Day 2 - Cuyahoga Valley National Park

I played the role of Drill Sargent this morning and told everyone that we needed to be up and out of the campground by 8:00. It may the first real day of vacation, but we have places to go! I wanted us to get some hiking in before it got too hot. It was pretty humid anyway, but we had cloud cover, so it was tolerable.

We started our visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park at the Boston Store Visitor Center. It was the only one that opened at 8:00 so that we could pick up our materials to complete the Jr. Ranger program and some maps of the hiking trails. We decided to start out slow and take a nice, easy jaunt to Blue Hen Falls.

Everyone looks so excited and ready to go!

Along the way, we got the hint that this summer might not be the best time to visit waterfalls, as the stream beds are nearly dry, but that didn't deter us :-) It also didn't stop us from scrabbling down to explore a little.
 

The grandparents decided to observe from above.

 
When we got to the falls, it was pretty, but less than spectacular with the low flow of water.
 

Blue Hen Falls

On a ranger's advice, we ignored the "End of Trail" sign and pushed on in search of the elusive Buttermilk Falls. Well, either we're really bad at staying on trail, or the falls have just plain dried up, but we never found them. It was a really nice hike, though, and served well for breaking in the Grandma's for some more challenging hikes. I was very proud of all of us - everyone crossed streams and climbed hills without complaint. These are the kinds of trails that I like - the varied terrain keeps everyone interested. The kids tend to get bored if the path is too straight and flat. I hope that we all enjoyed it, but we were definitely warm by the time we got back to the trucks.

We decided to take a few minutes to cool off in the air conditioned vehicles and drive up to the northern part of the park to the Frazee House. It is one of the oldest houses in the area and a visit was part of Gavin's Jr. Ranger requirements. Of course, when we got there, the house was closed for repairs. Oh well, it gave us a rest and the Grandma's a chance to make a pit-stop at a semi-clean latrine (others in the park were questionable.)

Not to be discouraged by the first two sets of waterfalls, we headed to the trailhead for Brandywine Falls. This was a short jaunt down a boardwalk with many sets of stairs to upper and lower viewing platforms. We checked them both out. It was very, very pretty. I would love to come back when the water is really moving.

Brandywine Falls

We decided to fit in one more trek on the Towpath Trail that runs the length of the park. We headed down the path to the Beaver Marsh so that Gabriella could finish her requirements for the Jr. Ranger Junior program (Dept. of the Redundancy Dept. anyone?) and it turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the day. After heading a bit down the trail where Grandpa and Gabriella enjoyed the wild blackberries, we came to a large boardwalk over the marsh. Gavin especially enjoyed watching all of the fish swimming below us, including a very active school of carp. We saw snapping turtles, wood ducks, great blue herons, and many other birds. We never did see a beaver, but did see some tracks heading toward what we guessed was their lodge. We could have stayed a lot longer, but needed to get back and free Bernie from the camper.

photo by Gavin

While Gavin and I stayed in the truck to finish up his Jr. Ranger booklet, everyone else visited a farmer's market to pick up sweet corn for dinner along with a bunch of other fresh fruit and veggies. Our last stop was at another Visitor's Center so that the kids could turn in their Ranger materials and be sworn in as official Jr. Rangers. They are very proud of their badges! Gavin had grumbled a bit along the way about having to complete all of the activities (Mom, I'm too hot to think!) but in the end he decided he wants to try and earn ALL of the Jr. Ranger badges around the country. I think I need to plan some more trips!

Then, it was back to the campground for some downtime. Gavin went to Walmart with Grandpa and Grandma P. and came home with some new Legos for him and his sister. Then, we had a nice steak dinner, enjoyed some much-needed showers, then went to bed to get ready to hit the road again tomorrow!