The fall weather has been so beautiful! I snapped a couple of fall foilage shots while I was at Inniswoods Metro Park yesterday...
While I was there, I saw an albino squirell! I've seen black, brown and red squirrels, but never an albino squirrel!
Happy fall everyone!
Saturday evening, Jim and I decided to check out Alum Creek. Since we're relatively close, we thought we see what it was all about. We took our bathing suits and headed to the beach area. The beach area was OK. The nice part is it's free, but the water is kinda cloudy and murky. We swam for a little while, dried off and then drove around the other areas of Alum Creek. We found one spot with a great view...
I love Columbus! So much to see and do! (Well, at least in the summer!)
Jim and I went to stay at a cabin in Hocking Hills last weekend. It's the same place we stayed at last year, except this year we stayed in a different cabin. We got there mid-afternoon on Friday and left Sunday morning. Jim's been working 50-60 weeks at work for the past few months, so he was more than ready for a weekend with nothing to do but relax.
We played nine games of Sequence (Jim:5, Amy:4... boo! hiss!) outside on the porch, watched nine episodes of Dexter Season 3, drank two bottles of champagne (I got Verdi champagne, which I had in the limo for Kerry's shower, it's my new favorite), made Swiss Fondue (I even found the actual recipe from The Chalet In The Valley), grilled steak, portobella mushrooms and asparagus, and watched the movie 'Brothers' (great movie). I also made Blueberry Stuffed French Toast Casserole, which I also made last year, so it's now a tradition I guess!
Here was our home away from home....
The cabin had a three-sided fireplace. In the photo below, the other side of the fireplace that you can't see is the bed. It was too warm to have a fire, so we didn't use the fireplace at all. Plus, it looked a little ratty. The cabin also had a big whirlpool tub- you can see that it's right out in the open. I thought it was a waste of space. The cabin had the bathtub AND a hot tub. ?
In the photo above, see that little light above the bathtub? There's one on the opposite wall too. The light switch was broken, because we could not turn these lights off. We tried to sleep with them on, but about 3:30am Saturday morning, I had to get out of bed, get an oven mitt, balance on the edge of the tub and unscrew the lightbulbs!
The cabin had a downstairs that had another full bathroom, washer and dryer, and a sofa and small TV. The layout of this cabin was kinda weird. I'm not sure if they intended this cabin to be for a family, two couples, or one couple... it just didn't seem 100% functional. We cracked up though, because the upstairs bathroom DIDN'T HAVE A DOOR. You just walked around the corner and BAM! there's the bathroom. We seem to always get rooms without bathroom doors (remember our Niagara Falls trip?).
Back to the pictures...
I also got Sugardaddy's Brownies for the weekend. Trying to get a picture without Jim trying to nab one was a challenge...
Me with the French Toast Casserole (shout out to Stephanne Smith for this yummy recipe!)...
Maggie, the chocolate lab lives at Valley View Cabins. She makes her daily rounds to visit all of the cabins. We met her last year and looked forward to seeing if she'd be by again this year. Sure enough, Saturday morning she walked up on the porch while we were playing Sequence. She must've liked our cabin a lot, because she stayed with us most of the afternoon and took two long naps on the porch.
And unlike last year, no scary mishaps about outside lights going off at night while we were in the hot tub (mainly because I only got in the hot tub during the day this year!).
Last weekend, Jim and I went camping at Kelleys Island. We've never been there, so we were excited to visit someplace new. Plus, we got a campsite right on the water. I'd checked the weather about 80 times before we left, and good weather was in the forecast... a couple of rainshowers, but no big deal. As long as it wasn't calling for 'severe thunderstorms' while we were setting up the tent, or taking down the tent, I can deal with a little rain.
We drove up to Marblehead and got on the ol' Shirley Irene ferryboat to take us over to the island.
We made our way to the campground. We checked in and headed to site #92. We got out of the car and figured out where to put our tent. I was a little disappointed that there was a huge border of big rocks between the campsites and the water. I went running up to one of the flatest rocks to look over the water when Jim said "Amy- run!" I wasn't sure what he saw, but I knew enough to run! I ran back to the car and then he told me what he saw- snakes! Apparently Kelleys Island is home to an ample supply of endangered water snakes. And apparently the 'premium' campsites near the water are next to where many of these water snakes live. Throughout the weekend if we sat near our picnic table or our campfire, I could look over about thirty feet away and see these slithery sunbathers...
We really couldn't tell exactly how many snakes there were, but there were A LOT. The biggest one was probably as thick around as a cucumber. I reassured myself they were just as afraid of us as we were of them and went about our camping trip.
We set up our tent and campsite (and of course, organized everything!). We decided to walk around a little over to the little beach area. We took off our shoes and walked in the water.
This was another part of the island (this wasn't the beach area)...
We walked back to the campsite and relaxed a little, but realized there were a ton of bugs- even inside the tent. So we got out our Off spray and sprayed around the tent. We used what we had left and realized we needed more bug spray.
We headed to the island's general store and paid $10.95 ($10.95 really? But I guess they got you... what were we going to do... get back on the ferry and find a Target on the mainland?) for a new can of bug spray and that's when it started to rain. It was still raining enough to keep us from lighting a fire, so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at one of the local restaurants. Since we were on Lake Erie, I thought a nice perch dinner sounded good.
Turns out, the Perch dinner was their Friday night special at The Village Pump, so we both got it. As much as I wanted it to be good, it really wasn't (the batter wasn't that great...).
We got some rain and a little wind Friday night, but Saturday day was beautiful. We read a lot and relaxed. It was a perfect day- even with having snakes as campsite neighbors.
Here's the view from inside our tent...
We made lots of pie-iron sandwiches, including pizza pies....
OK, here's where the story gets interesting.... Saturday night I woke up at 1:46am and the wind was blowing really hard. REALLY hard. I thought it was also raining really hard too, but it turns out, it was just the waves crashing on the rocks. The wind was horrifically strong. The front corner of our tent started to bow in. I woke Jim up and until 6:30am, the two of us had to stand in the front two corners of the tent to keep it from bowing in or blowing away! The screen porch on the front of our tent blew apart and I had to go out and try to tie down whatever I could to the nearby trees. It was crazy! Jim and I thought if we got in the car, our tent would break if it blew apart. After the sun came up, the wind died down a little and we were finally able to get some sleep. It was one crazy night! At 1:46am, if Jim and I knew we'd be standing up until 6:30am, I don't know that we would've made it! But we both kept thinking, this wind surely has to end soon, right? So we just keep standing our ground and braving the wind. What can I say, we LOVE our tent! I crawled out of the tent right after sunrise and took a picture of our poor little tent. You can see our coolers we had to put to help anchor down the front of the tent!
Here's our neighbors' tents... they didn't stand up very well either....
So Saturday night was very memorable! Sunday wasn't too productive- we took a couple naps to catch up on our sleep!
We went to the Glacier Grooves Monday morning... it was raining a little, but we'd already took down our tent and packed up the campsite. I didn't know it, but the Glacier Grooves on Kelleys Island are the biggest in the world. Who knew such a title would be held on a tiny little four-mile wide island in Lake Erie? They were pretty neat, to think that a glacier made these grooves...
So, yep, a very memorable camping trip- between the bugs, the snakes and the 60mph winds, I don't think we'll be going back to Kelleys Island anytime soon.
On Saturday, April 4th, Jim and I took advantage of the spring time weather and headed to Hocking Hills to go hiking. This is one of our favorite things to do and I was in much need of break to get my mind off of my little Sophie.
We stopped off for lunch at Bob Evans on our way and then went to Conkle's Hollow and Cedar Falls. I loved being outside in the crisp air with the bright blue sky and the budding trees. It lifted my spirits and was just what I had needed.
Here are pictures from Conkle's Hollow....
I normally don't like random people in my pictures, but in this next shot, I like the two people in the lower right hand corner. It really shows a sense of scale of Conkle's Hollow.
Here's where Jim holds out the camera and takes a picture of us...
So maybe I forgot to zoom out!
And then we went to Cedar Falls. I have no idea how that man got up by the top of the falls. We even hiked up there and still couldn't find how he got there.
The falls were awesome- all of the spring rain attributed to the gushing water and made it very scenic. Also, unlike in the hot summer months, there wasn't anyone swimming or wading in the water! (That's still Jim and I's pet peeve about Hocking Hills!).
Throughout January, February and March, Jim and I tried to keep our weekends low-key, partly due to the nasty weather, but also just to save money towards our upcoming wedding. This was good for the wallet, but not good for the spirit... I remember the pinnacle of my boredom one Saturday night. I was over at Jim's and we'd just had Jersey Mike's for dinner. Our weekend routines were becoming very predictable... usually either Jersey Mike's (where we always share a giant # Club Sub) or Chinese and then breakfast at Panera on Sunday morning. So this one particular Saturday night, my cabin fever got the best of me and Jim then had to deal with a cranky, grumpy Amy in my whole "I'M SO BORED!!!!" tantrum.
So, I was so excited once the weather started to nice. The bright blue skies of Spring lifted my spirits and I was ready to get out and do something.
Jim and I decided on going to Hocking Hills to stay at a cabin for the weekend. Although the weather is starting to get nice, it still isn't nice enough for camping. I was so excited for this little road trip, to de-stress from work a little (OK, a lot!), and to just relax and enjoy time with Jim.
We went Easter weekend and it was a great time. Our little cabin was cute. I wish I'd taken more pictures, but by the time I felt like it, all of our stuff was everywhere and it didn't look very picture-esque. I did love the little two-person table in the kitchen... they had a plaid tablecloth with bears, moose, pine trees and canoes on it. It so cute and had a very 'cabin in the woods' theme.
We made lots of good food- spinach and artichoke dip, frozen mai tais, guacamole, blueberry stuffed french toast casserole, club sandwiches (we love sandwiches with bacon, can you tell?) and beer bread. We brought movies and also the first season of 'Big Bang Theory', which is a pretty funny show.
And then there was the hot tub. We were excited to go out in the chilly evening air and relax in the hot bubbly water. So, Friday night after dinner, we get ready and go out and get in the 105 degree hot tub. The hot tub was on the side of the cabin, right next to the door. Now let me back up a little. Our cabin was on the side of a steep hill, covered with trees. At nighttime, it was PITCH DARK. I mean DARK, people. Also, I have seen one too many scary movies and I have an overactive imagination. Side note, I won the Young Author's Conference TWICE in elementary school. If I was that imaginative that young, imagine what conjured thoughts my mind comes up with at age 34. OK... so we get in the hot tub and after 30 seconds, the light we had on on the side of the cabin GOES OUT. So now, it is PITCH DARK. I freak out. I am convinced someone threw a rock and broke our light and is now inching their way onto our deck. Again, I freak out and bust ass back inside the cabin. Poor Jim tries to tell me the light was on a timer. Uh, yeah, I'm not buying that. By now, my mind has come up with a whole movie script about some horror story about two thirty-somethings out in the woods where their porch light goes out.
Jim turns on the other porch light, the one RIGHT ABOVE the hot tub, so now in the pitch black woods, the only light is a spotlight directly over the hot tub. So now I'm convinced that whomever busted out our first light knew that we would turn the second light on and now they can see us, but we can't see them. I stay inside and watch Jim out the window enjoying his relaxing time in the hot tub. Of course while I'm watching him, I have my cell phone in hand (and yes, I'd already checked to make sure we had service). After about five minutes, Jim gets out of the hot tub. He still tries to tell me the light was on a timer. Bless his heart. By now, I'm big-time freaked out by the whole scary-movie scenario my brain has come up with and I no longer like our little cabin in the woods. The night ends with me jumping everytime the wind blows or at some strange sound coming from outside. I felt so bad I was a wet blanket for Jim.
