And Now We Are in Ohio!

Fall is definitely in the air and it is also getting chillier.  After weeks of Indian Summer with daytime temperatures in the the high eighties and nineties, a cold front has come through with rain, wind and a definite drop in the temperature. We had been thinking about going up to Maine and then coming down the east coast to eventually winter in Florida.  Because of our detour for repairs, it is getting late in the year to head north without thinking about the possibility of snow...

My friend Cathi sent me a page and one-half note of lists of places to see and things to do in Maine (where she used to live) and New England.  I also had a list of some other places I wanted to see as well as visiting out friend Wayne in Waldoboro, Maine.  After we sat and talked about it for a while, we decided that we would wait until Spring to visit New England when we wouldn't have to sweat out bad weather. Then we would head back to Washington visiting North Dakota and Nebraska on the way.  We had been thinking about driving to Alaska next summer, but we have been there twice (by air) and that may not be a priority.

So, with that decision made, we headed south into Ohio today.  We stopped at a Welcome Center and chatted with the friendly fellow on duty.  When he found that we had never spent time in Ohio, he suggested we head towards Chillicothe (south of Columbus) and do some exploring in that area.

The country we drove through today was a little more open then where we had been in Indiana.  There are STILL lots of fields of soybeans and corn -- and corn and soybeans!

One thing I did notice -- the majority of the houses in Ohio are square!  They may have dormers like this one, or they may have a porch attached, but they are square.

This perfectly square building is a county courthouse we saw on the way --

We passed some Amish farms and furniture marts along the way and saw evidence of Amish buggies along the road.  The one buggy we saw had white stripes on the back instead of the orange "slow vehicle" triangle on the ones we saw in Indiana.

 It was NOT a nice day to be driving today.  The cold front that came through brought last night's rain, but also brought gusty winds all day! Highway 23 south is two-lane part of the way, so that meant for extra concentration as well.  We drove longer then we usually like to in order to get to Sun Valley Campground outside of Chilliclothe.  We got here about 6:30, just before dark.

No Clouds, No Wind Wanted!

It was a quieter day today, the wind was only breezy, but it was COLD! We can handle cold weather for the Mennonite Country Auction (http://www.mennonitecountryauction.mennonite.net/) but wind makes for a really miserable day. All of the booths AND the auction are held outdoors, so everyone is praying for good weather on Saturday. This is what we DON'T want:


I've been in a real battle with this hair of mine -- it is so fine that if I put conditioner on it, it makes a limp dishrag look peppy. Without conditioner, it tends to get lots of split ends...

I very seldom pick up magazines, but the other day when we were in town, I picked up a whole batch of them: Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, etc. They are worth, at the most, a half hour's worth of reading apiece -- and are of course, targeted to a much younger audience (Enjoy your 40s!; Still Sexy at 50!, etc.)


But this time, I learned something that seems to actually work. One of the articles on hair and make-up suggested that if conditioner was too much for your hair, but you still needed it, to put it on wet hair first, then wash your hair! By golly, I tried it this morning and I am impressed!
Guess I'm still not too old to learn a trick or two...
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Time in the Pool

It was a bit cooler today with STRANGE weather. It was sort of overcast, then clear skies, then lots of thunderheads around, then a short shower, then clear skies. Now it's sort of hazy and still overcast looking.

I spent most of the day reading, then went over to Diane's this afternoon to swim. My back is feeling much better (I can walk without the cane...), but I still took it easy. We just jogged in the water and treaded water, nothing very engergetic or aerobic.