Picnic with Michelle & her family

We are in Middletown, OH now - 78 degrees and had a shower a little bit ago.
Friday evening we boiled some sweet corn

and Phyllis fixed deviled eggs and we went to near the south end of the lake in the state park we were camped in.  Met our daughter, Michelle, and the family she is with.  The kids swam a little in the lake and we had picnic supper.

    The littlest kid got some attention.

 After eating the corn, chips and hot dogs, the kids had fun with marshmallows, making "smores".

 Saturday morning we slept in a little, re-arranged everything in the back of the pickup and while the trikes were out, aired up the tires and rode 2.5 miles around the park on the paved roads.  Was overcast and not too hot, but we hadn't ridden for over a month and could sure tell with the "jello-legs".

Had heard on TV that there was an old-fashioned gas war in one of the towns we were coming through on our way to Middletown, OH and stopped to get gas for $1.899.  We had hunted around Columbus the day before on Gas Buddy on our phone and gotten gas for $2.299 though many stations were at $2.399 and $2.499 so could only take on 6.5 gallons, but did what we could.

Eating supper with Jerry and Lillian Witt in their house in Middletown, OH.

 Today we went with Witts down to Cincinnati, OH and went to Findlay Market.  We then walked a half-mile or so to Washington Park and back to the car.

 After eating a bite of lunch we went to American Railroad Museum which has several museums within it.  It is the old Railway station that operated from the 1930's to 1974.

Tomorrow we leave here and will spend some time with Maxine & Judy - two sisters who winter in Kenwood and live near Montpelier, OH.

Later, Lynn

Ohio State Capitol

80º here in Delaware, OH (Suburb of Columbus) sitting in waiting room while oil is changed in the truck.

This capitol has a cupola instead of a dome and is dwarfed all around in the middle of Columbus by very tall buildings.  Guide gave a very informative tour of the building and history of the building and legislative unit.

We got to our campground north of Delaware, OH shortly after noon Thursday, set up and took it easy at camp.  Cleaned out the back of the pickup - first time in a month - and have the trikes set up for use later.  There are a lot of paved roads through the campground.

Our daughter, Michelle, came to our site and we went out to eat, and played some pegs-and-jokers afterwards at the trailer.

We will see Michelle and her family at a picnic in part of the park where we are camped this evening, then head on to Middletown, PA tomorrow to visit Jerry & Lilliam Witt for the weekend.

Later, Lynn

In Ohio

74 degrees and sunshine - we are sitting under nice shade trees at State Park north of Columbus, OH.

Click on photos to make larger.  Check back at http://ourmilestravels.blogspot.com/ 

anytime to see what we are doing -  I don't always link this to Facebook.

Yesterday we left park near Liverpool, Pennsylvania and drove about 285 miles west, through Pittsburgh then northwest to Beaver Falls, PA where we stayed in back yard of  Nancy and Dean Smith.  Nancy (Falk) went to high school with Phyllis and graduated in the 1962 class from Clarinda, IA.  This is our setup "in the only level spot-according to Dean - in the entire yard) to the back of their place.

This is the front of their house.  They built this in 1971.  He was chaplain at Geneva College  
there in Beaver College - where he and Nancy met when both were students.  Now retired from that, he ministers  at a Reformed Presbyterian church close to their home and the college.  She retired from the college, also.

We had a nice evening with them - they drove us  to  Pittsburgh where they showed us around and we ate supper at an Italian Restaurant.  We then took the

Duquesne Incline - a cable car - up to the toop of Mount Washington where you overlook the downtown area of Pittsburg, including the Ohio River at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers; the  Pittsburgh Steelers Football Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Stadium and a whole lot more.

Nancy and Dean as we went up the incline.

The football stadium.

Nancy, Phyllis and Dean atop Mount Washington with downtown Pittsburgh in the background.

Downtown Pittsburgh at the point where the two rivers come together, forming the Ohio River.

Some barges were being pushed up the river, right next to the closest bank.  Between the river and the highway next to it was a double track for trains, which was quite busy.

