As a little girl back in the 1950’s, I can remember my father Charlie and my Uncle Ned, flying from the Ohio mainland to a small island in the western basin of Lake Erie in a small rumbling 3 prop plane. The two men would load their service cycles and gear into the plane and spend days on end out on the island, fishing and riding their motorbikes. The small town they flew from was Port Clinton, just 40 miles east of Toledo and nestled among a multitude of canals, ponds and creeks that all fed into the lake which was lined with summer cottages. The island was Middle Bass Island, home to the famous Perry Monument, which commemorates Commodore Perry’s victory in the war of 1812. The city on the island was known as Put in Bay, home to the world’s longest wooden Tavern bar and the world famous singer - Pat Daley. The Ford Tri-Motor airplane was built in 1929 in Dearborn Michigan and was affectionately known by us all as “the Tin Goose”.
In last weekend’s Toledo Blade Newspaper was an article on another one of the Ford Tri-Motor Airplanes that had been restored. The Tri-Motor Heritage Foundation was offering flights out of Port Clinton at the Erie-Ottawa County Airport. H felt he/we HAD to go ride the “Tin Goose”! Tuesday, July 3rd was the chosen date and we gathered up B&C to share in this latest adventure. Bud was concerned about Carol tho, as she has a tendency to get motion sickness, but she bravely joined in. The weather was unsettled as we left home and was still hazy and overcast with a slight threat of a storm when we reached the airport parking lot and learned that all flights had been delayed till conditions improved. No problem - Jolly Roger Restaurant for fresh Lake Erie Perch dinners and a bit of exploring around the area filled up our vacant time! As we moseyed back to the airport – the Tri-Motor roared overhead! H hurried now in earnest- he wanted to fly! In the back of the hanger where the Tri-Motor was flying out of, was yet another skeleton of a plane. The proceeds from the all the local flights were to be used to restore that plane which will be parked in a designated hanger at the brand new Liberty Aviation Museum! As we waited for the plane to land and taxi to the hanger, we were given a brief history of the aircraft. We found out that there were only 199 planes made and the one we would be flying in was # 58. The plane that I flew in as a child was #38 and was sold for parts for the other 6 remaining Tri-Motors in existence! The narrow 9-passenger cabin area had one seat on either side of an even narrower aisle. The pilot area was open to the passengers who could see him work the 2 big foot petals that controlled the rudders and brakes and 3 knobby handles, which controlled the speed of the plane. On the ceiling was a pretty good-sized crank handle that was for the plane’s horizontal trim. It was interesting to learn that the original plane had NO brakes because they were landed on grass, as there was no cement landing strip back then. Due to passenger liability laws today – these restored planes must have brakes! Thank you VERY much! One by one the large engines that hung right outside the cabin windows, was coughed to life and began their roar as each prop spun faster and faster. As the knobby handles were slowly pushed forward, the plane also moved forward and rumbled out onto the runway. Holding our breath and hoping we didn’t run out of runway before the laboring plane lifted off, we all sighed with relief as she slowly reached for the sky - just in time! We never did “reach the sky” – we rose just high enough to view the scenes below as though we were looking down at a miniature train setup! You could see the tiny cars on Rt 2 and the miniature boats coming and going out of the never ending ribbons of water that lead from a million boat docks out to the calm waters of Lake Erie. The water tower looked like a dainty pearl balanced on a tiny matchstick! All four of us were snapping pictures as fast as we could press our camera buttons. H took time out to check the airplane’s speed on his hand held GPS - 65 mph at takeoff, up to 100 mph in flight and landing at 73 mph! Safely back at the hanger we continued to bombard the pilot and co-pilot with questions before sadly exiting the plane, ducking as we went because the doorway was a small oval opening just barely 4 feet tall.
Of course, the day was topped off with a stop for ice cream on our way home!
