church to escape destruction during the Civil War. The church was extensively altered in 1896 in the then popular Neo-Gothic style which is seen today.

To see more skies from all over the world, visit Skyley!

Scenes From Harpers Ferry I

I think I mentioned how much I love, love, LOVE the town of Harpers Ferry. All the little buildings just have such a European feel to them, maybe because Harpers Ferry was settled by Europeans back in the day. The downtown is run by the National Park Service and there are a few private residences. I mentioned to Nick that it would be like living in an amusement park to live in one of these homes in a National Park.

Over the next few days I'll take you on a tour of Harpers Ferry :)

Watery Wednesday

Kayaking on the very cold Shenandoah River, Harper's Ferry, WV

Linking to Watery Wednesday 

Barn Charm Tuesday

Yesterday I had to drive Christian over to his friend's house for a sleepover (there is no school today) so I took the back road through Catawba. I never mind taking him over there as this is such a scenic drive. Braden and Dalton were getting quite annoyed with me though that I kept stopping for barns. They were in a hurry to get home and play with friends. Every time I'd pull over, I'd get an earful from the backseat ;)

To see barns from all over the world, visit Tricia @ Barn Charm!

John Brown's Fort - Harpers Ferry, WV

(the fort is the building in the background, taken from the monument where the fort originally stood)

Sunday we woke up bright and early and took a 3 hour drive up to Harpers Ferry, WV. Nick had been wanting to go there for a while and we ended up taking advantage of the FREE National Park Days weekend (there are several throughout the year). It was cold out, just in the low 30's but no wind and all sun made it bearable plus it seems like winter is the perfect time to visit as there really weren't many people around. It's a really neat little town!



NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
John Brown Fort
The structure we now call John Brown's Fort was erected in 1848 as the Armory’s fire engine and guard house. The building was described in a June 30, 1848, Armory report: "An engine and guard-house, 35½ x 24 feet, one story brick, covered with slate, and having copper gutters and down spouts, has been constructed, and is now occupied." It was in this building that John Brown and several of his followers barricaded themselves during the final hours of their ill-fated raid of October 16, 17, and 18, 1859.

To read more on John Brown and Harpers Ferry, visit Harpers Ferry NPS

Ozzy Saturday

I've decided to devote Saturdays to Ozzy. Here he is today....on the 20th he will be 11 mos old already!

SkyWatch Friday

Downtown Roanoke on a Sunday afternoon....not a lot of sky action here, just kind of blah, but sometimes that's just how it is. To see skies from all over the world, visit skyley. Have a great weekend :)

Engine 6

This was my favorite train at the Museum of Transportation. In the background you can see a couple of my boys coming out of another train. This museum is great fun for kids!

Meet Mr. Messimer

On Sunday while at the Virginia Museum of Transportation we met Mr. Harry Messimer. Mr. Messimer volunteers at the museum since retiring from driving a bus less than a year ago. He drove a Greyhound for over 30 years and has a huge collection of Greyhound memorabilia which is stored right there in the museum. He's also very happy to show you around and tell you about his Greyhound days. What an interesting and kind man Mr. Messimer is. Glad we visited the museum on his day to volunteer!

Barn Charm Tuesday

Catawba Valley...to see barns from all over, visit Barn Charm :)

Mellow Yellow Monday

This old Flapper dress is in the Western Virginia History Museum . We went there yesterday and I will warn you, if you do go, call first and ask if they have their whole museum out of storage yet. I guess they are moving and most of their pieces are in storage so it was a bit disappointing..only a small room of music history. Isn't the dress super though? Imagine all the fun parties this little dress has gone to! Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Saturday Sareenity-Weekly Challenge One

Located in Buchanan, Va... To participate in the Weekly Sareenity or to just view the entries, visit My Third Eye by clicking the badge below!

SkyWatch Friday

During our walk at Greenfield on Monday...the clouds rolling in...preparing to give us a little snow. To see skies from all over the world, visit Skyley!

Playing with contrast after Rohit's advice...a little better? More?

Downtown

Historic Bedford...

Snow

On Monday we went over to Greenfield to do a little walking. It was very cold out and then started to snow. It was so windy that the snow was even blowing sideways. It only lasted for about a half hour then the sun poked out and the snow was no more.

Barn Charm Tuesday

On Poor Farm Road, Fincastle. Today is back to school for us here. The Christmas break is over and it flew by. In a few minutes I'll have to start waking kids up. They are going to be disappointed that there is school today. Last night there were talks of school closings or delays due to the small amount of snow that fell around us but managed to completely miss our county, yet again....are we ever going to see snow this winter? To check out more barns, visit Barn Charm!

Wrought Iron

A window in Fincastle. Did you know that blogger did away with the Friend Connect, or is going to? I took mine down since it will soon be obsolete. I guess they are wanting you to use Google+ ? Also, does anyone know how I can fix my paragraphs? Blogger changed something and now when I am drafting my post, I insert my paragraphs but it doesn't show up when it publishes, it just shows up in a big ongoing post, like this. Dang blogger!

January Theme Day - Photo of the Year

Wow, can you believe another year is gone? This is the year I've been dreading for years actually. Ashlyn will be graduating high school and going on to college. She is still in the process of acceptance letters and decisions. This year seemed so far away before yet here it is in a blink of an eye. Anyways.....the image I chose for the theme is one of my favorites. We spent a lot of hot summer days at this spot on Craig Creek. Ozzy just loves the water as you can see here :) Happy New Year! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants