mv. Detroit and Steven J. Mason

I was driving along the Ohio River north of Huntington, W.Va., today when I saw the mv. Detroit headed the same direction I was. I was surprised, because the Detroit has been in service for several months, and to my knowledge this was the first time it had gone up the river above Huntington. Naturally, I got ahold of Adam to ask if he wanted to get some photos with me. His response on hearing the Detroit was -- at last -- in a place and at a time where we could get pictures: "Oh, wow."

These are a few of what we got. The first is the Detroit as seen from the H.K. Butler public access ramp a few miles below the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

Here are a couple of the Detroit passing the little-known community of Rosebud, Ohio, which is maybe a mile above aforementioned boat ramp.

As we got these photos, I told Adam we were late for a family event that was about a half hour away. Thus, we could not wait for the Mary Ellen Jones, the Steven J. Mason and the Charleston, all of which we had seen ahead of the the Detroit and the RCByrd locks, to lock through so we could get pictures of the Detroit at the locks. And we couldn't wait for the AEP Mariner, which was coming up behind the Detroit, either. However, we could get a picture of whatever was at the locks. As it turned out, it was the Steven J. Mason, with the Mary Ellen Jones having already gone through and the Charleston likewise having exited.

So today Adam saw two new boats, including one he had yet to get a good look at, plus a rebuilt one and one of the oldest ones still on the river. Also, we saw the Tennessee and the Jackson H. Randolph. Riverwise, we both had a good day.

Storms and floods

The Ohio River in the Huntington area is running three or four feet above normal pool, and it's a muddy brown. The forecast shows it could rise another foot by late tomorrow morning before it starts a slow fall.

That does not surprise me a bit. I was on the West Virginia Turnpike south of Charleston yesterday when I ran into several belts of rain that were so heavy it was nearly like a whiteout. Rain kept falling up in the mountains, and I wondered what was happening in areas that tend to flash flood in such storms.

As it turns out, some places in southern West Virginia were hit pretty hard when about 4 inches of rain fell. The Charleston Daily Mail has a story here.

A church by the river

Despite what you see here, this old church building along the Ohio River has quite a few houses on each side of it, and Ohio State Route 7 running in front of it.

The sign on the front of this church says "Eureka Church of God." I have no idea if it is still in use. I've driven past it tens of thousands of times, but it's been a long time since I've driven past during normal church  hours.

This photo was taken from the West Virginia side of the river, from the public use area at the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.