Port Burwell, Camping in Canada

 Zoë:
When crossing the border into Canada you don't really need to do much, all the border guy wanted to know was where we were going and if we brought our guns. The answers were Port Buwell and no. As soon as we crossed the border Kinsey and I started looking for differences in Canada from the U.S. we soon discovered that other than some stuff being in french and Target being a gas station instead of a department store, there wasn't much of a culture shock.
When we arrived at Port Burwell we were greeted by a polite ranger at registration and beans (some type of bizarre promotion). As soon as we got to the campsite Kinsey and I scouted out to explore, we were banned from taking any trails due to the strange lack of signage in Canada and our previous incident at Hueston woods. Once we got to the field area Kinsey made a beeline for the playground and proceeded to climb into the obstacles that she was most likely to get stuck in. I heroically raced after her to save her from this certain doom. In my attempts to save her I ended up getting stuck myself. As it turns out, Kinsey was fine. I eventually got unstuck and we headed back to the campground where we finished dinner and ten headed off on a small hike to to the beach. The path down to the beach was well maintained and we had the woods to ourselves. We spotted a lot of deer in the field beyond the woods and even a few cute bunnies in the bushes.

Kinsey chasing  seagulls

Mom and Dad

The beautiful sunset

We went to sleep that night knowing we would have a fun day at a clean beach tomorrow!

The campground was the most crowded we had seen all trip long, It was full with kids on bikes and dogs trotting around hunting for leftovers.  Our part of the campground used to be thickly wooded with ash trees before the invasive species of the Long Horned Asian Green Bug  or something started to eat the trees, so they had to cut them all down. Another discovery we made about Canada was that when U.S camp grounds were mainly crowded on weekends, Canadian camp grounds were crowded all week long. We discovered this when we arrived on a Tuesday.

Wednesday morning we drove to the beach and swam in the clean, ocean like side of Lake Erie.

walking to the beach

playing in the surf

Kinsey found this stick fort and spent half the time we 

had there playing in it

The water was cold at first but once 

you started to swim around in it, 

it warmed right up

Water Pollution, Goose S**t, and a nice camping spot

Ryan:    
After our fun day at the Columbus Zoo and the water park and two comfortable nights in hotel rooms, we pointed the truck north and headed for our next campground.  Maumee Bay sits at the far southwestern tip of lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio.  The state park has the usual park feel in some respects, but it is also a resort with a golf course, bike rentals, lodge, restaurant, and amphitheater.  Despite its size, with over 250 campsites, the campground was well cared for, and our site was nicely shaded, reasonably private, and at night, very quiet.  Last year we all saw our first great lake for the first time at Indiana dunes, and it was amazing and beautiful.  With the memory of that beach on lake Michigan and the admittedly unfounded expectation that this one on lake Erie would be similar, we went to check it out first thing in the morning.  Turns out, the beach at Maumee Bay is nothing like the one at Indiana Dunes.  The sand is not bad, but does seem a bit dirty, and there is a big sign that warns you to "avoid getting lake water in your mouth".  It goes on to describe all the water conditions you should watch out for, including paint like substance floating on the surface, green globs, or colored streaks. I didn't see any of the listed nasties, but the water did have a decidedly green murk to it; it did not look particularly inviting, and I really didn't want the girls playing in it.

This is the closest we got to swimming in Maumee Bay.

 I took the girls over to the nearby inland lake to see if it was any better.  This beach has it's own gross factor, namely goose shit. The geese are such a disgusting nuisance that the park is currently training dogs to harass them in the hopes that they will decide Maumee bay is no fun and do their pooping elsewhere.  Despite the minefield of bird turds, we decided this beach was better than the other one because the water looked better, it was fairly clear, and there was no sign here warning us of chemical or biological dangers.  We relocated, Kat and I spread our blanket among the poo and the girls splashed in the relatively clean water.

The girls swimming at Goose Poo Beach.

Practicing "The routine"

Rebel. (by Zoë)

another glamour shot by Zoë

    Even if the beach situation was a bit disappointing, we spent a nice couple of days and nights enjoying the first truly comfortable weather of the trip. It was still hot, but the humidity had broken, it felt good in the shade, and the nights were actually cool.  The girls amused themselves with photo shoots and playing on the slack line.  We had nice campfire dinners and smores and sunset walks around the adjacent lake trail.

the photographer

Zoë is lucky she has a willing and photogenic little sister.

