Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Well, here I am on my way to my next assignment at Prince William Forest Park. I had plans and God laughed as I clipped an Ohio turnpike toll booth last Sunday and had to stay here for a few extra days to replace the RV passenger side mirror. I like this new plan, though, because I've had a great time with Walt and Tanya Lemonovich and even got to drive to Pennsylvania to visit with Bonnie Auman. All good friends and former volunteers at Big Bend National Park. (Tanya didn't volunteer there, but I felt like I knew her a little because Walt and she talked every day when he was at Big Bend. :-)

We all knew that when Walt left Big Bend 2 years ago he would probably not be returning as a volunteer. His wife, Tanya, likes to swim and Lord knows you cannot swim much in Big Bend! Lots has happened since I saw them last: Walt had a heart attack as well as open heart surgery to do a triple bypass, his mother and Tanya's father passed away, Tanya's mom is moving from Canada to Ohio in October, Tanya & Walt are going to Australia next month so Tanya can compete in an Iron Man competition (!), and they are visiting New Zealand afterwards, then after Tanya's mom is moved to the U.S. Walt & Tanya are going to Mexico so he can participate in a motorcycle race, then next year Walt plans to hike the entire Appalachian Trail! Holy cow! I am so proud for them for all their accomplishments!!

And to top it all off they graciously gave me a personal tour of their lovely home & "home park" and Walt helped me install my mirror!! I was so impressed with their home which is less than 100 yards from park forest. They have all kinds of lovely birds including those huge monster pileated woodpeckers and deer, wild turkey and all kinds of wonderful critters to enjoy. As we returned from our tour a wild turkey hen and her brood of 8-10 hatchlings crossed the busiest street around, stopping all the traffic of course!

Cuyahoga park is the 10th most visited park in the National Park system (because it is in an urban location), covers 33,000 acres along the former Erie Canal linking Akron to Cleveland and Lake Erie. It is 20 miles long and is a bicycle and hiker haven. All the volunteers and rangers live in the area so it does not have the same sense of community as more remote parks like Big Bend. However it has almost weekly races and events to entice visitors.

Yesterday I drove to Bonnie's home in the mountains of Spring Mills, PA (located right where the staple is in the road atlas!). Her husband, Dean, died this last April of the effects of Agent Orange syndrome. She amazes me with her wonderful attitude towards life and down-to-earth, practical outlook. She is keeping her mountain home but also making plans to trade her RV in for a smaller one and dearly wants to tour the Oregon coast in October. Go Bonnie!! She does not currently want to go alone, so if anyone reading this wants to join up with her for this adventure let her or me know!

Tomorrow (Friday) I'll be driving most of the rest of the way to D.C. but cannot pull in until Saturday. More after I arrive there!

One of the visitor centers in Cuyahoga NP>

The first canal resident I saw

Ranger talk at the Beaver Marsh. The Beaver Marsh was the former site of an auto salvage yard. Volunteers hauled out as much junk as they could. In the meantime it takes the government a few years to get the plans rolling to convert it to a parking lot, when the beavers beat the government to the punch! They built a dam, the area returned to its natural state, and the government allowed the beavers to have their territory! Yay Mother Nature!

The turtles have all hatched out but the indentations left on the ground and the white debris are the remains of the nests and turtle egg remnants.

Great Blue and mallard hanging out on the same log in the Beaver Marsh

Little Green Heron

One of the most striking things about this area of Ohio is the huge amount of dead ends of branches (especially of oak trees). I learned that this area is noted for large numbers of cicadas and their favorite place to lay their eggs is at the tips of the tree branches. The eggs hatch out, eat the vegetation, the larvae drop to the ground to burrow in for a few years until they hatch out and the cycle begins anew. By the way, all those dead branch ends drop off making it look like autumn in July!

Cicada carcasses on the underside of tree leaves. Tanya told me that the birds abandon the feeders during cicada season in favor of the delicious bugs. Yuk.

Cicada larva burrows

Tanya, me & Walt

Stair compliments of the 1930's Civilian Conservation Corps - along with many other dams and buildings throughout the park.

A lot of the terrain in the Ice Box Cave section reminds me of Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.

Giant chess set

Do we have to make sure da wife is in da car?

Swim Buddies & Garden Club Luncheon

Yesterday some of my friends from the Joliet YMCA water aerobics classes invited me to the Three Rivers Garden Club Tea. Wow, what a great event! I cannot thank my friends enough for inviting me. They raise thousands of dollars annually for many worthwhile causes and this tea is one of the highlights of the year. In addition to the lovely luncheon with a Downton Abbey theme our featured speaker was Nancy Kuhajda of the University of Illinois Extension Service, supervising 140 Master Gardeners.

Nancy is such a captivating, knowledgeable, and comedic speaker I could listen to her for hours! She is not pictured here, but is certainly a treasure!

Oh, and before I show some photos of the event, my sister Ruth and I spent an awesome day attending Good Shepherd Lutheran, lunching at Panera, laughing at the movie "Secret Life of Pets", and just hanging out with her! More fun planned for this week. :-)

A lovely selection of teas - my favorite chocolate hazelnut decaf!

Downton Abbey Theme

Desserts Galore!

Mary Kay and Judy preparing a wonderful meal.

Purses of goodies to bid on.

