Heading to Arizona, Sorta

We left Timber Ridge Campground this morning, 6 days ahead of when we thought we would leave.  But, we got all our chores done, licenses renewed, RV/car tags done, doctors appointments completed, condo cleaned out, visited with family and friends although we did not get to see all, visited some of our haunts (Lake Erie Islands, the marina we had our sailboat at, favorite restaurants, stores that are in home town, etc.).  Busy.

Glad we left Timber Ridge.  The smoke from the campfires was killing us.  Friday afternoon by 3pm folks came to their places for the weekend, crank up the fires, talk, sit around and kibbutz, while we hunkered down inside the RV with the windows closed.  Could not take the smell.  Was fun to see kids playing, families enjoying themselves, but for sure they all were campers, not RVers.  Difference is: RVers rarely if ever have a fire, they are quiet, don't see them out after dusk.  Campers build big fires, sit around their fire till late in the night and have lots of visitors, then leave by noon on Sunday.

On our way out and south we stopped in a small town, Wellington, at a Ford dealer who we knew uses nitrogen in their tires.  We asked if they could check the RV as well as the car since both have nitrogen.  No charge!  How great was that?  Started south on Route 58 and picked up US Route 250 into Wooster and on down till it crossed Interstate 77.  Once we got into Wooster we were back into Amish country, having to be careful and steer clear of the horse and buggies that we saw.

Trip was uneventful, drove 185 miles but took about 4 hours since we were moving in and out of small towns.  We are now in Cambridge, Ohio where we will sit for a week.  We will visit with our old neighbors from years ago who built a log cabin home about 5 miles from here.  We also hope to visit Salt Fork State Park as well as Hocking Hills State Park.  Both these parks are known for their scenery and the trees are beginning to show the fall colors.

Family, Amish, and Lake Erie Islands

We have been very busy since we got here to Timber Ridge in Amherst, Ohio.  As a matter of fact - 15 days here and only one day sitting at home, not going anywhere to see someone(s) or shopping or just visiting our old haunts, stepping down memory lane.  Spent a day with my sister, another day was spent with our sister-in-law driving south of Cleveland into Amish country, about an hour's drive.  Shirley said it was over 20 years since she had visited the area (Charm, Berlin, Millersburg, Walnut Creek, Sugarcreek) with her husband (Dave's brother) and for us we were in that are about 5 years ago.  Getting very touristy.  Saw lots of Amish and their buggies but respect their wishes not to be photographed.  We were looking for some pieces of furniture to finish off the interior of the RV but did not find anything we liked.  Had a great meal at Der Dutchman, and Amish restaurant, in Walnut Creek to end the day.

My sister's son and his kids

We have been able to connect with many family members and will be at an open house at our niece's this Saturday to see many more.  Have had dinners with former co-workers and friends - been very busy!  Yesterday we drove to Catawba Island and took the Miller ferry over to South Bass Island also known as Put-In-Bay.  Catawba is really a peninsula which juts out north of Sandusky, but it is referred to as an island.  As a child I spent many weekends at my Aunt's house and remember fondly swimming off the pebble beach in Lake Erie near her home.  On the western end of Lake Erie are a number of islands, some reachable by ferry, others are privately owned and cannot visit.  Put-In-Bay also has the Perry' Victory and International Peace Memorial, a national park honoring Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over the British fleet on Lake Erie of the War of 1812, a battle that was waged not far from this island.  This monument also honors all who fought and died during the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813 and the War of 1812.  This naval battle helped turn a war toward the founding of lasting peace between the United States and Canada.

Control of the Lake - 1813

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

At the visitor's center we learned that they had closed the top of the monument just a week ago due to reconstruction that has begun.  Over the course of my life I have gone to the top of this monument over a dozen times and never tire of it.  Disappointed we could not go up yesterday - on a clear day you can see the shore of Ontario, east towards Cleveland and west towards Toledo.  PIB is very touristy now, reminded us of Annapolis or Friday Harbor.  Everything revolves around the visitor/boater.  Weekends are one big party, glad we visited during the week where it was quiet.  Had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the harbor.  On PIB is The Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory is located on PIB, their research branch for Lake Erie.

Our Ferry to Put-In-Bay

South Bass Island - aka Put-In-Bay

Kelley's Island and Peelee Island in distance

A beautiful day to be on the water.  Brought back so many memories of our sailing days.  Sailing over to Put-In-Bay and mooring out on a ball for the night, sailing by the north side of the island to see the freighter that is sitting on land (a private residence now), sailing to other islands such as Kelley's and Middle Bass Island and visiting Lonz's Winery.  Some of our sailing trips were to Peelee Island (Canadian) which is north of North Bass Island, and sailing over to Leamington and spending a week visiting that quaint town in Ontario.

Sailboat coming into dock

Benson Ford Freighter brought on land - private residence

Height of boating season

What we used to look like sailing along the islands

Oh how I love the water!  It took us 20 minutes to cross the channel to PIB in the ferry, and with our sailboat, the same distance - with the right wind conditions - would have taken us a couple of hours!  But the serenity, the peacefulness of being on the water, nothing compares to it.

Getting Caught Up

We arrived here at Timber Ridge Campground in Amherst, Ohio on Friday afternoon and got whollaped with a huge storm that night.  Forgot how bad these storms can be - we are in Tornado Alley, fortunately there were no confirmations of a funnel, but still. Was amazing to feel and experience.  The kids in the campground really like the storm the next day - puddles where very deep and big and we got a chuckle as we watched kids play on the old fashioned merry-go-round and swinging their feet in water about 4 inches thick.  Wouldn't be too happy if I was there Mom - they had their socks and shoes on and can't imagine how that brownness was going to wash out.

Our days have been spent going back and forth to our condo in Vermilion, cleaning out what we have stored there, visiting with some of our old neighbors.  Sunday was spent at my sister's house visiting with her family (son, his kids and her husband).  Nice day.  With that storm from Friday the temps finally are more manageable - in the high 70's.  The cats are enjoying staying put - they find the door steps a great place to watch what's going on.

Just looking

What's that?

View out the condo to Lake Erie (facing north) 

Monday we had a list of things to do and places to visit and the most important item on the list - our driver's licenses and car/RV tags.  Thanks goodness that's done which was the top item to do while here. Since we were in Sandusky which is a town located about 20 miles west of our place and located on the banks of Lake Erie, we drove to some of our old haunts: the marina where we kept our sailboat, Toft's Ice Cream Parlor where we spent many evenings enjoying their goodies, and the scenic drive along the lake back to our place.

The Marina we sailed from

Yesterday we did more of the same as Monday with more chores and heading back to the condo to do more cleaning out.  We are taking some antique furniture back with us to Arizona and had made arrangements for a cleaning company to come pick up a piece to clean. and then stopped at one of our favorite places to eat - The Sand Bar - and made it home in time for us to be under another tornado warning.  Got very heavy rain last night until this morning about 4am but thankfully no tornado here although there was confirmation of one on east side of Cleveland.  Same storm system that came through Phoenix on Monday (Hurricane Norbert).

Tornado warning - look out!

Lots to do still - visit with more family and dinner with friends, take a trip on the ferry over to the 'Islands" of Lake Erie for a day, run to Amish Country about an hour south of here to look for shelves for the RV.  One draw back of being here - we are not used to the moisture (humidity) and we have sinus headaches constantly.  Oh well.