Week 415 - The Bridges of North America, Part 2 - 07-27-2014

The Bridges of North America, Part 2

Just 50 more bridges and you can judge "Which bridge is the most beautiful?".

The Arizona Memorial is "The Bridge over Troubled Water" at Pearl Harbor. Although it was not the inspiration for Simon and Garfunkel's big hit, it is an awesome experience to come here and pay tribute to the servicemen who gave their lives.

These two bridges reach out from Louisville, Kentucky across the Ohio River to Indiana. The Clark Memorial Bridge and the Martin Luther King, Jr., are both truss bridges.

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge: This beautiful "stayed-cable" bridge crosses the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau, Missouri and East Cape Girardeau, Illinois.

In 1893 a water pipeline was built in the Whitewater Canyon, an hour north of Silver City, New Mexico. In the 1930's the CCC built a walkway along the canyon. The Catwalk Trail has been upgraded several times and today is a fascinating hike. The trail has a variety of bridges, these two are cantilevered off the canyon walls.

1) This photo was taken from the "bridge" of the DuckMeister. The DuckMeister is a 40-foot two-master bedroom yacht on a harbor in the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky. We met Don "Duck" in 2011 at the Louisville Elks. Ellen shared the fact with Duck that we needed to rebuild our Cummins engine. After knowing Duck only a few minutes, he offered to allow us to stay on his yacht for free while the MotherShip was repaired. "Elks Care Elks Share" is very true! We had not heard from Duck since our time in 2011 but think of his generosity often. Amazingly, the day after we created this travelogue, Duck called just to see how we are doing; wow!

1) This truss bridge gives passage over the Pecos River in Carlsbad, New Mexico. 2) Yosemite Valley has a number of "post and beam" ground level "bridges" to protect the wet marshes.

Pueblo, Colorado has a gorgeous river walk spanned here by a "through arch" bridge.

Royal Gorge, Canon City, Colorado. This suspension bridge, built in 1929, is the highest bridge in the United Status at 955 feet above the Arkansas River. While it was built as a tourist attraction, you can drive your car across for a toll. Sorry, MotherShip, you are too fat! The total building cost was $350,000 and paid entirely by the tolls. We visited in 2008. We were staying at the Elks in Pueblo with our good RV friends Lauren and Jeanette. They asked if we had been to Royal Gorge. "No, we had never even heard about it". So we went. This is one of the best things about full time RV travel. Without deadlines, you can take a 150 mile side trip and see incredible things like this. Sadly, on June 11, 2013 the Royal Gorge Fire damaged 48 of the 52 structures in the park. The park had rides such as an aerial tram and an incline train ride down to the river. And dozens of shops, food shacks, domestic animals and more. Slowly, they are rebuilding the park (open in 2014 on weekends only with a guided tour) but at some point will be a fully functioning "unguided" attraction again.

1)This Alaskan "Bridge to Somewhere" is at Camp Li-Wa allowing you to cross over the marsh. We spent three weeks in 2009 working at Camp Li-Wa, a Christian kids camp in Fairbanks, Alaska. 2) The Nenana bridge over the Tanana River in Alaska. "Knock, knock, orange you glad we didn't say Banana?"

There are lots of bridges on California Hwy 70 between Paradise and Quincy. 1) An arch bridge and 2) two truss bridges, one for cars, the other for the railroad.

1) This post and beam walking bridge lets you cross a tributary of the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park, Texas. 2) The bridge in Outdoor Resorts Indio lets you see the golf balls you hit into the water as you drive your cart to the next tee.

Oso Flaco Lake is near Guadalupe, California. These bridges keep your feet dry as you hike from the parking lot to the Oceano Dunes and the Pacific Ocean.

Another marvelous river walk is in Oklahoma City. The "through arch" bridge spans the walkway. This river walk is a "must do" when in OK City.

1) When in Denali National Park, you can use this bridge to cross one of Alaska's 3,000 rivers. 2) Sure, an overpass is a bridge! And some are really pretty like this one in Mesquite, Nevada.

This bridge on Louisiana's Hwy 10 looks more like a roller coaster than a highway. Seeing this, we got a big run in the MotherShip and made it to the top. The ride down was uneventful.

Bryce Canyon "Natural Bridge" does not fall into the bridge types we have been presenting. Also, after you would cross the bridge, left to right, you would fall on your face. Think of it as a bridge to heaven.

The bridges or boardwalks in Potter Marsh, south of Anchorage, Alaska are extensive. We are not sure the total length, but it is huge like Alaska. The 564 acre marsh was a by-product when the Alaskan Railroad built an embankment along the Turnagain Arm (an inlet of the ocean) and is home to 130 species of birds. Pete's sister Donnalee flew into Anchorage and could not get enough of this place even at midnight when this photo was taken. 2) Twitchell Lake on California's Hwy 166 is usually under this bridge which is why it was built.

Pensacola Bay Bridge is only 3 miles long, but that must be long enough for folks to run out of gas and prompt this signage.

After the Pensacola Bay Bridge reaches the Gulf Breeze peninsula you can continue on another bridge to Pensacola Beach. Then you can drive 17 miles east along Santa Rosa Island only to find out that the bridge back to the mainland was washed out by by a hurricane (we believe Ivan in 2004). This would have been a nice sign: Check Fuel, 22 miles from the start of the Pensacola Bay Bridge is a washed out bridge and you'll have to come back the same way for a total of 44 miles! Backing up the MotherShip for over one quarter mile to find a place to turn around was fun also!

Mandy, age three months, played on her first bridge, the arched Navajo Bridge which crosses the Colorado River's Marble Canyon near Lee's Ferry, Arizona.

1) This bridge is part of the one mile hike to the Thunderbird Falls on the Eagle River in Alaska. 2) The Dames Point bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, is another "stayed-cable" bridge.

1) The now-completed bridge, by-passing Hoover Dam, had a nice start here in March 2008. 2) Stone Mountain Park, just east of Atlanta, Georgia, is home to this covered bridge. Motorhomes need not apply.

The New Cooper River Bridge connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Construction of the stayed-cable bridge, also known as the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, took 20 years to convince the local, state and Federal lawmakers to fund the 425 million dollar cost. It was completed in 2005 just two years before the MotherShip tested it. It is quite beautiful.

1) A foot bridge in Pawley's Island, South Carolina appears to be a bridge to nowhere, but it let's you get from the MotherShip, shown in the background, to nice fishing spot just behind the camera. 2) This truss bridge in Parker, Arizona carries trains across the Colorado River.

California's Highway 49 is very narrow and twisty just south of Auburn. These two bridges are post and beam. The first spans the American River, while the second is viewed from Hwy 49 as the bridge crosses Don Pedro Lake.

Somewhere south of Don Pedro Lake and north of Oakhurst. Nice bridge but we present this just for the wow factor of Hwy 49.

If you look hard enough you might make out the Manhattan Bridge shown from the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

1) British Columbia's Cassiar Hwy is 450 miles long, with no RV hookups, a few gas stops and numerous bridges, like this one. 2), California's Highway 1 from Ragged Point to Monterey is one of the most beautiful drives in the world. For most of the trip you are viewing the Pacific Ocean. And the bridge architecture is stunning as shown here in this arch bridge.

Our final entry is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Is this the most beautiful bridge? Why might it be? You have to wait until next week to find out!

If you made it this far, send us an email and let us know! If you didn't, how is it that you are reading this?

Love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from 2007 to 2009