Geeky Girl Engineer – Page 23 – Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery

Solar Eclipse : The solar eclipse is the main reason I came out west for vacation. I have seen a partial solar eclipse before, but never a total solar eclipse. It was like Continue Reading →

Snorkeling in Alaska : While planning for my vacation in Alaska, I learned that there is a company, appropriately named Snorkel Alaska, that leads snorkeling tours near Ketchikan. If there is a way for Continue Reading →

Carrie Blast Furnaces : I’m in Pittsburgh for the long weekend. Today I took a tour with Rivers of Steel of the Carrie Blast Furnaces. The area is part of the former U.S. Steel Continue Reading →

Nuttallburg : I started exploring New River Gorge National Park today. It is second on my list of things to see in West Virginia after the capitol. The park is really spread Continue Reading →

Bridge Walk : I spent today doing more exploring of New River Gorge National Park, but I started the day by walking across a bridge. The walk across the bridge was under the Continue Reading →

Potomac Eagle

Posted on July 3, 2017 by geek

About a month ago, I went for a ride on the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad. The train follows a gorgeous path through the West Virginia country side, the highlight of which is through a gorge of the South Branch of the Potomac River known as the Trough. The train is called the Potomac Eagle because you are almost guaranteed to see bald eagles while in the Trough. I think we saw almost ten. I got photographs of about five. Truthfully even if I hadn’t seen the eagles, the scenery was worth the trip.

West Virginia countryside

Farmland

Entering the Trough

The Trough

Bald eagles

Bald eagle and its nest

St. Michaels, Maryland

Posted on May 27, 2017 by geek

Last week I went to historic St. Michaels, where I walked around town and also visited the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. St. Michaels is a cute little town with many shops selling interesting items, especially items with a crab theme. The museum is nice and informative. It focuses on the Chesapeake Bay’s history, economy, and people. I also got a chance to cruise aboard the Schooner Sultana. The Sultana is a reproduction of a merchant vessel that served in the British Royal Navy from 1768 to 1772.

Downtown St. Michaels

Christ Church

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

The lighthouse at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

View of the Miles River while aboard the Sultana

The Schooner Sultana sailing on the Miles River

View of the Schooner Sultana sails

Duquesne Incline

Posted on May 20, 2017 by geek

This is the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh. It is considered part of the public transportation system of Pittsburgh.
It is also a wonderful place to view Pittsburgh, especially downtown, and many of its bridges. If you are ever in Pittsburgh, go there. The ride is fun, and the view from the viewing platform at the top is amazing. As a side note, Pittsburgh has a lot of bridges, and they are all lovely.

PPG Place

Posted on May 19, 2017 by geek

It is probably a photographer thing, but sometimes I see something, and I just have to take a thousand photographs of it to capture how interesting it is or the cool way it looks. This is particularly true when I see really interesting architecture with interesting lines or reflections or curves or whatever. The Comcast Center in Philadelphia was one such building because of the way it almost disappeared into the sky. PPG Place in Pittsburgh is another such piece of architecture. It is not so much the shape of the buildings, but it is the way they reflect the buildings around them that I find so interesting. I love reflections. I love photographing reflections. I also love how somewhat similar to Comcast Center, it almost blends into the sky by reflecting the blue. So while in Pittsburgh, I took a huge number of photographs of PPG Place because I was just so intrigued and captivated by the way it reflected its surroundings.

Pittsburgh

Posted on May 19, 2017 by geek

I wanted to get away for a short vacation, so I went to Pittsburgh for a day. Why Pittsburgh? Well, why not? Also, getting to and from Pittsburgh involved two very pretty, long train rides, which was half the reason for the trip. Anyway, Pittsburgh is an amazingly walkable city, especially downtown. You can walk across all (I think) the bridges, and there are pedestrian and bike paths everywhere. Downtown has a lovely mix of old and new buildings. Basically I could wander around for a day taking photos, which was exactly what I wanted and what I did.

Building reflections downtown

Old tiled building juxtaposed with PPG glass building

Rather unique old building tower

Art deco (?) building

Fort Pitt Bridge over Monongahela River

Point State Park

Heinz Field

Fort Pitt Bridge over Monongahela River with downtown in background

North Shore Riverwalk with Fort Duquesne Bridge in background

Downtown viewed from across the Allegheny River

Robert Clemente Bridge and downtown

The white in the background is the convention center roof, which I assume was designed to have the same catenary curve as the suspension bridges seen in foreground

Lichen on Granite

Posted on May 14, 2017 by geek

While in Stage Fort Park in Gloucester in Massachusetts’s northern shore, there were several huge granite boulders that were covered with lichen. It was thus therefore required for me to bring out my macro lens and take photos of it. I love lichen. I love granite. I love lichen on granite.

Northern Massachusetts Shore

Posted on May 14, 2017 by geek

While in Boston for a few days, my friend Kristen said I need to get out the city and see Massachusetts’s northern shore. I think she was hunting lighthouses, but I was just looking for pretty views and classic New England. We found all of that visiting Gloucester and Rockport.

Stage Fort Park

Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial

Lobster pots

“Motif Number 1” on Bradley Wharf in Rockport

Rockport

Thacher Island Twin Lights

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge

Posted on May 14, 2017 by geek

I have this thing for bridges. I love them. However, I have a particular thing for cable-stayed bridges. They are my favorite. I love the simplicity of them. They are modern, sleek, functional, graceful, and gorgeous, all at the same time. Boston has a cable-stayed bridge right next to downtown, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, by which I-93 crosses the Charles River. So naturally, while in Boston, I took a lot of photos of this bridge. Here are just a few.

Boston’s Freedom Trail

Posted on May 14, 2017 by geek

While in Boston, I walked the entire 2.5-mile Freedom Trail. It is a nice walk except for avoiding all the street construction. I have to admit also, as a tourist, it is nice not to really have to check a map, but rather just follow a red brick path in the sidewalks. I previously posted photos of the Massachusetts State House and the Bunker Hill Monument. Here are a few more photos from sites and just views along the Freedom Trail.

USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”)

Winthrop Square

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground

Old North Church

Inside of Old North Church

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway above I-93

Faneuil Hall

Old State House

A brief explanation of why I am posting the below photo. There is a T (subway) train station right below the Old State House, with an entrance through the building. As an engineer, I find this amazing. Consider how old the building is and the studies of the building that must have occurred to determine it could handle both the space being dug out of its foundation and also the ability to take vibrations from the subway and people going in and out of it.

T Station below Old State House

Old South Meeting House wedged between old and new office buildings

Old City Hall

Granary Burying Ground, where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Mother Goose, and others are buried

Bunker Hill Monument

Posted on May 14, 2017 by geek

I was in Boston for a few days, and I decided to walk the Freedom Trail. I got to the Bunker Hill Monument, and I was told I should go to the top because the views are great. This seemed like a perfectly good reason to climb 294 steps. My legs afterwards had some thoughts on this idea. Anyway, here are some photos from the top, so you don’t have to climb it.

Bunker Hill Monument, which I climbed, for reasons

View of Navy Yards and USS Constitution

View of Mystic River

View towards Somerville

View of downtown Boston

View of downtown Boston and Back Bay