Our Vacation!

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Hocking Hills!
We had a fantastic time hiking and sightseeing.
Rock House was Aimee's favorite. It felt great being in a cool cave on a warm summer day!
We went to get pictures of the waterfalls the day after it rained and
it was well worth the extra trip!

We stayed at a fun family campground just up the road from all of the state park attractions. It was great- we were close to all of the hiking, kayaking, etc. but also close to town (and the ever-present Super Walmart!)

On Thursday we drove up past Columbus and went to the Olentangy Indian Caverns. It was pretty corny and not one I'd recommend going to unless you want to waste time and gas! The caverns themselves have been commercialized and basically wrecked by all the human traffic. It was kinda sad and depressing, especially since we've visited other caves that have been wonderfully preserved and cared for. We were happy to leave the Columbus area and drive down to Hocking Hills.

We got to the campground and got checked into our little cabin (wish I had some pictures! It was sooo cute!) and then headed out to hike some of the trails right away. We saw Old Man's Cave, Rock House and some other features. That evening we enjoyed the campground pool and gameroom and then just relaxed. David was more than happy to get a campfire going so we could have some smores!

On Friday we took an 8 mile kayak trip down the Hocking River. Definitely well worth it!! It's even got David wanting to go kayaking again! We timed this perfectly because it rained later on and by that evening the river was a muddy mess! The kayaking took about 2.5 hours. We went for ice-cream afterwards and then back to the cabin for a short nap. Then it was off again to do some more exploring! We were able to see more of the state park areas before it started to rain, which was great!

I thought it was neat that the campground we stayed at had a "teen night" at their pool on Friday night. All the teens were invited to have pizza and have the pool to themselves from 9-10 pm! Since our cabin was right across from the pool we could see how much fun they were having!

Saturday it was time to head home, after re-visiting a couple of the waterfalls! We stopped at the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway for a 2 hour train ride. It was .... interesting. It was fun being on the train but their "re-created frontier town" on the college campus was kinda lame. It could be that we were completely spoiled by living in Williamsburg, VA where historical stuff is re-created in a fabulous way! But it was a fun change to be able to sit and enjoy the scenery without having to do the driving!

We took the "scenic" route home and finally arrived around 6pm, which gave us plenty of time to unpack and unwind a little.

I don't know which part of the trip I loved the most- being "away from it all" (including no tv for days!!) or kayaking (LOVE it!!) or the hiking and seeing so much beautiful nature (always a fave of mine!) Aimee said that this is the best vacation ever... even better than seeing Niagara Falls! I'd have to agree. I can't wait to go back again!