Rise & Shine Campers

Let me start by saying last week we suffered through a heat wave. I lovE loVE lOVE LOVE summer but even I break when the temperature goes over 100⁰F. During those few horrific and inhumanly hot days I keep saying when we get to our cabin I'm turning the central air down to 50⁰F. Everyone thought I was funny but I was totally serious. Well let me tell you, when you do turn the AC down that low you will freeze! No one was hot that first night. In fact I think it's safe to say some where even a tad crabby with me due to the uncomfortable coldness. My bad. I turned it up to 68⁰F and left it alone the rest of our stay.
Unlike the lazy sleep in mornings at the beach we were up, ate breakfast, and dressed, lunches packed and out the door by 9:00a. Whew! You don't slack and lazy around in Ohio. Our first destination was Old Man's Cave.

*quick history lesson*
Old Man's Cave
This recess cave was named for the "old man" Richard Rowe, a recluse who made the cave his home in the 1800s and is a part of scenic Hocking Hills State Park. Hocking comes from the Wyandot Indian word "hockhocking" referring to the Hocking River's bottle shaped gorge near Lancaster. Streams and percolating groundwater carved the hollows and caves in this area from layers of sandstone bedrock that vary in hardness. The hollow's moist, cool climate preserves more typically northern tree species such as eastern hemlock trees and Canada yew, which have persisted since the glaciers retreated15,000 year ago. The gorge is a half mile long and has three waterfalls.

Words cannot even begin to describe how amazingly beautiful this place was. Even my most favorite photos don't portray how massive the gorge and waterfalls are. It was truly breath taking.

We explored this area for over two hours and then decided to take a lunch break. It was so humid down in the gorge that everyone's glasses and camera lens kept fogging up. Your eyes felt damp, I don't know how else to explain it, it was a weird feeling. We then got in the car to head to our next destination that’s when it started to rain. The rain got heavier and heavier so we called it a day and headed back to the cabin and hot tub.