Ohio's Flag

 Today I drove from West Virginia, through Maryland a little bit, back to West Virginia, through Ohio and into Indiana. While stopped at a rest stop in Ohio I noticed the three flags on the flagpole. The American flag was at the top. The POW flag was in the middle, and an unusually shaped flag at the bottom. Ohio is the only state in the union that does not have a triangular flag. This flag was designed in 1902 and I really like the looks of it.

 

Three States Per Day

Saw this neon sign at a Mexican restaurant in Youngstown, Ohio.

 Yesterday I drove from Minnesota, through Wisconsin, and into the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Today I left Illinois, drove through Indiana, and into the suburbs of Youngstown, Ohio. I left early because Chicago was expecting a 3 inch snow storm. I didn't see any snow but for the last hour of my drive I experienced a light rain. In my hurry to get through the 460 mile trip I took the turnpike which cost me nearly thirty dollars in tolls. Tomorrow I am only going in two states and the mileage should be only 270 miles.

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Returning to Minnesota after being in Pennsylvania, I decided not to fly home. I wanted something different. Amtrak from Harrisburg to Saint Paul cost me $345. Here is a picture out the train window as we crossed the Susquehanna River.. We left at 2:45 p.m. and expected to arrive in Pittsburg by 8 p.m. Commercial traffic and flash flood warnings slowed us down. Beside me on the train were some real loud characters. I was glad when they left the train in Lewisburg. The train to Chicago was expected to leave at 11:45 p.m. The train was an hour late.

I was assigned a seat upstairs on the train next to a young man. I tried to sleep but it was difficult. A guy across the aisle offered me his pink neck pillow. Instead I asked him how to put up the foot rest. In the morning I went to the dining car for coffee and a bagel as we drove through Elkhart, Indiana. I could have gotten a sleeper car. A sleeper car would have cost me $850. That would have been an expensive night.

Chicago has a very nice train depot. I waited here a couple of hours. Once back on the train we went north to Milwaukee before heading west across Wisconsin. We went through the Wisconsin Dells.

We crossed into Minnesota at La Crosse. The man who sat next to me from Chicago to La Crosse drank a small bottle of whiskey about every half hour. I almost asked him for one but I figured he maybe needed it more than I did.

Crossing the Mississippi River and saw a steam boat.

Here we are at Red Wing behind the Saint James hotel. The train depot on Kellogg Boulevard was very impressive but not quite as large as the one in Chicago. I got home tired but it was an interesting journey.

 

Dayton

After Chicago we drove south and east towards Dayton, Ohio, where we spent the night. The next morning we went to the Wright National Park where I have visited before. The girls earned another junior ranger badge. We visited the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia where they earned another badge.

We stopped in western Pennsylvania at the house built by Albert Gallatin. Originally from France, he was a well known founding father of our country. He is less well known now. Here is a statue of him surveying property.

He named the house he had built "Friendship Hill." He was elected to the U.S. Senate and later the House of Representatives. He was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson. He arranged for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Famous then, not many people know about him today.

 

Wright

This afternoon I drove to Dayton, Ohio to visit the Wright Aviation Center. I got a tour of Orville and Wilbur's bicycle store. This was their fourth of their five bike stores. They always rented their stores. The height of the biking craze peaked in 1902 and the Wright Brothers made good money. At the time their safety bicycles cost $100. Translated into to the economy of today, that bike would cost $1400.

The Wright brothers also had a printing press. They published several newspapers but none of them stayed solvent very long. Orville went to school with Paul Laurence Dunbar. Together the Wright Brothers and Dunbar published a newspaper focused on the black neighborhood in Dayton. That newspaper only lasted 3 editions. Dunbar went on to become a prominent poet, short story writer and novelist. On the second floor they had a parachute museum.

This is one of the $100 bicycle.

 

Hopewell

Yesterday I left Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and drove west. I went through Maryland and stayed for the night in West Virginia, right next to the border of Ohio. This morning I drove two hours to Chillicothe to visit the the Hopewell Culture National Historic Site. Here is one of a grouping of burial grounds in Ohio. Inside these burial grounds they have found shells from the Gulf of Mexico, grizzly bear teeth from Montana, copper from Michigan, silver from Canada, shark teeth from Maine and mica from North Carolina. I walked around the grounds imagining the people who were buried here. This felt like a very spiritual place.

