From: wolverine01@charter.net   
      
   We got back from the 10 day trip to Ohio Monday afternoon.  No big   
   problems this trip, fortunately.  We did have a couple small electrical   
   switch issues appear and I already took it in to get them fixed.  The   
   road through Indiana (I-70) was all under construction and was ugly   
   driving.  The view did manage over 14 MPG pulling the TOAD, and I was   
   pleased with that.   
      
   The ride out was not that bad having to go 450 miles to get to   
   Springfield Ohio.  This trip began as a way to get my 86 year old mother   
   to her sisters for a visit together.  After dropping her off, we stayed   
   the night at a place called Tomorrow's Stars.   
      
      
      
   The place gets some nasty reviews, but to be honest we were just staying   
   the night and I found it OK.  Hearing all the stories about Springfield   
   and illegals in the news, we didn't want to Walmart it, so this place   
   worked just fine.  Some of the reviews spoke of bad oily water, but I   
   had plenty and didn't tap in, so I don't really know.  Filled up once we   
   got to the State Park.   
      
   Next day we headed off to Hocking Hills State Park Campground.  This is   
   the most popular place in Ohio, so we were lucky to get in, and had to   
   move sites once to get our 5 days in down there.  Very clean and though   
   they said spotty wifi, we had 5G in there.  I put up the Starlink anyway   
   and it worked great.  The only thing I didn't like was the damn fire   
   rings.  They were small rings, and up off the ground so to see the   
   flames yo either had to chock it full of wood, or sit right up on it. I   
   found them pretty annoying and they have them in all the Ohio State Parks.   
      
      
      
   The hiking in the area is very good, with well used trails of all   
   difficulties.  Being after labor day, it was not very crowded anywhere   
   so we had good times hiking.  The entire area is gentle rolling hills   
   and the rich are buying up every piece of land you could see an putting   
   rental houses on them.  Some are just huge, all look expensive.  Kind of   
   sad really.  We did drive one day and took the entire Triple Nickel, the   
   OH-555.  I had read about it in my Harley magazine, and it was a crazy   
   drive.  To be honest, it would wear the hell out of you on a motorcycle   
   with all the clutch pulling and shifting you'd have to do.  Lots of   
   blind hill curves, and places to stop were few and far in between.  I   
   was also a little surprised at the rednecks in the area.  When I think   
   of Ohio, you kind of thing middle class Midwestern folks.  But the south   
   eastern part of the state is actually in the Appalachian range and the   
   555 had none of the rich folks we saw in Hocking Hills, and was very   
   poor looking with many, many boarded up and abandoned places.   
      
   We left this area and went east to the Shawnee State Park Turkey Creek   
   campground.  Same type of setup as the last place, but we did manage to   
   get a space that was pretty separated from other people.  Tucked nicely   
   in the woods.   
      
      
      
   This place had no cell service at all, and being stuck under all the   
   trees we did not get very good Starlink with all the obstructions.   
   Enough to read webpages once they loaded, and I was able to download   
   off-line maps for our hikes and I was good with that. The Shawnee area   
   is much like the Shawnee Natl. Forest we have in southern Illinois.   
   Much more rugged, with higher hills than around Hocking Hills, and   
   that's probably why fewer people go there.  Beautiful area, but much   
   poorer.   
      
   We did have a rough hike that was about my limit in the area.  Called   
   the Day Hike, 7.4 miles and 1000 feet of elevation ascent, this one was   
   tough.  It was all in the woods, and with few people doing this trail   
   you go through spider webs all day, have to cross over or go around   
   fallen trees, and keeping on trail was difficult at times for the first   
   60% of the hike.  Once you finally get to the top, there are no   
   clearings or viewpoints to see the incredible scenery below.  If they   
   would do that more people might do this hike.  For us it was hoe (85*),   
   buggy, hard to follow, and just one tough hike.  My knee was toast after   
   finishing this one.   
      
      
      
   Last night we decided to get closer to Springfield to not have a super   
   long last day driving so we went up and stayed at Buck Creek State Park   
   in Springfield.  There is a mid sized lake there and the place is very   
   popular with the locals and also hard to get a spot.  We wanted to stay   
   there on the way out but couldn't.  Plenty of spots open after the   
   holiday and we found the place OK.   
      
   OK trip, but to be honest, I doubt I'll be going back to Ohio.  I much   
   rather want to go west.  Anywhoo, that's about it.   
      
   sticks   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)