Universal Orlando (March 18-24, 2019)

 Long road trip to Florida from Ohio on a wonderful journey. We made an overnight stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee and a night stop in Gainesville, Florida before arriving in Orlando on the 20th.
We stayed at Aventura on the grounds of Universal and had a wonderful time there. New and very nice hotel with some very good restaurants. While very good, its a good idea to bring more money than you think you might need as things can get really expensive really fast. To be honest a few years ago found the same thing at Disney...its just part of the whole park thing. 
 There is a nice night club on the roof and some great views can be seen from up there. It was fun to look around and into the park. 

My wife was really interested in the Harry Potter areas of the park. There are three parks there and two of them have Harry Potter areas. One night we saw this remarkable light show at Hogwarts. If you look on You Tube you will be able to see the entire show. They have a Harry Potter themed ride plus another one opening in a few weeks.
In addition to Harry Potter they have a number of other rides and attractions. The park is really a great deal of fun and we had a wonderful time just exploring the sights, riding the rides and enjoying the attractions to be found there.   

One area that was a lot of fun was City Walk which features restaurants, a number of shows and many other sights. It was also fun to wander around there and see what could be seen. It was great fun to explore and enjoyed the area during the four days we were there.
One thing we liked doing was to take the boat from the hotel (actually the hotel over) which was a lot more fun as well as faster to ride than the bus over to Universal.
This was our first time to be there and will be making another trip in the future. Just had a wonderful time and was blessed with some beautiful weather as well. Not too hot, not too crowded and no rain!

February Update from Ohio (February 20, 2019)

It has been a pretty good winter so far. Quite a few days with scenes like this but as far as amounts has not been all that bad. To be honest had bigger snow amounts in Richmond last year. This year they did have an early snow fall of around a foot. They also though have had some days in the 70s, which is something we can't say there. It has been over a month since I have been out on the motorcycle. With this weather also important to keep the car washed. They really like to salt the roads in Ohio, and that will eat vehicles up...literally.

 
 

So in this weather have been doing some trips to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It's heated and indoors and a great place to pass the time during the winter.
Debbie and I also have gone to the movies a few times, and we also have quite a few days where we have stayed in the house and just vegetated in front of the tv.
Not terrible cold though we did have a few days not long ago with wind chills of -33. THAT was something else to deal with, but you do it because you have to.  

Have been on a few trips this year. During a few periods of nicer weather went exploring Troy and Springfield in Ohio, plus some areas in the local area. It is fun to get out and see places because they are all new to me. There are a lot of interesting things to see here.
Earlier this month we made a trip to Rising Sun, Indiana for a week. It is a town we both really enjoy. There is a casino there, but my favorite thing to do is just to explore the area and check out the sights. It is a nice place with some great people. Of course in Ohio I am also impressed with the people I come across.     

 

A few days ago, last weekend in fact, Debbie and I took a drive to Indian Lake, a nice resort area not far from here. There we saw some cool things including this going on along the surface of frozen Indian Lake. You don't see sights like this in Virginia. It is a favorite place of Debbie and I enjoyed the places she told me about and that we got to see together.
It is a fun area and looking forward to some great adventures here in the upcoming weeks and months.  

First Snow of 2019 (January 12-13, 2019)

Interesting couple of days here in the Miami Valley, in fact in a number of states as the first big winter storm of the new year came rolling in over the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend.
It was a beautiful thing to see, and even made a small bunny sculpture on Saturday which later in the day got covered  up by even more snow as the storm went on.
I would say living in Richmond we did not see much snow but at least in the last couple of years that had not been the case. Just a while back they got something like a foot of snow there, while for last fall/early winter in 2018 2.4 inches here total.   

I wandered out a little bit on Saturday and took this photo on the nearby lake (well, part of the lake). Liked the combination of snow and ice seen here though most of the lake was still open water.
I enjoy winter scenes now even more so because I am retired plus it was the weekend. We did not need to get out any as the word about this storm came days early so spent the time just looking out the window or wandered about on foot looking at the sights of the Winter Wonderland that had been granted us.

On Sunday the snow ended about noon and got out again to see scenes such as this from the nearby lake.
Once again cleaned off the car and shoveled the driveway. Planning to give the road crews another day to get the ice and snow off the highways and plan to do a little driving tomorrow. For today going to get in some tv viewing and relaxing.
I did measure at a point I felt was a good non windy location and by my best estimate got just under six inches of snow over the two days here.

