Shawnee State Park, OH

June 21, 2021

Shawnee State Park 

Here we are at our very private campsite at Shawnee State Park.  It was quite shady (our stingiest solar site yet), but it was long enough that we could fit Passpartout in easily.

A pretty big storm came through on Friday night.  (At least this time it happened AFTER we had set up.)  Lots of tree debris and puddles in the aftermath.

Looking back towards the entrance, the campground was fairly spread out and pretty quiet.

The park was quite pretty, although since we had gotten quite a bit of rain, the lakes and streams were a bit muddy.

The lodge was nice in a 1970's comfy lodge-y way, which I happen to like.

A proper lodge-y lounge

Overhead from the lounge were various stuffed woodland creatures.  Too bad they were facing the wrong way to enjoy the nice view outside.

Just outside, and sharing the same nice view, was the pool area.

We took a drive to Portsmouth, Ohio on Saturday afternoon.  Like Cincinnati, it is situated on the banks of the Ohio river.  Also like Cincinnati, it has a lot of old buildings.

A really old stone fence remnant

An aptly-named boat parked randomly in town

Portsmouth has a long concrete flood wall that they commissioned to have painted with murals.  This particular mural depicts the many churches in Portsmouth that were established before 1876.  Driving around town, there are still a lot of churches.

Apparently Portsmouth had an NFL football team (for 4 years--until they were sold to Detroit). It seems as though the town is very proud (still) for having defeated Green Bay in 1932.  https://sciotohistorical.org/items/show/119

The Ohio River is very pretty here, as there is not much visible industry along its shores.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we headed for the hills.

Nearly 25 miles of twisty-turny forest roads and bridle trails. Some were paved, some were gravel and some were gravel-dirt. 

It was a really fun rollercoaster-y route.  We are grateful we have e-bikes.

The kids sent Happy Father's Day wishes, and we just so happened to have a bit of cell coverage to receive their texts.  Most of the time during this trip, though, we were more or less cut off from the world.

Much of the "road" was along ridgeline, and you could sometimes peak through the trees to see the view.

We channeled our inner trolls and found a picnic spot under a bridge.

Did a little wading in the refreshing creek.  It was a bit slippery, but neither of us fell in!

Gregor's big brother stopped by to give us his best.

Not sure why I took a picture of an outhouse, but it looked so quintessential with the moon cutout and all.

A nearly perfect day nudged ever so close to absolute perfection with the discovery of black raspberries!

Back at the truck with only 1 bar of battery to spare. Or less than 1 bar.  It's kind of hard to tell how much juice you really have left.

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