Destination: Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Dates: November 14-15, 2020
Reason: Weekend escape
Day 1 Nov 14th, 2020
Since Cuyahoga Valley National Park is so close, we figured it was time to take Finn. My parents had also never been so we invited them along. After some brief planning, we agreed to meet up at the Visitor Center around 11:00am. Finn fell asleep on the way up and rode like a champ. We stopped for gas in Grove City and hit a rest area near Mansfield.
In a scenario that was foreign to us, we arrived at the Visitor Center before my parents. While we waited for them we toured the Center and picked up Finn’s Junior Ranger materials. My parents joined us and we headed over to Brandywine Falls.
The falls were fuller than the last time we were there. Also, the lower observation deck was open again. We viewed the falls from above and below, then decided it was time for lunch.
After some “creative detouring” we ate at a Culver’s in Macedonia. We wanted to see the Tinker’s Gorge overlook and managed to locate it without too much trouble. Finn thought the view was neat. The valley was interesting without leaves, but we’d love to see it again in the summer and fall.
We headed back to the Visitor Center to collect Finn’s Junior Ranger badge. Julia and I wanted to do the Ledges trail, but had to leave Finn behind because of the difficulty. My parents took him to the Beaver Marsh to look for wildlife.
At the Ledges trail, Julia and I saw a wedding party getting their photos done. What a wonderful place for it! The trail wound through the woods and then through deep bedrock chasms. We went above, alongside, and through the rocks, squeezing through narrow passages and scrambling over boulders. We even saw some rock carvings that date to the 1900’s. It was easily the most impressive part of our day.
After our hike we reunited with my parents at the Visitor Center. They told us all about the fun Finn had at the marsh. He spotted a blue heron. We said our goodbyes and parted ways with my folks. Finn slept the whole way as we drove south to Dublin to stay with Julia’s sister Diana.
We arrived at Diana’s around 7:30pm and ordered dinner. The delivery driver made a mistake with our food and had to run back. Finally we ate after he returned. I was so tired that I fell asleep while Julia and Diana played with Finn after dinner.
Day 2 Nov 15th, 2020
Julia had bought tickets and made reservations for the Columbus Zoo for 10:30am, so we got on the road after a breakfast of biscuits and bacon. I hadn’t been to the zoo since I was a kid, and Julia had never been. Finn had never been to a zoo at all.
The forecast called for scattered showers and falling temperatures throughout the day, which ended up being perfect. The zoo was empty, but all the animals were out and about.
We saw the new sea lion exhibit first. Finn loved watching them swim over and around him in the walk-through tunnel. Next, Diana and I petted stingrays, while Julia passed. Finn wanted to touch, but was too young.
Afterward, we made our way around to everything. Highlights included: Stumpy the manatee, a 7 month old gorilla, a bull elephant with his full manhood on display, a roaring Siberian tiger, Mexican gray wolves that looked so much like domestic dogs, a one year old polar bear nursing from his mother, and two sleeping grizzlies that gave us a great idea of their massive size.
The final animal we saw was Finn’s favorite. It was a very playful beaver that kept swimming up to the glass and darting away. Finn had so much fun watching it!
That ended our zoo excursion. We returned to Diana’s and packed up the car. After saying goodbye we got gas and had an uneventful ride home. Finn watched videos. We got home at 7:15pm.
Robinsons on the Road 