Summer 2020 Part 2

Stow City Park

October was our Fall Trip to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stayed at Stow City Park.   The sprawling park itself had everything –a picturesque lake surrounded with brightly colored trees reflecting on the calm water, baseball and soccer fields, hiking/biking trails and a mammoth dog park that had it’s own lake!  The campground part was small and had no facilities other than electricity at each site but the bathhouse at the nearby baseball diamond was very clean and even had nice warm showers!  Of course face masks, hand sanitizer and wipes went with us wherever we went!   Cuyahoga Valley

Bike Trail

National Park has awesome bike and hiking trails that traverse woods, valleys and amble alongside a set of canals and locks from the old Erie Canal Days!

Tuesday was Senior Day at the nearby 64-room Stan Hywett Mansion in Akron and we were the first visitors there that cool yet bright morning!  In Old English, Stan Hywett means “Stone Quarry” and the 300 ft long Tudor Revival mansion is listed as the 6^th largest mansion in the US – behind the Biltmore!  History was everywhere as we strolled from room to ornate room!  Formal gardens and mammoth stone porches adorned the four sides of the 64,500 square foot “home” that was built for FA and Gertrude Seiberling in 1912.  Mr. Seiberling and his brother were the co founders of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron.  Originally the property engulfed 1000 acres including a quarry but has been slimmed down to 70 acres divided by bricked paths - lined and covered with delicate birch trees, kitchen gardens, flower beds, sunken gardens, a gate house, a greenhouse and a former stable, all of which were artfully decorated in fall attire of corn stalks, pumpkins and every color of mum imaginable.

From Akron we ventured even farther southeast, always on the lookout for more restored canals, locks and even covered bridges!  Fall colors abounded in the small but well kept Guilford Lake State Park.  We did find the canals, locks and even the covered bridge in Beaver Creek State Park after a morning of wandering back roads thru farm and forest!  We also found the Beaver Creek and the

Beaver Creek

vibrant colors of the trees that protected its jagged rocky banks.  A VERY tight corner/curve and a one lane VERY narrow bridge protected the visitor area from large RV’s and trailers and luckily, this time, we were not one of them!!

 On the move again, the “train” pulled out of Guilford Lake State Park and steadily moved west, this time thru the well kept Amish Countryside and the busy (in spite of the virus) tourist towns of Sugarcreek, Berlin, Millersburg and on to Loudonville.  Knowing that Mohican State Park there would be full, we headed up and around the corner to Perrysville and the Pleasant Hill Lake

Guilford Lake State Park

Campground.  While most of this huge park has been modernized, expanded and occupied by semi permanent campers, we chose the old section and away from the rest.   There were only a few well-spaced campers that moved in after us and we were on our way early the next morning.  It was time to head home where we knew it was safe.

Now, Christmas is here!  While our pretty little Christmas tree is still securely packed away under the bed in the trailer – this year, our home is adorned with decorations from my vast Christmas Collection that we haven’t seen in over 14 years!   Our Nativity Scene, which I purchased piece-by-piece when I was a teen, occupies the entire coffee table.  A 12-inch tree, from my working days at State Farm, is surrounded by H’s dollar store plastic train, from pre-marriage days, proudly sits on the kitchen table!

While this year, our holiday may not be as “Merry” as in year’s past, our wish is still for yours to be a blessing.   May you and your family stay safe, stay warm and stay well!  Till we can travel and be together again  - we are still  - H and B