Rainbow Sunset

An Autumn Day in Ohio

There's nothing like enjoying a lovely Autumn day in the midwest.

 No trip is complete without a stop at a country roadside market.

Looks like Fall!

We missed the peak of the leaf turn,

but there were still plenty of russet, brown and deep gold colors.

And the Amish homesteads were immaculate and charming.

We found a wonderful Amish cheese shop too.

 

The woods were inviting.

The rugged coastline of Lake Erie showed a little color.

And Marblehead lighthouse was looking seasonal as well.

The end of a beautiful autumn day in the midwest.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Ohio is also home to a national park,

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, near Cleveland.

Its the first national park I've been to that has an interstate (actually 2) going through it.
Luckily they raised it up above the park.

The park includes what's left of the Ohio & Erie Canal and it its locks.
This is Lock #26.

The park is a biker's haven with many trails,
 including the 16 mile long towpath along the canal.

The park was designated a national park in 2000,
so there are many areas that are still in private hands
and those that are park property are slowly being allowed to return to nature. 

One area along the towpath, an old junkyard,
has been reclaimed by beavers and is called Beaver Marsh.

 The park also includes the twisting Cuyahoga River with
a covered bridge,

and several waterfalls.
This is Brandywine Falls.

My favorite area was called the Ledges,
where we hiked, seeing some pretty interesting rock formations.

 This is Ice Box Cave.
It was refreshing to feel the cool air
flowing out of the cave on an atypical 80° fall day.

There were some tight spots along the Ledges trail too.

 The trees grow right around the rocks.

Tree root on rock.

We also hiked  a lovely trail to Bridal Veil Falls.

And checked out Tinkers Creek Overlook.

Cuyahoga Valley is a wonderful park just minutes away from a large population.
  I hope the Ohio residents appreciate this gem.

Ohio Road Trip

Indian Summer is upon us and we decided to take advantage

 of those last few warm Autumn days and take a genealogy road trip.

 First, we headed to Berlin, Ohio to check out graves of hubby's ancestors.

 We were delighted to discover that his kin were buried

 right in the heart of Holmes Country and the Ohio Amish community.

This is the view from the Mennonite Cemetery

were his great, great, great, great grandparents are buried.

Isn't that peaceful?

 We traveled across Holmes County

enjoying bucolic scenes like this as we searched for a 2nd cemetery.

Found his great, great, great grandfather & grandmother in the Dalton Cemetery

where these coal black squirrels were scurrying around.

It was another beautiful setting.

Down more backroads looking for the 3rd cemetery.

 Where we found another great, great, great grandfather & grandmother,

and her parents as well.

Wow, what a lovely resting place.

Indian Summer

This week is forecast to be in the 70's,

so we are taking advantage of our Indian Summer to do little exploring.

First, a lunch stop at Jamie's Old Fashioned Soda Shop.

The grandkids had never heard of a soda fountain

 and they thought it was going to be a fountain with soda coming out of it!

Instead, this is what we got. 

Ryan's 1st chocolate soda!

Next, a geocache at a giant rocking chair!

Wow!

That's big!

Next, squeezing into an old telephone booth.

Another geocache at a cemetery

as a storm moves in.

 And finally home as the raindrops fall.

Here's Looking at You

Reflections

Preparing for Winter

The fox squirrels are scurrying about gathering walnuts for winter.