Excellent Adventure—Part II

Back in Ohio again. We made it safely to "Hickory Hollow"—our cute cabin, which was tucked away in the woods bordering Hocking Hills State Park. To our surprise, this place was really, really remote. No TV. No cell phone reception. No landline. No computer access. We were so out of touch with the world that it made Kazakhstan seem technologically advanced. This is when Ky and Cincy admitted their addiction to television. Luckily, Cincy brought an ample supply of People Magazine. And Ky made the most decadent caramel popcorn chex mix I've ever had. (More about that later.) The next day was glorious—sunny and warm so we headed out to do some hiking at the state park. First stop: Ash Cave. Picture this, we pull into the parking lot and instead of getting out, we spend 15-20 sitting in the car inhaling Ky's amazing chex mix. It was pathetic—I sat in the backseat with my eyes glued to the bag. At one point, I had the bag all to myself and was hoping no one would notice. (You can tell I don't get out too often.) Finally, we rolled out of the car and headed to the cave. (Yes, we left the bag in the car.) The cave was truly amazing and these photos don't do it justice. It's the largest recess cave east of the Mississippi with a misty 90-foot waterfall. And it definitely was more misty than watery. aNext, we hiked over to Cedar Fall's, a very popular spot for Cub Scouts. Lots of boys close to Garrett's age—except these boys were tame when compared to my wild little guy. Made me miss the G-man though. I was unable to do a lot of climbing due to my lingering bronchitis, but the Karens were nice enough to allow me frequent breaks. (And that way we got to talk more.) I even spotted another sign from Jesus in the sky. (Click on photo to see the cross.) Because this weekend was all about relaxation (even the lodge had the word "spa" in its name) I decided to treat myself to a massage. I wish I had taken a picture of the masseuse—she was a cross between Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart. Freaky. Even freakier was the cost, which I discovered after my massage was over was far more than I've ever paid before. (There went my "relaxing" massage.) I suppose it's expensive to have a masseuse on staff in the middle of nowhere (who knows). We ended the day with a delicious dinner at the lodge and headed back where we had another Kazakhstan flash-back: no running water in the cabin. Since we couldn't just "call" the front desk, Ky and Cincy drove over. On the way there, Cincy spotted a suspicious car abandoned on the road. That's when her mind started racing—who abandoned the car? Was this person lurking in the woods ready to pounce on Minnie back at the cabin? They finally put two and two together; the car belonged to an adjacent cabin, which they couldn't see because it was pitch black out. It's obvious Cincy watches too many TV shows. Ha. By the way, they got the water up and running in 2-1/2 hours, not bad.

Next day we headed back home. We said our sad goodbyes to Ky and I spent the night getting to know Glenn and Maxie better. Max is such a smart, focused little guy. Here we are doing a puzzle.A little boy who also loves to clean and watch videos. Glenn is a very kind, caring man. It's clear he loves Max and Karen dearly. I throughly enjoyed my time at the Leggett-Floyd house.

Thanks Ky and Cincy for arranging everything and allowing me to tag along. The trip was definitely good for my soul and it made my relationship with Garrett even sweeter. Miss you guys!!!!!