On July 5th, the Ford Tri-Motor was to fly to Kalamazoo, Michigan and then return to its home base in Oshkosh, Wisconsin the following week. If you want to learn more, go to:
trimotorheritagefoundation.org or libertyaviationmuseum.org
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Central Ohio
It all started with Grandpa H taking our 2 grandsons tent camping and kayaking down in the Mohican area. The reports from each said they had a great time on the river and at the state park, swimming and cooking hotdogs along with Mac and cheese! Three of the four basic food groups, eh? Grandpa H came home with a 1-800 phone number to call for “FREE” camping at Wally World RV Resort! The hitch was that we had to take a 2-hour tour and listen to a sales pitch on buying into the resort. Since H has a firm grip on the word “NO” we decided to go down for our “Free” weekend. What could it hurt? Free camping, free lunch and free passes to camp at their other resorts!
Wally World Is an old campground/resort that has been taken over by Travel Resorts of America and is now selling memberships for admittance to all 6 of their resorts. For a much younger family, this deal may have been a good thing. However, it came with too many zeros to work for us! Our young tour guide was very friendly and the sales pitch was very soft sell. The park is still more rundown campground with crowded sites and less than adequate public facilities. The pool was great and we made good use of the putt-putt course. At the far end of the resort is the pick up point for one of the local canoe liveries and was a great source of entertainment since there was NO TV, NO radio and NO cell reception! Our awning-to-awning neighbors were a very nice younger couple with 3 well-behaved children and their children’s 3 well-behaved friends! The neighbor on our backside who came in on Friday, was a monster fifth wheel toy-hawler that just barely fit end to end on the pull thru lot. His slides were within 2 feet of our slide! Yes, our blinds stayed closed on that side of the condo. Their 3 big dogs let everyone know when anyone went past their territory!
Anyway, we arrived at the park on Thursday afternoon and proceeded to spend the rest of the day out exploring the beautiful rolling Amish farm country that surrounds Loudonville, Millersburg and Berlin Our evening was topped off with a refreshing swim and a round of putt putt. Friday morning, our little orange bubbles were slid into the water of the Mohican River at the River Run Canoe Livery and we headed down river to repeat the ride that Calvin and Levi took the week before! Like them, we also encountered really shallow areas with lots of rocks, hidden under churning water in the several rapids that broke up the boredom of the otherwise slow moving brown river. We knew to avoid the reversed white caps that meant a BIG rock was underneath and must be skirted around quickly! Friday afternoon was taken up with our “tour” and the day was topped off with us falling asleep while listening to one of H’s recorded books! Saturday was a crowded day on the river and we were glad to be sitting on the shore, watching all the drunks making fools of themselves, young folks dumping their canoes for the fun of it or dragging their tubes because it was faster than floating or novices getting really REALLY stuck on the biggest rock in the river! The canoe livery guys earned every bit of their pay that day! Those teenage boys were just as much fun to watch! So intent on goofing off between take out groups, they ignored the warnings that they had left the headlights turned on. When it was time to turn down the blaring radio and take the full load of canoes and rafts back to the livery, it was no surprise that the truck would not start! And when a young couple got stuck on that rock – all 10 teens huddled behind the truck and tried to smother their laughter. Not one of them offered to venture out and help the distraught couple!
Sunday was a beautiful day to take the winding (yes, sometimes gravel!) back roads down to Cumberland Ohio to visit “The Wilds”, one of the largest and most innovative wildlife conservation centers in the world. Located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed strip mine land, it is home to more than 28 rare and endangered species from around the world in an open-range habitat. The “Safari Transport Pass” is an air-conditioned bus ride throughout the park with frequent stops to view and take pictures of all the extremely interesting animals. It was also the least expensive tour – especially when our Toledo Zoo Membership took off half of the cost! We could have taken an open-air vehicle or even a Zipline Safari that included 10 ziplines built into a series of observation platforms. Each guided zipline took you farther down the broad grassy slopes over the free grazing animals below. The temperatures got into the low 90’s so we were very thankful for the cool air on our bus. Our guide did a wonderful job and the neat thing was that there were only 4 of us on this tour! We saw Eland, and Oryx and Sable Antelope! Persian Onagers (wild donkeys!) and huge shaggy brown Bactrian Camels! Very stubborn Przewalski Wild Horses and several weird kinds of deer and strange looking cattle from Asia! Along with seeing the White Rhinos, the One Horned Asian Rhinos paraded right by our dusty tour bus. I kept snapping pictures, as they got closer! Besides all the hooved creatures and various birds, the animal list also included the African Wild Dogs, the Cheetahs and a pair of Dholes, which is a beautiful red fox like creature with a full thick black tail. Our young guide dropped us off back at the visitor center and it was a quick shuttle ride back to our dusty hot Big Blue truck. We cranked up the air conditioner and took the scenic, very winding Rt 83 back north and then to the campground, which was by then way less crowded from all the weekenders! We were just in time for another bunch of laps in the pool, followed by TWO rounds of putt-putt! I let H beat me the second round. We headed home on Monday to rest from our long weekend of travel! Now it’s time to get the bigger boat out and into the water. It’s time to go catch some fish. Just wait - - there’ll be another adventure next month!
