An Onslaught of Flowers & Greenery

A breath of spring, if not tropical summer air, from Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, OH. I have lots of pictures I want to post - this is why you get six at once right here :)

Not sure what the poofball trees were really called.

A type of fern that hugs tree trunks.

A colorful cactus.

From the orchid house.

A view back through the desert house.

"Regular" flowers :)

It's Skyline Time

When we come to Dayton, we usually make it a point to have a meal at a Skyline Chili restaurant. The chili is seasoned with cinnamon & cocoa, among other things, and you get it on top of spaghetti. I thought I'd hate it, but its delicious!

This trip, Justin took his Mom and I to the oldest Skyline franchise that's still in business. Its in the Clifton neighborhood near the University of Cincinnati. I always get the same thing: two cheese coneys and a Greek salad ... Mmmmmm!

Next post I'll show you some photos from the other place we visited while we were in Cincinnati ...

Vintage Wallpaper and a Fond Farewell

I hope all had a nice, safe time this last Thanksgiving week. We are doing fine, although of course the deer is not. While the car had a great run (its 18 years old!), this straw has broken the camel's back, and it will be traded in this weekend for a new model. It's not even my car, but its really grown on me. I'm going to miss it!

In other news, I had one of those "So THAT's what that button does" moments, and figured out how to make collages with Picasa :)

We went to the Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP while we were visiting Justin's parents. I was very impressed with the Visitor's Center located next to the Wright Brothers' Cycle Shop. The exhibits were interactive and really attention-getting. You could push a button to make an engine run, and a life-sized propeller spin. Plus there was a recreation of a corner grocery store, with mannequins that talked to you. The upstairs was done up as rooms of a house, and each room had ornate wallpaper in what I assume are vintage patterns. Even the ceilings were papered. Needless to say, I was fascinated.

Hocking Hills

Since it was a rainy weekend, and we are getting our stuff together to head to Ohio for turkey time, I though I'd post two pictures from a rainy day in Ohio. These were taken in Hocking Hills State Park, back in the summer of 2006. It was just barely raining, and very misty.

We'll be going to the opposite side of Ohio this coming week, but we'll make it back to Hocking Hills sooner or later. Before I started dating an Ohio boy, I never really pictured scenes like this when I thought of "Ohio." I thought it was all flat as a board.

In fact, I've learned all kinds of interesting stuff about Ohio in the past few years. If you're interested in Native American mound building, use the label "OH" on the right to get to a long-ago post with a picture of the Serpent Mound. It's at the very bottom, after some posts on flowers, barns, and covered bridges.

Quilt Barns

In an effort to get visitors out into the countryside, some areas have decorated barns. This is one of many "quilt" barns near Athens, Ohio. I like the contrast between the crisp paint on the quilt square and the worn, but still bright, paint on the much older barn.

April 10: Sessile Trillium

Another set of snowy flowers from Glen Helen. I'm a little unsure of the identification here. Its definitely a trillium, but it might not be a sessile trillium. I'm also not sure why I really like to know what things are called :)

April 9: Dutchman's Breeches

I think the Easter snows caught everyone by surprise, even the wildflowers. As I was in Ohio this weekend, we took the opportunity to explore Glen Helen. Glen Helen is a park/preserve owned by Antioch College in Yellow Springs. Justin had told me about it quite a while ago, because his Mother took him there often when he was little and he has fond memories. However, about two months ago, Outdoor Photographer ran a one-page feature on Glen Helen. It was a certain pro photographer's "secret spot" where good photo opportunities could always be found. That certainly piqued my interest!

As you'll see on my posts today and tomorrow, the snowfall created an "enchanted forest" effect. The flowers get their name because the blooms look like pants, or breeches, hanging upside down from a clothesline.

Historic Ohio

We left Marietta, PA, on Thursday night and spent the next night in Marietta, OH. Ohio has created a byway through a nearby area with four covered bridges and some other "old-timey" structures. I felt at home here, because this covered bridge is called Hill's Bridge.




We have plenty of these in PA. I recently read an article about a man who painted Mail Pouch Barns for most of his life. He could paint two barns per day and centered and placed the letters by eye.

These artifacts are not (anywhere near) as old as the mound, but they are just as interesting. We had an excellent time tracking down these stops on the tour with the last light of day.


Usually bright paint jobs look terrible, but this one was pretty neat looking!

This bridge is the oldest and shows its age. It was sadly covered in graffiti on the inside. The marks do not hurt the structure, but they ruin its atmosphere. Another bridge on the tour has been swept off its supports two times during floods and rebuilt at great expense. Its a beloved community landmark, only a few miles down the road from this lesser-loved bridge. I don't know what makes the difference.

Ancient Ohio

Here's a picture from my New Year's travels. The Serpent Mound is in southeastern Ohio, near Hillsboro. From head to tail, its about 1/4 mile long and two feet high. In this part of Ohio, ancient native americans built many mounds, but few represent animals. This is the largest "effigy mound" in the world. No one is really sure when or why it was built. There are no burials in the mound. The picture shows the tail at left and the head just over the hill in the distance.