Rainy day at Atwood Lake

Thursday, June 11: We'd be spending the day with my cousin Tim B. and his family at Atwood Lake, southeast of Canton, OH. M had been to the lake during a visit to Ohio a few years ago, but I had never been. After a restful night in the B-family camper, we awoke to heavy clouds and scattered showers. Ahhh, Ohio.

M explores the lake shore...

Our hosts for our day at the lake.

As soon as the rain let up (or so we thought), we headed out on the water in the B-family pontoon boat.

We were joined by my cousin's kids and some friends of his family. What were the boys looking for?

Enjoying the ride with Dad.

We had Boaters' Beach to ourselves. Contrast with this view of Tim's kids on July 4 at the same location. I'm glad we went when we did!

M enjoys a moment of solitude.

M at the helm.

B didn't let the rain dampen her spirits.

Despite the inclement weather, we still had an enjoyable time. As I said to Tim, "hey, I'm still on vacation..." But would the rain clear up in time for the Cleveland Indians game on Thursday evening? Stay tuned to find out...

WSC

np: The Fray - "How to save a life"

A day to drive

Wednesday, June 10: Our first stop was the power plant and Alcoa complex near Yankeetown. We had hoped to find some of the Respondek locomotives recently reported to be on hand there. We didn't have any luck with those, but we did find a high-hood Norfolk Southern geep making a few switch moves, and also some Indiana Southern geeps tied down.

NS 5155 works near the power plant at Yankeetown, IN

This would be our longest day of driving on the trip: from Evansville, IN to Atwood Lake in northeastern Ohio (near Canton), a total of close to 500 miles. My cousin and his family would be waiting for us at Atwood Lake. Our route would take us through Louisville, Cincinnati, and Columbus. It was a nice day for driving; we only ran into a little rain around Louisville. We successfully avoided the rush hours in the cities; and we enjoyed lots of nice scenery, especially along the Ohio River in southern Indiana. And we even arrived at the lake within an hour or so of the time I had predicted the night before.

We didn't have much time to check out roadside attractions, but I made an exception for this caboose -- part of Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant in Rockport, Indiana. Hmmm, Mexican food in Indiana... even if they HAD been open, I don't think we would have stopped...

power plant along the Ohio River near Rockport, IN

Barn near Tell City, IN

Driving Interstate 64 toward Louisville

Crossing the Ohio River into Kentucky

rain in Louisville

Our "Best Ambience at an Ohio Subway" award goes to this restaurant located on the ground floor of a 3-story brick house in Zanesville.

We made it... sunset at Atwood Lake. Unfortunately, this would be the last time we'd see the sun for about two days.

Check back in a couple days, and I'll show you how much fun we had on a rainy day at the lake.

WSC

np: For Squirrels - "Under Smithville"