Nothin' Much - HA!

I’d like to say the reason I haven’t written for over a month is because we’ve been doing “nothin’ much” in that time…but it would be a lie. The truth is we’ve actually visited 8 states and one foreign country, a handful of friends (and one brother), a number of wineries (of course), a national park and 3 national historic parks, museums, and even made time for Ben and Jerry’s and Cape Cod Potato Chips.  I’m just plain tired. I’ll break these adventures down into smaller, more digestible blogs, so be  alert for a succession of posts in the coming days.

                After leaving Michigan, we stopped first at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, south of Cleveland. A mere 50 years ago, the Cuyahoga River was a polluted wasteland. The fact that it was actually on fire became national news and led to the first Earth Day and local and national efforts to clean up the river and surrounding area. Now it is a refuge for native plants and wildlife, protecting 22 miles of river and 33,000 acres of its watershed and filled with the history of the canal. We biked and hiked along the old Erie-Ohio Canal towpath, took a train through the park to Akron, and hiked through some stunning rock formations and waterfalls. 

Hiking with friends at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

                We left there to spend a couple of days with some folks we had met on the trail in Tucson in March. They showed us around Cleveland, explained the history of the settlement of that area of Ohio (it was Connecticut’s Western Reserve), and encouraged us to visit the James Garfield house and museum (and library) nearby (since we were visiting all the presidential libraries). It was surprisingly interesting – we knew nothing about this president and found him to be quite fascinating. He was and is the only sitting member of the House to be elected President, was a real scholar, and had grand plans for his presidency. What a shame he never had the opportunity to complete his progressive agenda for dealing with political corruption and reconstruction.

                At my insistence we took a detour when we left Cleveland so we could stop at the First Ladies Museum in Canton. A National Historic Site, it was seriously disappointing…they seemed to be more interested in what the first ladies wore than in what they accomplished. There was a good video, however, about some of the early 20^th century first ladies and a small section on what the more recent first ladies have done. So much more could and should be done with this museum.

Cathedral of Learning

Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers

                After our short stop in Canton, it was on to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is not a place I would have thought about visiting, but an old friend from Colorado, with whom we had lost contact, lives just outside the city, and she invited us to park our RV on her farm and stay awhile. So we did. 3 days turned into 5 because we had to have some work done on the car, and we were glad for the extra time. Pittsburgh is not the polluted factory town we envisioned; it’s a revitalized city of universities, three rivers, hills, technology, and lots and lots of history. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Marti on her generations-old family farm and our exploration of the city, especially our cruise on the rivers and the Cathedral of Learning, the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marti's Farm

Biking with Marti

              

Having spent a few extra days with Marti, we were now faced with a decision about where to go next and what route to follow. Since we had no reservations for the next 5 days, we were free to choose. We chose some key spots in New York (not the city) and off we went. That’s the subject of the next blog. Stay tuned.