Wally World Is an old campground/resort that has been taken over by Travel Resorts of America and is now selling memberships for admittance to all 6 of their resorts. For a much younger family, this deal may have been a good thing. However, it came with too many zeros to work for us! Our young tour guide was very friendly and the sales pitch was very soft sell. The park is still more rundown campground with crowded sites and less than adequate public facilities. The pool was great and we made good use of the putt-putt course. At the far end of the resort is the pick up point for one of the local canoe liveries and was a great source of entertainment since there was NO TV, NO radio and NO cell reception! Our awning-to-awning neighbors were a very nice younger couple with 3 well-behaved children and their children’s 3 well-behaved friends! The neighbor on our backside who came in on Friday, was a monster fifth wheel toy-hawler that just barely fit end to end on the pull thru lot. His slides were within 2 feet of our slide! Yes, our blinds stayed closed on that side of the condo. Their 3 big dogs let everyone know when anyone went past their territory!
Anyway, we arrived at the park on Thursday afternoon and proceeded to spend the rest of the day out exploring the beautiful rolling Amish farm country that surrounds Loudonville, Millersburg and Berlin Our evening was topped off with a refreshing swim and a round of putt putt. Friday morning, our little orange bubbles were slid into the water of the Mohican River at the River Run Canoe Livery and we headed down river to repeat the ride that Calvin and Levi took the week before! Like them, we also encountered really shallow areas with lots of rocks, hidden under churning water in the several rapids that broke up the boredom of the otherwise slow moving brown river. We knew to avoid the reversed white caps that meant a BIG rock was underneath and must be skirted around quickly! Friday afternoon was taken up with our “tour” and the day was topped off with us falling asleep while listening to one of H’s recorded books! Saturday was a crowded day on the river and we were glad to be sitting on the shore, watching all the drunks making fools of themselves, young folks dumping their canoes for the fun of it or dragging their tubes because it was faster than floating or novices getting really REALLY stuck on the biggest rock in the river! The canoe livery guys earned every bit of their pay that day! Those teenage boys were just as much fun to watch! So intent on goofing off between take out groups, they ignored the warnings that they had left the headlights turned on. When it was time to turn down the blaring radio and take the full load of canoes and rafts back to the livery, it was no surprise that the truck would not start! And when a young couple got stuck on that rock – all 10 teens huddled behind the truck and tried to smother their laughter. Not one of them offered to venture out and help the distraught couple!
