Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A great week away!

Got away from it all for a week. We celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary by taking a week long camping trip to Hocking Hills Ohio. Oh man did we have a great time! Our friends Joe & Diane came on Saturday and stayed with us until Monday afternoon. We went Zip Lining..something I never would have thought to do. Especially since I hate roller-coasters. Totally different type of amusement though. Not being on a track and feeling like I have a bit more control might have had something to do with it. Anyway, whatever my reason-being a thing to cross off my "bucket list" or just to say "I did it", it was an amazing experience!

The 4 of us about 1/2 way through the adventure. Diane, me, Joe & Paul.
Our group. The peeps in the yellow hardhats were our guides.
The strangest thing happened. After we got all geared up and started walking to the training section, one of the guides mentioned "so, you're all from Avon Lake"? The 4 of us were thinking...well, just the 4 of us. Then one of the other people in our group said, "yea"! We couldn't believe our ears!! There was a husband and wife and their 2 kids in our group that were all from the same little town as us!! Really strange!
What fun!!!!
We explored the caves again but this time with Joe & Diane. Joe had never seen them before so we started with Old Man's Cave. 
Joe & Diane
Beautiful!
Walking into Conkles Hollow
Next we walked into Conkles Hollow which is totally different from the Old Man's Cave. Much more rain-forest like with moss and ferns everywhere. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a fairy or a gnome!

Diane taking in the vastness and beauty.


Joe & Diane stayed with us from Saturday until Monday. We had a great time!
Our campsite. We weren't thrilled with the size but at least it was level.

They brought some turkey burgers which Di had added some fresh sage from their garden..fantastic!
Rose Lake

Some day I will paint this...yes, I will!





After Joe & Di left, Paul and I spent some days driving around Hocking Hills in search of little shops and antique stores. We headed out and landed up at one point on a one lane dirt road..yikes! Twists and hairpin turns all along the way. We didn't know what we would do if we saw a car coming from the other direction. One of us would have had some backing up to do. One day we spotted a Lois's Antiques in the little local magazine. We found the shop and met the most delightful couple in the world! After we shopped in her little store, her husband was waiting outside and said he had a chair for us. Well, under a little tent in the front yard sat 4 chairs all facing each other. We sat and chatted for over 2 hours!!
Fred, Lois and their white German Shepherd, Heidi in front of the store.

Paul & I with Heidi.

The tent is just to the left of the driveway. Antiques were in the garage too :)
So, now that we've been camping a few times (3 to be exact), we now realize that doing dishes outside is a much more efficient and enjoyable experience than in the camper. We always put a pot of water on the campfire so while we're eating, hot water is being readied for dishes. I've been on the lookout now for the perfect pot to boil water in and I can't believe our luck this trip! In an antique store, we found this beauty:
Awesome!! It came with 6 little tin cups inside, one we kept to put peanut shells in.
 So, we're in a little gift shop with all kinds of country knick-knacks. Paul comes over to me and say's I've got to come see what he found. Well, needless to say-we now have a wind chime to beat all!! We love it!
Waitin' for the wind to blow! Too fun!

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like a FANTASTIC trip! Your photos are gorgeous. Ohio is a state I'd like to explore more...

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  2. I'd love to fish the lakes there!!! Great pics as always ma.

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  3. wow! val this is so fantastic! i love all the pics and the writing is superb. i felt like i was there with you. great job, girl! what a way to celebrate your anniversary.

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