Our aerobics instructor, Lynnanne, showing off her tea kettle shaped purse. NOT FOR BID!

Karen and Laura

Bette and Carol

Virginia

Happy Fourth of July!

Just wanted to preserve some photos. Staying at the Hollywood Casino Hotel & RV Park since May 5. Spending time with friends and family. Ruth is learning to deal with back pain, getting over getting hooked on Rx pain relievers and rebuilding her strength. No surgery - good news because there will be no 3-6 month recovery, but bad news because it means exploring all means to live a normal life without drugs or surgery. She can do it!!!

Mom doing well at the Timbers and going there today to have a meal together including homemade strawberry shortcake. Thanks to a lady at a health food store in Morris who gave me a great deal on organic strawberries. Yum!

Have had lovely times with friends cooking out, just hanging out chatting, visiting quaint little shops, viewing the BEST ever fireworks display on the river last night, etc. Perhaps 2 more weeks here at home, but in no real hurry. I will need to be at Prince William Forest Park for August 1 start date.

Bluebird and others from a hike out near Joliet Junior College with Joyce a few weeks ago.

New park located between Channahon, Minooka, and Shorewood, hence the name "Chaminwood".

This snake was so fast! I believe he is a Midland Water Snake.

Muskrat - equally FAST!

The path around the lake. Lots of little trails down to the stocked fishing lake, but tons of poison ivy, too.

I saw no beavers, but there was plenty of sign of beaver. :-)

Many of the lovely cowbirds enjoying seeds from my feeder . . .

and Tighe and Zuni stalking the birdie population outside their "window to the world".

I love this funky looking caterpillar. One tree shading my spot has had lots of little worms, now holes in the leaves and this guy wandering around the shepherds crook holding the bird feeder. I wonder if another critter laid eggs on it?

The other tree shading my spot is a mulberry tree. Most people hate them because of the mess the berries make, but I love all the birds, the COBBLER (very yummy) and the shade and entertainment provided to Tighe and Zuni.

Shopping for landscaping supplies with a friend at the local Menards, this butterfly was demonstrating the effectiveness of the butterfly bush.

My friend's choice for her newly constructed raised bed. We had fun making it.

This is my favorite! This ginormous concrete mallard needs to live in my yard . . if I ever get a yard again. . . someday . . .maybe.

Kersplash!!

Shortly after my last post from Alamo Creek and the javelina's, my camera and I hiked up Horseshoe Canyon from the bottom. I was really hoping to be able to hike up that way. Bob Douat had previously shown me the canyon from the top and there was too much water for us to go all the way through, but I do love a challenge!

After successfully getting to the mouth of the canyon I quickly realized that it was prime javelina territory so I was extremely cautious as I hiked. The canyon is pretty small and I definitely did not want to get trapped with them defending their terrain.

Well, I came to the first pool of water and figured I could probably navigate it okay. Wrong! I threw a couple of extra rocks to walk on to make the crossing and was balanced on a very slick side wall when I quickly splashed chest deep into the water. So happy it was not witnessed by friends! My poor camera took a quick dunk but the damage was done as I watched it die right before my very eyes. It was not quite as colorful a display as a dunked cell phone makes, but the end result was the same.

I've felt so lost without my camera these past few weeks. I shipped it off to Excellent Camera Repair in Lincolnwood, IL but it is not quite done yet and I called the owner, Saul Fox, to keep it until I get back home in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I got a fancy phone and have been taking photos with it. Only trouble is I couldn't get them off the dang phone to my laptop until today. Whew!

I only have 4 more work days before I leave Big Bend - after 7.5 months!! Holy Cow! It has begun to feel like "home" and now I am having some anxiety about leaving and facing the little challenges of life on the road again. The kitties and I have developed a pretty cozy routine.

Last night I went to a going away party for a coworker up at Panther Junction and today one of my friends had her baby! Another boy! Someone else said the full moon probably helped mother nature along. Strange to think that I won't see everyone here for another 9 months. I'm sure that during those 9 months new friendships and memories will gestate. Ha!

Before I forget, I want to tell everyone at home and those that I plan to visit that I love you all, too, and can't wait to see you!

Joan GPSing a threshing circle. From previous postings you may remember this is where women would gather to prepare grains.

The remains of an old Ford. It always tickles me to see that some important parts were wood such as the support for the upholstered seat.

One of my favorites (besides pieces of chert below) are the colorful bits of ceramics left over from the early settlers.

This snake (not sure what kind - Texas Long Nose??) was dead on the road up at PJ but it was not squished. Oddly, there was a squished scorpion near its tail.

We haven't any rain, but got pretty close a couple of times. Raymond was able to capture the lower portion of this double rainbow over Castolon a couple of weeks ago.

This is a photo of the fall group and the winter group! Yay us! From left to right, me, Paul & Judy Tarr, Bonnie Winslow, Bob Douat and his dog Nudge, Ted and Heather Griffith, Lewis and Susan McCool, Steve & Tina Ehrman, and Jim Scanlon.

Everyone knows I want to paint my RV some day and this is close to what I want to do. Anyone feeling artsy??

This may be all I post unless I see cool stuff along my way home to Illinois. Here are a couple of parting shots of the majestic Big Bend:

The Mule Ears in shadow as some storm clouds threaten last evening.

Goat Mountain while threatening storm clouds move in. Sigh . . . see you again in a few months!