Sunday was a beautiful day to take the winding (yes, sometimes gravel!) back roads down to Cumberland Ohio to visit “The Wilds”, one of the largest and most innovative wildlife conservation centers in the world. Located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed strip mine land, it is home to more than 28 rare and endangered species from around the world in an open-range habitat. The “Safari Transport Pass” is an air-conditioned bus ride throughout the park with frequent stops to view and take pictures of all the extremely interesting animals. It was also the least expensive tour – especially when our Toledo Zoo Membership took off half of the cost! We could have taken an open-air vehicle or even a Zipline Safari that included 10 ziplines built into a series of observation platforms. Each guided zipline took you farther down the broad grassy slopes over the free grazing animals below. The temperatures got into the low 90’s so we were very thankful for the cool air on our bus. Our guide did a wonderful job and the neat thing was that there were only 4 of us on this tour! We saw Eland, and Oryx and Sable Antelope! Persian Onagers (wild donkeys!) and huge shaggy brown Bactrian Camels! Very stubborn Przewalski Wild Horses and several weird kinds of deer and strange looking cattle from Asia! Along with seeing the White Rhinos, the One Horned Asian Rhinos paraded right by our dusty tour bus. I kept snapping pictures, as they got closer! Besides all the hooved creatures and various birds, the animal list also included the African Wild Dogs, the Cheetahs and a pair of Dholes, which is a beautiful red fox like creature with a full thick black tail. Our young guide dropped us off back at the visitor center and it was a quick shuttle ride back to our dusty hot Big Blue truck. We cranked up the air conditioner and took the scenic, very winding Rt 83 back north and then to the campground, which was by then way less crowded from all the weekenders! We were just in time for another bunch of laps in the pool, followed by TWO rounds of putt-putt! I let H beat me the second round. We headed home on Monday to rest from our long weekend of travel! Now it’s time to get the bigger boat out and into the water. It’s time to go catch some fish. Just wait - - there’ll be another adventure next month!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Norhtern Michigan
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Florida to Michigan
Talk about a delay! It’s time I catch up on our journey north!
Northern Florida and Southern Georgia look the same. We were definitely out of sandy beaches and swaying palm tree territory. The Suwannee River State Park is about 20 miles south of the imaginary line on our Atlas that says Florida/Georgia, however it took a half of a day to reach that line. Rt 90 is the east/west route that leads from Jacksonville on the Atlantic, thru and past Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. And it is a lovely road to travel! Rt 27 is the north/south route that snakes up the west side of Georgia, thru red dirt farms and pine forests. I could have picked up another state park patch if I were collecting Georgia ones because we parked for the night at Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park. A nice little campground nestled by the side of a small lake, the park is significant because it is the oldest and largest Woodland Indian site in southeastern U S. It was occupied as far back as 350-750 A.D. Georgia’s oldest great temple mound, 57 ft high, dominates 2 other mounds and several other ceremonial mounds.
South of Columbus, off of Rt 27 is Providence Canyon State Park, also called the “Grand Canyon of Georgia” and rightly so! Now, here’s a warning to any and all RV’ers who pull into the Visitor Center parking lot, expecting a place big enough to park a rig - - - - DON”T DO IT! Park in the lot when you first turn into the park! R&N have visited this park before us but failed to remember to warn us about the extremely short turn around area for trucks pulling trailers! IF the lot is empty of other parked vehicles – it can be done, HOWEVER – there were several vehicles parked closest to the pathways and ONE lone renegade SUV parked against the back of the lot about 5 or 6 spots from the furthest end. That left just enough space for H to pull in and hope for enough space to turn and escape. Not to be! We all know that H can back his way out of a tight squeeze blindfolded and he did great in wiggling out of this tricky bind with just a few well planned (lucky) maneuvers! I still held my breath, but he never even came close to scratching that SUV! With a sigh of relief, he parked along side the park road and off we went to explore a bit of the dramatic views spread before us! The official website for the park states that all of this magnificent beauty and vibrant colors displayed throughout the 1300 acres of canyon are all simply caused from erosion due to poor farming practices back in the 1800’s. The 3-mile hike around the canyon surround some of the awesome views that rival the other well-known Grand Canyon. The white, orange, red and purple colors are as vivid as any in Brice Canyon! The many well posted signs warn of steep drop-offs not more than 3 feet from the other side of that worn wooded rail! The park is just for hiking and viewing with no camping facilities so back on the road we went with plenty of time to explore more of Georgia’s back roads. Along the river that divides Georgia and Alabama, thru the Florence Marina State Park, “Lily” took us on a shortcut – over the river and up an Alabama road, adding to another state traveled before lunch! Gas was also cheaper in Alabama! We were back in Georgia at Columbus and back up Rt 27 to John Tanner Park (west of Atlanta) for our stop for the night. Until this spring it was listed as a state park but according to the young lady in the office, the park did not meet state park standards and is now listed as a Carroll County park. A pretty little park with two lakes and the usual hiking paths, it should be popular in the summer time. The campground is wedged on the side of a large wooded hill so many of the spots are terraced sideways down the gentle slope. The “facilities” are up at the top so there is plenty of cardiac exercise! H selected an easy in, easy out, pull thru and we never even unhooked. Since the only other rig in the campground was the camp host, we did not disturb anyone when we left in the morning!
