Sunday, April 12, 2009

To Youngstown and Back...

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I talked my friend Richard Bauer into
accompanying me on a trip to
Northeastern Ohio. Our ultimate goal
was Mills Creek Metropark in Youngstown.

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Traveling up US Scenic Route 62
from Columbus, our first stop was this
covered bridge outside Gann, OH.

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Ruts obviously from the Amish wagons
(and manure on the floor of the bridge)
proved who uses this route the most.

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From the inside of the bridge looking
north, the Mohican River was flowing
underneath Route 62 on it path south-
ward—ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico.
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Facing south, the Mohican makes
a turn to the west as it snakes
around the hills of this region.
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As we approached the intersection
of US 62 and State Route 39,
the Amish community's influences
could be seen at the local Wal-Mart,
on the southern outskirts of Millersburg.

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As mentioned earlier, Millersburg
sits on State Route 39, which
is one of the major highways
for Ohio's Amish and Mennonite
populations. From Loudonville east
to I-77, OH 39 is a major horse-
and-buggy thoroughfare.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.531546,-81.726608&spn=0.374712,0.550003&t=h&z=11

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Berlin (pronounced BURL'n) is the
quentissential Anabaptist community:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.561661,-81.796088&spn=0.011705,0.017188&t=h&z=16
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I had wanted for some time to visit
Behalt in Berlin. It's easier for you
to read for yourself the story of
one artist's dream to provide a
cyclorama deplicting the history
of the Anabaptists from Jesus
Christ to modern day:
http://www.behalt.com/
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From Berlin, we traveled due east
to Sugar Creek for a delicious
buffet at the Dutch Valley Restaurant.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.507339,-81.646185&spn=0.046856,0.06875&t=h&z=14

http://www.dhgroup.com/en/sc/sc-restaurant.php

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Having filled our bellies, we were ready
to head up I-77 to I-76, I-80, and I-680--
to our destination in Youngstown, OH:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.077669,-80.68162&spn=0.046455,0.06875&z=14
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I had read about the Mill Creek
Waterfall online, but I was not
ready for the fantastic beauty
this part of Ohio would provide:
http://www.millcreekmetroparks.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=F1aB%2bgnmicw%3d&tabid=1619.
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Having linked Youngstown with
the demise of the Iron Belt,
this park was a welcome foil
to the rumors about Youngstown.
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I call the photo above
"Satan's Throne."
(Can you imagine this scene
late at night, lit only by a faint
red glow? YIKES!)
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Actually, this is what the
contraption actually
was in years past.
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Our first little excursion beside
Mill Creek led to a manmade waterfall
that holds back the waters of the
creek to form Lake Cohasset.
(Actually, we had missed the first
manmade waterfall--which is
also part of Mill Creek--that
holds back Lake Glacier.)
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Notice the manmade wall at the
top of this nature scene.
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I call the next photo
"Copulation."
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And the next one I've named
"Bully."
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We continued down the road
to Lanterman's Mill and Waterfall.
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The upper falls are manmade,
but the lower falls rush over
sandstone in a dramatic plunge.
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Remember OH 62?
Here it is immediately
north of Lanterman's Mill.
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Very little of the water from the
creek feeds into the mill for flour
production. The photo below
shows the tiny cascade coming
from underneath the mill after
it has been used to turn the
wheels within the building.
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Just south of the mill is our
second covered bridge of the day.
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Looking south from the covered bridge...
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...and back north toward the mill
and OH 62.
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I call this formation
"Native American Watching."
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Still another waterfall!
Again, this is a manmade
fall that holds back
Lake Newport.
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And, yes, the creek does travel
NORTH! It's on its way to Lake Erie.
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Another feature of this metropark
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These hyacinths were lovely
and smelled fantastic.
Do you see the tulips planted
among them?
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While the setting was lush,
I could only dream of being
here in another couple of
weeks to a month when the
tulips and rhododendrons
are in full bloom!
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What few daffodils were
on the grounds did not
disappoint!
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Lake Glacier sits in the back-
ground of this shot.
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Here are a few other
early bloomers...
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(...oh, and St. Francis,who
may or may not have been
an early bloomer...)
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Can you see Richard in the background?
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These red tulips were in
the children's section of
the park. None of the other
tulips were yet blooming.
(Yes, I know they look orange:
trust me, they are red.
The sun is playing tricks with
my camera lens.)
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Yes! I do want to return in a few weeks!
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Our final stop on the way home was a
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And, yes, our third covered bridge
of the day...and perhaps the most
famous. (See the placard placed
above its entrance in the photo below.)
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Richard thought, with a name like
Newton Falls, there must be a
waterfall in town somewhere.
Our cashier at Arby's instructed
us to go a little deeper into town
for the town's namesake.
Sadly, it was manmade...
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I absolutely want to return
to the Mill Creek Metropark...
SOON!
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