Wednesday April 21th - Look What We Wake Up To!

Soon after sunrise in John Brian State Park, Ohio. The park had been transformed overnight into something magical. 

We took a short detour on our way to the highway to visit the Old Clifton Mill. 

From there it was on to Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. (No welcome to Missouri sign. I was asleep when we drove past)

We stopped in St Louis to take a short walk in Forest Park and get takeout from kosher Gokul Indian restaurant which we always go to when we are driving through, and due to a slight mishap, what was supposed to be a 15 minute stop ended up taking 3 1/2 hours. (Long story, maybe another blog post.)

After dinner, we drove another 120 miles to Columbia, Missouri where we spend the night boondocking in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

9 hours driving, 521 miles.

Tuesday April 20th - On the Road Again!

We are off on another adventure! Our immediate plan is to be in Denver for Shabbos, then a 10 day flatwater canoe trip on the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Followed by a few days in Canyonlands this time on land, and Shavuot in Phoenix. After that, who knows?

But for the next few days we are going to be spending most of our time driving.

The past week had been extremely stressful due to a family medical issue and even though we continued preparing for this trip, we were not even sure we would be able to go until about 17 hours before we left.  

Once we started driving, however, we started unwinding. We enthusiastically sang Simon and Garfunkel’s “Looking for America,” off key and settled in for the long haul.  

This first day, we drove from home to John Bryan State Park, just east of Dayton, Ohio. 9 1/4 hours driving, 587 miles. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. We could see redbuds and something(s?) with white flowers blooming along the highways most of the way!

By the time we got to the campground, the adrenaline that had been fueling our drive along with plain old gasoline, had just about run out. This was not the nicest campground, but we were very glad to be here.

But we still walked around a bit just to stretch our legs. Tons of spring wildflowers! I am happy.

The Two Souvenirs I Bought on our Trip

The first souvenir I bought is a Keokuk Geode. These geodes are the claim to fame of Keokuk, Iowa where they are found along the Mississippi River. I usually prefer rockhounding for my rock collection, but bought this one because I didn't have much time.

A geode is a circular-ish hollow rock that frequently has crystals inside. This is the geode. The quarter is for scale. Looks like an ordinary rock, right?

Ordinary, until it is cut in half!

The other thing I bought. Who knew there was such a thing? Apparently it is a requirement for making gumbo, whatever that is. I will google a recipe at some point and try to make it, preferably vegetarian.

I am sure having the OU is a requirement for the regular everyday gumbo eater.

BTW, the quarter in the first photo is a Mississippi state quarter.

I also brought home some air plants. Probably some sort of bromeliad. They look like a cross between Tillandsia and Spanish Moss.
These were scavenged. Hard to imagine, but I found them just growing on trees!

Photos of Places Mentioned in Yesterday's Post from December 2nd, 2020

Ferne Clyffe State Park, IL

Fernes growing in the Clyffe

Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge

Ten Mile Pond

Big Oak Tree State Park

The Big Oak had blown over a few years ago

Our campground at Reelfoot Lake State Park, TN