Just Them

Hyper took a road trip to another part of blogger land to meet up with Donna of "Just Me"http://donna-justme.blogspot.com/ online fame and her husband Cliff. They live just west of Wellington, Missouri on sizable acreage above the Missouri River Valley. It's a beautiful place with critters and nice hospitality. Below, the couple outside on a marvelous day.

For a brief time it was dueling cameras as we both wanted photos for a blog entry or two....

But then we got to talk tractors.... Cliff's second love.

Below, the Oliver 1855 which Cliff completely restored.... it's huge....

Iris kept an eye on me..... as is advisable.

Cliff had a number of tractors.... some in storage for friend and family and some for restoration.... he sold two of them on Craig's List the day after I visited.
Iris' official portrait.

I got an official tour of the property.... lots of rolling hills and stands of trees.

A very rare picture of Hyper with Donna..... Bloggers United For Mutual Topic Acquisition. This picture was taken by Cliff.... as are the ones of Donna on her blog... which is: http://donna-justme.blogspot.com/

The famous tractor picture.... which shows the restored Oliver.....


The super-secret blogger area (above) where "Just Me" is created....
The herd.
Jody the cow....affectionate and big brown eyes....


Tree line in the distance is the Missouri River bank.... when the Mighty Mo floods the waters come right up to the base of this hill.



The garden... a panorama with dog.. of what will be bursting with veggies this summer.... (possibly not ALL of it.... Cliff likes to plow :) )

A great afternoon in good company..... Cliff even gave me some bootlaces when I had a blow-out... I'm for sure going back this summer when all is leafed out.....

River City Dos

RiverCity

Taken yesterday in-between rain showers (sort of).

Bond Bridge Fully Lit

Bond Bridge illuminated its LED lights along the sides tonight. They can be almost any color and move.... sliding red right to left, blue left to right, white from middle to sides.... very interesting.... makes for a very dynamic structure. Also another, much longer, fireworks display tonight from Riverfest.... good evening all round! Here's a link to a brief iPhone video of the fireworks... and you can see the LEDs changing. http://gallery.me.com/dremley#100622

Mighty MOcha

32.5 feet today.... around 3pm.... supposed to fall now... but we should expect higher levels through August. In comparison, the 1993 flood crested at 48.9 feet. We are nowhere near that and shouldn't be. The only thing that could cause issues would be levee seepage... the barriers aren't designed to hold back waters permanently... today I saw pick-up trucks driving the levee tops checking for anything amiss.

The water is quite rapid.... enough so that the bridge supports leave wakes..... lots of tree trunks and branches in the water too. All recreational boating is banned and barge traffic has a voluntary ban....

Twenty-Eight Feet and Counting

Not as high as 1993...... yet... work on removing the old Paseo Bridge continues.... deck is completely gone.. vertical supports going next.
As marvelous as the bridge is.... a simple thistle is just as becoming... although less functional in our eyes I suppose.

The river is flowing very fast and is a deep chocolate color with lots of debris.

Filigree Intent

Bond Bridge, afternoon sun.
Nikon D3, 70-200 F2.8 zoom, five exposures, base exposure 1/500th at f11, ASA 200. Processed in Photoshop and Lucis.

Bond Bridge First Lighting

I was privileged to be riverside as the first set of Bond Bridge lights were turned on for the first time. Each of the cables is illuminated individually with cannon spots. Later on the L.E.D. lights will be turned on along the sides of the deck. Those can be any color and even controlled individually. The Bridge was completed six months early and the Paseo Bridge was retired last Friday. It really is gorgeous. I can see lots of riverside visits in my future. This shot is looking northwest and was taken at 6:15pm. It is seven shots at varying exposures sandwiched for the final product. Nikon D3 was tripod mounted, ASA 1000, Nikon 14-24mm set at 24mm.

I was going to post Part 2 of the Pendleton Heights Holiday Homes Tour tonight, but I will postpone that until tomorrow.

Walking by the Mighty Mo

Tried the new river walk on Sunday..... which allows a person to travel from Main street almost all the way to Paseo Boulevard along the Missouri River.

Above looking east toward the ASB Bridge, below looking west toward the Broadway Bridge. Old mooring post in the foreground below with wire rope still attached.And yes, the Mighty Muddy Mo is Mighty Muddy. As Twain said: "too thick to swim in and too thin to walk on."
Above the ASB Bridge which stands for Armour (Packing Co.) Swift ( & Company) and Chicago, BURLINGTON (and Quincy Railroad). The piers were built in 1890 but sat unused until 1909 when construction of the rest of the bridge began. It consisted of two decks the upper for cars and trucks and the lower for trains. The bridge, as you can see, is very close to the surface of the water right now which is one reason why the center portion is counterweighted and can be raised. Bridge designers made it possible to do this without disturbing the top deck so traffic was not impeded. After the Heart of America Bridge was finished in 1987 the ASB's top deck was removed. It is a National Landmark in Civil Engineering and is owned now by the Burlington Northern Railroad. Note the pathway goes down under the bridge....on the right in the image. The path is handicap accessible and is for biking or walking.
Areas next to the trail have been planted with native grasses and other plants which should make it look a lot like it did when Lewis and Clark came by just after 1800.
Above, ASB on the left showing one of the massive piers. The piers were originally 9 stories tall in 1890 when completed but were lowered to just 10-feet over the high water mark.
Another view of the Bond Bridge looking east above and below the ASB and The Heart of America Bridges.

Below.... "adaptive reuse" sorta. An old administrative building which was in horrible shape has been stabilized and even has flower boxes in the windows.
To access the walkway you can take Grand down to Berkley Park and then walk west, or, park at the foot of Main, walk out on the tower and then down by stairs or elevator to the walkway.