OHIO

Today 7/11 we arrived in OHIO. We are staying for a few days in a campground called  Wagon Trails Resort . So far it's a really nice place. They have a huge indoor pool, sauna, game room, fishing pond, playground and a whole lot more. They kids made friends with 3 little girls within minutes of arriving. We are planning on seeing Lake Erie, Six flags Ohio, and maybe even Sea World Cleveland. We also need to find a church for Sunday.

 We meet a really nice family here.  They live in Pennsylvania and are here for the week.  They have 3 little girls.  They were traveling behind us as we were on our way here, and the girls noticed the bikes on the back of the jeep and couldn't wait to see who was in the R.V.  They came over as we were setting up and introduced themselves to us.  The kids hung out at the playground, and Michelle play some basketball with their dad. 

The following day we hung around the campsite.  We went into town to mail some letters and we had a ice cream at the Dairy Threat.  When we got back the kids broke out the Thomas The Train set, and had a lot of fun with that before supper.  After supper Nikole and I did a little fishing, while Zakary rode his bike around and hung out with the girls.  Later in the evening we joined up with the girls and we all went swimming in the indoor pool.  After about a hour of swimming we decided it was time for a campfire.  Then just as the kids were about to give up the idea of our new friends coming over, they came over for a visit.  We had a real nice time sitting around the fire and talking.  Their dad Frank had these really cool campfire pie cookers.  he made us a couple of cherry pies cooked over a open fire.  They were delicious, were going to have to get a set of those.  He told us we could picked them up at Wal-Mart.  Zakary and the little girl name Jordon fell asleep about the same time, and we had to end the night of fun.

 The next morning Saturday 7/13 Michelle finished catching up on the laundry, and played some air hockey with Zakary.  We are planning on staying here until Tuesday morning and heading out then.

 My parents are on vacation and are going to my brother John and Sherry's house in Wisconsin.  We are planning on meeting them there. While we are still here we plan on going to Six Flags, finding a church.

Today we are going to find Lake Erie, and finding something to do.  Well Lake Erie was really cool, we actually when to a place called Geneva-On-The-Lake.  Talk about a big lake, WOW !!!   We've never seen that much water in one place, except at the beach.  We ate lunch at a place called Eddie's Foot long Hot Dog Stand.  It was part restaurant part Dairy Queen.  It was like stepping back in time to the fifties.  The prices were really good too.  They had the jukeboxes on the tables.  I bet some of you can still remember those.  After lunch we went to the State Beach.  The water was in the seventies, and we all had a really good time.

We went back to the campsite to see the Fuller family before they left to head back home.  Even though it was a sort lived friendship there, I think now they will  always be in touch with us.  The kids really got along well, and Zakary will dearly miss little Jordan.  He has a thing for blondes. We will miss the Fullers Frank, Pam, and the kids Miriah, Gabrielle, and Jordan.  God is good in bringing Christian families like them into our life.  We hope to meet up with them again.  Maybe on our second trip around this country.  Please keep in touch Fuller family.

Sunday 7/14

Today we finally got to go to church.  We ended up at Covenant Assembly of God in Jefferson .It was a small church with only a few attendants.  The Pastors name is Bill Evans and his wife Sherry.  Although it was small it was good to be in the house of our Lord.  The kids really seemed to enjoy children's church.  They were bummed out when we came in to get them.  The first thing they asked is if we could come back next week.  So we guess they liked it.  The rest of this day will be spent resting, getting ready for Six Flags in the morning.

Monday 7/15

Today we went to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Aurora Ohio.  This is the best Six Flags so far. The park was huge, it was 3 parks in one. A few years ago Six Flags bought out Geauga Lake Park, and we are guessing at the same time they bought Sea World right next door.  Like I was saying it was 3 parks in one, containing the wild rides, wildlife, and water park.  We spent so much time doing rides and wildlife that we didn't get to do everything we wanted.  The kids didn't even get to do Looney Tunes Boomtown, or the water park.  Which by the way was the biggest and best that we've seen so far.  So we are changing our plans again and staying here another day.  We will rest up again on Tuesday and go back to Six Flags on Wednesday.  Michelle and I need to ride a few of their roller coasters too.  Batman Night Flight which is way bigger than the one they just built in New England's Six Flags, X-Flight which is a lay down flying coaster, can't wait to try that one.  And two others Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall a 13 story free fall, and Superman Ultimate Escape a vertical spiraling impulse coaster.  Six Flags really spent some money with all the new rides, coasters and wildlife attractions here.  We were talking to the Fuller family, and they told us that their friends were coming to this park and spending 3 days there.  We now understand why.  8 Thumbs Up here. (meaning we all liked it.)  Sorry J.J you would of really liked this one.

Tuesday 7/17

Today was a down day.  I washed the Rig, and the Jeep.  Michelle did some more laundry, and the kids hung out and played with their toys.  Today is also the last day in this campground.  We are heading out in the morning, and plan on driving to a town close to Six Flags. We will then leave the R.V. at a Wal-Mart in a town called Macedonia for the day, and spend the night there.  All is well so far and Ohio Is kind of like home still, except for all the farms.

Wednesday 7/17

We went back to Six flags today.  X-Flight roller coaster was the best coaster Michelle and I have ever ridden.  First they sit you in a seat, backwards.  Then they lay you down on your back while sitting, and you take off.  You climb the hill backwards, your first turn your facing the ground in the flying position.  They sent you through loops, corkscrews, and spirals.  WOW is all we have say.  We spent the first part of the day at Hurricane Harbor Water Park, then we did a few rides. Michelle and I rode Batman Night Flight, before heading over to the wildlife section to see the Whale Show.  After the show we went back to the ride section and had some fun in Looney Tunes Boomtown.  The kids really liked Foam Factory.  It was a huge Screened in area that used air to fire soft foam balls through canons. There was so much just to do in that area.  Nikole was sucking up balls into a tube that blew them up 40 feet to a basket.  When the basket got full of balls it dumped it's load all over everyone in the Foam Factory.  I very much enjoyed this play area too.  I was blasting parents with balls.  It was really cool.  We ended up staying at Six Flags for over 8 hours.  On our way back to the R.V. we stopped for some ice cream and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  We will be spending the night in Macedonia and heading out in the morning.  Next stop the funny farm.( their coming to take us away Ha-Ha )  Actually Funny Farm Campground, in Pioneer Ohio, close to the Indiana state line.

Thursday 7/18

The campground in Pioneer Ohio is really in two states.  Half of it is in Michigan, and the other half is in Ohio.  We plan on being here only for the night.  The kids are out enjoying the pool, and we are just taking it easy.  We are driving across Indiana in the morning, to get to another campground in Illinois.  Joliet Illinois to be precise.  So this will probably be our last entry in this Ohio page.  Ohio is nice, even though we only explored the Northern part.  The prices of food seem cheaper than back home, but so are the earning wages.  Houses are a lot cheaper, reminds us of Massachusetts back 5 or 6 years ago.  You can get a lot of home for cheap money. 

The people here are friendly and nice, and we met some really nice people here. The Fuller family and the older couple Bill and Vera Smith from Gardendale, Texas.

The Smiths have been traveling the country for over 19 years.  They made most of their money from the handy art work, made from metal and wood .  And picking up odd jobs at campgrounds.  One of Bills specialties was making walking sticks all from wood that was free.  They told us to take it slow and enjoy this country.  They also thought that what our children will gain from this is trip is a awesome experience, that many will never get to do.  But because of the cold harsh winters here, this will not be a state we would choose to live in.  Sorry Ohio we must move on.

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