One long day of driving across the flat cornfields deserves a day to play right? I hope so because today I didn't drive very far, but I had a lot of fun!
I drove about 200 miles (long boring miles...) to Dayton, Ohio. I crossed my final time zone line less than hour after leaving Kickapoo so that kind threw things off, even though I'd been trying to switch over as soon as I woke up knowing it was coming.
My first stop in Ohio was Huffman Prarie Visitor center which is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park and got me a stamp in my passport book! I didn't spend long there - there wasn't much to see and I didn't have a lot of time. I did learn about the North Country National Scenic Trail, which is going to be a bit like the Appalachian Trail when it's finished. It goes from Burlington, VT to North Daktoa via Ohio, Michican, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I also learned about the Buckeye Trail, which is a long distance trail here in Ohio. Parts of the Buckeye and North Country trails are paved for biking. In fact, I was riding on the Buckeye Trail, which is also the North Country Trail later when I was riding the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
Next I made my way over to John Bryan State Park to get a campsite for the night, and after that I went into Yellow Springs to ride my bike on the Little Miami Scenic Trail - which is in the Rail Trail Hall of Fame! When I was in high school we lived in Cincinnati and I've been on the portion of the trail near Cincinnati and Loveland, but I hadn't been out here. I rode from Yellow Springs to Xenia. It was very nice - it was paved! And smooth! And flat! Mostly, there were a few gentle hills but it was mostly flat! I was zooming along! Did 20 miles in and hour and forty-five minutes! I think that the fastest I've ever gone! (Not that it's about speed but I was on a schedule today...)
After my bike ride I met my friend Ashley at Young's Jersey Dairy for dinner, ice cream, goat petting and catching up! Ashley and I worked together for 4 years, she was an ESOL teacher and she recently moved to Beavercreek, Oh. It was great to see her here and catch up, even though it's only been a few weeks. I'm looking forward to coming back to the area and seeing her again!
This is also a bit of trip down memory lane for me. Summer of 1997 when I was admin staff at Camp Joy, Mike McGinty, who was in his first year as summer camp director brought the admin team here, to John Bryan State Park for a camping trip and we went to Young's Dairy for ice cream, and listened to Bare Naked Ladies If I had a million dollars at least a million times. That was a great bonding trip, we had so much fun together!
Hard to believe that tonight is my last night on the road. Tomorrow I'll be home!
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