Sunshine while exploring a Revolutionary War fort on Labor Day creates opportunities for shadows.
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Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Shadows
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Fort Washington, Maryland
Below Fort Washington in Maryland you can see the structure supporting the buildings above.
When a crash is not just a crash
Middle picture is without the guard, and below that, with a guard.
The purpose for our current road trip happened last Tuesday. We and other members of the Truck Safety Coalition family attended a conference to discuss car and truck crashes, specifically the situation when a car slides under the trailer of a semi truck from the side.
This is what happens when a car goes under a trailer. Imagine being in the car with your family.
That’s called a side underride and it’s usually deadly.
When you slide under a trailer your car’s safety features aren’t activated because your front bumper doesn’t hit anything. The first part of your car to come in contact with the trailer is your windshield. And then your head.
This car was driven into a trailer at 35 mpr. The trailer had a side guard.
It’s been a problem for years. Jennifer’s dad was killed when his car slid all the way under a trailer on a dark country road more than thirty years ago and she’s been fighting this and other truck safety issues ever since.
Jennifer talking about her dad’s crash and how grateful she is that side underride is being talked about today.
But in this past year a solution has been developed. And it happened because people began to talk about the issue. Last year was the first conference on underride, and there the inventor of a side guard and a manufacturer happened to meet. They’ve been collaborating ever since, and at this year’s conference we got to witness their side guard in action.
Conference members wait above the test crash area to see if the side guard works.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) hosted our meeting, and did a test crash so that we could see what would happen. (Click the ‘meeting’ link above to see the crash test yourself.) The car was driven at 40 mpr into the side of a trailer with a side guard, named Angel Wing, installed behind the wind flow shield.
Waiting in anticipation.
The car did not slide under the trailer. Though the trailer itself was moved several inches, the passenger compartment of the car was not penetrated.
Tears and applause.
The driver of this vehicle probably would have had a wrist injury, probably a headache, and bruises from the seat belt, but would have walked away.
This driver would have walked away.
Members of our truck safety family, there to witness this test, cried softly after. Unspoken was the knowledge that if something like this had been installed on trucks years ago they wouldn’t have been in Virginia this week, standing up on a platform, watching hope unfold.
Hope.
We have hope that someday, maybe sooner than we imagine, you’ll see Angel Wings, or some iteration of it, moving down the highway near you. We have hope that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, a family will only have to deal with bumps and bruises, and not a funeral.
Side guards will save lives.
Someday soon the results of lots of peoples dreams will come to fruition. And it will happen because people from all walks of life sat down and talked. Trailer manufacturers, truck companies, safety experts, devastated families, government officials.
Two grief stricken mothers, working together to save other lives.
Everyone has a different viewpoint, but together an answer can be found. Truck crashes happen to all sorts of people and it takes all sorts of people to find a way to fix the problem.
All families matter.
Someday another mother will be holding her child, alive and safe. She might not know who to thank. But I, and now you, do.
Stay tuned. And stay safe.
Be vigilant. And please support our efforts.
For those of you wondering about the previous post…
This is a 1950s Chevy that was used during a test crash at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. It’s on display in their building.
Remember the big front engine hoods and grills?
It wasn’t the car we test crashed while we were here, that was a 2010 Chevy Malibu. But I thought this old tank of a car was interesting.
Here’s the inside of it. Notice the steering wheel would have been pushed right into the driver’s face and chest.
Remember these big old steering wheels?
I’ll write more about our experience at the IIHS soon. It’s pretty emotional, in a good and also a sad way.
Meanwhile, stay safe!
Wordless Wednesday
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Mountains and a wedding
Yesterday afternoon we attended the wedding of friends of ours – a sweet wedding in a beautiful backyard filled with friends and family. It was a good day. And the sun shining over the mountains as we left the party made us smile too.
Beautiful clouds on a beautiful day for a wedding.
Today, the weather guy said we’d have more of the same sunny weather so we drove a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, looking for those beautiful blue ridges undulating off into the distance. We started out hopeful. But the higher we got the closer we were to the low hanging clouds.
The valley filled with clouds.
Until we were swallowed up entirely.
The cloud surrounds us.
The overlooks no longer overlooked anything.
What’s out there?
We drove very very slowly, but there was nowhere to go but on. Sometimes, depending on our elevation we’d get lucky and be able to see a mountain far off in the distance.
See Table Rock Mountain way over there?
The sun worked hard to burn away the mist, and eventually we started to see things. Like this orchard down below…
Apples are in season here now.
…and the beginnings of layering mountains showing their true colors.