    From Maumee Bay we would be driving into Canada and to a place called Port Burwell.  As we crossed the bridge over the Maumee river, which flows into lake Erie at Maumee Bay, we looked out at  Toledo's industrial center and that nasty water seemed a little less surprising.  We were headed to a spot about half way up the opposite shore of lake Erie on the Canadian side, and we wondered if this body of water was big enough that we might find a very different kind of lake there.

Hot Time at the Columbus Zoo

Kat:
As we were fine tuning our route north back in St. George I had to convince Ry that a stop at the Columbus Zoo was worth it. By the end of our day there he agreed it was. Ryan's parents know the Hannas, as in Jack Hanna the famous animal guy from TV, who also happens to be the director of the Columbus Zoo. Sandy, Ry's mom, was excited for us to go, so she pulled some strings to hook us up with VIP passes for the day. We had been planning to remain at Hueston Woods for Friday night, but crappy weather and the girls overwhelming excitement to get to the Zoo early pushed us to exit Hueston Woods and make our way toward Columbus. Friday evening we stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of the city, and we were up early Saturday morning so we could spend the whole day at the zoo. We snagged our passes and headed straight for baby Nora along with a few other hundred determined zoo goers. Nora is the nine month old polar bear who is only out for about an hour and a half each morning. We stood in line and peered through the crowd to see her swimming about in her pool.

It was hard to see her from above so we headed to the underwater viewing area where we got a nice view of her cute little fuzzy butt.

From there we did what Ry called the "Oo, oo, oo, Kat Tour" of the zoo. I will admit I have a bad habit of wanting to see and do everything, this is true with my art making as well which also drives Ry crazy. We zigged and zagged our way back and forth across the zoo sweating profusely but having a great time. We watched the tiger cubs get baths from their mom, a Bonobo family deal with squabbling children, chatted with a very bored and old gorilla, Colo (the first gorilla born in captivity), fed the giraffes, lorikeets and stingrays, watched a very entertaining show filled with many trained cats, dogs, pigs, birds, as well as a rat, a flock of doves, a porcupine, and a skunk and we kept Kinsey on board by promising to "feed the Kinsey" ice cream.

One of the reasons we kept going back and forth was because I wanted to hear the keeper talks. In the end the only one we ended up hearing was for the tigers.

After the cubs got there treats mom came over to clean them up.

Posing with a statue of Colo

Zoë trying to practice good gorilla etiquette 

Feeding the Lorikeets

And of course I get pooped on.

Feeding Kapoa (I think, the name was something close to that)

Feeding the stingrays small fish, which they vacuum from your hand!

This is Kinsey prior to feeding ice cream

SO we fed the Kinsey

Look how happy!

This show was filled with all sorts of adorable antics

We ended out day our day in the water park which is attached to the zoo. We didn't have any pictures from that portion of the day because we locked the camera away and my phone had died. It was a great way to end the day though as we were all ridiculously hot and sweaty. The girls enjoyed running around on the big slide and play structure as well as the wave pool. All was good other than Zoë convincing me to stand in line for the Cyclone slide for an hour in front of a pair of local couples who were drunk and all kinds of inappropriate. Zoë assured me she had heard it all before at school (great) but not in such a concentrated way. Sigh. Columbus Zoo definitely lived up to the hype and I would recommend it to anyone headed through Columbus. I loved that throughout the zoo there is a consistent message about conservation, down to labeling the trash cans, recycle and landfill.

Humidity in Hueston Woods

Kinsey:

Hudson woods is really nice.  Although humid, catching cray fish and finding fossils was a lot of fun. It's kind of a long story how found cray fish. It all started when Zoë and I were bored. And Zoë said what she always says when we get to a new campground " Let's go exploring!" Mom set us up with a map and showed us a trail called Indian Mound Trail. We started walking and heard water rushing over small waterfalls down at the river bed. I looked at the map and stared at it as my eyes scanned the paper for where we were. I told Zoë that by the looks of the map we were heading the wrong way. She didn't believe me so I got dragged along instead. Eventually we got to the lake. I didn't think we were supposed to be there so I texted mom " Are we supposed to be at the water?" And she replied "No!" Right as it started thundering. I told Zoë we had to go. Then all the sudden all of these texts popped up from mom's phone. She was freaking out! So we started heading back as quick as possible. Now since you've heard that story you NEED to hear this story!
                                                 

