Planes, Trains and a Boat

Ohio welcomed us with a quiet campground near Port Clinton. This mainly seasonal 300-site RV park was quiet when we rolled in on Wednesday. Quiet except the planes that took off and landed over-head at the small airport located across the road. They reminded me of visiting Grandma & Grandpa Parkos' farm in Park Rapids, MN, that was located at the end of airport.

Our kids had full run of the large park and man-made swimming pond with beach. They swam in it each day, even though the locals were closing it for the season due to the cooler nights. Just a half mile from Lake Erie, a bike ride the first night provided views of the sunset over the calm horizon. We also discovered a smoothie/coffee bar just a short distance from our campground. This became a staple stop each morning.

For all the Tommy Boy fans, we took a 20-mile road trip to Sandusky, OH. Chuck was disappointed that he didn't find any memorabilia, but we enjoyed the downtown and lake walk.

The next morning we watched the sunrise on Lake Erie as we searched for the elusive walleye. Kate was hoping to catch her first. She was not disappointed. Captain "Buffalo" had fished Lake Erie for more than 40 years and although the bite was slow, he wanted to make sure the kids had fun and we had a walleye dinner that evening.

Chuck's goal was to catch a Lake Erie walleye, and he succeeded with a 23". Ben reeled in the most fish (6). Mal discovered that she has a stomach like her Grandma Anderson and got a little green on the boat (twice) but still managed to catch two fighters. Mom baited many, many hooks with worms; untangled a few lines; and still managed to reel in a very small Goby and lost a very large fish (TBD) close to the boat. It was a beautiful morning to be on Lake Erie!

The fish fry over the fire in our new cast iron pan tasted especially delicious!

For the trains, we stayed at our second Harvest Host (HH) Boxcar Crew Works in DuBois, PA, that boasts more than 20 train cars. One is a brewery, another a pizza place, two are restaurants, one has model trains set-up inside, a few you can climb on and explore, and another is the entrance for the animatronic dinosaur exhibit. Don't forget the goats and mini-golf too. Eclectic to say the least, memorable for sure, and great pizza and beverages too. We ended the night playing cards listening to the live music from the brewery.

Today, we took a short drive, 208 miles, to enter our 7th state - New York. Chuck has done a fantastic job driving even though his navigator directed him onto two small rural roads that likely haven't been traveled by a 50-foot rig in quite some time, if ever.

The Sunset Creamery, another HH, near the finger lakes area of NY was an early stop. After a quick lunch at the RV, tour of the creamery and getting acquainted with the farm animals; we took the Explorer off the trailer to do some exploring.

Lake Seneca, one of the 11 finger lakes, was beautiful and has winery and brewery options dotting its east coast. The town of Watkins had a quaint feel and is home to the Watkins Glen State Park. a 2-mile hike provides many waterfalls and beautiful views of the gorge.

Thank you to all those who have left comments, sent text and video messages and even picked up the phone and called. You all make home seem not so far away.

As we look ahead to the next few days and make our way east to Bar Harbor, Maine; we will have updates from an orchard, sugar house and an alpaca farm.

Finally, only one new rule was written over the past few days...

4) In math, symbols next to numbers are NEVER there just for decoration.