11 July 2010 Lights... Camera... Action


Northeast Ohio movie locations


"You'll shoot your eye out kid."


Yes it is the home of Ralphie and his family from A Christmas Story. The home is now open for tours and had fans even on a warm summer day.





I could almost hear Darren McGavin saying "Fra-Gee-Lay" while lovingly viewing his contest prize.





Lemko Hall was the scene of the wedding reception in the movie The Deer Hunter.





The beautiful St Theodosius Cathedral was the location for the wedding scene in the Deer Hunter.

10 July 2010 Cain Park Arts Festival and Wendy Park

9 July 2010 Here and There


We were out for a walk this evening and took the trail which ends at the edge of this very large wetlands. We've often walked the trail on the other side, but this was our first visit here. We both like the idea of a multicache on either side with the name Here and There. The cache and the name will need to wait until 2011 since we already have a cache in a different area of this park.

6 July 2010 Out Biking


Since Ali was able to take off, I used a vacation day. We enjoyed a very peaceful bike ride.

5 July 2010 Visiting Ellicottville







Nannen Arboretum






After walking around Ellicottville, we drove over find the last stage of the multi we were hunting a few weeks earlier when the rains came.

4 July 2010 Along the NCT






Monarda was lining the stream today.









In the morning a set of new caches were placed along the NCT. We had outdoor work so the caches had to wait until late afternoon. We were happy but not surprised to find clean logs on the three we found. Our journey for the trio was about six miles.

3 July 2010 Bent Run Falls and Morrison





We hiked Bent Run with the dogs to find a few of the new high-terrain caches in the area. The falls sounded great, but the lack of rain this summer has reduced the flow to a minimum.





The mountain laurel was well past its prime, but I was glad to be able to see a few blossoms this year. Timing's everything.





The cross country trail at Morrison doesn't see a lot of visitors, but it does stretch all the way back to the Rimrock area. It's pleasant and quiet. I know the mass of ferns is a sign of too much deer browsing, but I still love the smell of these stretches of woods in mid-summer.

2 July 2010 Caching Near Home


This old bridge has been home to two geocaches and has its own historical marker. I guess when you are almost 130 years old and look this good, you should have a marker. The bridge also offers a nice view of the Chagrin River. There used to be a large nursery on the other side of the bridge. When the nursery's owners retired, the local land conservancy was able to acquire the land and turn it over to Lake Metroparks. Now it serves as shoreline access mainly for fishing.

29 June 2010 Fort Wayne


Sometimes it isn't easy to locate a big park when you are visiting a town. I found a nice nature preserve at the back of baseball fields.





This very large climbing tower in the middle of a nature preserve in Fort Wayne.

28 June 2010 Columbia City

27 June 2010 Strange Sky


Old Stannard Quarry Chapin Forest (intermittent from 1836 - 1910)





Drill marks from quarry operations in the Berea Sandstone




I had spent the day on yard work before we took a walk at Chapin Forest to get the last coordinates for a new multi we are hiding. When we got home, we were preparing dinner when Ali glanced out the window and commented on the strange sky. Strange indeed...





The images were about four minutes apart.

26 June 2010 Medina County Parks


We used to cache often with our friend Kathy. With Ali working for a good part of this year and me traveling much of the last two years, those fun days in the woods together have become quite infrequent. Today, everything worked out. Medina has a 12 cache County Park challenge with a final challenge cache available once the other twelve are completed. It was a perfect day to visit some amazing parks and spend a day.

25 June 2010 Chapin Forest


Chapin Forest is an old State of Ohio Forest. It was transferred to Lake Metroparks before we moved to the area. It used to be a favorite spot for me. I would come here to run Murray and Becky through the hilly area. Afterwards we would go to a nearby farm market where I would get a donut and Cherries and Cream Soda. The farm market was torn down years ago.

24 June 2010 Sunnywood Lake