Can I Survive Crossing the Mackinac Bridge with My Girl Scouts?

[GourmetGirl]

Congrats Chris!!! So proud of you for doing it and even driving on the grates!!!

 

[pcchris]

Thank you Alison!

I'm actually kind of proud of myself too....I honestly didn't think I would be able to do it.We pulled up to the toll booth, and I thought...I can do this...piece of cake. Well, it wasn't fun, but I still can't believe I did it. When I look at pictures of that bridge, it freaks me out that I actually drove it myself. I think that's why I took so many pics of it! It really was freaky on the grates...especially when I saw a VERY obvious new piece of it. was like...AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, it's all good, and it's over...whew! Glad I was able to do it. I feel such a sense of personal accomplishment! The trip was well worth the horror of the bridge! LOL!!

 

[GourmetGirl]

I'm actually kind of proud of myself too....

Forget kind of proud... you should be dang proud! You overcame a huge fear of yours, that deserves more than just kind of!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Katie, I do believe that you are correct!!

Oh, why not? Now that you've done it for the first time, each succeeding trip is easier until it just gets to be old hat.

 

[pcchris]

Oh, why not? Now that you've done it for the first time, each succeeding trip is easier until it just gets to be old hat.

Funny....

drove that sucker twice.....enough for me for a lifetime!! :yuck:

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Congratulations!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: I thought of you the other day when I went over our local bridge. I did get a mili-second to glance off each side...the views are so wonderful.
I have never been to Macinack Island, but it sounds like it would be a place worth looking into!

There is no other place anywhere like The Island! No cars are allowed - but there are lots of horses and bikes! If you stay there - don't stay at one of the big resort hotels - We have found that the Island Experience is much nicer staying in a B&B or smaller Hotel.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

What I did on my day offChris,

I spent this last weekend driving around West Virginia and Pennsylvania. One vista was better looking...

than the previous one..

But the best part was in hunting bridges. I thought of you whether I was crossing an old through truss like this one:

Or one of my favorites, the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge between East Pittsburgh and North Versailles.

I thought of you, Chris, when I went to the top of the adjacent hill to take this photo...

...and I took this one over the railing, just for you.

It's a beautiful bridge and I love looking at it from below even more than driving on it!

 

[pcchris]

Wow - stunning pictures, KG!!!

Just for the record, I wouldn't go over that old metal bridge for anything!!!

 

[pcchris]

BTW - thanks for thinking of me!!!!!!! You're just a doll!!!!

 

[pcchris]

ok....went and reread....ummm...over the railing??????

All that, took your life into your own hands, for little ol' me?? WOW!

Thanks! I feel loved!!

 

[MelB]

website is Mackinac Bridge Authority in case you aren't sure of the bridge in question. I'd do a like, but I don't know how. KG may be able to help me with that....he's such a computer guru! Or, someone else might be able to do that too....

It's a MONSTER!

OH man better you than me!! I hate going over bridges too I looked at some of the pictures and I hope it's not snowing when you have to cross that sucker. What I usually tell myself when I cross bridges is that I am not the first and I will not be the last and everthing will be ok. Just think of the little engine that could, or better yet just think of how prowd you will be with yourself when you get to the end and realize how strong you where to drive over it and you never know, this experience just might help you with your fear, good luck and everything will turn out fine :balloon:

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Wow - stunning pictures, KG!!!

Just for the record, I wouldn't go over that old metal bridge for anything!!!

Well, actually, that one is closed to all traffic. I walked across it, anyway, but the old wooden deck is in pretty tough shape. I also found five similar iron through-truss bridges that cross the same stream, Fish Creek, which flows from Greene County, Pennsylvania to the Ohio River.

ok....went and reread....ummm...over the railing??????

All that, took your life into your own hands, for little ol' me?? WOW!

Thanks! I feel loved!!

Well, you're welcome, but not really. I was probably in more danger of falling down the hill (where I took the panorama shot) than I was looking over the railing, with only 460 feet to Turtle Creek.

 

[pamperedape]

Oh, I LOVE you KG!!!! Thank you for showing off WV!!

