As we wound up our stay in Lapeer, Michigan we had to take one more side trip to ride and geocache the Polly Anne trail. We had tried to do it earlier in our stay but found 
Then it was time to get out of Michigan and move on down to Ohio and visit the Amish communities and do some of our favorite activities while we were there. Our first stop was just north of a town called Wooster – gotta love that name, it’s just fun to say – Wooster – say it with me – Wooster! Anyway I was curious of how this place got it’s name – unfortunately there is no real interesting story behind the name only an old General from the Revolutionary War named David Wooster. We pulled in and got set up in 95 degree heat with 90+% humidity and discovered that the RV park was surrounded by dairy farms – now you can say that the smell of money permeated every thing in the area but since we don’t own or are invested in anything dairy, it just smelled like sh---! to me. It reminded me of growing up back home but it tested Linda’s gag reflex many times that day. Luckily the wind picked up the next day and we didn’t have an issue with odor after that.
The next morning we were visited by Momma T - a Midland Painted Turtle. She was a bit upset with me as she had business to take care of and didn’t appreciate me taking pictures of the process. She was busy laying eggs into a hole she had dug near our rig and really wanted to get back to the water. These types of turtles lay between 4 to 15 eggs and the incubation takes 10-11 weeks. With the exception of softshell turtles, the sex of all species of Ohio turtles is dependent on the temperature at which the eggs develop. For instance, turtle eggs that develop at about 77oF will all hatch out as males, while eggs that develop at much higher or lower temperatures will all hatch out as females. I guess that explains the hot flashes and cold shoulders of the female species!
Our first side trip in the area was to the Ohio Canal Tow Path – a bike and geocaching trail. This is a 50+ mile trail system that runs near Massillon, Ohio and a number of other towns. It is a path built on the old Ohio canal system and runs through a number of parks and offers lots of scenery. This is one of the signs we ran into right after getting onto the trail system.
As we were getting ready to leave after our ride we saw the canal towboat and horses starting their tourist thing for the day(rides). It was a good day just peddling around the area and enjoying the scenery and the sun.
Big Blue says hi! Normally the Great Blue Herons that we see take off if you get within a couple hundred of yards but this one stopped and posed for us as we wandered the trail.
While we were in the area we found that 
One of the first stops we made in Berlin was to visit Heini’s Cheese Chalet. If you are ever in the area and enjoy a good “cheese” break this is the place to stop. Many, 
Linda has been working on her genealogy research and was happy to find a local library with a great genealogy section included in the services. She found books that carried lists of who married who and the names of their children; who attended Town Meetings; personal stories of family members – teachers, farmers, an elected official of Hocking County, Ohio, and much more; cemetery records; Warnock Station-a stop for the B & O railroad, owned by a family member; a church started by Thomas Oliver; and so much more. It helped to verify the information that she has already collected. Linda is anxious to get to our next stop – lots of history to verify in Maryland!
I had heard of a rather extreme mountain bike trail that was nearby and had to check it out. It is called Vulture’s Knob and was constructed on private property near Mechanicsburg, Ohio. Linda volunteered to drive me over there and wait for me and run a rescue mission, if necessary.
This is a left over bike from one of the earlier riders – they didn’t say what happened to him.
Laws of the Knob -- good requirements.
Everyone that rides this trail has to sign a release form. So it’s very difficult to sue them for your being stupid or careless – how silly!
Linda and I did take a sneak peek of the trail and walked a bit of it just to see what I was in for. Below are some of the obstacles I encountered on my two rides, after seeing and riding it once I just had to do it again.
Above is the catwalk bridge, it’s a raised bridge a little over 2 feet wide and about 200 yards long, one little mistake and you have a 6 foot tumble. This set the tone for the ride and the sphincter factor was high!
The next two goodies were the cradle which caught me at a good speed going down a steep hill and sent me flying – it was an “Oh crap!” moment but I landed it and went limping around the corner to encounter the Vultures Gate Bridge – Oh crap! didn’t seem so bad all of a sudden.
Below are a couple more of the cute little additions that the creators added to the trail.
Once I completed the man made portion of the trail, I got to experience the more natural and even more hazardous portion of the trail. It was a surprise to learn that there was a Black Diamond portion to the trail that I had missed my first time around. (Which is even more difficult!) So being me, I just had to try. The two pics you see below are only the start, I had just a couple inches clearance between the trees going uphill and then immediately downhill (steep downhill) with three 4 foot drops right in a row. I don’t know how I stayed up or how I got the bike seat out of my butt, but I will never do that one again without a good full suspension bike. I probably should give Heinz from FOY a special thanks for the couple of down hill lessons he gave me last winter.
As you can see I made it - sweaty, muddy and bloody (from the Blackberry vines) but I made it.
I will admit I did not ride every bit of it because there were areas that I just had to get off and catch my breath, or I would lose traction and had to pick up the bike and walk it up the hill.
After our stay in Wooster it was on to Mt. Morris, PA for a couple days stay waiting for our volunteer slot in Greenbrier State Park in Maryland to open.
Our son, Adam, came by for a visit while we were at Mt. Morris. He was passing through on his way home from a ride to visit his extended family in Omaha. You can see he likes his bikes too – only a little different version.
On another of our ride/geocaching sessions we ran into an old telegraph station on the Monongahela river trail. Many years ago they used to have these little stations set along rail tracks so the people on the train could have emergency access to a telegraph in case something went wrong. Something like the call boxes along a lot of the interstates today.
The trail systems along the Monongahela river in the Morgantown, WV area are well worth a visit.
Oreo - our 17 pound Tom Cat, who has lived and traveled with us for quite a few years, decided he likes being part of the Blog and will continue to provide a few purr-fect bits of wisdom and observations for all the blog readers out there as well as a few comments about the antics of his pride members and life on the road.
“Its about time my pride slowed down. I really don’t like this moving day thing. It puts me on edge and interrupts my bowel functions. Don’t get me wrong, I do like traveling but I need time to observe all the delicious little birdies, squirrels and chipmunks. I may even catch one someday.”
Oreo
I hope you enjoyed the blog and all the experiences included. Our latest bit of traveling through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the corner of West Virginia was interesting to say the least. We have now settled in Maryland for a couple of months and have a volunteer position at Greenbrier State Park. It’s a really good place to visit our Son and the Grandkids from. (As well as a few other things) Its been a fun ride.
As a heads up to everybody we have our location for the winter locked down. We got accepted for a volunteer position in Florida for Nov – Feb in the Everglades. We will be filling you as we know more.
Home is where we park it!
Lee & Linda
