After kayaking in the dark to see the bacterial glow, we came home and took pictures with the glow sticks that were attached to our kayaks. Here’s what we came up with.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Ohio Vacation 2015
Planning
Our original vacation plans for this summer included a visit to San Francisco and the Yosemite National Park. When we added up the expenses and factored in the relatively short time we’d have in the park, we decided to simplify the plans.Plan B was developed while my Mom and I drove around the Florida Peninsula this Spring. A few years ago, we visited Niagara Falls in December and vowed to go back when it’s warmer. This summer seemed like the right time to make the trip back. I started making a list of destinations, transportation, and lodging options. But this plan, too, hit a snag. Our passports expired in the Spring and we did not renew them.
One day, while watching one of our favorite shows on the TiVo we hatched a Plan C. The show was Rock The Park and they were visiting the Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. Andrew and I decided that we must see Mammoth Caves someday. And that began the planning process. Then, to make it even better, we saw a show about train layouts and it showed a place in Cincinnati. Now we had to go.
Given the relative proximity of Kentucky and Ohio, we started thinking about inviting family along. Mom was a given and was in, but we thought it would be great fun for Andrew if his cousin Mike could join us as well. We asked Mom to send out the feelers to see if Mike was available and his parents willing to let him join us. In the meantime, we started thinking we should just home base at Mom’s house and plan a series of other trips and visits from there. Andrew found plane tickets and the vacation plans started to take shape.
Friday, August 14
Well before dawn, we sprang to life, got dressed, grabbed our last minute items, and drove to the Melbourne airport. From Melbourne, we flew to Pittsburgh via Atlanta on Delta Air Lines. We were met at the airport by Mom and Mike. As is the norm, our first stop was the Giant Eagle Marketplace in Robinson and our second stop was DiCarlo’s Pizza in Wintersville. |
| Andrew loves to fly |
Saturday, August 15
- Cleaned up pine tree- Bonfire
Sunday, August 16
On Sunday afternoon, we drove down to Austin Lake to have lunch and play in the lake. After eating, we drove the golf cart up the hill with two adults and two kids – we barely made it up the hill! We bought wristbands for all and headed for the paddle boats. Andrew and I jumped on one while Susan and Emily jumped on another. Unlike kayaks that must be paddled with your arms, these boats have pedals and are much easier for little people to operate. After a visit to the beach and the ‘lighthouse’, we switched kids and returned to the pier.The next attraction was the beach and the cool water toys that were floating near the beach. Andrew and I jumped in from the little pier to get used to the water, then grabbed life jackets for the floating toys. The first was the Wibit. This yellow monster had three slopes and one jumping platform. Two of the slopes were for climbing and one was a slide. I like to think that I’m an “American Ninja Warrior”, but climbing these slopes was a lot of work. Andrew, on the other hand, zipped straight to the top. The other was the Rockit. This was a top-shape inflatable with four opposing sitting positions. If you managed to get on, the object was to get four people sitting on it and try to rock the others off. I climbed to the top and a bunch of kids enjoyed themselves as they rocked me back into the lake. Finally, I returned the life jackets and swam out to the tall pier. I dove off the first level and jumped off the third. I was not willing to try a swan dive off the top like I did when I was a kid.
After the lake, Andrew and I put on our water shoes and headed to the creek. We probably spent a half hour working on a nice little rock and mud dam.
Back at the camper, the plans for the week were discussed. Patti told us that she’d like to go, too. This was great, but it was a little late and unplanned. As it currently stood, we could all go in one car, but adding her meant we’d need two cars or a bigger vehicle. We decided to try to find a rental in town. Being Sunday afternoon, the best we could do was a drive-by of Enterprise and Alamo. Enterprise had three vans on the lot. Promising…
Monday, August 17
Monday was the beginning of our road trip adventure, but we still had to solve the vehicle problem. We drove separately to Enterprise to see if one of the van’s was available. Unfortunately, all three were rented. The rep called around and found a van available… in St. Clairsville. Since it was in the right direction, we asked him to hold it for us and were on our way. Once we found the place (Google Maps led us the wrong way), we transferred our belongings and headed west. |
| That's one giant bucket! |
Our first stop was the Miners’ Memorial Park, near Caldwell. It is here that you can find the only remains of the Big Muskie dragline; its enormous bucket.
