School has started this week, and things are hectic. It will get better. But since I have my laptop out, I might as well give you a quick rundown of day two of our vacation to Hocking Hills!
As I mentioned, our huge cabin had three bathrooms, one on each floor. The main floor bathroom had a much bigger mirror than we have at home, and I was able to see all my hair! I took a picture. (Well, maybe more than one, but I’ll spare you the rest.)
First on the schedule for the day was the petting zoo, not far from our cabin. The kids were excited to see the all the goats and the brand new donkey. I was excited because it was super cheap. I had checked their schedule weeks beforehand and noted on my extensive vacation spreadsheet that they were closed on Wednesdays. This being a Tuesday, you can imagine my surprise when the place was deserted. Animals were milling about the farmyard, but no sign of humans to take our money.
Apparently the hours had changed with the approaching change of seasons. Despite my pleas to the husband, the kids put quarters in the outdoor dispensers and fed the… well, the kids. I felt so illegal! I kept waiting for someone to come down the lane, guns a-blazing, yelling at us to get our lily-livered farm-squatting goat-loving tookuses off their land, but it never happened.
From there, I called the KOA and made sure the gem mine was open. Thankfully they had not had a recent change of hours. This was probably my husband’s favorite part of the trip. If you’ve never done it, I recommend it. We got a large bucket of dirt and the kids (and husband) got to sort through and find the gems. Everyone got a little ziploc bag to keep their gems in.
Next, it was time for some hiking! This, of course, is the draw of Hocking Hills, after all. We decided to go to Rock House. For some reason, it’s always been Sam’s dream to eat a muffin in a cave. I don’t know why. Years ago, we went to Mary Campbell Cave and ate some muffins, but Mary Campbell Cave is not a true cave and so his dream had not yet been realized. We headed to Rock House with mini muffins in our bag.
The advice is to bring flashlights since Rock House is fairly dark inside, with an uneven bottom that water pools in and cool formations on the walls that you otherwise wouldn’t see. Also it’s important to be able to see your muffins.
This was not an easy hike. There are lots of steps coming out of the Rock House, with a drop off on one side. When we went down, there was a group of three ladies, probably in their 70’s, asking if this was the right way. They were nervous, but wouldn’t you know, they did make it down! Inspiration to me, for sure! I hope I still hike when I’m 70.
It was approaching dinner time, so we decided I would go to Walmart and get some burgers and hot dogs to cook at the cabin. As soon as we parked at Walmart, it started to downpour. I hurried in and wandered around, managing to find everything we needed plus souvenir shirts.
We got back to the cabin and just as we were deciding whether to cook on the stove or outside on the grill, the decision was made for us as the power went out. We hadn’t intended to stay in a rustic cabin, but we got a small taste of that anyway! Secretly I was pleased. I love storms anyway, and all this rain meant we would have a better chance at seeing waterfalls. Sometimes in the late summer they can be very small or nonexistent.
When the rain stopped, we cooked our dinner outside, since the power outage rendered our electric stove useless. The burgers were not excellent. Too much charcoal. The hot dogs were passable.
Then, since it was getting late, I decided we would go hike Cedar Falls. It’s a quick hike down and back up, and the falls is the biggest in water volume.
After this, we went back to the cabin. I was a bit nervous to see if our power was back on, but as we got closer, we saw lights on at neighboring cabins. Yay! It was back on. I would not have wanted to deal with four kids trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place during a power outage. We cooked s’mores at the fire pit, and then we all spent our last night in the cabin sleeping so much better than the night before.
Next up, our last day in Hocking Hills. More rain, more hiking, and maybe finally some ice cream! Stay tuned…
The Coffeeless Mom 