Dayton National Cemetery/Hawthorn Hill (May 24, 2020)

 Interesting motorcycle ride on a sunny and warm Sunday. After the ride yesterday by the late afternoon there were big storms from the heat of the day here. Thankfully, it cleared up and got to get out.
Wanted to pay my respects to those who paid the ultimate price for the defense of freedom, so rode first out to The Dayton National Cemetery. As I read there are some 55,000 buried there and going as far back as the Revolutionary War. I have a photo of one of those grave markers at the bottom of the page. It is a beautiful place and I was very glad that I made the stop there. I like to make visiting the National Cemeteries or War Memorials (as I did while living in Richmond, VA) a habit on Memorial Day or the weekend thereof.
From there, rode a ways out toward my next location. Those who follow me will know I am sort of an Aviation fan, and have never seen the house directly below.   It is Hawthorn Hill which was the home of Orville Wright. Wilbur also planned it but died before the house was completed. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in 1914. Orville lived there with his father and his sister. Orville was the last Wright to live there until his death in 1948.   More photos can be found on my "Racing with the Wind" blog page.

 

Wegerzyn Gardens Metro Park (May 23, 2020)

 Interesting motorcycle ride today to Wegerzyn Gardens Metro Park in Dayton, Ohio. It was part of a longer motorcycle ride into Dayton, but have seen wanting to visit this park for some time. Had read that it was very beautiful and as you can see from the photos below, it certainly was. It was really nice to get out after all the rain of the past few days and to see this was well worth the ride. I plan to return to this park in the future. There are more photos of the park, plus parts of Dayton on my "Racing with the Wind" blog page. 

Ferncliff Cemetery (May 16, 2020)

 Nice little motorcycle ride on this Saturday, back to the Springfield area to visit the Ferncliff Cemetery. This was suggested by my wife who had been there before. Nice place with a lot of history. In fact, came across the grave of a former Governor of Ohio. I have those photos on my "Racing with the Wind" page.
Section at left is the Civil War section, a plus a couple more areas below. It was a very beautiful and well kept cemetery and I enjoyed the ride there.
Headed out past some more old houses, I had thought of Springfield as a run down wreck of a city, but much of it is in very nice shape and certainly finding that a great deal of it is very interesting indeed.
To be sure, it has some beat down areas, and there is the very large and abandoned for the most part Lower Valley Mall but otherwise it has some very historic buildings and some very interesting areas to see. Plus, I have seen where they are removing some of the largest rundown and abandoned structures which is a very good thing. Certainly Springfield rates further explorations in the future.     
 

Wescott House/ Hartman Rock Garden (May 13, 2020)

 This to the left and directly below is the Wescott House, designed in 1906 by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a Prairie Style house. The owner of the house Burton Wescott had a long history in business and politics in Springfield, which included the Presidency of the Westcott Motor Car Company. The house was later purchased by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and restored to its former glory. Tours of the house are usually offered though currently the tours are on hold due to the Covid 19 epidemic. The three buildings below the Wescott House are interesting buildings in the area of the many to be found there.

The remaining photos below are of the Hartman Rock Garden, another interesting place on my motorcycle ride. In fact more photos of both places can be found on my Racing with the Wind blog page. I was able to tour this interesting site  as there is no admission charge though donations are accepted. It was built Ben Hartman from 1932-1944. It was started as a project to keep him busy during the Great Depression. After his death his wife Mary maintained it for 53 years.
Today it is maintained by the Friends of the Hartman Rock Garden. 
Both places I visited today were first time visits and greatly enjoyed both places.     

Another Virus Morning (May 7, 2020)

 A strange day among many, up early to watch the sun rise. Got out a bit early (before the crowds build) to go to Lowe's for some supplies. Looking at the mall next to it, and it is deserted and the stores remain closed. Supposed to open soon, under the new rules. It has certainly been a very interesting time. Took the photo at the very bottom a bit later when I took a motorcycle ride. As usual of late, more photos from that can be found on my "Racing with the Wind" Page. These are certainly interesting days with some changes coming up in the next few days. One thing that is coming up here is much colder and unseasonable weather. In fact there is a change of a freeze tomorrow night with a lot of rain in the next few days. So this ride was a very good idea, may be the last for a while anyhow.   

571 Ride (May 4, 2020)

Believe it or not on this Monday morning, this was the first part of the ride. Took this photo near my house of the geese with their baby geese. This is a special and wonderful time of year and a great time to see the wonders of nature in all its glory. I have only lived in Ohio for the last two years (almost) but have really come to love it. For so many reasons, this is a wonderful place to live and I feel very lucky to be here.   

Stopped by Carriage Hill Park, where I stopped for a brief bit to visit some horses out enjoying the morning. Fun to see them, and they are some remarkable creatures.
The park is one of my favorite places to explore. Dayton has a very good park system and looking forward to seeing all of them. Hopefully that will be a good project for this year. Until I find out more about the virus, keeping my distance from my fellow man.     

Due to the virus it was very quiet in Tipp City. Rode a roundabout route from Carriage Hill Park into the country and came across the turnoff from 202 to Tipp City and figured, what the hell. Love the beautiful old buildings.
From there rode down 571 past some farms and fields into New Carlisle. Visited the airport (just a sort of "fly by" as nothing going on there) and then followed it to my home (well almost to my home). Ride was 32 miles and a great time on a beautiful day. I put a few more photos up on my "Racing with the Wind" motorcycle blog. Looking forward to the next ride, thank you for visiting my page.     

Visiting with the Wright Brothers (May 1, 2020)

Interesting ride on the motorcycle on this first day of May. I had a surprise in that I really was not headed to Dayton, but ended up there. Even more interesting, found my way once again to Woodlawn Cemetery.
The photo at left is the Civil War section there. Directly below is the Wright Family graves which is includes Wilbur and Orville Wright as well as their sister and their dad.
From the cemetery at its highest point is the third photo which I took. That is said to be the best view of the city to be found anyplace. I zoomed in for that photo, but have a longer view on my "Racing with the Wind" blog page.
It was a good day to get out, with the sun finally coming up and the temperature coming up from the cold of the past few days. Like the rides around here and certainly found this one to be interesting today. Went a few more places on the way, but this is the main destination for this blog post. I hope you have enjoyed these photos and thank you for visiting my page.