9 September 2017 Baldwin Flats

Baldwin Flats' history goes back to a one-room schoolhouse built in 1835. About all that remains of Baldwin Flats is the crumbling, closed road that passed through the area. Nearby French Creek is prone to flooding and eventually spelled the end for the farms that used to be Baldwin Flats. We stopped by this afternoon to find the last of the caches hidden here and enjoy the late summer wildflowers.

5 September 2017 Bean Field

We made a last stop of the season to see the wildflowers in the bean field on our way home. Shorter, cooler days would soon shut down this season's blossoms.

4 September 2017 Lobelia and Turtlehead

We walked a nearby old railroad grade in the ANF. We were looking for lobelia and turtlehead. The bright colors of the lobelia were strong on the early section of the trail.

The trail is wide open for about half the walk. After that, it collapses to more of a foot path.

At the end of the trail we spotted a very pale lobelia. There were a few plants, but they were all confined to a very small area.

The wetter areas of the trail had a few turtlehead plants. The blossoms begin to wilt quickly, but the bees were busy gathering pollen.

3 September 2017 Staying Local

Since I was tired, we decided to stay local and enjoy a few walks in the area. We started our day at Chapman State Park. We were still trying to find the caches in the park before to dam repair began.

With fall still approaching, the colors of the day were green and yellow. Large stands of goldenrod were still blooming strongly.

The impending drawdown of the lake meant most of the small boats and kayaks had been pulled early.

Goldenrod was everywhere, but Ali spotted a stand of turtlehead in bloom on the far bank.

Bees were very busy at the goldenrod.

We finished our hike and headed to a trusted spring near Chapman to refill the water bottles.

Our next stop was a deli and ice cream store on the north side of town. The store was closed, but there were multiple caches placed here. I had no idea what to expect on the "trail", but we found a very peaceful walk along the Conewango with a few quiet swings waiting for customers.

And ducks!

We finished our day with a few caches in the Hatch series. The fields were filled with goldenrod.

The fields across from Lindell's Hatch Patch were still growing before the corn maze was designed.

2 September 2017 Visiting Pymatuning

One of our dog sitter's cats was napping in a rocker when we arrived to pick up Lizzie and Phineas.

With a visit to the fair, we were late to leave for Pennsylvania. There were caches at Pymatuning State Park on the Pennsylvania side so we stopped there for some walking and to let the dogs spend time on the trail.

When I was younger, I worked for a person who had a weekend home at Pymatuning. We visited there a few times for gatherings over holidays. The Lake and the houses were always busy with activities everywhere. Now it seems as though Lake Erie and a few state parks like Lake Milton are the only hot spots. I expect some of the cooling toward Pymatuning is a direct result of the lake's 20 horsepower limit, but I would gladly be relaxing on a quieter lake with less horsepower than watching the insanity of a place like Lake Milton. On this Saturday holiday weekend no boats could be seen anywhere on the lake.

September 2017 Geauga Fair

I usually take vacation the Friday before Labor Day weekend so we can attend the fair and be together for the day with friends, but nothing was usual this year. The president of my company arranged a visit to the site of my office for the week, and decided to be on site Friday. It was still okay. I would work the day and join everyone at the end of the work day... which ended about 6:30. By the time I reached the fair, there wasn't really much left to be there. I stopped for a bite to eat with Ali, and we headed off to join our friends. The horse pull was well along. I was exhausted from the week and well out of the evening. We stayed for a bit with the pulls and moved off to play skee-ball together before heading home.

Ali and I made a short return visit Saturday morning to smell the hay cuttings, visit the goats, and stop by the places we enjoy each year. We didn't have a lot of time, but I needed to get grounded back in a normal life after the year so far.

31 August 2017 LuLu's

I have traveled so frequently this summer there haven't been many chances to visit LuLu's. The stand still has a very tasty chocolate zucchini bread. On this visit the stand was also selling hardneck garlic. The hardneck varieties have a different range of flavors and seem to be better suited for roasting. I was happy to buy a few of these.

28 August 2017 Barn Find Caddy?

This 60 Coupe DeVille was parked in the same spot as a recent Ranchero at the office. From the back the Caddy looked clean.

1960 was about a year before the space program would heat up. Two years until the US launched Telstar into space. Fins and rocket ship dreams were an item of people's fancy. These fins were over the top and in your face.

Once I walked around to the side there were tires and rims coated in mud that looked as though it had been there for a while.

The interior seemed reasonably clean and appeared to say this Caddy had lived a relatively easy life.

The car has been away from its Pennsylvania home for a long time since it's last state inspection forty years ago. It now sports green and white Vermont plates.

It was when I reached the front it was apparent this old cruiser had a long way to return to glory. When a Caddy is new, parts are expensive. When the parts are scarce, each piece of the restoration is painfully costly.