Independence Day, Summer in Cleveland, Motos to Hocking Hills

 Independence Day and Team Weekend making the best of it...  Love these two.

Today is Grandma Mary's birthday... So Summer is visiting.

But judging by the warm welcome... you wouldn't have guessed it was Grandma's birthday.

Dawn said three people called Summer a boy yesterday at the store... so she will likely be sporting the pink headband for a while... or SOMETHING pink.

Since Dawn is out of town, and I had to work this afternoon/evening, Marcus and I rode our motorcycles to Hocking Hills today.  We had a blast!  It was kinda like a mini-vacation for me.  I have lived here for almost a decade in Central Ohio, but never visited. I have always wanted to go though.

We left my house at 7AM and stopped in Laurelville to grab breakfast at a diner.  The western omelet at Old Town Diner was VERY filling!

Off to the hills!  

Our first stop was Rock House.  We took the shortest trails at each spot and we still ran out of time today.

 

It is hard for the photos to even really grasp the depth of what we saw today. See the people at the end of the Rock House?

For instance, at this water fall... Can you see Marcus?  Check out how big he is compared to the rocks.

Now this is a panoramic shot of the same falls.  This is Big Spring Hollow Falls.

Then we hiked to the top to relax a few minutes and soak in the valley view from where the spring water comes out of the hillside.

Next stop was Conkles Hollow.  Pretty cool, but not my favorite.

We stopped by Old Man's Cave, but at least a couple thousand people there so we jumped back on the bikes to check out Ash Cave, pictured above.  (Didn't have time for Cedar Falls)

Ash Cave was one of my favorites.  It is HUGE.  Granted there were a lot of people there today for the holiday.  I would love going back when it is quieter.

Then back on the bikes and off to home.  The roads down there are GREAT!  Highly recommend riding a motorcycle down there, but be ready for lots of curves!

The beautiful weather for the Fourth will carry over into Sunday with a few more clouds.  Rain that has stayed in Kentucky for the holiday weekend will try to scoot into our area for Monday. A strong cold front is expected Tuesday.  This will bring storms and take our mid 80 highs and drop them into the upper 70's for the second half of the week.  Scattered showers stick around for the second half of the week as well.  Have a good one! 

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

P.S.  Just got this photo... looks like the Welcome Summer Party was a lot of fun...