Cloudland Canyon State Park was just a morning’s trip up the road, but the road from the entrance of the park to the campground seemed as long! Deeply forested and very curvaceous, it finally ended up at a double looped campground atop one of the crown like hills in the park. Terraced parking sites where built of railroad tie sized timbers and filled with stone to make level areas to park. New timber fences kept us from backing off and down the mountainside! Unlike the Providence Canyon, this area was thick with forest and hills and fog layered on the edges of the highest peaks. Since we had the whole afternoon to explore, H wasted no time in unhooking the condo and setting the Big Blue Ox free! Cloudland Canyon is on the south side of Lookout Mountain in Georgia and the north side is in Tennessee, facing the snaking Tennessee River and the sprawling city of Chattanooga. The views from the World Famous Mile High Incline Railway Observation Deck were gorgeous but the ride down the mountain in one of the two brightly painted trolley like cars fairly took our breaths away as the car first started to drop down the 72.7% grade! It’s the steepest passenger railway in the world and has been since it’s beginning in 1895! We found the ice cream shop at the bottom and then braved the ride back up the mountain. Literally – we backed up the side of the mountain, causing a weird feeling in the pit of our stomachs but it afforded another neat view while climbing backwards up the steep grade. We even passed the other car coming down as we went. On another corner of the mountaintop is Point Park, the National Park where the “Battle of the Clouds” was fought in 1863. We stood on the bluff where Ulysses S Grant stood and we read the history of the Civil War Battle that took so many Union and Confederate lives. And the views – phenomenal!
Our last day in Georgia – “Lily” led us down the west side of the mountain to the expressway below. Down some wonderful motorcycle roads - with more than just one 15 mph hairpin curve! We could see the taillights on the condo as it dutifully followed us down and around the zigzag curves! Yee-haw! Down on the busy expressway that we had just admired the day before from the top, we reversed our gaze and amazed at the views of the mountain ridge from the valley below. “Lily” took us from Rt 59 to Rt 24 thru Chattanooga and then I 75 north.
The fun and games of our winter adventure was over – we were going home for serious now. One more night out at the Kentucky Horsepark and then we gritted our way thru Cincinnati and Dayton and finally, Toledo, Rt 23 and Michigan. The few minor “adjustments” to the condo have been completed and it’s tucked away in the backyard, waiting for the next adventure.
Come with us again!
Northern Florida and Southern Georgia look the same. We were definitely out of sandy beaches and swaying palm tree territory. The Suwannee River State Park is about 20 miles south of the imaginary line on our Atlas that says Florida/Georgia, however it took a half of a day to reach that line. Rt 90 is the east/west route that leads from Jacksonville on the Atlantic, thru and past Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. And it is a lovely road to travel! Rt 27 is the north/south route that snakes up the west side of Georgia, thru red dirt farms and pine forests. I could have picked up another state park patch if I were collecting Georgia ones because we parked for the night at Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park. A nice little campground nestled by the side of a small lake, the park is significant because it is the oldest and largest Woodland Indian site in southeastern U S. It was occupied as far back as 350-750 A.D. Georgia’s oldest great temple mound, 57 ft high, dominates 2 other mounds and several other ceremonial mounds.
