Lori's Vacation Series: Ohio Nature

For those of you on Facebook, you may have seen these before. I'm behind on my blog...seems to take a little more time and effort to get things posted here than Facebook. But don't worry. I'm not quitting the blog. I like the "journal" nature of it better than Facebook.

Probably the thing I enjoyed most on my vacation was discovering that Ohio is not a boring, Midwestern state when it comes to scenery. We have some very pretty, downright gorgeous areas! And being farther south than MN, I enjoyed discovering a bit more variety in the flora and fauna...simple things I missed in MN like lightning bugs, or more variety of deciduous trees, or more flowering plants (no magnolias or honeysuckle in MN...oh how I missed those!)

Hocking Hills
Crystal Falls at Hocking Hills

Hocking Hills

Hocking Hills - this area was like walking back in time to me. I could just imagine prehistoric Ohio...

Great Seal Park - ant mound. This was the biggest I had ever seen. I would estimate about a 5 foot diameter at the base, and about 3 foot high. You can't see them, but it was just covered in ants. The mean ones. You would not want to accidental step in this!

I found a lot of milkweed here, too. Unfortunately, no monarchs. That is one thing I miss about MN. We get more there because it is in the direct migratory path. They come straight up from Mexico all the way into Canada and back. Ohio is a little East of that path, so fewer come this way. I miss raising them. I might have to just start ordering a batch from the U of M every summer to get my "fix"!

The Great Seal Park - theses are supposedly the "mountains" (hills) used on the Great Seal of Ohio. I'll include a picture of that with my next post.

View as I drove into the Great Seal Park

Great Seal Park

View on a trail at Ft. Ancient. For those of you not from Ohio: this is an ancient Native Mound site. We have a few of these "land sculptures" around Ohio. Many theories of what they may have been used for - burials, boundaries, art, sacred ritual, all of the above. My favorite was always the Serpent Mound...but I didn't go there on this trip. A little farther away than I wanted to travel.

Another view in Ft. Ancient.

Whetstone Park of the Roses - Columbus

I took several pics of blooms, but I don't want to bore you with them. This one, however, was probably my favorite.

The thing I will remember most about this place was the smell. I could have just stayed there all night.

Park of the roses