The next morning, we woke up and decided to get back in the hot tub. I was much braver now... it was 8:30am and it was DAYLIGHT. Ahhh.... now the hot tub was awesome. Saturday afternoon we went on a hike and then came back and got in the hot tub again (no way was I attempting to get in the hot tub Saturday night). Sunday morning we got in the hot tub one last time. It was so nice... it was in the 40's outside and once we got out of the hot tub, we were steaming from the hot water and cold air.
We stopped off at Mom and Granny's on our way home for Easter dinner. Even with my Fright-Night episode, we had a good time.
Here's the picture of our little cabin...
Here are our weekend provisions... we brought the neccessities- rum, wine and bacon.
This was the only picture I took inside the cabin (a complete regret that I didn't take more pictures). I was sitting on the couch looking up at at the ceiling.
This last picture is Jim pointing at the hot tub Steven Colbert style.
So if you are looking for a nice, relaxing time, check out the hundreds of cabins down in the Hocking Hills area. But if you have an overactive imagination, you may want to opt for the Hyatt.
With the change in season, I was anxious to see Dawes Aboretum in the fall, so we stopped off on our way home from Pittsburgh last Sunday. We'd also stopped off at Dawes on our way home from our other Pittsburgh visit this past summer. We got there later afternoon and stayed until the sun was setting. We went to the little pond and enjoyed the scenery...
After Dawes, we headed north on 16 towards Newark and went the back way into New Albany. Jim's favorite pizza is from Eagles, so we went there on our way home for dinner and it was FANTASTIC. It may be my new favorite pizza. Seriously- it's really good.
The weekend was busy, but it was a great one.
I've been meaning to post about Jim and I's recent camping trip. We went Friday and Saturday, October 3rd and 4th (I can't believe it's been over two weeks ago!) and had a great time. We got to the Hocking Hills State Park around 4pm and got the campsite set up. We were a little hesitant about going, because Jim and I were both feeling a little under the weather. We downed some Airborne and ending up taking our chance on roughin' it for a couple of days. The daytime weather was PERFECT... it was in the mid-60's and was awesome. The nights, on the other hand were not-so-perfect- it was in the low 40's both nights. We took almost every blanket we owned and then also wore two pairs of sweatpants/longjohns and two sweatshirts. We also wore gloves and hats to bed. With all of the layers and the blankets, we stayed warm, but our faces were freezing (especially my nose!).
We stayed in a non-electric site, so in the mornings and evenings, we'd take turns going up to the showerhouse to plug in a hotpot to get boiling water so we could have tea and hot chocolate. The hot drinks really helped keep us warm and was a little extra comforting in the colder weather. Another thing that helped us get through the colder weather was our latest addition to our camping supplies- a Coleman Pie Iron. We found a website with lots of recipes and ideas and ending up having THE BEST camping breakfasts, lunches and dinners! If you're not familiar with a Pie Iron (I've always called them hobo pizza makers), it's like a primitive panini press. You butter up two pieces of bread, put the butter-sides out in both sides of the Pie Iron, fill with your favorite topping, close, and hold over the fire until nice and toasted (it's just like grilled cheese). Throughout the weekend, we had pizza pockets (pepperoni, cheese and mushroom), club pockets (turkey, ham, bacon and cheese), breakfast pockets (pre-cooked scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon), turkey and spinach/artichoke pockets (I'd made spinach and artichoke dip earlier in the week and thought it'd be good in a Pie Iron), plus dessert pockets (cheesecake filling with chocolate chips (for Jim) or cherry pie filling (for me!)). Our newfound camping supply did come with a learning curve in the form of two very burnt breakfast pockets, but according to Jim, were still quite tasty. By the time we'd used the last of the butter (we went through almost a 3/4 container of Country Crock), we had it down to a science. Preheat the Pie Iron, and then 75 seconds per side. Mmm, Mmm, toasty. We ended up making a total of 13 pockets and ended up having to go to the general store to buy another loaf of bread! We decided we're going to double-up for next year and get a second Pie Iron. I know, this is big time camping now. Oh, and we're definately going to get one of those campfire kettles so we can boil water without having to hang out in/around the showerhouse and not look like a weirdo.