South of Columbus, off of Rt 27 is Providence Canyon State Park, also called the “Grand Canyon of Georgia” and rightly so! Now, here’s a warning to any and all RV’ers who pull into the Visitor Center parking lot, expecting a place big enough to park a rig - - - - DON”T DO IT! Park in the lot when you first turn into the park! R&N have visited this park before us but failed to remember to warn us about the extremely short turn around area for trucks pulling trailers! IF the lot is empty of other parked vehicles – it can be done, HOWEVER – there were several vehicles parked closest to the pathways and ONE lone renegade SUV parked against the back of the lot about 5 or 6 spots from the furthest end. That left just enough space for H to pull in and hope for enough space to turn and escape. Not to be! We all know that H can back his way out of a tight squeeze blindfolded and he did great in wiggling out of this tricky bind with just a few well planned (lucky) maneuvers! I still held my breath, but he never even came close to scratching that SUV! With a sigh of relief, he parked along side the park road and off we went to explore a bit of the dramatic views spread before us! The official website for the park states that all of this magnificent beauty and vibrant colors displayed throughout the 1300 acres of canyon are all simply caused from erosion due to poor farming practices back in the 1800’s. The 3-mile hike around the canyon surround some of the awesome views that rival the other well-known Grand Canyon. The white, orange, red and purple colors are as vivid as any in Brice Canyon! The many well posted signs warn of steep drop-offs not more than 3 feet from the other side of that worn wooded rail! The park is just for hiking and viewing with no camping facilities so back on the road we went with plenty of time to explore more of Georgia’s back roads. Along the river that divides Georgia and Alabama, thru the Florence Marina State Park, “Lily” took us on a shortcut – over the river and up an Alabama road, adding to another state traveled before lunch! Gas was also cheaper in Alabama! We were back in Georgia at Columbus and back up Rt 27 to John Tanner Park (west of Atlanta) for our stop for the night. Until this spring it was listed as a state park but according to the young lady in the office, the park did not meet state park standards and is now listed as a Carroll County park. A pretty little park with two lakes and the usual hiking paths, it should be popular in the summer time. The campground is wedged on the side of a large wooded hill so many of the spots are terraced sideways down the gentle slope. The “facilities” are up at the top so there is plenty of cardiac exercise! H selected an easy in, easy out, pull thru and we never even unhooked. Since the only other rig in the campground was the camp host, we did not disturb anyone when we left in the morning!
Cloudland Canyon State Park was just a morning’s trip up the road, but the road from the entrance of the park to the campground seemed as long! Deeply forested and very curvaceous, it finally ended up at a double looped campground atop one of the crown like hills in the park. Terraced parking sites where built of railroad tie sized timbers and filled with stone to make level areas to park. New timber fences kept us from backing off and down the mountainside! Unlike the Providence Canyon, this area was thick with forest and hills and fog layered on the edges of the highest peaks. Since we had the whole afternoon to explore, H wasted no time in unhooking the condo and setting the Big Blue Ox free! Cloudland Canyon is on the south side of Lookout Mountain in Georgia and the north side is in Tennessee, facing the snaking Tennessee River and the sprawling city of Chattanooga. The views from the World Famous Mile High Incline Railway Observation Deck were gorgeous but the ride down the mountain in one of the two brightly painted trolley like cars fairly took our breaths away as the car first started to drop down the 72.7% grade! It’s the steepest passenger railway in the world and has been since it’s beginning in 1895! We found the ice cream shop at the bottom and then braved the ride back up the mountain. Literally – we backed up the side of the mountain, causing a weird feeling in the pit of our stomachs but it afforded another neat view while climbing backwards up the steep grade. We even passed the other car coming down as we went. On another corner of the mountaintop is Point Park, the National Park where the “Battle of the Clouds” was fought in 1863. We stood on the bluff where Ulysses S Grant stood and we read the history of the Civil War Battle that took so many Union and Confederate lives. And the views – phenomenal!
Our last day in Georgia – “Lily” led us down the west side of the mountain to the expressway below. Down some wonderful motorcycle roads - with more than just one 15 mph hairpin curve! We could see the taillights on the condo as it dutifully followed us down and around the zigzag curves! Yee-haw! Down on the busy expressway that we had just admired the day before from the top, we reversed our gaze and amazed at the views of the mountain ridge from the valley below. “Lily” took us from Rt 59 to Rt 24 thru Chattanooga and then I 75 north.
The fun and games of our winter adventure was over – we were going home for serious now. One more night out at the Kentucky Horsepark and then we gritted our way thru Cincinnati and Dayton and finally, Toledo, Rt 23 and Michigan. The few minor “adjustments” to the condo have been completed and it’s tucked away in the backyard, waiting for the next adventure.
Come with us again!
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