What’s Round on the Ends and High in the Middle?

OHIO!

(Get it? The first and last letters are round and in the middle…oh, you get it? Just not funny…okay…)

Anyway, I had noticed some things on Flo the Airstream that needed attention. There were some things the service center that took care of the hole I made in her side hadn’t done quite right. Luckily, I convinced the manager at the service department at the Airstream Factory in Jackson Center, Ohio, to work me in, even though they were tremendously busy.

Here’s a shot of the back lot with Airstreams awaiting service at the Mothership. I spent the night at the Terraport, which is their complementary parking for people waiting for service or after they pick up their Airstreams.

I checked in when I got to town and reminded Chris, the service manager, of what we had discussed via email. He told me to come back in the morning. Early in the morning – well, early for me – 8:00. He set me up with Artie who looked at what I needed done. He got his tools and supplies and had me fixed up in about 20 minutes. He told me to check in with the office around 10:00 for the bill. When I went back in, Chris told me that there would be no charge.

NO CHARGE?!

Wow! Airstream is certainly a classy organization!

I headed toward Lake Erie, using paper maps. I couldn’t get a signal to save me. Luckily, I have loads of maps! I skittered across the state on a variety of two-lane highways.  My usual route to Buffalo was on I-90, which would have taken me right through downtown Cleveland. With the Republican National Convention getting ready to launch a few days later, I did not want to take any chances on having roads blocked or getting caught in the middle of some sort of demonstration.

I managed to get to I-90 somewhere east of Cleveland. I ended up spending two nights at Evergreen Lake Park in Ohio at the Conneaut exit. I was kind of tired after about ten hours of driving in two days.

One thing I found out was how to pronounce Conneaut. The first part seemed pretty straight-forward, but the last part was just too many vowels. From what I’ve been told, it should be pronounced “Con-ee-OT” with the emphasis on the last part. I was thinking it would have been something like “con-OIT”.

I went looking for something to do while I was in town, and I saw that they had a park right on the lake. Lake Erie – my lake! I set out to go enjoy it.

After growing up in the Buffalo, NY area and visiting family on the Canadian side of the lake, I guess you could say I’m just a Lake Erie sort of gal!

In the information about the park, it mentioned the boardwalk. I had in mind a boardwalk like in Atlantic City. I wondered how there could be that sort of development here with no advertising. It turns out that there is a boardwalk running from the parking area out to the beach.

When the boardwalk gets close to the water’s edge, it meets up with a boardwalk running the width of the park’s beach.

The plaque on the boulder at the beginning of the boardwalk lets us know that it was a 1994 project of the Conneaut Rotary Club, along with funding from the Conneaut Township Park and the Civic Development Corporation. We all do better when we work together.

It was a lovely day, with all sorts of people enjoying the sand, sun and water.

I was captivated by this log being rolled about by the waves. It is estimated that there have been at least 8,000 shipwrecks in Lake Erie. Lake Erie is known for its seiches, which are enormous waves that occur especially when the wind blows from the southwest to the northeast, which is to say along the length of the lake. Who knows? Maybe this log is actually part of the mast of one of those 8,000 ships that have gone down in the storms.

I enjoyed myself collecting rocks along the shore. These red sneakers seemed to be left so carefully. I hope the owner remembered to come back for them.

Of course, with my “catch and release” rock collecting, I had to document what I had found.

This was my red and green collection. After I arranged them and took the photo, I had to see if water enhanced the colors.

The greens really pop! Let’s see another collection.

Here are the dry brownish rocks.

And here they are doused with water.

Here are the dry layered rocks.

And here they are wet. Okay, one more group of rocks…

Assort dry rocks.

And assorted wet rocks.

Okay, I’d had my fun – and I imagine I provided amusement for the people passing me on the boardwalk. How many 60 year old women collect rocks, and then take pictures of them dry and wet? Well, as I said, I’d had my fun. It was time to release them.

There they are – back in their natural habitat!

I did find one rock that I kept.

It was the most perfect smooth small rock with a lovely hole in it. It just may become a piece of jewelry some day!

I went off to find dinner. Who can resist a sign proclaiming “FOOD”? Well, at least it didn’t say “Eat here and get gas.”

Photo borrowed from the Internet somewhere…

I stopped back at the trailer for a bit. There was a quiet tapping at my door. I opened it up and was greeted by the smiling face of a man I had met briefly while I was in Kalamazoo. His name was Francis and he was from Australia. I wish I had asked him how he got here and if he was returning, but I didn’t think to ask. I guess I didn’t want to be nosy. Also, it was time to head back to the beach for sunset!

The clouds were rolling in, but the sun kept peeking through. I enjoyed watching this young men skipping stones. There was a campfire with some people playing guitar and singing. You’ll just have to take my word for that, though, as I couldn’t get a decent photo.

The sun came out for one last peek. I snapped a photo and decided to call it a night.

Next stop: Western New York!