This Adventure on the Edge was another one-night stand. We left on Saturday morning around 9:30 AM, headed to Hueston Woods State Park, just north of Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University. For those of you who get confused between our Miami and the "other one" down in Florida, just remember, Miami University (Ohio) was a college before Florida was a state. Yuk, Yuk
We estimated this would be about an hour and 15 minute trip, (48 miles one way) and even though I carelessly took the wrong exit, we made it on time. That will teach me not to pay total attention to the little lady in the GPS receiver. We ended up getting off the expressway at 127 instead of 27. That meant dragging our lovely little travel trailer through the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton. It really didn't add too much time to the trip, and I got some more valuable "practice" pulling a trailer through a busy urban area. We arrived at the campground one hour and 15 minutes after we left the house... ...nice estimate!
We had checked out the RV campgrounds at Hueston Woods before we purchased the Edge. One nice feature we discovered were "pull-through" sites. You don't need to back the camper into a slot you just pull right in and exit on the road conveniently located on the other site of the pad. However, when we searched these sites upon arrival we found them to be very crowded and full of kids! Not that we don't like kids, but the little rascals can be a bit noisy when they're camping. It's the swimming pool reflex, put kids in a pool they scream, put them in a campground they scream too.
So we ventured off to check out a couple of the other camping loops we hadn't checked out on our earlier visit. They were nice, but featured extremely short pads. It looked like they were designed for pop-up campers and tent campers. However, after circling a few time we found site G2 to be more than adequate, though a bit tricky to back into. Fortunately, I'm getting better navigating the trailer into tight areas and we were able to dock pretty smoothly. The site was sloped more than any site we have parked on so far, but we were still able, barely, to get the camper level. Here's a couple of pics from the site.
We set up quickly then chowed down on some great chili before heading out on our first hike. We took the dogs down to the dam then circled around through the bird banding area then back to the archery station. We saw a couple coming out of the woods with their dogs. They commented on Sparky and Flash and I asked them about the path they had hiked. They indicated that they were geocaching, and had found geocache Kayak just down the trail a bit. They indicated that the trail followed along the shore of the lake and was pretty scenic. We decided to try it and it was a nice hike.
After the shore hike we headed back to the Lodge to check out the progress of the new disc golf course they are installing. The course will be 24 holes when complete, with two concrete tee pads for each hole. We saw a couple of the tee pads but decided to walk down to the docks on the lake below the Lodge. Sparky and Flash were lovin' life and got in a few great sprints on the hill that leads from the lake to the lodge. They had ran the same hill when we visited earlier in the year. Their energy after already hiking several miles was amazing. Remember, "several miles" for us translates to "many miles" for the dogs since they run out and back, out and back, out and back continuously. Here's a short video from our hikes.
We headed back to the camper for dinner and a rest. The dogs weren't ready to rest yet so Diane threw them the Frisbee for a while. The neighboring campers all watched in amazement. Dem dogs are gooood!
We finally settled into reading and the dogs crashed. I pulled out the Kindle and continued my adventure through Angels and Demons. Diane brought some magazines and her DS. That kept her busy too.
The Bearcats came on the radio (couldn't pick up the local FOX station) and we listened to them blow out to a 49-3 halftime lead. It was dark by then so we took another walk around the campground with the dogs. It's interesting to see some of the other trailers and the trucks they use for transport. The big rigs are all pulled by diesel duallys. A lot of the average size ones are pulled by V8's, quite a few of them Hemi-powered Dodge Rams... ...something we intend to look into when we decide to take the Edge Adventures a little further from home.
When we got back to the camper I settled back into my Kindle and Diane watched a DVD she brought along for the trip. It was my intention to watch it too, but the book was calling me. I'm guessing crash time was around 11:00 PM.
Early risers we are. Up at 7:30 AM. Bananas, bagels and orange juice for breakfast. Packed and on the road by 8:30 AM. That beats everyone to the disposal station. I hate waiting in lines... ...never have been the patient sort.
This time I took the correct route home, through Oxford down State Route 27 to I-275 and home. We were home and unpacked with clothes in the wash well before noon. Just in time to watch the Return of the Bungles, as they find new and ingenious ways to lose. Oh yeh, and just in time to text Lauren with a birthday wish. Our total trip this time 114 miles.
We settled the Edge back into its storage location before dark. Hopefully, we'll be back on the road in another couple of weeks. Time will tell.
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