Tag Archives: KOA

Road Trip 2025: Ohio

After West Virginia, we moved on to Ohio for the next leg of our journey. The Cleveland SE KOA Holiday in Streetsboro functioned as our base of operations. Streetsboro (and the surrounding area) was so stinking cute! (This KOA was also the home of the Pig Rock.)

Our first point of interest was Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Unlike some national parks, Cuyahoga Valley is spread out over a wide area. The visitor center we visited was at the trailhead for the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail which is popular among cyclists. Not having travel bikes, we walked a portion of the trail before moving on to the Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail. The Brandywine Gorge Loop Trail is an easy walk. Water levels were low so Brandywine Falls was rather small during our visit. (Pro tip: Waterfalls are directly impacted by the amount of rainfall in the area so, if water levels are low, the falls will be smaller. I know this seems obvious, but people still write reviews complaining about things like that.🙄)

Obligatory photo at the park sign.
Under the bridge behind the visitor’s center.
Brandywine Falls
Awkward selfie at Brandywine Falls.

The “24 hours of A Christmas Story” marathon on TBS/TNT is a Christmas staple at our house. After attending the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church, we go home and begin prepping the monkey bread and pigs-in-a-blanket for Christmas morning; we always have the marathon on while we work. We couldn’t be in the Cleveland area and not visit the House from A Christmas Story. (Tour tickets must be purchased online.) The tour was fun and we were given plenty of time to roam around and take pictures. The tour includes the small museum containing a lot of props from the movie and a wall of fan art. Of course there is also a gift shop where I bought a few stocking stuffers. (The house next door has been turned into the Bumpus House bed and breakfast.)

It’s a major award! (Kenn’s best creepy look.🤣)
Fan art.

Kenn even found a pretty park for us to visit – complete with a “Cleveland” sign perfect for pictures, LOL. It was a nice place to sit and chill for a while. It was also my first view of Lake Erie.

We meet so many wonderful people when we travel. There are always others willing to take photos for us (like the one above) and we do the same for them. Many times this turns into conversations about where everyone is from and where we have traveled, etc. There are plenty of good people in the world.

What are your holiday traditions? Do you watch A Christmas Story?

Friday Funnies

We overnighted at a KOA Holiday in Manchester, TN on our way to Louisville. (It was one of the nicest KOAs we’ve stayed at.) Once we rested a bit we decided to take a walk and discovered a huge field behind the campsites with a walking path around the edge. (A small herd of deer kept an eye on us from the far side of the field.) There are all sorts of interesting “statues” lining the trail and the edge of the woods starting with two gigantic squirrels. Kenn said “Please don’t touch the squirrel’s giant nuts,” so of course I did because that’s how I roll.🤷‍♀️😂

Road Trip 2021: The Long Distance Relationship

We left Trenton, Maine and headed for the Farmington/Chesterville area. We wound up staying at the Skowhegan/Kennebec Valley KOA; it was further away from our destination than I would have liked but it was an amazing campground that we would gladly stay at again. (My review is available here.) Our first stops were near sites we wanted to see, so what drew us to this area? Friendship.

When I was in high school, I had several pen pals – up to 21 at one point. Over time, that number dwindled to just one and we have now been writing for over 40 years. And, as you’ve probably guessed by now, my remaining pen pal lives in Maine. There was no way I was going to visit the state and not take advantage of the opportunity to meet. So, we exchanged (more) letters and phone numbers and I kept her apprised of when we would arrive. I have to admit, I was nervous. I’m shy and writing is easier for me than face-to-face interactions, but I shouldn’t have worried. Our meeting was… easy. You would think we had known each other for years, LOL.

Kenn and I spent a day with Ruth and her husband, John. We went out for lunch and then stopped for ice cream. We spent the remainder of our time just sitting around our campsite and talking. Ruth asked one of the campground employees to take our picture.

John, Ruth, Linda and Kenn

One of the souvenirs I collect when we travel is (are?) Christmas ornaments. Somehow, I got home from our trip without an ornament for Maine. I turned to Amazon (of course) in my search for a Maine ornament but wasn’t happy with the selection; many of them were too similar to ornaments that I already have. Then, inspiration struck and I turned to Shutterfly where I had the photo shown above printed on a metal ornament. I think it’s perfect and look forward to it gracing our tree in all the years to come.😊

Here’s hoping that it won’t take us another 40 years to get together again!

Until next time, here’s to friendships and happy trails!