Are you still there?? If so - DO drive up that hill I mentioned! There's a kiss-your-OWN-butt turn which is at the END of a hill that makes you want to keep your hands up in the air!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I am headed for home today, as a matter of fact, but there are two things I want to do before I head west. One of them is to go up to Oglebay Park and the other is to see if I can find any historical data on the Wheeling Tunnel. Or, the "eeling Tunnel" if you're headed westbound. The "W" and "H" came down and were destroyed when a truck slammed into the east portal a couple of years ago. The driver died in the resulting fire and much damage was done to the portal. Ironically, it is the eastbound tube that is currently closed for refurbishment. I don't know if you've heard anything about the project, but the eastbound tube was closed in January for refurbishment, including replacement of the ceramic tiles that line the tunnels. It was supposed to have reopened for Memorial Day. It didn't. It was supposed to reopen on November 1. It won't. Through traffic just detours on I-470 but local traffic is snarled up every day. It's become a local joke in the meantime, and people are not terribly good natured about it, either.I took some photos of the river yesterday from the cemetery on the top of Mount Wood. That is a very interesting place, too.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You can see the Fort Henry Bridge in the foreground, that carries I-70 and US 40 across the Ohio River, immediately behind it is the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in the United States (and still in service.) In the middle of the photo, you can see the I-470 bridge about four miles down river and way in the distance, you can just make out the Bellaire Bridge, a majestic structure that has been closed since 1991.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

You can see the Fort Hood Bridge in the foreground, that carries I-70 and US 40 across the Ohio River, immediately behind it is the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in the United States (and still in service.) In the middle of the photo, you can see the I-470 bridge about four miles down river and way in the distance, you can just make out the Bellaire Bridge, a majestic structure that has been closed since 1991.

I'm loving the Cemetery! One of the very odd things that DH and I enjoy doing is exploring old cemeteries. In fact, I've enjoyed it since I was a child, and used to explore with my brother. When I started dating DH, and found out he enjoyed it too, it was just another confirmation that he was the ONE!:love:

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

That cemetery goes back to the earliest days of Wheeling and there are several prominent citizens buried there. Many of the graves have had ground heave and some stones are off kilter as a result. The really heartbreaking thing is the vandalism - there are toppled headstones everywhere, many of them more than 150 years old.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

That cemetery goes back to the earliest days of Wheeling and there are several prominent citizens buried there. Many of the graves have had ground heave and some stones are off kilter as a result. The really heartbreaking thing is the vandalism - there are toppled headstones everywhere, many of them more than 150 years old.

The Vandalism is so sad. There is so much history in cemeteries - and it is heartbreaking to see it destroyed because of a lack of respect.One of my favorite cemeteries is in the courtyard surrounding the Circle Church in Charleston, SC. Because of the high water table, many of the caskets are in crypts above ground, but it's laid out like a regular cemetary. Some of those date back to the early 1700's.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Oh, I LOVE you KG!!!! Thank you for showing off WV!!

Are you still there?? If so - DO drive up that hill I mentioned! There's a kiss-your-OWN-butt turn which is at the END of a hill that makes you want to keep your hands up in the air!!

Here's another thing I love about West Virginia:

I was actually going west at this time. It makes me think of that cartoon sheriff, a sheepdog with hair over his eyes, who kept saying, "Which way did he go? Which way did he go?"

 

[chefann]

Which way did he go? He went for Faaaaaayygoooooo!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

That's in South Dakota. They made a weird movie with the name for a title.

 

[chefann]

That's from the old Faygo Pop commercials. And I just realized that I forgot to take Rock and Rye with me when I was in WI last month. Darn.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Yeah, I know. I watched the movie, Faygo, not that long ago. I love the Minnesota accedents dere, ya know?

 

[Vicks]

What a saga! I'm so glad you made it over just fine, Chris. Great advice and stories from everyone else. I enjoyed it.

I've always had mixed emotions about bridges, suspension ones especially, since we live right by a famous one, at least out this way, The Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It's actually the second bridge built, the first one "Galloping Gertie" collapsed like 4 months after it opened. :yuck: On wikipedia they have some cool footage of it.

The scariest part for me has always been how high above the water it is. That's what makes it so scary. That and never EVER change lanes!!! On the westbound bridge (they just opened the new eastbound one this summer), there are grates in between the lanes, and you can see down to the water. Well, you get high gusty winds and the wind coming up through the grates can literally flip a car over.

