21 January 2018 A Foggy Afternoon at Observatory Park

Ali was with family so I decided to visit Observatory Park for a walk. The trails were foggy and empty.

I don't understand why Geauga Parks thinks snowmobiles are an acceptable use for a park system with sensitive wildlife areas. Happily the vehicles were not out on this cold day.

I was able to enjoy the sounds of the birds wintering over at the park as I walked the trails.

17 January 2018 Seeds

There is something exhilarating about the first sighting of seeds on sale after the start of the year. It happens when the days are short and usually cold. The seeds give the hope that spring will eventually arrive.

Of course, I purchased some of my favorites. Now where was that warmer weather.

14 January 2018 Concord Woods

It was even colder today than the day prior, but we stopped at Concord Woods for a walk around this tiny county park. At 31 acres of flat trails it isn't a challenging walk, but the park's large pond offers opportunity for wildlife viewing in season. Today, we settled for blue skies and a multicache.

13 January 2018 Not Quite Reaching Pennsylvania

We were headed to PA for the weekend, and I was driving. The roads were snowy and slippery. I drive a lot for work and can drive in the snow. I would much rather not do it for pleasure. Eventually we turned back and headed home. We made a stop at Lake Metropark's Liberty Hollow to enjoy a walk and let the dogs spend some time on the trail.

We had to brush the snow from the park's information sign to find information to locate the actual cache. The trail was deep snow. Hunting for a cache in the deep snow was slow and cold. We eventually made the find.

Big Creek was mostly open water, but the shores still held very large ice chunks thrown onto land by the force of the water.

6 January 2018 Caching The Wilderness Center

It was cold, but we wanted a long walk in the woods. We knew The Wilderness Center caches would soon be archived for their annual winter geocaching event so we decided to make our visit there. The woods were empty for the afternoon so it was our caching park.

A number of the hides were visible even with the snow. That was a big help on a day where it hurt to remove gloves if only long enough to sign the log book.

This old nest sat covered in snow near the trail.

It wasn't the longest day on the trail, but it was great to be out. When we left the trail and stopped for hot chocolate, the dashboard temp was 10 degrees.

30 December 2017 Cold, Snow, and Wind

It was a cold day and we were indoors for most of the day. We finally decided to take a walk in the late afternoon. The dogs were eager to join us so they came along. Most of the snow had ended for the day on the snowiest day of this month, but by the time we made our late afternoon adventure, the temperature had dropped to 14F and the wind was gusting in the mid 30mph range. It was a very tough walk, but mercifully short.

We were treated to an interesting winter sunset as we neared the parking area.

29 December 2017 Bedford Metroparks

It had been some time since we visited the Alexander Road trail through the Bedford Reservation. We started high in the parking on Alexander and dropped into the ravine leading to Tinkers Creek.

Most of the creek was at least lightly frozen, but there were open patches near the point we crossed.

Looking back from the top, I wasn't sure this was the best trail out of the ravine. It was very steep and slippery.

Deer are a pleasant site when they are actually in the woods. This group was at the edge of the woods line before our walk turned back towards the woods.

We eventually reached the frozen waterfall. It doesn't get many visitors, but is a very nice view.

View at the top of the frozen falls

We spotted a number of bluebirds on our way back to parking.

Our return home included a stop at a favorite holiday location.

28 December 2017 Orchard Hills

Ready for the sap to run...

Winter would be okay if it weren't cold. ;)

24 December 2017 Christmas Eve at the Zoo

We visit Cleveland zoo every year on Christmas Eve. Cleveland weather always makes the day a different adventure. Last year was the warmest ever for one of our visits. This year, was more normal and cold. We had fun and enjoyed a peaceful day together.

This was the first visit where the bats where almost all bats were sleeping. They are usually quite active. The reptiles in the same building aren't exactly "active", but they did appear to be awake.

There were five young otters in perpetual motion running around and splashing in the water. They were so active it took a brief rest moment to catch one in focus.

Maybe Santa has gone green with a new electric sleigh. These reindeer did not look ready to pull anything.

We stopped in the koala building twice. It was a great place to warm up. On our first stop, the koala was napping. It was active in a tree on our return.

These are smew.

There is a new multi-cache in the zoo. We spent more time looking for it than we probably should have. In the end, we didn't make the find, and the cache became a focal point of our day. Since we at least solved all the stages and have the final coordinates for the final, we'll stop by for the find next Christmas Eve.

23 December 2017 Chapin Forest

We were both getting cabin fever with a quiet afternoon around the house. I had solved a puzzle with a final in the nearby Chapin Forest so it seemed a good reason to go for a walk. A walk in the quiet woods of Chapin was a perfect cure for cabin fever.

20 December 2017 Downtown Visit

Some of my staff had been in town for the week for a meeting. We adjourned the meeting with travelers heading home. My engineer from Mexico had a later return flight home so after lunch I offered to drive him to the airport with a stop to see downtown Cleveland. Eduardo is my tour guide in the mountains surrounding Mexico. I couldn't offer him the same great adventures in northeast Ohio so I offered a view of Lake Erie and the skyline.

Although northeast Ohio's 3.5 million population isn't that much smaller than Monterrey's 4.5 million, Cleveland's skyline is relatively low. Part of that goes back decades when the city staunchly defended the Terminal Tower as the designated tallest building in the area. I remember when 200 Public Square, formerly the Sohio Building, was planned in 1982, the building was designed to be taller than the tower until the city of Cleveland stepped in and said no. Eventually the Key Bank Building eclipsed Terminal Tower with construction that began in 1998. Between protecting the status of the terminal tower and the area sprawling away from the center, Cleveland has a much smaller feeling than the heavily built, cosmopolitan urban center of the mountain-ringed Monterrey. Eduardo still seemed to enjoy his visit.

We also made it to the airport in time for his flight. ;)