Ohio...Linda's sister's family, Amish, bike rides, steam tractors, Soap Box Derby, baseball, engagement

On July 15th we made the couple hour drive from central to eastern Ohio.  Scenic Hills RV Park just east of Berlin (pronounced Buur-lin) is one of our favorite RV parks.  The park is centrally located in Holmes County among the Amish community and a 30 minute drive to Linda's sister's family in New Philadelphia.  We've stayed at this RV park many times over the years.  The owners and staff are very friendly and helpful.

Scenic Hills had chip & tar interior roads with gravel sites.  The is a good amount of green space between sites, especially in the premium sites section.  We like the extra space in the premium section which is along the road bordering one side of the RV park.  The premium sites also have a cement patio.  We like sitting on the patio and watching the Amish in their buggies or on their bikes come by.

You know you're in the Amish area, when you drive by a McDonald's and see this sign.

Sign at the entrance to McDonald's in Sugarcreek

We had planned to stay at Scenic Hills for a couple weeks.  Little did we know that our stay would be extended to three weeks.  A record was set.  We've never in 10 years of RVing stayed anyplace that long.  I think our previous record was 10 days.  We describe ourselves as "travelers".  Normally, we stay a few days in a area exploring, then move on.  Campers usually are RVers who find a spot and stay weeks at a time.  That's not us.  We like to move around and explore.

After settling in at Scenic Hills, we decided to do some bike riding.  Linda borrowed her sister's beach cruiser bike and Tim rode his folding bike that we store in the basement of Big Red. We headed out on the Zoar Valley Trail from Bolivar, OH. 

Tim on his folding bike ready to start out on the Zoar Valley Trail

 This trail parallels the Ohio and Erie Canal for many miles on the towpath.  The Canal carried freight traffic from 1827 to 1861. Of course many locks were built and used to control the waterway.

The sign above is for Lock 7.  The canal ran from Cleveland to New Philadelphia, OH.  The construction of an extensive railroad system was too much competition for the canal from freight service.  After 1861 the canal was used from occasional freight and tourist boats for leisurely outings.

The above picture shows Lock 7 today.

Most spots along the canal still have water in them, although many spots are bone dry.

Water in the canal.

Many boardwalks and bridges follow along the canal.  We enjoyed making many stops on our bike ride just looking around and trying to image what life was like in mid-1800s.

Linda riding over a bridge crossing a stream near the canal.

On the 16th we attended at fund raiser at the Berlin Elementary School for the East Holmes County Fire District.  The fund raiser was great fun.  The firemen from many stations competed in firemen games.  The game that drew the biggest crowds was pushing a suspended barrel with fire hoses past the competing station.  After all the stations competed and a winner was declared, volunteers were recruited to try their hand.  Of course many macho guys tried and many made fools of themselves.

 

 

Bucket at the end of a long boom on fire truck