Happy Birthday Greg!

Before I do anything else, I want to wish my buddy Greg White happy birthday. Miss Terry read something that said more Americans were born on October 5th than any other day. I think they all just wanted to copycat Greg.

The big guy won’t tell me how old he is today, and I don’t think he’ll sit still while I saw him in half and count the rings, so I guess that I will just have to accept his story that he really is 30, one more time. You’re so much more than a friend Greg, and I love you like a brother. Thanks for letting us share your day.

Yesterday morning we left the fairgrounds in Celina about 10 a.m. and drove east to Interstate 75, which we took north about 25 miles to U.S. Highway 30, which we followed east about 100 miles to just past Mansfield. The road was a good divided four lane highway and traffic was light, so we rolled right along. Then we got onto State Route 60, which was a two lane road that wound through some beautiful farmland, and eventually to the little town of Loudonville, where they are having a street fair this weekend. We’ll have to go back and check that out.

South of Loudonville the road started climbing up some hills, and I told Miss Terry that I would not want to drive through here in the wintertime. Fortunately for us, we’ll be far away before the first snowflakes fall. But that won’t be for a while now, and meantime, the leaves are beginning to turn colors, and it was a beautiful day for a drive. 

We got off the state highway and onto an even narrower county road that had me wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. The road followed the Mohican State Scenic River, and we passed several small campgrounds and canoe livery companies.

160 miles after we left Celina, we pulled into Smith’s Campground & Cabins, a super friendly, family owned campground located right on the bank of the river. Owners George and Amy Smith have been following my blog for a couple of years now, and last year they invited us to come by for a visit. We couldn’t make it then, but decided that it would be a good place to hang out for a few days and decompress from all of the rally activity last week. Amy met us when we pulled in, and immediately made all four of us feel welcome. After introductions all around, son-in-law Scott, who helps run the operation with wife Kim, helped us get parked.

I don’t think we’ve ever had a prettier campsite. We are parked right on the river bank, with a beautiful view out our window. Greg and Jan are parked next to us.

Here is the view out our side windows.

And this is the view upriver and downriver.

Soon after we got settled in, these canoes came past. If we weren’t so worn out from the rally, I think I would have dragged our Sea Eagle kayaks out of the back of the Explorer and gone for a paddle! It is supposed to be 80 degrees by the weekend, and once we catch our breath, we just might get our boats wet!

About 5 p.m. we went up to George and Amy’s house, where Amy had prepared a delicious dinner for us. There was roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, green beans, and four different kinds of pies! Yummy! What a reception! I just may stay here until that first snowflake falls after all! 🙂 Thanks George and Amy for making us feel so welcome!

Thought For The Day – Remember, half the people you know are below average.

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