Amazing Ohio Trip: Day 4, April 27, 2013: Cuyahoga National Park & Amish Country

 My parents were really excited to take us to Cuyahoga National Park.  It is located only about 15 minutes from where my parents served the first 9 months of their mission, so they were able to take advantage of it.  They had told me about it- but until we got on the freeway and this park was so big, you actually drive through several miles of it on the freeway; I didn't understand the scale and beauty of this place until I'd experienced it for myself.

Man, it was such a treat to get to experience what my parents are doing on their mission; where they are, who they serve with and what they get to see everyday.  What a wonderful, delicious, savory treat.

 It was also wonderful to have my parents show us around.  They'd been to the park numerous times and showed us the heron nesting grounds, and then took us to a trail that shows the canal locks and leads all the way to the quarry.  I still can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that they took these stones out of a mountain. That seems like such a monumental task, especially for a hundred and fifty years ago.

Noah had wanted to stay longer at the hotel we'd stayed the night before- he was bummed he didn't get to explore it, or go swimming again, but I asked him if he would please trust me, that we were going somewhere I really thought he'd like.  He grumbled quite a bit, but once we were there, he was in heaven. That made me so happy.  It was a thrill to watch the children exploring- we saw a woodpecker and there were a huge variety of wildlife very different from what we are used to.

When I looked at this picture, I was a little surprised that I was giving Gabe bunny ears.  I wondered what possessed me; was I in a goofy mood?
But as I studied the picture closer, I realized my hand is on Gabe's waist, and Noah is the one giving Gabe the ears.  Phew.  I thought I was going crazy or something, since that's not really something I would do- maybe to Noah, but not to Gabe, at this point.

  We don't see moss very much in our dry state, so it looked so cool to see it covering these huge stones.

 Apparently it's soft enough to lie down on.

 This was just a beautiful walk and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

 Here's the quarry- isn't that incredible!  Noah and Grandpa immediately went up on top and then Gabe wanted to follow, but it was too steep for him to climb alone, so I went up with him and he loved being on top.  It was so cool!

 We all would have been happy to stay there longer except that it was getting warm and we were thirsty and hungry.

So we headed back to the car, filled up on ice cold water and snacks and took the drive down to Amish Country.  It was, hands down, one of the most relaxing and beautiful areas I have ever seen.  Rolling verdant green hills, trees that looked as if they had been touched by fall- yellows, reds and oranges.  Blue skies and quaint farmhouses.  Buggies driving by.  It was as though I had stepped back in time and all my modern day worries were washed completely away.  I am definitely coming back someday for a getaway with Brad, it is that awesome.

We stopped at what was advertised as an Amish buffet. It's not owned by Amish, but there were a few that worked there.  The food was homestyle farm cooking; fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and rolls, Jell-O, that kind of thing.  I suppose that after working all day long on a farm, that kind of fare is very filling.

 We stopped at the Swiss Market. Oh man, I wish that market was in my city; bulk foods in so many varieties.  Oh all that healthy food! Man, I wished I could have taken a bunch home, but mostly we just took the unhealthy food home- they have the best cinnamon honey graham pretzels that are addicting, and I bought some chocolates to bring home to Brad and some for myself, of course.

We stopped at a cheese factory about 10 minutes after it closed.  I had been excited to try an array of cheeses, but I realized the next day that Ian and Serena (who had been in Ohio the week before) had bought some cheeses from the same factory and left them at my parents, so I still got a sampling of pizza cheese, green onion cheese and olive cheese.  Surprisingly, the pizza and green onion cheeses were just delicious.  So I still got my cheese tasting, even though the chees factory was closed.

 It took about thirty minutes or more to drive through Amish country.  I felt myself relaxing with the beautiful scenery.  How can I even describe it?  It truly was as though I had stepped back in time.  The Amish people we saw walking were friendly and would wave, especially if we waved first.  I am absolutely fascinated by them.  I have a lot of admiration for those who love God and are trying so hard to do what they feel is His will for them. 

It took awhile before we actually saw some buggies, but once we started seeing them, we saw A LOT!!  I was pleasantly surprised that the children really enjoyed the drive (I have to admit they were very patient with all the long car rides we took- it must have been about 12- 15 hours of driving for the week, and they were quite good.) They loved seeing the Amish people and their buggies.  Amalie kept count and I think she said it was forty-three.  So that was cool.  We'd see signs that would say, "Yoder's Buggy Parts" and such and it was just so fun.

The most beautiful drive, ever.  I will be back and next time, I will stay several days and enjoy how relaxing the scenery is, and do some shopping in the quaint little shops and do a thorough cheese tasting.  Oh, how I love this place.

We finally got home at 8:30 at night and boy were we exhausted!  But of course, my parents and I found some energy to play Stone Age, of course.  It was awesome that we could put the kids down to bed and still hang out together.  We had such a great time, I love that my parents are my best friends.  What a huge blessing!