I really think it helped us having hot food and drinks that weekend, otherwise I think we'd been cold and miserable, instead of just being cold. The campers next to us had a Coleman stove plus a mini-grill, so it would've been tough smelling their steaks if we hadn't been cooking up toasty hobo pizzas.
The other couple of times we went camping this summer, we'd only used one or two bundles of firewood each time. This time at Hocking Hills, we used NINE! We spent a crapload of money on firewood, but overall, it was worth it to stay warm by the fire and to cook our meals.
The last time we were camping at Hocking Hills, we saw a deer come right up into the unoccupied site beside us. This time, we saw a deer again right by the campsites at the edge of the woods. The campsite we stay at are right along a big ravine of woods, so the deer must just hang out and wait until it's clear to go up and check for any forgotten food. Speaking of checking for food, luckily this time around we didn't have any raccoon visitors in the middle of the night. We still were overly cautious and put our two coolers and trash in the car each night (I don't trust those sneaky little bastards).
On Saturday, we walked to Oldman's Cave (it's technically Old Man's Cave, but Jim and I saw some literature that said Oldman's, so we made fun of the typo for the rest of the weekend). The non-electric sites are right by the back entrance to Oldman's Cave, so it was nice to take the shortcut. We were feeling a little better, but still a little rundown, so we didn't hike too much. Oldman's Cave was so crowded too- there were a ton of people there. There wasn't much water running, so the 'falls' weren't really happening. The leaves and foilage was beautiful though and it was awesome to be outside in the cooler air and out in nature (sounds so cheesy, but fresh air really does do you good!).
We hiked back to the campsite, had some lunch and then drove to Ash Cave. This was one of the caves we'd missed in our trip earlier this summer. It was nice and the Cave was massive- it was a pretty cool place to be.
Our camping trip turned out to be awesome and we avoided getting a full-blown cold or the flu, so things worked out well. We packed all of our camping supplies away until next year, but may have to bring out the Pie Iron and find a fireplace before next Spring.
And now for the pictures!
Our awesome campsite...
Forget the chocolate and graham crackers, we're all about the MARSHMALLOWS!!!
Hiking at Oldman's Cave...
And now pictures from Ash Cave....
The picture above is taken straight up standing under the cave.
To recap our camping trip...
New pie iron- good.
Hocking Hills in the fall- good.
Overpriced firewood- bad.
After our late lunch at Thurman Cafe, Mom, Granny and I stopped off at the Hayden Run Nature Reserve. Jim and I had gone here a couple of months ago. We'd gone there just after a big rain and ended up discovering at the very back end of the reserve was this huge waterfall (probably about 20' across). It was really neat. But on the day that Mom and Granny and I were there, the waterfall was gone. It hadn't rained in awhile, so the waterfall wasn't gushing, or running, or even trickling. BUT, there were still people wading in the water that was there... it's amazing that people think this is a public swimming hole. It's a nature reserve people, not Zoombezi Bay! The water in the pic below is the Scioto River... it would make more sense if people tried swimming/wading here, but oh no... they get in the water at the base of where the waterfall is (about 30' across).
On our way back from Pittsburgh, the closer we got to Columbus, the better the weather was getting. Jim and I decided to make an impromtu excursion and stop off at Dawes Arboretum (we felt so spontaneous). Dawes is in Newark, Ohio and is about 30 miles east of Columbus. I went to Dawes in High School, so it had changed a lot since I've been there. The Arboretum is really nice and is a great place to walk or picnic. We ended up getting tickets for the Wagon Ride Tour (the tickets were $2 each). After the Wagon Tour, we ended up driving through and stopped off at the little lake for awhile. The weather was perfect and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. We want to go back this fall for a picnic when the leaves are turning.
