A Waterfall at Cuyahoga National Park

One day we drove over to Cuyahoga National Park, which is not far from Cleveland.  The Cuyahoga River winds its way through green forests, rolling hills and farmlands. This whole area is so beautiful. On the drive there we pass lots of big homes with lots of property. Both here and in Michigan, we have driven these back roads with these nice well kept homes and yards, most without fencing, unlike Southern California where most homes have at least back fences.
We got to the visitor center with a large parking lot where many visitors start their hiking or biking on the Towpath Trail that goes through the historical area of the  Erie and Ohio Canals. We had though of walking part of the path. However, it is Sunday and there are big crowds. It looks like all bikers and doesn't look like the time to walk, especially as we have Savannah with us. We will have to remember to bring our bikes the next time we are in this area, which we would like to return to. We only got a little taste of the Park and the whole area. Anyway, we had seen a sign down the road for a trail to a waterfall and so that is where we head.

 We got our first look at the waterfall through the trees.  

There had been a saw mill at the top of the hill and some power building. There was still the remains of an electric company on the trail.

We walked along the gorge with views of the beautiful 65 foot waterfall on boardwalks and steps which lead down to a creek.

Note the colors on the rocks at the side of the waterfall.

We walked for awhile on another side trail.

There is also a train ride that you can take through the park. Another thing we would like to do another time.
We could have stayed longer but it is getting close to the Fourth of July and we need to make our way into New York. We have reservations for 4 days at another state park near Niagara Falls and then are going to be spending some time around the 4th in the Finger Lakes area. Originally we had only decided to stay near Cleveland because of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and at Maumee Lake because it was a good middle point between our last Michigan stop and the Cleveland area. We have enjoyed both Michigan and Ohio so much and would love to come back and explore some more. However, for now we continue east with our next stop, New York.

It's Only Rock and Roll and I like it

We had a great few weeks at Maumee Lake. One of the reasons we stayed that long other than the fact that we loved it was a bizarre problem Joe had getting some prescriptions filled. Two days before the end of May, he had gotten a text that his endocrinologist was retiring and to contact his primary doctor. He called his primary doctor and was told they would okay the refills. So about a week later he stopped at Walmart to get his prescription and called the doctor to let them know that Walmart would be coming. Well, it turned out his doctor had passed away in April. They had a doctor that was taking over but she quit within the last week. Yikes, now what to do. He ended up going to a local doctor and got them to okay them. However, he only could get one of them for three months. It is a very expensive one not covered by Medicare and he really wanted to get a generic one instead. He'll have to wait until he gets back to Jojoba and sees a new doctor for that. This all changes our plans some as we were originally not going to get back to Calif until late October or even November but will not need to be back sometime in September. We are still going to go as far as Maine but won't go down as far as Florida as originally planned. No problem, we are flexible.
Anyway we left Maumee Lake SP and made a few nights stop at West
Branch SP southeast of Cleveland. It was a nice park but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. We just spent our one full day there going to Trader Joe's and checking out another park a little closer to Cleveland, which turned out to be our next stop.

Punderson State Park is a large state park with a large natural lake, a manor house and cottages, a golf course as well as a camping area. Another great Ohio State Park. We got there for the weekend and it never got really full, at least in our section.
Saturday we went to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and, Museum, which was the main reason we wanted to stay in this area. It is right in the downtown are on Lake Erie.

Downtown Cleveland

Harbor Area

Of course being the weekend it was mobbed. The Rock and Roll foundation started 25 years ago to celebrate the music and musicians that changed the world. A few years later the building that would house the Museum was built. The architect for the amazing looking building was the renowned I. M. Pei.
The museum has many galleries showcasing the different periods of time in the evolution of rock and roll from the early days of Elvis, to Motown, Beatles and Rolling Stones,  LA Rock in the 6o's , NY in the Punk Rock Days on up to Hip Hop.All those musicians who were honored as Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inductees are showcased.

Guitars everywhere, including Black Sabbath, the Doors, Bruce Springstein, Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Soundgarden and more.

Rage Against the Machine Van

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Lots of on stage outfits, such as
Jay Z, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Nicks, Beatles Sgt Pepper outfit, Sly of Sly and the Family Stone and one from the Rolling Stones.

We also watched a film that showed the origins of Rock and Roll which was mostly the blues from the south. Another interesting time which brought back many memories, especially all the rock concerts we attended over the years. We still love rock and roll, oldies as well as current rock music. Hail,Hail,Rock and Roll!!!

Great Lakes Museum and Stars in the Trees

We had read about a new museum in Toledo and decided to check it out. First we stopped for lunch at Tony Packo's Cafe. It is famous for its Hungarian hot dogs. . It got its claim to fame when Toledo's Jamie Farr mentioned it a number of times on the TV series Mash. There are signed hot dog buns signed by movie stars and even US Presidents. Joe really loves hot dogs and so had the Hungarian dogs. I, not being a big hot dog fan, had chicken paprikash.

 We drove over this interesting bridge on the way to Toledo.

The Great Lakes Museum  just opened in April and tells the stories of the largest system of fresh water in the world. The Great Lakes contain 84 percent of all surface fresh water in North America and 21 percent of the world's fresh water. Pretty amazing.
There are many interesting exhibits in five galleries recounting the historical role this global resource has played in our country's development.

We were surprised at how many shipwrecks there have been in the Great Lakes. You don't automatically think of them in lakes, but these are not ordinary lakes like others in the country. There were many tales of liighthouses, wrecks, such as the Edmund Fitzgerald and survival tales.

Interesting information on the part these lakes played during the war.

Fresnel Lens

Barnacle Compass

Part of the tour included going aboard the SS Col James M. Schoonmaker which was moved from its berth near the Anthony Wayne Bridge. The ship, once the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, was built in 1911 and was used as a commercial freighter for most of the 20th century.

I took a picture of the ship from  the parking lot trying to get it all in as it is so long. Got most of it. I should have done a panorama pic.

At home we had another nice sunset.

One evening Joe was outside and called me to come out and see something. WOW, I think this was something on my bucket list since I was little though I hadn't thought about it in years. Since I was little I heard and read about fireflies and how kids use to catch them and put them in jars. Being from So. Cal I had never experienced seeing them. It is a real light show with the small fire flies looking like twinkling stars but in the trees not the sky. What a sight..

We have been taking more bike rides and just enjoying the sun when it is out and not raining. On the first Saturday we were there they had fireworks.  We were going to go with a fellow escapee member I met when she came by and saw our Escapee sticker. We both thought the other looked familiar, both of us had been at the Escapade. Anyway she and her husband came by sometime before 9 but I had forgotten the Stanley Cup Finals were on and so we told them we might see them there. The Fireworks start at 10 and the game should have been over around then. But,no regulation ended in a tie. Fortunately the 20 minutes before the overtime was right around when the Fireworks started and we actually could see them from our site. Very cool.  Watched them and then watched not one but two overtime periods with the Kings winning. Of course they went on to win the Stanley Cup on Wednesday. Go Southern Calif Team, 3 cups since 2007 when our Ducks won their cup(before the Kings won one)and the Kings winning in 2012 and 2014()We'll hear about that when the Ducks play our cross town rivals . Congrats to the Kings.  Enjoy your summer with the cups but get ready to give it up to the Ducks next season. Go Ducks.

 Wednesday we are headed a little east to another Ohio State Park near Cleveland. Stay tuned.