Our second stop, which was unplanned, was the Rokeby Lock on the Muskingum River. Here we found the only human-powered locks in the country that are still in service. Two guys literally turn a large crank to open and close the lock doors, then water is transferred in or out by gravity.
 |
| The Rokeby Lock on the Muskingum River |
 |
| Miniature Coney Island Amusement Park |
Tuesday, August 18
Tuesday was all about touring Mammoth Cave National Park. We got a bit of a late start getting on the road. I wanted to be there first thing so we could sign up for the tours we wanted. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we were 15 minutes earlier than my desired arrival time. How did that happen? We crossed into the Central Time Zone somewhere along the interstate. Awesome!We quickly signed up for one of the easiest tours on the list – the Domes & Dripstones tour. This tour covered 3/4 of a mile in two hours and included the Frozen Niagara formation. I left my camera in the car for this tour, since flash and tripods are prohibited.
After this tour, we had lunch and thought about what to do next. Patti and Mom decided to stay above ground while the rest of us signed up for the Historic Tour. This tour shows you why they named it Mammoth Cave. The cave is enormous is both size and length. I felt like I was in a D.C. Metro subway station, only this was bigger. The tour started in this large room, but quickly got smaller and tighter as we descended to the lower levels. Andrew’s favorite section was called Fat Man’s Misery, but is also known as Tall Man’s Misery. We finally reached Mammoth Dome, where we climbed 155 stairs to return to the first level.
Wednesday, August 19
- Creation Museum- Damon’s
Thursday, August 20
- Capri’s meatball sandwich- Kennywood
Friday, August 21
- Cuyahoga Valley Railroad- Akron University
- Soap Box Derby / Blimp hangar
- Timashamie
- Dairy Queen
Saturday, August 22
- Walk the creek- Bonfire
Sunday, August 23
- Return to Melbourne
Sunday, May 24, 2015
South Florida Getaway
For Memorial Day this year, we planned a trip to South Florida. Our plans included spending some time in Miami, a day in the keys, and a day in the Everglades.
Friday we drove to Miami. After settling into our motel, we found a nearby train station and rode the Metrorail train to Miami International Airport. After walking around the airport for awhile and watching the TriRail trains, we ate dinner on the patio of a hotel restaurant and watched planes land.
Saturday we drove to Key West. The drive was long and there was a lot of traffic. When we arrived, we visited the southernmost point of the US, the took a ride on the Conch Train tour. The train took us downtown, where we got off and toured the Key West Shipwreck Museum. After the tour, we ate lunch and walked along the waterfront. Unfortunately, there were no cruise ships in port while we were there. Later, we drove back to our motel near Miami.
Sunday, we drove west through the Everglades and stopped at Shark Valley Visitor Center. We took the tour out to the observation tower. Along the way, the tour guide let us get off the bus and walk along a shallow marsh. She stomped loudly and gators popped up all around us. Crazy. After the tour, we continued west and stopped in the town of Everglades. Here we met a float plane pilot who spends his winters in Florida and his summers in Alaska. We ended the day in Ft. Myers Beach, where we ate dinner and walked around town with the camera and tripod.
Monday, we stopped at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, then returned home to Melbourne.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Andrew Is On KPVI News 6
The accompanying story:
A little more than a week ago it was still summer. And now a few of our area ski resorts are already measuring their snowpack.
“We get snow in September every year but this is coming in strong,” said Patrick Nelson of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. “We’ve had a few inches over the past couple of days and it looks like it’s going to keep snowing.”
The early snowfall might be a sign that the resort will pick up where they left off last year. That’s when nearly 42 feet of the white stuff coated the mountain in a banner year. Nelson says it’s nice to see the weather cooperating after all of the recent improvements they’ve made.
“A lot has happened out here in the last 10 years, “said Nelson. “Our tram is new, in 2008. It carries 100 people to the top of the mountain and 4,139 vertical feet. And there’s no skiing like it anywhere else in North America.”
Tuesday the tram we were on had visitors from the Bay Area, the Midwest and Florida. The Floridians onboard were especially excited to the see the snow. However, even if it continues to fall like this, that doesn’t mean they’ll push up their opening day.
“We are opening Thanksgiving Day no matter what,” said Nelson. “And we would love to see it keep snowing. That just means a better opening day.”
Monday, September 22, 2014
Yellowstone Vacation – Getting There
It seems like every year we find ourselves with some WorldMark vacation points to use, but all the great places have already been booked. Last year, we decided to change that and we planned ahead. In August (thirteen months in advance), we booked a week in West Yellowstone, Montana.
But in the game of life, plans change. In April of this year, my income situation changed dramatically; i.e. it went to $0. I spent months trying to remedy this, but to no avail. Finally, regrettably, we decided it was time to change our Yellowstone plans. So instead of West Yellowstone, we used our points at Daytona Beach.
As I said earlier, life has a way of going in unexpected directions. In August, I was deeply involved in an internal debate about my future career plans. I was this close to going back to flight school to pursue a career above the clouds when I got a call to come in for an interview at Northrop Grumman. I decided to go to the interview and see what they had to offer. Remarkably, a few weeks later, they made me an offer and I accepted. Even more remarkably, they didn’t want me to start until early October. Well, that got my wheels turning. What could we do during that full month before starting my new job? Smoky Mountains? Canada? Or maybe even Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons?
