Day 24 – July 12, 2019

Even though the motel we stayed at was in poor condition, it was in a nice part of town. And it was located next to a national park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Cuyahoga Valley was created to protect and preserve the once polluted Cuyahoga River south of Cleveland. The park’s main attractions are the river, hiking trails and a waterfall.

The waterfall sounded neat, so we checked it out.

We parked the car and were immediately immersed in a thick, beautiful forest. A boardwalk led us directly to the waterfall.

Ashley was more excited to meet a little puppy.

Cuyahoga Valley didn’t have a Jr. Ranger program. But it seems Ashley may be burning out on working so hard for these badges.

Our visit complete, we got back in the van and headed for our next destination, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s a short 2 hour drive.

We are now into toll road country. In Ohio, it’s annoying but not too expensive. They charge by the length of the trip. In Pennsylvania, however, they charge $7.90 just for crossing the border. No matter which direction we go, there are more toll roads. It doesn’t matter how far you drive, if you pass a toll booth, you pay the toll. It’s a rip off, but there is no way around it.

We promised Ashley we would get a hotel for two nights and just do nothing but relax.

That did not stop Kathy from frantically searching the Internet for things to do in Pittsburgh. As you may have guessed, there is not much to do in Pittsburgh.

There was a nice shopping mall near our hotel. With Ashley’s birthday coming up on Saturday, we told her to find something she likes and it will be a birthday present. But she’s not much of a shopper and it seems she has everything she needs.

She has made it clear that she wants some play time with Kaelyn, Maximus, and Anthony. But that play date will have to wait a few weeks. I tried to get them shipped to Pittsburgh for the day, but it just didn’t work out.

We checked into our hotel. Kathy immediately suggested a walk. Ashley glowered and reminded us that we promised lots of relaxation. She refused to budge.

We ended the day watching the movie Thor on the laptop.