Telephoto shot of the Steelers stadium

This morning we had a fine breakfast with the Smith's and then we headed west.

Gasoline was cheaper as we got in to Ohio and filled up at $2.06 in Youngstown, OH.

Had made reservation for two nights at Alum Creek State Park which is only about 10 miles from where our daughter lives so will visit with her these next couple days.  Have enough miles on the Pickup that will get oil changed in it tomorrow in Delaware, OH.

More later on our activities earlier this week.  Lynn

Toured Pennsylvania State Capitol and Gettysburg Battlefield

Spent yesterday afternoon at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Yesterday morning toured the Pennsylvania State Capital in Harrisburg, PA.



Took over 1,000 photos in these two tours and must get them edited.  Short on time, this morning; leaving Liverpool, PA and driving to Beaver Falls, PA where we will park in yard of Phyllis' classmate Nancy Falk Smith.  Tomorrow on to Delaware, OH for 2 nights.

Later, Lynn

Pennsylvania Amish area

62º at 6:55 am EDST near Kinzers, PA

There are bears in our park!  This photo is taken from front of our unit, down the hill to next spot.  They haven't moved for some time, but there are two bears on that tree.

This park is called The Loose Caboose, and their office is in an old railroad caboose.  It is on the side of a very steep hill and they have units tucked in roads back off this very winding road up the side of a steep hill.

We had reservation for a campground northwest of Harrisburg for last night, but had that shifted forward so will spend Monday and Tuesday night there while we look around that area.  Be getting this campground and another day we booked a tour with Amish group for 10:00 am today (Monday)  As part of it we went ahead and saw  presentation of "Jacob's Choice".

Wasn't allowed to take photos during presentation, but here is setup I took beforehand.  There were 5 different areas (with the lines vertical) that film was shown on at different times.  The center section opened one time to show an actual wrecked buggy that the film had shown about to happen.

The square in the center of this photo is covered with a netting and "dream sequences" of passed relatives showed up behind it.

At the left of this photo, one of the smaller screens is above and below a wooden structure opened up at one point with action behind the door.   At one point there was a rain storm and the rain misted out over the audience while lightning and thunder struck.  When it was foggy in the scene, a haze came out over the stage.


And, of course, a very good story about a young Amish boy struggling whether to be Baptized and stay with the church.

We then toured a model of an Amish school built on these grounds.  The desks seem to have gotten a little smaller since I sat in one in Lower Lodi School in Nebraska.

Our guide explained the school day the Amish children would have and the various classes they would take, with older kids helping the younger kids.  This school room was set up with the help of a retired Amish teacher.  Most teachers were teenagers and would not continue if they married.

The model Amish home was furnished with samples of clothing.

Walls only had "functional" items on them.

They had a simple coffin in one room, showing how a body would be at the home after embalming and the family would dress the body in white clothing.

Looks fairly simple to build and a lot cheaper than purchased coffins -- maybe I will build one when we get home--just in case.

Kitchen was simple, with heating stove on one side and cooking stove on other.  Table was main gathering area of the house, and the "desk" of the father.

 Lots of kids on this type of scooter.  We were told at the Amish House that they recommended them instead of bicycles as they would be less likely to travel far.

This youngster was pulling a small trailer with his scooter.

Visited with a store clerk that had "Amish Mafia" T shirts in her store about how factual the Discovery Channel program was.  She said she wasn't sure how much was staged for the program, but those activities all went on and she knew most of the people in the show and they were people who lived in the area.

At the last campground we went to a "Smors" session where KOA CEO was present and visited with the different campers.  He was making rounds of the KOA Kampgrounds.

A shoe garden by the model Amish House.  It was said this was not an uncommon thing--to use shoes as planters.

Today we are going on Amish buggy ride and Amish tour of area before we head northeast to Hershey, PA where we hope to get a factory tour and then on to campground north of Harrisburg where we will tour the Capitol tomorrow.

Later, Lynn