 

Franklin Park Conservatory

 

Today I went to the Franklin Park Conservatory here in Columbus, Ohio. Outside they had a four part train garden. This was the fairy tale section. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe . . .

Two trains ran on the elevated track. Seven  trains rode on the lower track.

The Palm Room. Today 4 school buses of what appeared to be first graders were visiting.

They had a gingerbread house contest.

Toy Story won first place.

Polly Pocket also won first place.

This is a very nice conservatory.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Yesterday we went to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Here is a view of one of the rocks at the ledges trail. We hiked for hours and completed tasks to earn Junior Ranger badges.

And we found a lady bug and took her on a walk with us for a time.

We found some jewel weed.

Nothing like cooling off  your feet in a cool creek after a long hike.

 

McKinley's Tomb

Yesterday we went to visit President McKindley's tomb, his presidential library, and the first ladies museum. The first ladies museum was having an exhibit on Jacqueline Kennedy. We also toured the girlhood home of Ida McKinley. Her house was built by her maternal grandfather. Some of the wallpaper, the light fixtures, and the furniture remains intact. Ida McKinley had the heartbreak of two children dying in childhood. She also suffered from epilepsy.

 

Why Am I In Airplane Mode?

I got lost again finding my way to Butler, Pennsylvania.

But I am here now so I had better hop to it!

My hostess asked if I got GPS reception. I said, "Evidently not." Today I looked and I was in airplane mode. Yesterday I bought rice and beans for lunch on the Ohio turnpike. My phone kept giving me directions as I waited in line. So I turned my saucy Aussie off. My phone has an Australian accent. I love it when she says to turn south on highway 76. She sounds like she is saying seventy seeks.

 

Bill And Ida

Today my plan was to go directly to Pennsylvania. Instead I went to Canton, Ohio to see the tomb of William McKinley. I climbed all these steps. See my yellow car in the parking lot to the left. I tried to hum the theme song to Rocky Balboa but the Star Wars song was stuck in my head.

Here lies Bill, Ida, and their daughters. Burying him on a hill makes sense because before and after Denali was Denali, Denali was Mount McKinley. Teddy Roosevelt was his vice president.

Bill was killed on the job. Poor Bill and poor Ida and their two daughters. Why do humans murder? I don't understand. The McKinley's have a nice roof on their tomb on a hill. Ohio has a lot of hills.

I had a friend who wanted to visit all the presidential libraries. I thought that was a good idea. This was my first one. I spent about an hour here. I thought a shave and a haircut was two bits.

Ida was a tiny person, shorter than me and so skinny! She had a waist so tiny in her very beautiful gowns. I saw Bill's nightshirt that had the back ripped open wide from a medical person trying to save his life. I learned quite a bit in that hour in Canton. Getting lost can be educational.

 

I've Got An Old Mule And Her Name Was Sal

Today was a relaxing day in Ohio. Offspring #2 used to call it Iaho and sometimes I get confused and say Iaho too which is even funnier now that I see it has a double meaning. The park ranger said Beaver Pond was her favorite spot to view wildlife.

I had no idea I was near the Erie Canal! Remember singing that song in elementary school?

I walked to the post office because it was less than a mile away. These people really like Halloween!

This one scared me and I am an adult. Nasty!

I missed the last train by a mere 30 seconds. A train ride would have been fun on a rainy day like today.

I was talking on the phone to a friend of mine while walking past this field. Turns out this is a field of parsnips. I picked one up that had been dug up already. I washed it off and took it home. Raw parsnip tastes like a Daikon radish. Before I left a park ranger parked right behind my car blocking me in. I thought I was in trouble for stealing a parsnip. He got out of the truck and picked up a six foot tree limb. He walked to the driver side of my car. I was sweating bullets watching him. He threw the stick into the woods and drove away. Whew! And then I went to the farm nearby and bought black bean salsa, blue corn chips, popcorn and one caramel.

Another park ranger said this was his favorite spot. He wants to visit Duluth some day. A covered bridge is nice during a rainstorm.

Later I ate spanakopita at a café. Tornado warnings came over the television. My chef told me not to worry. We were in a valley. I am super glad I wasn't driving on the Ohio turnpike during a tornado!

Whether you focus on the things that are near . . .

Or the things that are far, Ohio is a pleasant place.