One story I have, when I was in high school, my family was going over the bridge to a family camp for Labor Day weekend. We had a sailboat, that was fairly shallow, so more like a board, than boat. We had it tied down on the top of our motorhome. There were pretty high winds that day and the boat came untied halfway across the bridge. My dad and I quickly ran out there (you aren't allowed to stop on the bridge) and tried to tie it back up there, so it wouldn't just drag. Well, we didn't get it on good enough and it came loose again and ended up flying off and over the side of the bridge. It took a while before it hit the water. Some people in a boat rescued it, but we never did get it back. There was no real way for us to get down to water level to get it.

But, yeah, I've gotten used to driving over it, but for years I'd just either look waaaaaaaaay out into the water so it didn't look as high up, or I'd just look in my lap. Oh, and to make it worse, it spans over the deepest part of the whole Puget Sound. And we're talking DEEP. They do sonar testing with subs way, way down there. So, anyway, I'm proud of you Chris, and glad you made it! I completely understand!
~Vicks

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

That concrete/steel deck on the Tacoma Narrows is the same design the Mackinac Bridge uses. Several years ago, a Yugo was blown off the bridge. (We tried to not tell Chris that story before she left for Michigan.)

 

[chefann]

But the tallest suspension bridge (distance from bridge to water below) in the US is at the Royal Gorge in Colorado. It's a pedestrian bridge. Very cool. They have a whole little tourist trap built up around it. We've got video footage from a vacation out there back in 2000, but DH doesn't have it posted on our website. It was also one of the stops on my family's big "out west" vacation when I was still in HS. I had a not so nice temporary souvenir from that trip - a bruise. We (the 3 kids) were feeding the mule deer that live near the gorge. We ran out of graham crackers and they didn't understand that there was no more food. So one of them kicked me. I got a bruise shaped like a perfect deer hoof right on my hip.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Oh, deer! Are you hip now?

 

[chefann]

No. Never was. Still aren't. It's tragic.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

It's okay, you're too young to be a hippy.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

It's okay, you're too young to be a hippy.

I'm gonna be a hippy for Halloween!:thumbup: Flower Power, Man!

 

[chefann]

Here's one of our car club members as a hippy last year:
http://www.michiganlcoc.org/gallery/albums/Halloween2006/Bob_the_Hippy_is_caught.sized.jpg

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Here's one of our car club members as a hippy last year:
http://www.michiganlcoc.org/gallery/albums/Halloween2006/Bob_the_Hippy_is_caught.sized.jpg

That's DH's costume from last year!

Funny story (although it wasn't funny at the time!)......Late one night, last year about this time, I was in the shower. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder, looked around and there was this guy with an afro and dark glasses standing there. I screamed, and about peed in the shower.......and then realized it was my dork husband wearing his halloween costume! I had to actually sit down in the shower for a few minutes because my knees gave out!

I was so MAD at him.....and he just stood there and giggled like a girl!:grumpy:

 

[chefann]

It must be the "car dork" gene that makes them act that way. And pick out that costume!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

It couldda been worse - at least he didn't wear the Carmen Miranda outfit.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

How about this one, Chris? This stunning open-spandrel three arch bridge is in Fairmont, WV, over the Monongahela River. It was built in 1921, refurbished in 2000, and made the list of historic places in 1991. It's a beauty!

 

[pcchris]

That concrete/steel deck on the Tacoma Narrows is the same design the Mackinac Bridge uses. Several years ago, a Yugo was blown off the bridge. (We tried to not tell Chris that story before she left for Michigan.)

That is correct. You tried to not tell me about it, but did anyway. I'm still trying to figure out why I asked.....

 

[pcchris]

How about this one, Chris? This stunning open-spandrel three arch bridge is in Fairmont, WV, over the Monongahela River. It was built in 1921, refurbished in 2000, and made the list of historic places in 1991. It's a beauty!

KG, isn't this a similar type bridge to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis?
kinda looks like it, but I'm not sure.


And yes.....some bridges are beautiful....but I still HATE them!!!

btw - dh wants to go to the island next summer....and I'm gonna have to go over the Mighty Mac AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

No you don't. You can take the car ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington (or the Lake Express from Milwaukee to Muskegon) to Mackinac City. Or you can go all the way around the Yoop to St. Ignace. Either way, you can take the ferry to the Island and never have to cross the bridge.(Check my blog for the store of the SS Badger.)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Oh, and no, that isn't the same kind of bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis. The I-35 bridge was a steel deck truss, a gridwork of steel that supports the deck on top.The bridge in Fairmont is a concrete, open spandrel arch. It was built in 1921 and rehabilitated in 2000. When it was inspected in 2004, the following report was madeeck condition rating: Excellent (9 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 73.6 (out of 100)It's not only a beautiful bridge, it's in great condition.(Incidentally, aqueducts using arches, built by the Romans 2500 years ago, are still standing all over Europe.)