With Andrew’s planning enthusiasm and expertise, we put together a proposal and presented it to Susan. Susan liked the options and was easily persuaded. We called Mom and discussed our options. She had plans for early September, but was open after that. She needed to work some dog-sitter magic first, but then she was onboard too. The decision was made: we were going to Yellowstone!
Just after 4:00 AM on Friday, September 19, we hooked up the tiny U-Haul trailer to the back of the trusty CR-V and began the road trip of a lifetime.
Our first destination was Toronto, Ohio. At just over 1,000 miles, that’s a dark-to-dark trip of at least 16 hours. We made the trip with no problems.
Saturday, we took the day off to rest for the next two legs and to hang out with family. We did a little shopping, too, since we left the Yellowstone book that we borrowed from the library on the back of our couch at home. While shopping for a guide book of our own, we met a former Pittsburgh Steeler player at the bookstore. We talked for a while and he signed a book for us. I knew my cousin would love getting this for Christmas.
Sunday came and we were back on the road. With Jackson, Wyoming 1,800 miles to the west, we decided to split the distance and spend one night in a motel. We chose Omaha, Nebraska for no other reason than, well, it was almost exactly half way.
The early drive through Ohio was very familiar up towards Cleveland. We passed through some occasional showers along the way. Indiana passed by quickly, and then we entered Illinois.
Andrew did all the route planning and told me that he wanted to see Lake Michigan. He found a park just a few miles off the Interstate, and it was just the right mileage for a planned fuel stop, so we stopped for a break to see the lake. It was chilly and breezy, and we saw mills to the east and west, and Chicago off in the distance about 25 miles to the northwest.
The interstate in Illinois was very congested for miles around Chicago. Finally we reached the Mississippi River and entered Iowa. All I can remember about Iowa was farmland. Surprisingly, I didn’t see nearly as much windmill construction activity as I did back in 2008, when we were traveling the same highway in the opposite direction.
We arrived in Omaha after dark. We crossed the Missouri River, but couldn’t see it. But I could see Kenefick Park, a Union Pacific tourist attraction along the north side of the highway. On the left was an EMD DDA40X Centennial and on the right was a Big Boy. Unfortunately, It was too late to stop and look. I found this picture on the Internet.
On Monday morning, we pushed on towards Jackson, Wyoming. Nebraska, oh my goodness, is too big. The highway goes on and on and on, in a nearly perfect straight line for 100 miles out of Lincoln. At least the speed limit was 75 mph, but then, it’s hard to go that fast in the CR-V with a trailer in tow. And it sure doesn’t help the gas mileage!
Interstates 76 and 80 split at the northeast corner of Colorado. We continued along I-80 towards Cheyenne, promising ourselves we’d go through Colorado on the way back.
Wyoming offered immediate relief from the monotonous terrain of Nebraska. We crossed the state line and the scenery changed completely. All of a sudden there were hills, with pine trees and rock outcroppings!
At the rest area, we picked up a map (we lost Internet access, so Google Maps was not much help anymore) and discussed our options. Andrew’s route was the fastest, but it crossed a large desert area. The longer route passed through the mountains. Since it was getting late and would be dark soon, we decided to go the short route and save the mountain route for the return trip.
The final hours into Jackson were tough and bizarre. We were all tired and there was really nothing to see. And darkness, like you can not imagine unless you’ve seen it yourself. Complete blackness, except for the glow of the high beams. The desert gave way to forest as we entered the Gros Ventre Wilderness. Now it started to rain and we had to deal with turns and hills. The lack of objects to see almost felt like being in a state of vertigo. Were we going up or down? Only the pressure on the gas pedal provided a clue. This went on and on for miles.
Finally we entered Jackson; civilization at last. It was still raining and extremely dark, but there was at least something to see. We headed away from town, across the Snake River, toward Jackson Hole Resort. Then we past by the strangest message board I’ve ever seen. The highway sign was cycling a message about moose on the road and something about a moose-vehicle collision! I really just wanted to check in, get our keys, and hit the sack, and NOT hit a moose.
When we reached the resort, we had no idea where to check in. Our first guess was wrong, but they pointed us in the right direction. We drove to the correct building, but it was closed for the evening. Susan looked around and thankfully found a sign about late check-in. She went inside and retrieved an envelope with our keys and a map of The Aspens. We drove back the way we came – back into moose crossing country – and found the condo.
But we weren’t finished yet. The parking lot near the condo was full and we had a trailer to deal with. I decided to park along the tennis court and take up three spots and deal with it in the morning. We quickly unpacked only what we absolutely needed, went inside, and went to bed.