The 100% true story of how Zoë and Kinsey got lost

by Kinsey & Zoë McClelland

It was a sunny day and Zoë and Kinsey were bored. It was 1000 degrees in the shade! The only thing they could do for fun was kick a vending machine and cross their fingers for a Powerade. It was a rather anticlimactic Thursday afternoon. They stared at a tiny bug enjoying a bouquet of clovers. 
"His name is Munchy." Declared Kinsey. 
"It is a rather anticlimactic Thursday afternoon." sighed Zoë. 
"They know" snapped Kinsey. " The narrator already said that!" "Oh." she replied "I know! Let's take a hike!They proposed this idea to their parents.

"Here take this phone, and this backpack, don't take candy from strangers, don't jump either, 35% of childhood accidents start with jumping and the cliffs, stay away from the cliffs, the acid spitting llama's too, those guys are dangerous" they lectured "Got all that?" "Yep" the children assured  them. "Off you go then" said the parents merrily glad to be rid of their children. 
"Did we actually get all of that?" questioned Kinsey. 
"Sure did" exclaimed Zoë. "If an acid spitting llama gives us candy we go with them and jump off a cliff." 
"Yeah, I think that sounds about right" Kinsey murmured. 
Thus they started off into the woods. They took about 10 steps and came to a fork in the road. But not any fork in the road, it was a 90,000 million fork! But not just that! It was guarded by a Bigfoot! Luckily, the girls ducked quickly behind a nearby bush. They whispered quietly. "We can sneak past him" Kinsey explained "Yeah, well that's helpful"  Zoë said as she sketched out a serious plan in the dirt. She sketched seriously creating a series of curls, swirly lines, and triangles and hearts and smiley faces. 
"What on Mars" muttered Kinsey "Forget your plan I'm winging this thing." 
"Wait, I can make you a panda if you want, or a dolphin , dolphins are good, right?" whisper yelled Zoë but it was too late, Kinsey had already stomped off, she had devised a plan of her own. She slunk closer and ducked behind a bush, cupped her hand away from the giant being and rang out a legendary call, " Ish kiddley opin boppin bo bo an beaten daten, slide, slide, ninny kaziny kazat kabibly ot, toot toot!" Bigfoot grunted and dragged his club off to the idiots meeting spot. 
"Of course" whispered Zoë under her breath, "The Idiot's Call! Universal to all idiots, they can't resist!"

Now thanks to Kinsey's quick thinking they were able to escape from the ferocious Bigfoot. It was a close cal! After Bigfoot went stomping off they approached a sign that read 

River this way 

Robo crayfish and Water acid spitting llamas natural habitat

Swim at Your Own Risk!

"There's a water version of the acid spitting llamas?" asked Kinsey

"Apparently" Zoë answered.

They headed down the path that looked most promising. But it wasn't long before it narrowed and the ground dropped away before them plunging 20 feet to the river. They were determined to keep going so they stumbled and tumbled their way down clinging to trees and roots as they went. They finally arrived at the river bed, it was muddy and mucky down at the rocks. "Let's catch some robo cray fish!" Kinsey said. Zoë set down her bag and rummaged through, searching for fishing equipment. she pulled out the line and the hook which Kinsey fastened to a nearby stick. she rummaged around in that bag for quite a long while, frowning she looked up at her sister. "what?" Kinsey asked, "umm... I may have forgotten the bait," she responded. 
"You can't 'may have' forgotten something you either did or you didn't. This is all your fault." Kinsey accused.
"What is?" asked Zoë.
"That we're lost!"
"How is that at all related to the bait?" Zoë sputtered
They tried unsuccessfully to catch cray fish with just the lines, safety pins and grass. Well, Kinsey did manage to get one robo crayfish to grab on but as she tried to reel him in a crash of thunder came rolling in and he thought better of it and let go to retreat to his watery home. 
But Zoë wasn't paying attention she watched wide eyed as a small plump figure wrapped in blotchy pink approached riding a young water acid spitting llama. 
"Well cover me in cream cheese and call me a cat, is that an acid spitting llama?" Zoë exclaimed.
"We should ask it for candy." Kinsey added.
"And then jump off a cliff." finished Zoë.
The little fairy flew at Zoë's face and cackled "I poke you! I poke you! I poke you in the eye!"
The girls retreated as quickly as possible scrambling up the steep bank. Half way up the phone in Kinsey's pocket rang out in a chorus of buzzes. A list of texts from their other popped up:

"Where are you"

"Are you lost"

"Did the acid spitting llamas eat you?"

