Lighthouse Keeper - Thacher Island

 Once again we went to Thacher Island to be lighthouse keepers for two weeks. Our first week started on July 27 and we were paired with Lowell Kitchen and his two boys, Rowan and Henry. It was a lovely week with maybe one day of rain. We did our usual chores of mowing, weed, whacking, landing, and launching boats, painting, and cleaning floors. The island is still full of goals and they squawk from four in the morning till about 10 at night nevertheless, we slept very well. We retired every day the rewards were donuts from Brothers  Brewery and lobsters when we went out lobstering.

Biking - Keyser Pond Campground

 We got to Kaiser Pond Campground and set up the trailer. This is a small campground and it appears that half of the campers are full-time whether they’re they are all you or not. We do not know it is beside a pretty little lake. We got on our bikes and went for a short ride as we saw a nearby trail. Unfortunately, the trail was very overgrown so it was a short 4 mile bike ride. We did pass by a dam and also a covered bridge.

Hiking - Chenango Valley State Park

 We arrived at Chenango Valley State Park and backed into our site. Once again, we only have electricity and not water. This seems to be common in the north east because of the cold winters we immediately went on a hike, 3 miles around Chenango Lake. For the first time on this trip, we felt like it was muggy out. When we arrived back to the campsite we took showers and then cooked hamburgers for dinner. About 830 disguise opened up and once again we’re thankful to be in a trailer and not a tent.

Biking - Niagara Falls Shoreline Trail

 We drove up to Devils hole where we started our bike path. Today we cycled about 13 miles. This trail overlooks the Niagara Falls Gorge until you finally get to the Falls. We started our day early as it was supposed to rain, yet we only got a few trickles around 3 o’clock. We cycled to goat Island where we could see some of the falls closer, but not the big Falls, on the way back, we found the underground railroad museum. It’s not difficult to imagine that during the Civil War, slaves escaped from the United States into Canada. A common way to escape was when a slave accompanied their southern masters to stay at the hotel in town. When the masters went out for dinner or something, the slave would make the way out of the hotel, hide in the crowd until they got to the river and then go cross the river in a ferry or be smuggled out by the workers. I also discovered that Harriet Tubman had started a about 15 miles north in Canada. It was a small but well done museum. We made it back to the car and drove into Lewistown. This is a cute Americana looking town. We ate at Apple grannies. Scotty had protein fries which she said were great and filling I had a cup of onion soup and half a turkey sandwich again it was very filling. I guess we weren’t that full because then we headed to the bakery and got a dessert to eat later this evening. (note we did not ride on made of the mist as we had done this several years ago when we visited Niagara Falls.)

- Four Mile Creek State Campground

 

We arrived at this campground yesterday and darn if our slide would not go out. First thing this morning, we called a nearby dealer to see about a repair. We sat around the campground for hours waiting for him to call back and then finally decided to go for a bike ride, we rode over to old Fort Niagara. We chose not to go into the fort but rotor bikes around the park and we did see the lighthouse. we rode through the city of Youngstown and headed back to our campground for a total of 12 miles. We finally did hear from the dealer and they did not have the parts, nor could they even get us in. Who knows what we’ll do about the slide on this trip.

I do feel like I need to mention in this blog what happened as we were driving over yesterday. Mid afternoon it was reported that Joe Biden was dropping out of the race.I was incredibly sad because I felt like the media did not treat him right and also because I feel like he has done a great job. Then shortly after Nuse came that he was endorsing Kamala Harris as the day went on, more and more endorsements came through for her. Also millions of dollars of donations were being given by the end of the day. I was feeling quite helpful and I do believe I will see a woman president in my lifetime.

Kayaking - Cuyahoga River

 

It was still early in the day, so we decided to Kayak from Boston Mill to Red lock. It was a short less than 3 mile paddle which was OK because the river was low and there wasn’t much current. We dragged in a few spots but for the most part, we did not paddle we just floated. 

After our paddle, we drove a couple miles up the road to see Brandy Wine Falls. Again, because of the drought, it wasn’t at its most impressive performance.

Cycling - Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail

We drove to Peninsula with our bikes and parked the truck. From here we got on the Towpath Trail and cycled down to Akron. This trail was about 15 miles. The majority of the path is hard, packed sand and we went over a few boardwalks and a few places that were paved. We stopped at Szaly’s Market - a beautiful farm and market. 

We didnt buy anything as it was early in the day. We also stopped on the boardwalk to see Beaver Marsh. There are Rangers stationed there to tell passers by about the area.

 Also along the way we passed locks from the 1600s and a few spots where we could see the river which appeared shallow and calm. 

When we got to Akron, there were many more locks.,In fact there were 15 locks within a 1 mile radius because of the steep slope of the land.  Just before we got to Akron, we stopped at the Mustill Store which was a trading post and a very, big hub during its heydey. The store was owned by three generations and then in the 1990s it was renovated. It was really nice to see history being preserved. 

We boarded at the Akron North Station at 12:30. There were young men to load our bikes on the last car of the train. We then boarded the train and paid five dollars each to ride back to Peninsula. It wasn’t necessarily a hard cycle, but we thought it was cool to ride the train back. we were amazed at the number of people out on this trail, ranging in all ages, either walking or cycling and even one huge unicycle!

Hiking - Old Man’s Cave

We camped at Silver Spring Campground of Stow, ohio. It was a small campground. We only had electric hookup. Our spot was ideal - at the corner of the campground, surrounded by trees. The owner was very attentive and drove around at least 4-5 times a day.

Today we started out from our campsite and walked through the campground to old mann caves Trail. From the campground it’s a steep walk downhill into the ravine where the majority of the hike is. This is a fantastic hike through the ravine with the steep wall cliffs on either side although you can’t always see them because of the tall hemlock trees and pine trees. The hollow moist air allows these northern type trees to grow here. The rocks are made of sandstone and various geological formations. The percolating groundwater formed The hallows and caves in this area. As we left early we passed very few people on the trail which was nice again. The trail was one way and we can see how this would be a benefit on a busy day or a holiday. I know this trail is called old man caves Trail, but I’m going to nickname it the bridge Trail as there were several different bridges of different architectural styles. It was another gorgeous walk and I would say Ohio has done it right with their parks.