Yellow Springs, OH (State #8)-John Bryan State Park

We stayed two weeks at John Bryan State Park. Yellow Springs is 14 miles from Beavercreek and 20 miles from Dayton. It is also about halfway between Columbus and Cincinatti, with both of them being about an hour away.

The park was beautiful. So lush and green! Probably due to the fact that it rains EVERY OTHER DAY! So it was also very humid and felt like it was a hundred degrees even though it was in the mid to upper 80s.

And the town of Yellow Springs was just so quaint and adorable! It is a very artsy place. Strolling through the streets you will see several small shops and teens and adults playing their music on the sidewalks. It's just too cute!  Too bad I didn't get any pictures!

Many years ago, before Greg and I were married, Greg traveled for his job. And for a couple of months, he worked in Columbus. One of his fondest memories was eating at Max and Erma's (on the company ticket, of course). So since it was Father's Day when we arrived, we immediately found one for dinner. It was good! We even went back two days later since we found out that kids eat free! ;)

We spent most of our time though at the park. There was much to explore there and in the immediate surrounding areas.

The kids enjoyed laying in the grass listening to music,

dancing together,

playing under the trees,

and catching fireflies.

We also started something new. A neighbor in Kentucky suggested that we go geocaching. I had thought about it before but not really looked into it much. So I said let's try it! The kids love it! It gets them out and gives them something to look forward to on a hike. We hear complaints when we say "Lets go on a hike" but if we say "Lets go geocaching", they are all for it. They can't wait to see what there will be in the box and if they will want to trade. It does require me to be braver though because many of them are off the path and I can only think about the bugs, spiders and snakes! Ick! By the time we left, we had found 5 geocaches.

We went fishing. No luck on catching anything though. River fishing is a little tough.

And we began a digital fungus collection since there were so many beautiful and unique ones:

For more, click here.

One of our weekend journeys was a trip to the Columbus COSI museum (free with our pass). It was very awesome!

Upon arrival, they had their Big Machines exhibit at the front. What kid doesn't like climbing up into these things and exploring?

Inside, Greg rode the highwire.

Jacob made a movie using stop action

And they both participated in a special exhibit where they and one other kid assessed a “patient' who was having an allergic reaction to peanut butter.

They checked vitals

Jacob bagged him

Jordan administered medication,

and they all instructed the patient on how to use his Epipen.  It was really cool.

There was also a cool section of the museum called Progress where you could see how items and businesses have changed over the years. They even had rotary phones you could dial and hear a dial tone (my kids have never heard one)!

It was a definite must see if you are in the area. (more pics)

The next day we rode our bikes from the park into town which was tougher than we expected due to some very steep hills but we made it. We strolled through the town, went to a farmer's market then played at a park.

Then we decided what fun it would be to ride our bikes to the next town! Greene county has over 60 miles of bike paths leading out to different towns and cities. We made the trip from Yellow Springs to Xenia which is 10 miles each way. It was pretty easy going paved path with some mild inclines and the path was mostly shaded.

We (Greg, Jacob and myself) made it in about an hour. We stopped for chinese food in Xenia and then played at a park for about half an hour before heading back. It was so fun but I did learn two things: 1. My seat is not soft enough AND 2. Jordan is tooooooo heavy to be on my bike any more! She is getting the boot! ;) Unfortunately that means there are some trails that we won't be able to do until she can keep up with the rest of us.

We made it back to Yellow Springs about 4 hours after we left. And we celebrated having some ice cream at a cute little ice cream stand in town.

One of our hike's in the area was in the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve that can be accessed through the state park. With all of the rain, the Little Miami River was flowing fast!

It also made for this beautiful waterfall.

And check out this huge rock in the middle of the river. Rightfully named, Steamboat Rock.

The next day, we visited Glen Helen Nature Preserve. It was a very nice area as well and entrance to the preserve is a very short walk from the downtown area.

There were many small waterfalls,

this cool rock formation,

and some fun river crossings.

On Friday evening we visited Young's Jersey Dairy. It was heaven on earth! First, we stopped to feed the goats.

Then we dined on fried cheese curds. DELICIOUS!

Next was miniature golf at Udders and Putters

Then some more play time: down the big slide,

making corn angels

and racing tractors.

Our last stop was the dairy where we had some fantastic ice cream in waffle cones that were the best I have ever tasted.

And just when we thought the evening was over, we walked outside, looked across a field and saw the most amazing display of fireflies. There were untold thousands twinkling in the night sky. I will never forget that sight! (more Young's pics, here)

Then to finish off our stay in Ohio, we went to the Dayton airshow. We saw some really cool planes on display.

We were able to look up into a couple planes and see in some helicopters like this lifeflight helicopter

but I was shocked to learn that to go inside a plane they charge $5 per person for EACH plane! Needless to say, we did not go into any planes. :(

It was a nice day; a little sunny but not too hot under our umbrella.

The AeroShell Formation Aerobatic Team were my favorite, but the Blue Angels were pretty amazing too.

We really enjoyed our stay in Ohio!

Next stop:  Brighton, Michigan.