Ohio

May 17

This morning we headed out to Ohio on the last leg of this journey. Along the way we visited the Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum in Elkhart, Ohio. It is the only Superhero and comic book museum in the world preserving and covering the entire 80 year history of superheroes in comics, toys, film and animation. We paid admission ($8) and wandered around. Alan proved to be an excellent and expert guide. They had everything from one-inch figurines to life-size replicas of well known Superheroes. There were autographed photos and #1 comic books on display as well as thousands of comic books in storage drawers. From Mighty Mouse to Wonder Woman, they had lots my heroes. 

Our next stop was the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum recognizes, preserves, and honors the history and people who have been instrumental in making the RV (recreational vehicles) and MH (motor/mobile homes) what they are today. My favorite area was the old RVs. They had everything from a covered wagon and VW bus, to a few contemporary RVs.

We arrived at our next campground in time to have the last of the ribs for dinner. Mmmm!

May 18

We had a lazy morning of it and then headed out to Magee Marsh at 8:00. We hiked the boardwalk, starting at the end that was closest where we drove in. With our cameras strapped on we took well over 1700 pictures of birds – most of them warblers. We were very fortunate to see a rarely seen (to this area) black-billed cuckoo. We spent close to three hours there before we left and made a stop at a tiny, but well-equipped grocery store to lay in a few supplies on the way to camp.

Back at camp we had lunch then worked on photos and lazed about the rest of the day. For dinner I assembled foil packets of chicken breast and some vegetables and cooked them over the campfire.

May 19

Another slow easy morning and a trip back to Magee Marsh for a repeat of yesterday’s excursion. We started at the far end of the boardwalk this time, walking into the sunlight most of the time. Not the best way to go. This time we stayed only two-and-a-half hours.

On the way back to camp we had a picnic lunch at Ottawa NWR. The wildlife drive was closed to the public, so having been here a few years ago, we drove on to Maumee Bay’s boardwalk. We were disappointed with how rundown it had gotten, so we only did a quarter mile.

Back at camp it was a wash-rinse-repeat of yesterday with photos, naps and resting. For dinner we had a salad, and I threw together a pan of ground pork chili. I spooned the chili over Fritos and sprinkled with shredded cheese for simple camp nachos.

May 20

We got a twenty minute later start with today’s outing – one last time driving out to Magee Marsh to hike the boardwalk. Today we started at the near end and worked our way to the far end. We spent three-and-a-half hours there, interacting with many of the birders and seeing some firsts, among them a mourning warbler, and a woodcock! The woodcock was fascinating because it was so hard to see, yet it was so close! It blended in perfectly with its surroundings. Everyone who stopped to see it did the same thing we did, looked hard everywhere then asked, “Where?”. Eventually, you see it.

Since it was lunchtime we stopped at DGs, a little homegrown ice cream and hotdog place, and had hot dogs and, surprise, ice cream sundaes.

Back at camp we kicked back, napped, did crosswords, then had salads and leftover camp nachos.

Tomorrow we head home.

Campground: Maumee Bay State Park. This has to be our number one favorite campground to date, with Custer coming in a close second. The campsites were very roomy with lush green grass and a level paved parking pad. There was a solid picnic table and a nice fire ring with a rotating grill. The bathrooms were clean and somewhat updated. The park has a beach on lake Erie, a small man-made lake beach, a playground, a marina, golf course and a large lodge with rooms to rent. The price of the campsites was under $30/night when we were here.