Just returned from a five-day, 800mi trip from DC to Marietta OH....31st annual Sternwheel Festival, where the town welcomes about 30 paddlewheel boats from up & down the Inland Waterway System.

For gearheads, these boats are like a kid in a candy store. Some are rehabbed working boats made into floating homes - others are new construction from the keel up....range from about 40' to 100'+/-. Power systems run the gamut, from locomotive-style diesel-electrics, some with concrete-mixer hydraulic pumps & motors, and a myriad of mechanical setups. The Backyard Engineering Award goes to the captain who parked his Kubota tractor on the rear deck and used the tractor's PTO, via a nightmare of jackshafts & universal joints. If you're interested, enter "Marietta Sternwheel" in Google Images for some pics........

Festival is typical small town fare....bands, parade, rides, fireworks, carshow, carnival, and food concessions with enough cholesterol to blow the top of your head off....gonna have to triple my Lipitor consumption for a month or so....

Pretty country, with scenic byways on both sides of the Ohio River in both OH and WV.....Rolling hills, tiny towns - Midwest Americana at its best....This trip might even surpass my sojourns to the National Punkin' Chunkin' Championships in Delaware...$2.20/gal gas was a pleasant surprise too.....

Mothership ran perfectly (Thanks to MMO
New converter & house battery made it a joy, and even the tempermental jenny was flawless...Sometimes, life is TOO good.

Every journey has an Ouch, and this one was no different. Seems I misplaced my water pressure regulator...hooked-up one night at a campground and was warned about 95psi water pressure. Everything held EXCEPT the antisyphon on the toilet....Wet carpet around the toilet from an unknown source is definately pushin' my bride's tolerance levels...Oh well, pullin' carpet and tiling the bathroom was on the agenda anyway....

Several campground oldtimers wanted to tell me all about my "stainless steel" Barth and how "they don't build'em like they used to..." Kinda makes all the hours spent polishing worth it......

This Barthin' stuff is FUN!........

Sounds like a great time Lee. When I redid the bath I pulled up the carpet to find some uneven flooring. Suzy had already bought a box of small-square sheets for the floor, and I put down a really thick coat of notched trowel mastic and imbedded the tile sheets to level. I let them set a couple days before grouting, and have had no problems since. I liked the Stainless Steel line. You must have that baby polished!

Jeez! I thought Barths were titanium

(I also thought a pressure regulator was in the water supply line...)

quote:

Originally posted by Lee:
If you're interested, enter "Marietta Sternwheel" in Google Images for some pics.

Wow, that looks like some fun. Thanks for sharing.

Bill N.Y.