Marblehead Light

Emerging from the coach this morning we found that these crazy bugs had blanketed everything! They are very strange. I hope they don't have them in Indiana where we are going next.

Took a ride to Marblehead, Ohio to see the Marblehead Lighthouse. It is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. It has guided sailors safely along the rocky shores of Marblehead Peninsula since 1822. We went through the museum and learned a lot about what the light keepers life was like back in the 1800's. It is windy and Lake Michigan looks like the ocean with pretty good size waves crashing against the rocks.

Left the lighthouse and took a tour of Sandusky. Not much there so we headed back to camp.

Back at camp I made a new cabbage and cucumber salad to go with our pork chops and sweet corn. Don't know where the corn came from because it isn't local but it was delish!

Roller Coaster Capital of the World

We put on our rain jackets and headed out to Cedar Point! This is a great park with 17 roller coasters. There is a rating system (High Thrill, Aggressive Thrill, etc.) There is also a Water Park (called Soak City). We aren't big amusement park riders but we had a fun time today. We checked out the park, had a $5 hot dog and found ourselves in the 'bleachers' of the Top Thrill Dragster (Aggressive Thrill 5). Over the speakers we heard:

"Keep Arms Down, Head Back, and Hold On!"

This amazing speed machine is one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters on Earth. We watched people climb aboard a dragster-style train and inch forward to the starting line. The engine revs. Your heart pumps (even in the bleachers). The tree lights count down to green and you're launched to speeds of 120 mph in less than 4 seconds.
The ride's just getting started as you climb 420 feet into the air, crest a massive hill and spiral 270 degrees as you speed towards the finish line.

We sat and watched this ride for over an hour. It looks like a big upside down horseshoe. I think we had more fun as the ride only takes 17 seconds! The waiting line to get on the ride took over an hour. Ken and I rode the Race Horse Carousel and it was fun (my horse won). On our way out of the park there was a little theatre and we watched the 50's review. The performers were very talented. As we came out of the theatre the rain got a little heavier so we knew it was time to go.

Back at camp we met another couple in the site across from us. They invited us to their campfire for some Heinrich Wine. Of course we couldn't turn that down. He had been out fishing and gave us a nice piece of Walleye to have for dinner.

Put-In-Bay

Got on our bikes and rode the 1.5 miles to the ferry. Put-In-Bay has been a small summer resort vacation destination, since the mid 1800's located on South Bass Island in Lake Erie's western basin. It thrived during the turn of the last century during the Victorian era when thousands of visitors disembarked from different steam ships that anchored here. It has a very quaint downtown with shops and many of the buildings are still original. Put-In-Bay is home to Perry's Victory and International Peace Monument. This was built as a symbol of lasting peace between the US, Great Britiain, and our northern neighbor Canada. We learned about the battle of Lake Erie in the 1800's as well.

We visited a chocolate museum and bought fudge and then moved on to the Heinrich Winery. While digging a well at the winery they discovered a cave which was filled with crystals. We took the cave tour and it was very interesting. After coming back up we were thisty... so we tried some wines.

We headed back to the ferry about 6pm. Had dinner and and met two really nice couples from Ohio in the campground. We all shared a camp fire. It was nice to talk with some folks and share stories. We hung out so we could recharge for tomorrow when we attack the roller coaster capital of the world!

On to Sandusky Ohio

People may ask why we are going here, but it has a personal tie for me. My dad was on the USS Sandusky during the war so we decided to go see the area. Besides we hadn't spent any time on Lake Erie.

This was a travel day and it started out well. We reached Catawba Island, Ohio without any issues. The campground is 1 mile from the ferry to Put-In-Bay so we can ride our bikes down there. Well we went to set up and had another issue with the levelers. Again we worked with HWH and they walked Ken through the diagnostics over the phone. Poor thing had to crawl around under the coach in the dirt. We determined the issue and HWH wanted to know where we were and where we were heading. They got us set up with their master service location in Elkhart, Indiana and they will fix the problem when we get there on Monday. I mention this for two reasons: first HWH has been wonderful and definitely stands behind their products and second I don't want everyone to think trips like this don't have their problems. The coach is just like a house and sometimes things need fixing!

Well we got introduced to something called a "Canadian Solder" or "Midge" upon our arrival. They are bugs and at first we thought they were misquitoes. They don't bite they are just a pain and they lite on anything that isn't moving! It's very humid and we have severe thunderstorm warnings tonight. The state bird is the Cardinal and we have a beautiful male who seems to think our campsite is his also. We don't see many of these at home so it is fun to have him around.