Some of Our Favorite, and Least Favorite Experiences in October

 Hey Y'all!

We were fortunate to do/see a lot of different places this past month. We traveled from NE Ohio, through OH and KY, where we spent a day in Corbin, and then onto NE Tennessee, we took a few days in Bristol, VA, and spent a week in the great outdoors at the quiet, serene Mammoth Ridge near Greeneville. In-between trips in TN we stayed at my mom's and did the whole doctors appointments and scans thing, again.

PLACE-

While in Ohio we really had a blast, and there's so much to share there it'll be a couple of videos, very soon. Our favorites were the haunted attractions, and getting to cross another National Park off our list with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Brandywine Falls

History runs deep in the valley, with over 12,000 years of human occupation. From the unwritten stories of pre-contact peoples to the environmental disasters and comebacks of modern times, humans have left an impact on the valley. Here along the Cuyahoga River, humans have used, shaped, and been shaped by the landscape. Culture and nature interplay here, with each having its impact on the other.

The story of Cuyahoga Valley National Park's establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage.

This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 1900s. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to be culturally vibrant, less polluted, a better home for wildlife, and a model for sustainable living.

We will definitely be returning to explore more of this park, and the surrounding areas, as well as take the TWO HOUR train ride! The areas of the park we explored were stunning, especially with the leaves just beginning to change. 

EXPERIENCE-

The Haunted House Restaurant, an absolute blast.

More pictures, and details can be found in this Outland Adventures blog!

THING-

Our new dresser, cabinet, counter space. 

It doesn't look exactly like this one, and we'll be doing a van updated tour in the near future, but it's very similar to this infant dresser I found online.

It's amazing how a larger piece can take up less room overall. This definitely feels more "home" and finished than the plastic drawer system. 

PERSON-

Y'all I know it wasn't part of this blog, but look at her. How could we not mention our great niece LPP!

 

Overall our October was pretty great, but we do have a few MEH experiences to share:

1) Replacing the belt...again. 

The new one, to bypass the smog delete, lasted less than a day (drive time). We then had to replace it with the old one, thankfully Chris thought to keep it. We had that most of the way back on, when we got kicked out of that parking lot, and had to remove it, put away the tools, limp it across the street, and get 'er done in a Lions Den parking lot. It only took about 30min from there, and thankfully it was a beautiful day. We're never in a rush, but it was annoying.

2) Sugar Hollow Park Campground Bristol, VA

This is a first come, first serve park. (No big deal, we've done that before- with Cowford Campground in AL.) So, I called- nicest lady ever on the phone, said only 3 spots were taken so we should not have any issue later in the day. 

We travel the 2ish hours out there, and get up to the campground and are blocked (via golf cart) by the ranger (?) on duty. No admittance, unless it's a factory built camper. Ok great, then the website should state that, it only says no tents. While we maneuvered to turn around, made more difficult by his incessant cart blocking, another van (Sprinter, not an RV version) went on up, and our assumption is they were let in- we never saw them come back down, and we were in the parks parking lot awhile trying to come up with a plan B. We eventually figured out a plan B, ended up staying in Bristol 2 days and actually spent a bit of time in this park. Their trails are very nice.

3) NORM Trolly Rides Seville, OH

This was in September, but it was bad enough it deserved mention. Also October was pretty great, so...

I felt especially bad that this sucked, because it was my idea. We got up & out early, had breakfast at a cute little diner in town, then drove out to the railyard. We paid our $5 each, and went ahead and boarded the train/trolly a few minutes early, all excited for this "20 minute train ride". As we waited on this gorgeous day, the car got totally full, and excitement grew as we left the "station". We chug a lugged about 1000 ft, and stopped. Ok, maybe they needed to switch the track, maybe there were technical difficulties... we weren't sure. The conductor said a few things, but being a car full of people, you couldn't really hear him. After about 5min we headed back- very confused. Once we got off the train we found someone to ask what was going on, and were told that was the train ride. My issues were that was no where near 20min, and they were advertising this event as such. They also were giving directions from Ohio's large cities to here. If we'd have traveled several hours for this I'd have cried, and I'm an adult. Maybe the museum inside a rail car was awesome, we didn't stick around to find out.

Have you ever gone some place and thought That was it?! Where was it? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife