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.

Park City, KY (State #7)-Diamond Caverns RV Resort

We spent two weeks in Park City, Kentucky at Diamond Caverns RV resort. It is a Thousand Trails park so it has all of the amenities including putt-putt, game room, two pools, playscape, golf course, laundry and more. It actually sits within boundaries of Mammoth Cave National Park.

Jacob declared this park as the “best place ever!”. It's funny to hear him say it because he has said that about nearly every place we have been to. There is always something a little different that he falls in love with.

BUT I can tell you one thing in particular that I did NOT love. I am quickly learning that I will take the Texas scorpions and fire ants over some of the insects in these other states. Here, they have sweat bees.

They look like ants but they fly and they will sting! Because they look like ants, my instinct was to shoo them and knock them off. Rookie mistake. After two stings, I had to do some research on these pesky little bugs! The locals told me to just leave them alone and they will fly off on their own. Doesn't sound too bad, right? I mean if a fly lands on you, just about any movement will send them away. I can do that! WELL, that is not how it goes with sweat bees. They land on you because they are attracted to the salt in your sweat and they can spend MINUTES licking or rubbing or whatever they do to collect the salt! I really don't like bugs and am totally creeped out by sitting still and watching a bug or several bugs crawl and lick all over me for that long! NO THANK YOU! So sadly, I didn't spend as much time outside as I would have liked. It was hot and just thinking about the bees made me sweat!

But we could go out early and late and move from place to place without being bothered. And of course swimming was always a possibility.

During the first week, Jacob got poison ivy and lost his second front tooth,

Jordan got an adorable haircut,

they both had their first root beer floats,

AND they both completed their first year of homeschooling!! Jacob has completed first grade and Jordan has completed Kindergarten. We had our own little celebration. They received their diplomas and a couple small gifts.

Since it was Jordan's first graduation, she wore a cap and gown (aka a haircutting cape, but she was none the wiser). I had her decorate a piece of black construction paper for her art project one day, then I later transformed it into her cap. I especially love the little bird on top.

I had also made them a brownie cake which turned out to be a perfect addition to the ice cream they were serving that night at the campground! We took our brownies and shared them with the others there. They then got to pick the movie to be shown at the pavilion that night and enjoyed popcorn served by the campground host. It was a great day!

Also that week, Jacob and Jordan made a friend named Lucas from South Carolina. They played together as much as possible until he left midweek. He was traveling with his grandmother, Linda, who I enjoyed visiting with too.

Our first trip into the park was to the visitor center.

They had some great exhibits there with a lot of good information on the caves.  There were plenty of hands on things for the kids and they had some other fun things like cavers hanging from the ceiling and cave crawl-thrus.

Behind our home in Austin is a Karst Preserve.  Well, I just thought that was someone's name! Here, I learned that a karst is actually landscape in which water moves rapidly underground by dissolving rock.  How about that?!

The kids and I decided to go do something very touristy. We went to Big Mike's Rock Shop and Mystery House. What kid doesn't like rocks? And they have tons of them! The only thing though is I do hate the idea of paying for rocks!! But the kids each picked out 3 rocks to take home.

And for $2 total, we took a trip through the mystery fun house. It was pretty short but it was fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

On Tuesdays and Thursday nights, Hardin Planetarium on the campus of West Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, offers a free show. It was about an hour long and while the screen was a little pixelated to me, it was really good. There weren't many people there and they had designed an interactive program for naming and identifying constellations. It was a fun learning experience.  And outside of the room, they had some enjoyable hands-on exhibits.

We tried to take a bike ride to explore the park some. They have a biking and hiking trail that is something like 12 miles long and there is access to it from the campground where we were. Unfortunately, it was soooo sandy. There was no way Jordan could ride her bike alone through it and it was too hard and scary with her on my bike. We had to go sooooo slow because we were sliding all over the place. We turned back after a mile or so and gave up but not before finding a turtle.

I went alone one morning and had a good ride. Along the way I found this little graveyard up on a hill in some trees. There were only 3 grave sites. This one is dated 1866.

The campground also had some nice rolling hills for some bike riding...

On Sunday, we finally made our first tour into Mammoth Cave. We took the Domes and Dripstones tour. A ranger led the tour and did a good job discussing the caves. There are 400 miles of caves in 7 square miles. The pictures are a little hard to see since they do not allow flash photography.

Here is a picture of the Frozen Niagara:

And a couple other formations: (most of them were near the end of the tour)

We saw cave crickets but no bats. The bats here are dying of White Nose Syndrome, the reason that most caves across the country are closed.

Since the kids enjoyed the tour so much, we decided to take the tour at Diamond Caverns, which is across the street from the campground. We took the last tour of the day and were the only ones! It was our own private tour!

The cave was just beautiful!! There were stalagmites and stalactites and domes everywhere! The original owner thought the calcite crystals were diamonds, hence the name. The cave is still very wet and the formations are still growing.

 (ceiling)

This was the most appetizing part of the tour.  Cave Bacon!!

Here is a stalagmite that has been sawed in half and polished.  Looks like the inside of a tree!

And, here is a handkerchief that has turned to stone. It is thought to be from one of the original cave workers when they would wet their handkerchiefs in the waterfall to keep cool. (Look closely, it's right in the center above the darker area)

This cave is very close to Mammoth Cave but since a connection to Mammoth Cave has not been discovered, it remains in private hands. For obvious reasons, Diamond Caverns is not exploring their cave further. And according to our guide, caves on private lands are sometimes kept secret since if there is a connection to Mammoth, the land would be taken for the National Park.

The guide also discussed the cave wars that took place in the 1930s that resulted in the destruction of many formations in many of the caves. So sad!

Greg took the day off on Thursday and he and Jacob headed to the Corvette Factory Tour (Jordan is too young).  It took about 1.5 hours and they both thoroughly enjoyed it.  The group was small enough that it wasn't crowded and the guide was very informative and answered all and any questions.  The tour route followed the cars natural build progression, starting with installing seats, dashboards, and body panels to the mating of the drivetrain (engine and transmission) to the body, through the final portions where the engine runs for the very first time and the car is driven off the line for a complete battery of tests.  The line workers would sometimes smile, wave, or even chat.  If we're ever in the area again, Greg would be eager to go again and by that time Jordan would be old enough to enjoy it too.

Afterwards, we headed back to Mammoth Cave to pick up the kids' Junior Ranger badges and for the Historic Tour. This was Greg's favorite tour. The kids and I enjoyed Fat Man's Misery and Tall Man's Misery where the cave walls get very narrow and then short so that you must crouch over to walk.

On the way back to the campground, we detoured and crossed the Green River on ferry. It was an extremely short ferry ride but who doesn't enjoy a ferry?! We took a short hike and then headed back across the ferry to home.

I so wish you could see the turkey that totally cut in line and ran up to the water ahead of all of us but it is too small.  So, here's a picture of a few more.  They were fairly common and I would usually see a couple of them at our campground while I was on my morning walk.

Our last adventure was supposed to be a ranger-led hike from the Green River ferry parking area but we never found him so we went on our own.

Hike from Green River Ferry passed Echo Springs to River Styx.  It was a beautiful day and hike and we didn't know what to expect when we started.  River Styx was a treat as it is where a river that is still carving the cave flows on the surface.  It's easy to imagine how it got its name!

We reached the River Styx then turned around and made our way back.

So despite the sweat bees, we had a good time!  Next, we're headed to Yellow Springs, OH.