Cruising on Zatarra 1, 2016 - Bridges of Ashtabula County

Yesterday was a day of intense heat, humidity and unsettled weather. Kyle had said we could use his car while he and Lorraine are away (in Port Dover) so we were able to drive (in air conditioning, Sharon wanted to sleep in the car rather than on the boat) to the grocery store. The rest of the day was spent in quiet pursuits trying not to exert any energy as sweat ensued immediately.

Skies like this, interspersed with blue and intense sun.

The resident bald eagle was still around as were the kingfishers,

joined by a heron, all on the opposite bank of the river and in clear view from the cockpit.

This bought thunder and lightning and a tiny misting of rain but the rainbow lasted for about half an hour afterwards.

That storm did bring a slight decrease in the temperature and humidity and we had a relatively comfortable evening and night.
We had seen a map of the county, in the ice cream store, that showed covered bridges, so today decided to explore the area a little and search them out. There are 18 covered bridges in Ashtabula County and 67 barn quilts.

The longest covered bridge in the United States, 4th longest in the world. This was our first stop. Dedicated in 2008. Although a covered bridge had crossed the Ashtabula river here years ago, this is  a new one.

Next was this single lane bridge

still in use.

A couple of them had this kind of construction with the huge arches and lattice work. They also had, what looked like, smoke detectors.

We stopped at Barnes Apple Orchard for apple donuts and an apple cider slushy.

The resident dog, lying on the cool cement and gently acknowledging each pat on the head. Loyally followed anyone who fed him a bit of apple donut. He was in amazing shape for a dog with that many treats.

We had noticed damage to the wood at the top of one of the entrances but this covered bridge was well protected with a metal pipe ahead of the entrance and plenty of signage.

This one was relocated and had a barn quilt too.

Another with a barn quilt. You could still drive through this one but the road had been rerouted over a new metal bridge.

We had seen about half of them but decided, after this one, that that was enough.