Cathedral Arches With Icicles Along the Little J

We took my husband's older car out for a spin on this afternoon, and we ranged far and wide. We took all the backroads; did the Sunday driver thing, even though it was only Thursday afternoon. We lollygagged. We got a pair of tostadas and demolished them easily. We sightsaw. We acted like tourists in our own backyard.

We picked up 14 books at a really excellent Little Free Library that we found in Baileyville (one we had never visited before, apparently). Hooray for the LFL! Here are 10 facts about them I bet you didn't know. And we ended up hiking at a place we seldom get to visit. We had not been there in over a year. What a treat!

And it's good we did; this area along the Little Juniata River (they call it "the Little J") just off Birmingham Pike (route 453) is actually private land, but there is a sign at the access point indicating the Little Juniata River Association has leased it for one year. Unless renewed, the lease will expire March 1.

So, surrounded by fishermen (the area is just chock full of them), and with the air full of train sounds, we hopped out of the car, grabbed our chairs, and went for a walk. The trail is actually an old paved road, Limestone Road, and it is in good condition for a road that isn't really a road anymore. I bet it would make for good bike riding or rollerblading.

The old road took us along the river and down through a bunch of railroad tracks and sycamores and bridges and arches. The arches that always look like cathedrals to me are a favorite photo op and this time of year, they have icicles dangling from them, which is a total bonus win for this girl. You know how I love ice! So here is a shot of one of the arches, in all of its colorful glory, with icicles.

Just for my own amusement, I went back through my Blips to find some of the other pictures and stories about this place, and here are a few more:
Cathedrals of the Sun (10/6/14) - features a really weird skunk story!
Setting Sail Upon a Golden Sea (11/9/14)
Spring River Songs from Central Pennsylvania (3/1/22)

The top of this arch is actually a railroad bridge that runs across the Little Juniata. So I'm picking a railroad song/story for my tune: Here's Gordon Lightfoot, with Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

Updates on two prior stories: 
1) My mother-in-law got her car fixed in less than one day. She left a message on Wednesday (we called her back) saying that the muffler could be saved and the garage only charged her under $300 to fix the exhaust. Her tow was free, since she had Triple A.
2) I am one of the few girls you know who can honestly say I've gotten popped in the kisser by Mother Nature. The LEFT part of my lower lip was all swelled up on Wednesday afternoon, after a little jaunt in the woods that included some bushwhacking. The lip seemed fine on Thursday. As of Friday morning (the typing of this tale), the lower RIGHT lip is all swelled up. I think it is some kind of allergic response, and I really wonder what I got into in the woods!