Good morning, my friends, and Hellllllloooooo, Ohio! We had a long drive yesterday...300+ miles. We crossed into Ohio only about halfway through the trip. I'm glad Mike was paying attention because the sign was in the center divider, and I almost missed it. It would have been a tragedy of epic proportions, as you might imagine.
We left Michigan yesterday morning, and continued our eastward trek. We have one more stop heading in the easterly direction, and then we'll be turning the wagons around and heading west again. Of course, no day of driving is complete until one has exercised one's murder mittens. Sadie spent a good part of her morning killing the toy cat Gail brought for them. Gail, Sadie thanks you, and Smitty thanks you. There's nothing like a good killing to start the day off on the right paw.
We didn't see many barns on our way out of town, but a few.
The only thing I have left to say about Michigan is that we crossed over the Zilwaukee Bridge as we passed through Saginaw. Of course, I couldn't photograph it myself, but I found this image on Creative Commons.
(image credit: "File:Zilwaukee-Bridge-September-.jpg" by Myself is licensed under CC BY 2.5.)
It was impressive enough all on its own, but there's a story here that you might enjoy.
Click right here to read about its "turbulent history." Before leaving Michigan, we'd passed through Saginaw and Ann Arbor. Reaching Ohio, we passed through Toledo.
We took advantage of the rest stops along the way since most of our drive was over the interstate. There were some pretty blooming things at one stop. I believe these flowers below are hostas, but I really wasn't paying that much attention to the plant. They were nearly bloomed out.
These next clusters of tiny pink guys were only about the size of a quarter from side to side.
And who knows what these are? Are they crabapples? They're only about the size of an olive.
We saw more barns in Ohio. In fact, most of the driving we did in Ohio was through the rural countryside. Once we made our way through Toledo, we saw lots of barns. I only took pictures of a few of them.
When we reached the final stretch of road along Ohio 603, oh my goodness. If we hadn't seen the signs pointing us toward the campground, we wouldn't have believed we were heading in the right direction. We were way out in the sticks, and driving over undulating roads. It might not be obvious from the picture below, but coming over those steep rises was quite a thrill when we couldn't see what was on the other side.
The campground is nothing fancy, but it's quiet and we have plenty of space between us and our neighbors. I'm showing you this satellite image so you can see the surrounding farm land. There's not a whole lot out here. I'm amazed the KOA can make a go of it.
A tree beside us is putting on its fall color show. We're seeing more and more of this.
But the most vitally important thing I need to tell you about yesterday is that we added a new state to the side of the RV. It's the first new state we've added since our USA perimeter tour back in 2017.
I give you...Ohio! Ta-da!
Okay, so today we'll be exploring Mohican State Park. There are several hikes we'd like to take to see a grist mill and a waterfall. There's another hike labeled "difficult" that will take us out to a covered bridge. We'll first stop in at the visitor center and get calibrated on how difficult the "difficult" trail is. Regardless, we're going to see some good stuff today, and you know I'll be back to tell you all about it.
16 comments:
I prefer the simple things and I love walking in the countryside, or going camping... but simplicity is hard. It's easier to over-complicate things. ~ Bill Bailey
There's a wonderful quilt store (in an old barn) south of Toledo called the Door Mouse. Probably not on your route. As you've seen, a lot of Ohio is rural once you are away from the big cities.
Pat
So glad that Sadie and Smitty are enjoying their toy. I stuffed it with fleece scraps instead of fiberfill, just in case they kill it for good, to avoid having them ingest those dangerous little fibers, but I hope it will stand the test of time. When my kids were small, and we lived down state, driving over the old Zilwaukee drawbridge was both scary and exciting -- with the emphasis on scary as it reached the end of its time there. Once over the bridge, we knew the "up north" vacation had finally and truly begun. Now it is just a bridge, and I live on the other side of it, so I guess my life now is a permanent vacation!
