Ohio Long Weekend

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=50 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="043085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Lone Mt Homestead</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lone Mt Homestead"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lone Mt Homestead"><U><B><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><A HREF="id280.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" New Mexico Trip 26"><U><B><IMG SRC="02f0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id310.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ohio Page 2"><U><B><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04507073.jpg"> <div> <I>Ohio Long Weekend</I></div> <div> <I><B>For the past three years, we have maintained a tradition of travelling somewhere for the Canadian Thanksgiving Long Weekend.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Our first venture (2006) was to Bryan State Park in Ohio, where we camped for two days and nights, enjoying warm weather and</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>some great hiking.  This was the debut of our SUV tent, a large tent that attaches to the Touareg and giving us plenty of room.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>In 2007 we really went out on a limb, flying to Denver and spending an incredible October weekend in the Colorado Rockies.  We</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>were tempted to do this again, but restrained ourselves, returning to Ohio instead.  This time we went to </B></I><A HREF="http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/tabid/737/Default.aspx" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/tabid/7"><U><I><B>Grand Lake St Marys</B></I></U></A><I><B>, Ohio's</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>largest inland lake.  Built in the 1800s to hold water for the Miami and Erie Canal, it stands today as a major recreational resource.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>We camped for two nights, managing a total of 6 miles of hiking on Sunday, and much less on Saturday.  We also took three scenic </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>loop drives, including one around the enormous lake.   Cities and towns visited include New Bremen, St. Marys and Celina.  Here are </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>ten photos from our weekend adventure.</B></I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1206756e0.jpg" border=0 width="885" height="622" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Campsite #211 turned out to be a beautiful spot at Grand lake St Marys State Park.  It is in a tent-only area, and we only had one other camper near us.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="12072c5e0.jpg" border=0 width="812" height="606" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The State Park Service operates a number of sites around the lake, from campsites to picnic grounds.  Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1208756e0.jpg" border=0 width="885" height="622" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Windy Point, Grand Lake St Marys, Ohio.  This walkway extends 1/3 of a mile out into the lake, and may have been developed</div> <div> when oil was discovered in the waters in the late 1800s.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="12093e6e0.jpg" border=0 width="830" height="622" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A strange mix of architecture can be seen on a downtown block in Celina, Ohio.  There were beautiful lakefront parks, too.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="120b034b0.jpg" border=0 width="771" height="587" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Moonlight and campfire, Grand Lake St Marys State Park.  We enjoyed very warm temperatures, and a moon that </div> <div> was nearly full.  It was so warm that we only had a small fire on one of the nights.  <A HREF="id310.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ohio Page 2"><U><I><B>NEXT PAGE</B></I></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>