A busy day by the river

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Downtown Lawrenceburg

Even though it was a very cold and breezy day on Saturday, we still enjoyed a very nice day trip along a stretch of the Ohio River. It was one of those no itinerary trips. We just drove around and took in the sights.

Standing in front of a large wood chair in Aurora

We took the I-275 interstate bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky and drove through the Creation Museum grounds. Returning to Indiana we stopped at Lawrenceburg, followed the River Road and went as far as Aurora.  All in all we had a wonderful and exciting day as we took in the sights of southeast Indiana.

Mural remembers an 1885 fire wagon

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Aurora, Indiana is a quaint and historic Ohio River town about 34 miles downriver from Cincinnati, Ohio. Go back to February, 1885 and see the city spend $3000 for a horse drawn steam pumper suitably christened Aurora. This beautiful horse drawn firewagon served the city well. In 1962 it was loaned to the Cincinnati Fire Museum in trade for professional restoration and the right to display. There Aurora remains.

In 2017 Mr. Don Andrew, a local resident and businessman, commissioned the Christian Dallas Art company to paint a mural on the side of his building depicting the Aurora in her stable with the team of horses being hitched up. Andrew paid $11,000 towards the total cost of $16,000. The rest was paid from the City of Aurora’s 2017 Facade Improvement Grant funded through riverboat gaming. This mural will really catch your attention when you first come into town on the Ohio River Scenic Highway.

A power plant on its last years

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The Miami Fort Power Station is located on the banks of the Ohio River in Hamilton County, Ohio immediately east of the tripoint of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. This power plant is a dual-fuel power generating facility, consisting of a major coal-fired electrical power plant that is supplemented with a small oil-fired facility.

Photo from Lawrenceburg Indiana riverfront, I-275 bridge and Miami Fort plant ln the distance

With its origin dating back to the first coal fired unit in 1949, the most recent coal unit was commissioned in 1978. Oil fired units were commissioned in 1971. The facility was originally owned by Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company (CG&E) which became Duke Energy. Currently Dynegy is the owner.

View of the power plant from the northbound lanes of the I-275 bridge

The huge plant is impossible to miss when you are traveling on I-275 crossing the Ohio River. It is east of the bridge and the columns of smoke at times are dominant in the skies. As of this writing two coal-fired units have been decommissioned. It has been announced that by the end of the year 2027 or sooner the Miami Fort Power Station will be retired.

This ferry ran from 1802 to 1978

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Aurora, Indiana and Petersburg, Kentucky were connected for nearly two centuries by ferry that transported people, vehicles and goods back and forth across the Ohio River. From the first two horse powered days until the 15 car ferry in service at the end, the Aurora Ferry Company provided uninterrupted service seven days a week.

The history of the ferry

This canoe with the accompanied bronze plaque makes up a memorial marker for a long time icon of the Ohio River. From 1802 to 1978 a ferry ran back and forth across the Ohio. You can see this on the Ohio River Scenic Highway that runs along the river through Aurora, Indiana. The bridge that killed the ferry is out of sight in the background.

The first real snow of the season

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It is not much, but at least it is enough to record. 

Won’t use the swing or table today

The rose looks a little forlorn this morning

We usually always post our photos as the camera takes them, with no editing or special effects. These two snow shots, however, are presented for your viewing pleasure with color editing, so in black and white. The post header photo is not edited, and is of our sage plant in the herb garden.

Historic 1930’s art deco building

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The historic building survives with a new use

This historic building in Shelbyville, Indiana was originally the bath house for what was for decades the town’s public swimming pool.  The William A. Porter Memorial Swimming Pool Bathhouse was built to honor the memory of the son of a Shelbyville family. This Art Deco building was dedicated in 1930.

Sometime in the 1960’s showing pool and back of the building

The pool was closed in 1998 and subsequently was demolished. The building is currently being used by the local Chamber of Commerce and serves as the Shelby County Tourism & Visitors’ Bureau. It is located on the north side of town and is one of the first structures that visitors see when they come into town.

A Bison-tennial statue in Decatur County

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Indiana’s Statehood Bicentennial was celebrated in 2016. The remnants of that celebration can be seen all over the state in the form of 5 feet tall fiberglass bisons. The in.gov website states:  “Indiana Association of United Ways was the proud sponsor of the statewide Bison-tennial Public Art Project. This legacy project helped celebrate Indiana’s 200th birthday by decorating and displaying 5-foot-tall fiberglass bison with an end goal of at least one – if not a herd – of bison on display in each of Indiana’s 92 counties.”

Courthouse with Tower Tree in background

This side says DECATUR

This side says COUNTY

 

 

 

 

 

This Bison-tennial beast has scenes from Decatur County painted on the hide. Most of the ones in counties around the state have some depictions of local places, schools or attractions. We’ve seen a few of these colorfully decorated statues around the state, as each of the 92 counties received one or more to custom decorate. This one we found at the center of Greensburg on the Decatur County Courthouse grounds, and is pictured above with its information sign. Note that the header photo show the bison in the raw as they were delivered back in 2016.

Let’s Talk: Avalanche Safety

/ Roadtirementvintage / 5 Comments

Very informative.

Maria's avatarThe Road Goes Ever On

Let me start this post with a disclaimer – I am a newbie to avalanche terrain and only have level 1 training. I am not a reliable resource for avalanche safety. I decided to write this post anyways because I think a lot of people go out into the backcountry in the winter without understanding the risk. I went snowshoeing and camping for 3 years and told myself I was safe because I “checked the forecast” and only went on popular or “safe” trails. I was pretty conservative, but in retrospect, I didn’t actually know how to read the avalanche bulletins and I was unknowingly venturing into avalanche terrain. Without taking a course, I feel it’s hard to get the proper education on identifying avalanche terrain and my main goal with this post is to convince you to take the AST1 course. If your internal reasoning sounds anything like mine…

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