In the Hocking Hills--4/27

It is 10 before we finally hit the road. On Mary and Ray’s recommendation, we take the Appalachian Highway (Hwy 32),heading toward southeast Ohio and Hocking Hills State Park. We like the blue highways; they are so much more interesting than the interstates. Mrs. Garmin leads us astray. It seems that there are 4 different Hocking Hills State Park locations. The trick is to find the one where the campground is, and we don’t have a specific address or a precise map. After wandering by Ash Cove, check out Stone House, and travel over the very hilly roads for an hour or so, we find a store and stop and ask for directions. They direct us to Old Man’s Cave and with great relief we find the check-in for the campground. Our usual process is to check out all the likely campsites looking for the most level one. We are getting spoiled at having a wide choice. There are 100 plus campsites spread out along a ridge and the ironic thing is that the site we choose is next door to 3 RV’s. We promise the group gathered around a campfire that we’ll be quiet. Half of them get into a car and leave shortly after and we find out that the 2 of the RV’s are owned by 2 couples, one from Michigan and another from Ohio, who met years ago at a Florida park and now get together somewhere twice a year. The other belongs to the camp host, who only comes to the campground on weekends until Memorial Day.

We gather wood from the forest, eat dinner, and build a campfire. The rain starts around 9:30 and sends us inside.