"Did you jump?"

"Why aren't you responding?"

They responded with:

"We're fine."

Finally they reached the top of the cliff and the campground. It was a stampede of two as they rushed toward their site. As it came into view they saw their mother standing with crossed arms. They slowed their pace and strolled non-nonchalantly up to their peeved parent.

"What have you been doing their mother asked?"

"Oh, nothing." Kinsey replied.

"Yeah, it was quite boring." added Zoë.

"Did you have pink eye when you left?" their mother asked Zoë.

That is how we found a great place to go cray fishing and Zoë got pink eye. (well close enough anyway) The next morning Zoë and I took Mom and Dad to the spot we had found the night before. This time we remembered the bait. We used hot dogs pieces that we on safety pins attached to strings tied to sticks. 

Zoë's big cray fish

            Zoë and I crayfishing.

It worked pretty well. Zoë and I both caught crayfish, but Zoë caught a huge one that was about three or four inches. We stayed there until it started thundering again. So we headed back quickly because if we were stuck on that trail when it was raining it would have been bad.

Afterwards we decided to go the nature center. They had snakes like the copperhead, timber rattle snake, garter snake, rat snake, and a corn snake. They also had turtles and fish.

The turtles at the Nature center 

Then we looked at the map and figured out where to go to find fossils. It was sprinkling but we didn't care. We walked down a vey narrow and overgrown path to get to the a river bed where we spent awhile finding cool fossils like coral, shells, and other fossils inside the rocks. The fossils came from when the area a covered water about 500 million years ago. There are so many of them the park lets you take them home.

fossil

more fossils

And more fossils

The Music City

Zoe:

the music city

color and culture and rhythm and rhyme swirling together

 like clothes in a washing machine

bustling restaurants and shops

bubbling to the brim with soft excitement

music fills the pastel streets with sounds of

strumming guitars and trumpets blaring

music city: a name rightfully earned

Musician's Hall of Fame

Walking through a time warp
all the legends of mastered melody
one "do not touch" sign away

The opportunity to record
 your own beautiful cringe worthy
songs and beats
To feel closer to
those legends

History Class Flash Back

As I gaze upon a text book wonder,

this creation from the golden age of Greece,

I can not help

but remember

the other figures most memorable to me 

Socrates, and Hercules, Pheidippides too

along with,

Plato,  Zeus, Athena, Hermes

They all came running back!

Who knew summer could make you remember

 what you were sure you would forget!

Food and Music

Dusk was on our heels

and we were growing hungry 

Tummy's loud as traffic

we strolled into the grille

the waitress took us to our seat

 but we grew hungrier still

A mountain of fried pickles

quickly disappeared

It was only to be replaced 

with sea of more mouthwatering food

pasta and bread sticks, pork chops and beans,

Tuna sandwiches, 

and a brownie sundae for desert!

All the while a man strums a guitar 

up on the stage

He sings songs I know

and ones I do not

But it all swims in the air 

and mixes together

to make the perfect night

Swimming in Alabama

Ryan:
As we left St. George Island, we were leaving more than the company of family and a beautiful place. We were also leaving some comforts behind. We were, in fact, making the transition from luxury to camping. If the minor discomforts of camping really bothered us, we wouldn't travel the way we do. We do enjoy the relatives simplicity of it. Going from the beach house, Simsation, with every conceivable personal convenience, however, straight to camping with all of its communal facilities and simple yet laborious task, was going to be a bit jarring. Jarring or not, we were on our way back north, headed home, ready to find out what might lay on our route between St. George Island, Florida and West Springfield, Massachusetts. Our first two nights would be spent in Cheaha State Park in Alabama. It's claim to fame is that it is the highest point in the state which, while cool for the park, it  isn't saying a whole lot in relative terms.

