Tuesday, 25 July – Maumee Bay SP, Oregon, Ohio

Up early, needed our blankie last night and it’s barely 18.4C this morning.  Put another load of laundry on while we have full hook up and then we are moving on to a big State Park right on the shores of Lake Erie, for three nights.  Driving out of Amherst we see more than usual very nice, expensive looking homes.  So far from what we have seen of the north part of Ohio, it does seem a well to do state – maybe Rockefeller’s Standard Oil refinery helped.

First glimpse of Lake Erie, near Huron - there is 312 miles of Erie shoreline in OH

From there the scenic route 2 takes us through Huron, another apparently prosperous small town, past Sandusky where we stayed last time, over the Bay Bridge then hugs the shore until we get to Maumee Bay SP, in Oregon, OH.  It’s a huge park, 370 sites, electric only, has its own golf course (five other SPs in Ohio have golf courses, possibly another clue as to the wealth of Ohio) and it’s just a mile or so bike ride to the swimming beach.  We arrived at 11.20 am but by the time we drove around most of the 370 sites to find the best one, ie best angle for the sun/shade, furtherest away from noisy campers with children (judged by the number of bikes spread around the campsite), quietest, most private, closest to the bike trail to the beach, close but not too close to bathrooms etc…  There is such a lot to consider, sometimes I think it is better if there is only one site left and then we are grateful to even have one!  It was after noon by the time we got set up.  We have a huge site, 30 amp, only one dit of cell coverage though and none on Kim’s, many TV stations and sunshine.  Temp is now a balmy 24C and the sky is blue with just a couple of white fluffies.

It is very quiet at the hub end of the loop where our site is, when walking the track a bit later come across untold rabbits and deer.

We stood eyeballing each other for ages!

We also have a pretty red Cardinal (the state bird of Ohio) which sees itself in our mirrors and spends a lot of time fighting with it’s reflection.  It must be getting a beak ache!  It was cute at first but we worry about the bird’s sanity so put a plastic bag over the mirrors.

Crazy bird!

Had to get the sewing machine back out to repair some fraying off the bike covers.

A lovely clear night, the sky spangled with stars, no city lights, no trains, no noise, very peaceful!