And that’s why I love them…
We stopped to hike along some trails to a set of waterfalls. This was definitely worth the walk, the climbing up root covered hills…
Twin waterfalls! Aren’t they cute?
and flights of stairs to get higher…
When we were looking at the twin waterfalls we were standing near the top of this bigger fall!
…and higher in order to see some of the wonders that nature has hidden way back in the mountains.
Can you see the people?
We had a great time hiking through the woods, all the way to the very top overlook.
What a great day for a hike!
By the time we got back to the car and out on the Parkway again the sun was making those mountains glow. Just about everywhere we looked was a beautiful view.
I think I should build my house right here.
It was simply amazing.
Abstract art, but real life.
It was like this around every bend in the road. And there are a lot of bends on the Blue Ridge Parkway!
And now the clouds are pretty accents instead of hazardous fog.
Even though it was a very long drive, I didn’t want it to end.
Goldenrod signifies summer’s end, and the end of our mountain adventure. For now.
Sadly we have to move on to the next thing on our agenda.
But wait!
You say you wanted to know more about the wedding? Well, here’s the happy couple, very much in love. And of course they made us all cry when they shared their personal vows with each other. Plus they had really good food at the party after!
Here’s to many happy years together!
Congratulations Jackie and John!!
The cake was yummy too!
The gardens at Biltmore
When you visit Biltmore in Ashville NC, don’t forget to budget a lot of time to wander the gardens. They begin just down the hill from the house.
Make sure to visit the gardens down here!
There’s the original greenhouse structure that’s just chuck full of beautiful things. Inside it feels like you’re on a tropical island, or in a rain forest.
Make sure you venture inside here!
Here’s just a glimpse of the wonders you’ll find:
And the gardens surrounding the greenhouse were stunning on the late summer day we visited. Blocks of color covered the grounds. It was so beautiful it was hard to know where to look first. Here’s some of it:
And don’t forget the three water gardens. Just exquisite and in the end perhaps my favorite:
I hope you all get to visit Biltmore sometime. I think the gardens would probably be pretty just about any time of year. There’s an azalea garden that would be stunning in the spring, and a huge rose garden that was past it’s prime when we were there, but would have been something a couple of weeks ago. And there’s always the mountains to marvel at, any time of year, but especially in the Fall when the leaves are turning.
So think about a trip to North Carolina and a stop at the Biltmore Estate. I don’t think you’ll leave disappointed.
Biltmore revisited
Many years ago, before we were married, my husband and I visited Biltmore in Asheville North Carolina. Today, 27 years later, we stopped by again.
Have you ever been? If not, visit their website, or if you’d rather, I’ll take you on a short (not covering nearly everything you understand) tour. I personally love the long drive back to the big house.
The long and winding drive.
It inspired me years ago, to dream about building a house in the middle of a hundred acres, just so that I could have a lovely long drive home through the trees similar to this one up to the Biltmore mansion.
The first glimpse of the house itself always makes me gasp, and then smile. It’s just so magnificent! Not my style, by any means, but it’s a beautiful structure. Completed in 1895, it was a summer home for George W. Vanderbilt and his family. With thirty-three guest rooms, it was a summer getaway for family friends too.
You can view it after climbing a switchback to an elevated stone wall…
Behind these walls are many steps.
…or climb way up a hill for higher vantage point.
See the mountains behind the house?
But once you get up close you notice all the amazing detail. Like the carvings and statues as seen on the front of the house, lining the grand staircase.
This is not builder grade.
Even the windows are elaborate.
Can’t you just imagine enjoying the view from these?
Inside it’s even more intricate, with a glass enclosed winter garden…
Glass ceiling with views of the tower.
…and an opulent dining hall.
What would I wear to a dinner party here?
Each room has ceilings that are different and extravagant…
Just one ceiling, and not even the most ornate.
…and the furniture is ornate too.
Beautiful embroidery.
But my favorite place in the whole mansion is the back veranda…
Such a peaceful beautiful spot.
..where the view of the distant mountains is stunning. I could sit out there all day, and I’m sure there were people a hundred years ago that did just that.
Imagine breakfast with this view every day.
Inside, the library was amazing, thousands of books that George Vanderbilt handpicked, covering all sorts of topics. The bedrooms were beautiful too, complete with their own bathrooms long before en suites were normal.
A warm, cozy place to spend a few hours reading.
And in the basement was a giant party room, painted by members of a party in 1920…
Just a tiny part of the giant mural painted by party guests.
…a bowling alley…
Fun on a rainy evening.
…and a 70,000 gallon pool with water pumped in from a mountain stream.
Anybody for a dip? Just have to fill the pool!
Biltmore, it’s an amazing, almost magical place, and that’s just the house.
A single family home.
Wait until you see the greenhouse and the gardens!
Change Is Hard 