Thanks for taking us along on your journey. I see you have yet to visit the the little state of Arkansas. There are some nice things there: Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, the Diamond mine that is open for folks to come a look for diamonds, and closer to my home town is Subiaco with the Abbey, then west just a bit is Mt. Magazine State Park, and the further west ion the AR/OK border is Ft. Smith with a lot of Western history and then NW Arkansas with it’s beautiful mountains and lakes.(OK, not the mountains like IN Oregon where I now live. 😁). Also in the NW corner is Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas main campus and its Old Main building.
Glad the kitties are enjoying the Kill. I'm sure they got some good cardio out of that catnip toy.
I've driven through Ohio but only saw things from the interstate, so I'm looking forward to seeing things through your photos.
Wow, not too many states left for you guys to visit. Flowers and scenery in Ohio sure look beautiful.
I hope that one more easterly drive gets you into West Virginia. You are so close. We stayed at Pipe Stem State Park many years ago. It is a beautiful area. But the tunnel that we had to travel thru on our way from Tennessee was pretty impressive. Even If it was a tad scary.
You have been to and seen so many States--just amazing. Flowers are really gorgeous there...hugs, Julierose
Welcome to Ohio! I live about 15 miles from Butler and you are in a beautiful area that attracts a lot of visitors. You might want to visit Malabar Farm which is a few miles from your campground. The Spinning and Weaving Guild might be open on Thursday afternoon. A very interesting and historic place to visit. Also, you are on the edge of Amish country which can be interesting with lots of shops. I hope you stay safe tonight if the storms roll in as the temperature is supposed to go from humid mid-80's to the 60's overnight. Now that is Ohio weather for sure. So glad you made it to my home state and I hope you enjoy it. My kitties and I always enjoy reading your blog.
MissPat mentioned the Door Mouse Quilt Shop and sadly the owner passed away and I don't think it is open anymore. It was packed full of goodies.
I haven't seen crabapples since I was a child but they look like the ones in my memory. One summer the big crabapple tree in the pasture was loaded with crabapples so Dad parked a hay wagon under it and my brothers and I had fun picking some. What I remember most though was the crabapple jelly, my most favorite jelly in my childhood. Thanks for awaking a a memory.
What a wonderful map and such fun adding states to it as you travel around. I have to admit that although I am familiar with your state names, I have to say I'm not sure of which one is where, if that makes sense. I know that California is on the right of the map, and Florida is on the other side down the bottom, but that's about all. And I know where Alaska and Hawaii are, because we have stayed there. So it was great to see exactly where Ohio is placed, thanks for that.
You've seen some cool stuff this trip. Our temps here are still in the high 90s. Hard to believe fall is showing it's face anyplace at the moment. Hope you had nice hiking weather for your excursions today.
Yup ! The KOA is in the right spot. In the mid west, "to getaway", just means getting off your property and down the road a piece. Noticed that the grocery is not too far away. Ready for a party... Chips and dip. We sure know how to how to party and relax.
Noticed all the corn fields too.
Barbara, I’ve been enjoying your posts about your Michigan and Ohio travels. We have family in both states and we usually visit at least once a year. We’ve been to most of the places you visited and enjoy them so much. We’ve never been to Midland so we’ll have to add that to our places to visit.
I had to look up the area in Ohio you visited. Our daughter went to school in Wooster. It isn’t to far away from your camping spot. When there, we went SE instead of SW as we wanted to see more of the Amish countryside. Berlin was the main hub for that Amish area. In the town of Wooster, customers included a large contingent of Amish shoppers at the Walmart . In restaurants I was surprised when an Amish person pulled out a cell phone to answer it. It had been so long since being in Amish country, the last time I saw phones there were the phone booths out in the middle of nowhere for the use of the Amish to do business. It never dawned on me cell phones would be accepted way of communication. Time marches on.
I enjoy a good farmland drive with rolling hills and vistas. Looks like a fun day of travel!
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