Cheaha's CCC observation tower.

We spent the morning in Cheaha exploring some of the parks signature features. First we checked out the watch tower built by the CCC in the 1930s. From its top you have a 360° view of the surrounding landscape; the Appalachian chain to the north and the Alabama lowlands to the South. At its base is an attached museum dedicated to the CCC camp that built the park. 

Doofi.

Next we did a couple of short hikes, the bald rock and pulpit rock trails, both of which ended and gorgeous overlooks. For me the coolest part about this park was being able to look out across the landscape, imagining the Appalachians stretching all the way into Maine, while looking at the very southern tip where they seem to simply fizzle out. 

Bald rock lookout

Pulpit rock lookout

Jumping at Cheaha lake.

At this point it was still early but already becoming uncomfortably sticky and hot, so we headed back to the campsite, put together some lunch, and walked down the hill to Lake Cheaha for a swim. We spent the better part of the afternoon relaxing, playing, and cooling off in what was obviously a popular local watering hole.

The girls found this little guy at the water's edge above De Soto falls.

It was only a short 2 Hour drive to Desoto State Park, so we arrived early enough to get situated in our campsite before lunch (after switching because our original assignment was going to be just too damn sunny). We spent the afternoon exploring the area. A recent lack of rain meant that most of the areas waterfalls were not running, but we found De Soto falls at least making an effort. We had planned on cooling off in the Park's pool, but looking down on the cascade pool at  Desoto falls, we decided to try to find a way down. Kat found an online post about the trail we were looking for and we set out to find it. The path seemed pretty clear, but after a while, we realized we were still way too high up on the ridge. Luckily we came across a group of girls from a local summer camp rappelling the rock faces. They showed us a spot where we could climb down and pick up a lower trail, which turned out to be the one we wanted to be on in the first place. 

By the time we reach the pool at De Soto Falls, we were all sweat drenched and ready to plunge in. There was, however, no clear way of plunging.

The lake bottom is a jumble of slick and angular rocks, so getting in required some careful creeping. Kinsey's first toe touch of a slimy rock sent her into a frantic little "Nope, nope, no, no, no, no..." episode while Zoe and I worked our way into the water and across to the waterfall. As we climbed out of the water on the opposite side, Kat was bullying Kinsey into it. (Note from Kat:  it was Kinsey who wanted to go because she wanted to swim to the waterfall like Daddy and Zoë. I got in first and it took a bit to get her to follow me) eventually they made it across, and in the end it was a nice swim and a great hike.

The two parks have one thing in common; they are both Alabama state parks, which means they received very little funding from the state. At Cheaha there were solicitations to support the park because they are "self funded", and at De Soto there are thanks for supporting the park by being a "partner". The difference was all about the community. Cheaha was in the middle of nowhere and felt that way. The lack of support from the local community means that the roads are in rough shape and everything seems a bit run down. There is a very dumpy looking cell tower with a loud generator built practically on top of the park's historic centerpiece, the CCC tower. It seems that when the decision to build it was made, and must've been a financial compromise.

Cheaha's CCC observation tower, with cell tower.

Desoto, on the other hand, is located within a couple hours drive of Huntsville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. It is surrounded by beautiful mountain homes and a few small towns. There is clearly more money in De Soto's local community than there is in Cheaha's. Scattered throughout the park are "Partners Pay the Way" posters explaining Alabama's park funding system and listing the local organizations and institutions that are contributors to the park. As a result of this local buy-in, the park is clean, quiet, and while there are things like a swimming pool and cable hook ups at all campsites, kept as natural as possible. The contrast in the two parks points out the flaw in Alabama's system. Cheaha is a pleasant and beautiful place, and if it had been properly funded, it might be a bigger draw and a more productive asset for a part of the state that could really use it. De Soto is a productive park for its community because of the local investment. Alabama's funding system seems to be more of a geographic lottery then a comprehensive system for protecting its natural and historic resources.

At De Soto's nature center, the girls hang out with "Muncho". (their name for him)

We had a lot of fun at both parks, and were pleasantly surprised by Alabama's beauty. Next we are headed to Nashville, Tennessee, Music City.