More from Ohio

When we planned our summer trip, we didn't originally think about staying so long in Ohio.  As it turned out we didn't leave Ohio until August 21.  We just kept adding things to do and see.

After leaving the Soap Box Derby in Akron on July 23, we decided to do some bike riding in Holmes County in Amish Country.  On the 24th we loaded up our bikes on the back of the Lexus and headed about 10 miles west from the RV park at Scenic Hills to Millersburg.  Millersburg is the midpoint of the Holmes County Trail.  The pictures below show us leaving Millersburg at the trail head and venturing north to Holmesville.  The Holmes County Trail was built from Holmesville to the north down to Killbuck at the south terminus.  One of the purposes of the trail was to provide a route for the Amish to walk, ride bikes or buggies and avoid highway traffic.  One lane of the trail has a special surface for horses and buggies.  Open this link for info about the trail: http://www.holmestrail.com/

Tim with bike at midpoint of Holmes County Trail in Millersburg

Sign at Millersburg midpoint of Holmes County Trail

 As we rode north from Millersburg we passed numerous fields of corn and beans as well as ponds teaming with wildlife.  The trail follows part of the Ohio & Erie Canal.

Many oil pumps dot fields along the trail

1 of many ponds loaded with wildlife

1 lane of trail is for walkers & bikers, other is for horse & buggy

After enjoying the scenery and the Amish traveling along the trail, we arrived at the northern terminus of the trail in Holmesville.  We had heard there were storms in the area the day before and we saw the results of it.  The trees that we down were pretty good size.  I won't want to be under one.

Holmesville, the northern terminus of the trail

A big storm went through Holmesville the day before our ride

Tim's late uncle Loren was an agricultural equipment manufacturer from Benson,Minnesota year ago.  His company sold fertilizer spreaders and other equipment all over the midwest and other parts of the country back in the 1960s and 1970s.  His company changed names of the years, so it's hard to find equipment anymore with the Tyler name on it.  To our surprise while riding through Holmesville we past the grain elevator we saw an old Tyler spreaders.  Actually there were 3 of them.

Tyler spreader at Holmesville, Oh grain elevator

Whenever you stay at a RV park or campground for any length of time, you see many RVs come and go.  Most RVers don't stay at one place for more than a week or two at a time.  When we returned to Scenic Hills RV Park from our bike ride out of Millersburg, we saw an interesting RV at the top of the hill in the park.  If you saw the movie, RV, you'll recognize this bus driven by the happy RVers who kept bugging Robin Williams and his family.  This bus was in pretty good condition. Special versions of the Flxible bus were made in Millersburg in the 1950s & 60s.  Follow link for info:
http://www.flxibleowners.org/history.htm

Good condition Flxible bus at Scenic Hills RV Park

We hadn't had enough bike riding, so on the 26th we headed to Peninsula, OH just south of Cleveland.  It's amazing there is a national park so close to a major city.  In fact some of the suburbs surround the park on three sides. The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail starts a mile marker 0 at Lake Erie in Cleveland.  The village of Peninsula lies in the heart of Cyahoga Valley National Park.  Visiting this village is like being in a time warp.  You see things for the mid to late 1800s when the canal was a busting transportation route through the mid 1900s with some of its commercial and residential buildings.  A Cleveland Indians game was of interest to us, so we rode the trail south from Peninsula. 

The following pictures are some of the sites we saw along the trail south out of Peninsula.

Tim next to Visitor Center sign at Peninsula

Peninsula Visitor Center

Preserved lock near Peninsula

Linda taking pictures from the bridge near Peninsula

Description of 1 of the locks

Johnnycake lock where stranded passengers ate cornmeal pancakes

Beautiful flowers along the way

Linda relaxing on the trail

We rode a number of miles south from Peninsula  We returned to Peninsula to load our bikes on the car for the trip to Cleveland.  Before heading to Cleveland we ate an early dinner at Winking Lizard.

Winking Lizard Restaurant next to the trail in Peninsula

 The drive to the Indians ballpark only took about a hour.  We wanted to arrive early to look around.

Walkway looking down from outfield 1st deck

Looking towards home plate from the outfield

Left center outfield at dusk

Linda eating her favorite popcorn

Tim had to wear his Tampa Bay Rays jersey

 On July 27 we were invited by the Metzgers to ride with them to Pittsburgh to meet up with their oldest son, Robert, and his girlfriend, Kim, for dinner.  On the way over the Metzgers told us there was going to be something special when we meet Robert and Kim for dinner.

WOW!  What a special day it was.  Robert proposed to Kim at the site of their first date.

Kim showing off her engagement ring from Robert

Kim & Robert on steps of the site of their first date and  now engagement

Robert with Kim showing off ring with her parents

We had a wonderful time after the big event, the proposal, with the newly engaged couple, Robert's parents, the Metzger's, and Kim's parents, the Mishkins.  Linda & I were blessed to be there.

After all the excitement of the previous day we decided to return to Peninsula to ride the trail north.

It had rained the night before, so some parts of the trail had standing water

Pond along the trail with lots of turtle on the logs

Sign explaining the value of the canal

Different boats used on the canal

Tim next to a cross section of a canal boat

An old gas station next to the trail

A paper mill existed next to the trail for decades

The "ruins" of the paper mill with the national park

A few miles north of New Philadelphia where the Metzgers live is the town of Strasburg  We heard they were having the annual Corn Festival on the 30th, so we paid a visit.  The festival had corn eating events, softball games, games for the kids, and a lawn tractor pulling contest.

Lawn tractor pull contest

A tricked out lawn tractor

We rode the northern section of the Holmes County Trail earlier, so on August 1 we decided to ride the southern section.  We rode from Millersburg to Killbuck and had lunch in Killbuck.

Tim at the southern terminus of Holmes County Trail in Killbuck

Cafe in Killbuck that served goulash like Tim's mother made

Our last day in east central Ohio we attended the Holmes County Antique Engine show up the road from Scenic Hills RV Park in Mt. Hope.  The show was a the site of the auction we like.

Linda next to an old Farmall tractor like Tim's grandfather had

Old steam tractor

Brightly painted Minneapolis-Moline tractor

Almost identical John Deere tactors

Old gas powered tractor with a different configuration

Modern tractor

Steam tractor firing up

We enjoyed our visit to see the Metzgers and all the other things in the area.  Biking, hiking, shopping, site seeing, baseball game and a super added bonus, the engagement.  It was time to move on to Columbus for a week.  Linda flew home to see the first sonogram of our first grand child and to be with our daughter, Maria, and her husband, Justin.  I stayed in Columbus.  More about Columbus and the rest of our Ohio visit in the next post.