Day 1: Cuyahoga National Forest, Ohio

Got a good early start to our day by leaving at 7 am as scheduled, but in keeping also with the rule that there always has to be a last-minute emergency before any trip we take, there were two: the downstairs toilet got stopped up and had to be plunged, and I had a rush seed packet order for a funeral.

However, we had an easy drive to our destination and arrived about 2 pm with only a few stops for lunch and bathroom breaks. We're at the Baymont Inn in Hudson, OH. Our room is a bargain at $52 per night with a continental breakfast, which I'll be checking out soon.

After check-in at the hotel, we called a local photographer Steve had made contact with a few weeks ago, Tom Jones, to see if he could direct us to some of the more obscure locations we want to visit. Tom's wife gave us directions to Truxell Falls and shared that her maiden name was Truxell and that her father as a boy used to swim in the creek that feeds Truxell Falls (which has now been renamed Minnehaha Falls). The falls were rushing, but unfortunately spring and summer storms have washed a lot of tree debris over so it wasn't a good photography spot.

After that, we stopped at upper Brandywine Falls, a good size waterfall with a nice walkway down to near its base. However, there was a bit of a disappointment in that trail construction was going on and we couldn't follow the trail to the lower Brandywine Falls.

Note to self: I saw a small pull-behind camper in the Brandywine parking lot that would be perfect for us for camping called a Trillium 1300. One of the dilemmas for us when planning trips is that we would like to be in a more remote area, but we don't have a camper and don't want to have to buy a truck or SUV just to pull an Airstream-type one. Plus, Steve can't just take off on a whim to go photographing unless overnight arrangements have been made in advance. A small camper would alleviate many of the logistical problems we have in traveling, so I need to look into one of these little Trillium outfits.

After Brandywine Falls, we ate dinner at a cool local restaurant in Peninsula called the Winking Lizard. Steve and I had Western burgers and Rosie had barbecue riblets. Steve was happy to find they had Yeungling beer, just added to their impressive beer list the day before we arrived! They also had a large green iguana named Heisman in a large glass cage, but he didn't seem to wink at all.

Following dinner, we went to the Ledges overlook, where Steve did some photography and tested his new blue/gold camera filter while Rosie and I explored, hiked and talked. Then back to the hotel. Rosie knocked out about 9:30, but Steve and I couldn't sleep so we watched a movie on the iPad for awhile.

In other events of the day, Steve Jobs died (very sad) and Sarah Palin isn't running for President (very glad).