 

[pcchris]

No you don't. You can take the car ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington (or the Lake Express from Milwaukee to Muskegon) to Mackinac City.

Or you can go all the way around the Yoop to St. Ignace. Either way, you can take the ferry to the Island and never have to cross the bridge.

(Check my blog for the store of the SS Badger.)

Ah yes.....this is what I suggested. His response to me was "Well, you already went over it once....you can do it again".

Grrr.....

we'll see if it happens at all. I have months to not worry about it.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Take the SS Badger, especially if you have kids. It's something that stays with them. I have many fond memories of my Lake Michigan crossings on the old Pere Marquette 21 & 22 and on the City of Midland. In those days, they hauled railroad cars, and I was fascinated to stand on the aft deck and watch them load the cars. Nowadays, the car deck is where thy put vehicles of all kinds. On my crossings this year, they were loading oversize trucks and that was almost as fun to watch as railroad cars. One of the oversize load drivers was from Tennessee (at least, he was wearing a Volunteers hat) and I almost needed a Volunteer --> English dictionary to understand him.I've written quite a bit about the http://jrmanning.com/. (BTW, my adventures as a bridge hunter follow the entry about the Badger.)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Here ya go, Chris, a couple more for your consideration. This first one is known as the Wheeling Bridge and it crosses the Ohio River from downtown Wheeling, WV to Wheeling Island. It was built in 1849 (it was rehabbed in 1999) and, at the time, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It is, as far as I know, the only antebellum suspension bridge extant and I do know it is the oldest suspension bridge, still in use, in the western hemisphere. It has a steel deck and I crossed it many times in the last month. It is, IMHO, gorgeous!

This next one is a truss bridge that crosses the Ohio River from Benwood, WV to Bellaire, Ohio. It opened in 1926 and has always been privately owned. It operated as a toll bridge for its useful life. In 1991, it was closed when the Ohio end of the bridge was lopped off to allow construction of Ohio Highway 7 and the west portal of the bridge is just sort-of there, about 60 feet above grade. There are still entrance ramps on the West Virginia side but those are well closed. There has been talk of demolishing this stunning old bridge but no action has been taken yet.Scenes from Silence of the Lambs were shot in Benwood and on this bridge.

I wish this bridge could be rehabbed and reopened somehow. Many of the citizens of Benwood and Bellaire would also like to see that, but almost as many want it destroyed.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Watch that last step - it's a lulu!

 

[chefjeanine]

Falling ice closes Mackinac Bridge -- 02/22/2008Falling ice from cables and towers has closed the Mackinac Bridge to all traffic.

Michigan State Police said some of the ice struck vehicles on the bridge, forcing the Mackinac Bridge Authority to shut it down Friday morning.

No injuries have been reported.

Motorists are being advised to reduce their speed to 20 mph while approaching the bridge.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

And the car ferry doesn't run during the winter anymore, so if you're stuck in Da Yoop dere, you may have to stay dere until Spring or go t'ru Chickago, doncha know.By the way, there are photo essays of the Wheeling Bridge and Bellaire Bridge are online now at Bridge Hunters website, if you'd like to learn more.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Falling ice from cables and towers has closed the Mackinac Bridge to all traffic. Michigan State Police said some of the ice struck vehicles on the bridge, forcing the Mackinac Bridge Authority to shut it down Friday morning.No injuries have been reported.Motorists are being advised to reduce their speed to 20 mph while approaching the bridge.

I just looked at the Mac' bridge cam - it's open again.http://cam.mackinacbridge.org/fullsize.jpg

 

[chefjeanine]

I thought all the bridge "fans" would appreciate that article I cut and pasted from my morning paper.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

This site spans so many topics...

 

[chefjeanine]

This site spans so many topics...

Ugh. Where is the grimacing smiley?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You're in a suspended reality. And, when it comes to puns, I have no pier.