TO BE CONTINUED…
But in the game of life, plans change. In April of this year, my income situation changed dramatically; i.e. it went to $0. I spent months trying to remedy this, but to no avail. Finally, regrettably, we decided it was time to change our Yellowstone plans. So instead of West Yellowstone, we used our points at Daytona Beach.
As I said earlier, life has a way of going in unexpected directions. In August, I was deeply involved in an internal debate about my future career plans. I was this close to going back to flight school to pursue a career above the clouds when I got a call to come in for an interview at Northrop Grumman. I decided to go to the interview and see what they had to offer. Remarkably, a few weeks later, they made me an offer and I accepted. Even more remarkably, they didn’t want me to start until early October. Well, that got my wheels turning. What could we do during that full month before starting my new job? Smoky Mountains? Canada? Or maybe even Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons?
With Andrew’s planning enthusiasm and expertise, we put together a proposal and presented it to Susan. Susan liked the options and was easily persuaded. We called Mom and discussed our options. She had plans for early September, but was open after that. She needed to work some dog-sitter magic first, but then she was onboard too. The decision was made: we were going to Yellowstone!
Just after 4:00 AM on Friday, September 19, we hooked up the tiny U-Haul trailer to the back of the trusty CR-V and began the road trip of a lifetime.
 |
| Early morning departure |
Saturday, we took the day off to rest for the next two legs and to hang out with family. We did a little shopping, too, since we left the Yellowstone book that we borrowed from the library on the back of our couch at home. While shopping for a guide book of our own, we met a former Pittsburgh Steeler player at the bookstore. We talked for a while and he signed a book for us. I knew my cousin would love getting this for Christmas.
Sunday came and we were back on the road. With Jackson, Wyoming 1,800 miles to the west, we decided to split the distance and spend one night in a motel. We chose Omaha, Nebraska for no other reason than, well, it was almost exactly half way.
The early drive through Ohio was very familiar up towards Cleveland. We passed through some occasional showers along the way. Indiana passed by quickly, and then we entered Illinois.
Andrew did all the route planning and told me that he wanted to see Lake Michigan. He found a park just a few miles off the Interstate, and it was just the right mileage for a planned fuel stop, so we stopped for a break to see the lake. It was chilly and breezy, and we saw mills to the east and west, and Chicago off in the distance about 25 miles to the northwest.
 | |
|
We arrived in Omaha after dark. We crossed the Missouri River, but couldn’t see it. But I could see Kenefick Park, a Union Pacific tourist attraction along the north side of the highway. On the left was an EMD DDA40X Centennial and on the right was a Big Boy. Unfortunately, It was too late to stop and look. I found this picture on the Internet.
 |
| Union Pacific monument |
On Monday morning, we pushed on towards Jackson, Wyoming. Nebraska, oh my goodness, is too big. The highway goes on and on and on, in a nearly perfect straight line for 100 miles out of Lincoln. At least the speed limit was 75 mph, but then, it’s hard to go that fast in the CR-V with a trailer in tow. And it sure doesn’t help the gas mileage!
Interstates 76 and 80 split at the northeast corner of Colorado. We continued along I-80 towards Cheyenne, promising ourselves we’d go through Colorado on the way back.
Wyoming offered immediate relief from the monotonous terrain of Nebraska. We crossed the state line and the scenery changed completely. All of a sudden there were hills, with pine trees and rock outcroppings!
 |
| Panorama at Pine Bluffs Rest Area |
At the rest area, we picked up a map (we lost Internet access, so Google Maps was not much help anymore) and discussed our options. Andrew’s route was the fastest, but it crossed a large desert area. The longer route passed through the mountains. Since it was getting late and would be dark soon, we decided to go the short route and save the mountain route for the return trip.
 |
| Taking a break at the rest area |
Finally we entered Jackson; civilization at last. It was still raining and extremely dark, but there was at least something to see. We headed away from town, across the Snake River, toward Jackson Hole Resort. Then we past by the strangest message board I’ve ever seen. The highway sign was cycling a message about moose on the road and something about a moose-vehicle collision! I really just wanted to check in, get our keys, and hit the sack, and NOT hit a moose.
When we reached the resort, we had no idea where to check in. Our first guess was wrong, but they pointed us in the right direction. We drove to the correct building, but it was closed for the evening. Susan looked around and thankfully found a sign about late check-in. She went inside and retrieved an envelope with our keys and a map of The Aspens. We drove back the way we came – back into moose crossing country – and found the condo.
But we weren’t finished yet. The parking lot near the condo was full and we had a trailer to deal with. I decided to park along the tennis court and take up three spots and deal with it in the morning. We quickly unpacked only what we absolutely needed, went inside, and went to bed.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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