Wecome to the Ohio Blog (January 6, 2019)

 It has been a very busy time here. Made the move from Richmond, Virginia to near Dayton, Ohio in mid-November, and it has been a wild time. Getting settled in has taken a while. Anyone who says moving is easy has never done it quite like this. Used the U-Pack service which was cool. That made the actual move quite easy. There was some snow here over the last few weeks, but many inches less then the big storm that hit Richmond over the late fall early winter when they got at or slightly over 10 inches (depending on what you read). Here for the end of 2018...they got 2.5 inches in total.

 First Christmas here was a great one. Got our tree up and even did some decorating outside the house. It was a very busy time here, but a lot of fun. Working to find my way around. Fortunately my wife Debbie is a resident and that helps a great deal.
On December 20, we went to the Carillon Historical Park where we saw this rather large Christmas tree draped around the bell tower. I have been there before during a previous visit and have enjoyed that a bunch.   
The Park has many historic items on display covering a wide range of Ohio history. This was my first visit during Christmas and it was really packed with a lot of beautiful lights and other Christmas items. I went with Debbie and some friends of ours and we all had a very wonderful time.
I look forward to going back again in the Spring!

One of the items on display at the Carillon Historic Park is the Wright Flyer III. This is considered to be the World First Practical Aircraft. Not the first to fly that being the Wright Flyer which is on display at the Smithsonian Air And Space Museum in Washington, DC. Like that plane though this is the real deal, not a replica.
At any case my plans for this blog are the same as with Richmond and Me. To share the sights and some of the highlights of this area and a few points beyond. Thank you for visiting my page!    

Back to Richmond (October 24, 2018)

 Up early from a good nights sleep after a fantastic two day motorcycle ride from Virginia to Ohio (covered in my "Racing with the Wind" blog) and heading back to Richmond via a favorite method. Soon Dayton will be my new home after some seven years in Richmond. Took this photo of a model of trhe Wright Flyer at the Dayton International Airport. Flew from there to Phildelphia, Pennsylvania which was a very cool airport. It was also my first time at that airport and had a nice lunch (also my first time) at Smashburger.   

Flew to Philadelphia on a CRJ200 which is a very small jet but a nice ride. It was beautiful weather and smooth air.
At Philadelphia changed to an EMB145, which is also a small jet. The CRJ had four aisles, the EMB had three..I sat on the single aisle. Left on time and again had just beautiful weather for the flight to Richmond, VA.
It was a much shorter flight but once again a really good time in the skies. Flying is (like motorcycling) one of my favorite things to do in the world, and this was a great time.   

Back to 
This is a view from the window. On the way to Virginia we followed the coast. That is the Atlantic Ocean near the top of the page, under the sky.
Got into Richmond a little early and really enjoyed the flights on American Airlines. Got back to the house and greeted Debbie once again.
Days here in Richmond are winding down and this is the start of what I think are going to be some amazing adventures with some new discoveries to follow. 

St Benedick Oktoberfest (September 22, 2018)

Went to the Oktober Fest in Richmond, on the last day of summer/first day of fall. It was a great time with a lot of beer to select from (between 50-100 types) and had the Worst platter (which was pretty neat). Good eats, interesting music and good times.
Went early because such events tend to get really crowded and the weather was sort of iffy for the day. Fall like Winter, Spring and Summer is looking like it is going to be really wet...at least if today is any indication. Rain forecast for the first week of Fall every day.     

Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (September 10-20, 2018)

 Back to Ohio for a few days partly due to the hurricane and partly due to needing to get a few things done for my wife and at her house.
While in that area made a one day stop in Louisville, Kentucky to see some of my family. Visited the Water Tower on Zorn Avenue. It is a great site from back in the day (even way before my day) on the banks of the Ohio River.

 Ohio has a lot of history with this man, as does Louisville and in fact the nation. The famous Revolutionary War (and for that matter Indian Wars) General is buried in Louisville's massive Cave Hill Cemetery and we made a stop there to see some of the sights. If you are in the city, Cave Hill is well worth a visit. 

 The Belle of Louisville is an actual Steamboat (not a replica but was in actual use) and still is. You can get rides on this iconic boat and when I lived there did so and many times. This photo was taken from the Indiana side of the Ohio River at where it is docked in Louisville. 

 Made it back to Rising Star Indiana. NO plane ride as during the previous visit a few months ago (the river was a mess due to the rain there between our visits) but always a good time there.

There is a museum at Rising Sun and this is the "Hoosier Boy" which was a boat built back in the day to set speed records. Interesting boat and is powered by a Liberty aircraft engine. A lot of those engines were surplus after the First World War.
As for the Ohio photos during this trip, have some of those at the previous post. It was a fantastic time once again.
We spend a lot of time in this area and that is good cause I am planning to live there in the upcoming year.