Ohio, the home of really warm and friendly people

Our next stop is just outside Cleveland and Akron, Ohio in a little town called Streetsboro. We are staying at a KOA with lots of seasonal campers. Very pretty place, clean, lots of kids activities but expensive ($45/night). The people here warm and friendly. Almost everwhere we go, someone stops to chat or recommend something interesting to see of do, especially if they see our Washington license plates.

Our main reason for visiting is to see Cuyahoga Valley National Park. My first impression was of a small, quiet national park with not much to see and do but after further investigation, we thoroughly enjoyed this park. The main draw is the Ohio and Erie canal tow path which has been reclaimed as a hiking and biking path. It is almost 30 miles long and travels along the Cuyahoga River, through the Valley, beside farms, streams, forests and the old canal and its locks. We were there on a warm and somewhat humid day and the ride through the trees was cool. We stopped at a farm market for lunch. So much fun with old rock and roll music, hotdogs, lemonade, roasted corn, and beautiful produce. After our ride and lunch we headed up the scenic byway to the Canal visitor center and then the drive along the scenic gorge. We even ran into a wedding party taking pictures. A great day! Today we are running errands and doing chores but tomorrow we plan to hit the bike trail again. This time we will ride farther, then load our bikes onto the scenic train and ride the train back to our car. There are still lots of hikes and waterfalls to explore too.