Day 61 – Bellevue, Ohio

Kind of a ho-hum day for me, although Don and I had a nice walk in the morning, with some really fine grass for rolling.  They had some morning programs that they wanted to see on the TV, so there was no rush to get on the road for touring.  When they finally did get ready to go, it was obvious that my presence wasn’t going to be required, out of concern for my welfare in the hot weather.  While I can fully appreciate their desire to keep me out of harm’s way, I still would prefer that they would find a fully air-conditioned vehicle that we all could enjoy in perfect comfort.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love the truck; my private compartment, in decent weather, is all I could ask for.  But it does occasionally limit my ability to accompany them on fun tours.  Well, enough of that.

They finally headed out a little before noon, and I watched a little TV and napped a bit.  About two hours later, they were back from their mini-tour of Sandusky.  Concerning the city itself, Geri and Don were in general agreement that it had obviously seen better days, but that there were some obvious attempts to improve the appearance of the place, mostly successful.  They disagreed strongly on the lunch that they had shared; Don was greatly pleased with the quality of the fish (perch) sandwich that they got at a waterfront takeout joint; Geri was unenthusiastic after one bite, and brought hers home for Don to eat at a future date.  They do have their differences. 

Geri took me out for some visiting and socializing with our neighbors, which I always enjoy, and we had some very pleasant encounters.  The heat didn’t bother me that much, ‘cause I tried to always stay in the shade of something.  When we returned to the coach, Don was planning a little excursion for the late afternoon to some of the small towns close to our campground.  Some clouds had come in, and the temperature had dropped to the point where they decided that I could come with them, so it was into the truck and on the road.

Don had found out that the part of Ohio that we were in was called the Firelands, because most of the land had been given by our very early Government to people from Connecticut whose homes and farms had been burned by the British during the Revolution.  Some of the older homes in the little towns we went through looked as though they have been moved from New England!  Our principal target for this tour was a town called Milan, which they tell me is the name of a big city in Italy.  When we got there, we found it to be a very attractive small town, with a compact downtown area loaded with Victorian era brick buildings, surrounded by neighborhoods of well kept and restored older homes.  One of the homes was very special, as it was the birthplace of a very famous American inventor, Thomas Edison.  Don tells me that he was the driving force in the development of electric power for widespread use in homes, shops and industry.  He wanted to tell me about Edison’s battles with Nicola Tesla, George Westinghouse, and the Government, and the eventual victory of alternating current, but Geri cut him short and he had to stifle. 

On the way back to the Lazy J, we stopped in nearby Bellevue, and looked over the collection of railroad equipment in the local Rail Museum.  The Museum is on the grounds of the estate once owned by Henry Flagler, who was a partner of J. D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil, and who did a lot for the development of Florida.  We headed back to the coach, and Geri fixed my dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  A little later, Don warmed up some leftovers for their dinner, and it looked like they really enjoyed it; I know that the plates were excellent (steak and pasta leavings)!

Tomorrow we travel to Elkhart, Indiana, where our coach was built some years ago.  I understand that we’re going to have some work done on the rig there, and we’ll probably be there a few days.  I kind of remember it from the last time we came through here, maybe six years ago, when we were getting a new windshield installed in the La Palma.  It wasn’t much fun for Buddy and I, ‘cause we were staying in the parking lot of the shop that was doing the work.  I hope we don’t do that this time.  Whatever happens, I’ll be reporting it for you!