City and Country Ride (June 2, 2020)

 Interesting exploring today here in Ohio. This is a remarkable place. Took the photo at left and just below in New Carlisle. The third photo was in Troy, Ohio. Got out to a number of places down some country roads and byways. There are a lot of interesting towns here and that was fun to see. Many of the roads and places I have never been to before.
One place I have been to was George Rogers Clark Park where I took the last two photos. The old house was once the residence of a pioneer family there, and the monument is for a battle there many years ago. More photos can be found on my Racing with the Wind page.   

A ride in the Country (June 1, 2020)

Nice morning out exploring. Got these photos while running around the area on a bright cloudless day in Ohio. Seeing as the protests are really getting wild in a lot of cities (and understand the reasons for that...do agree that Black Lives Matter) decided to stick to the country. Made a stop in New Carlisle at the airport (though that was the last stop not the first as seen here). Got out on some country roads and many of those were new to me. Have only been here a year and seven months though. Finally the photo at the bottom is near my house. I have more photos at my Racing with the Wind Motorcycle Blog page.   

Visiting with the animals (May 31, 2020)

Just a nice morning post on a beautiful Sunday. Rain has quit for a few days it seems. I was up this morning and got some morning photos of the animals in the area...well, some of them anyhow. I really enjoy the bunnies around here, they are such gentle creatures. As for the geese, they have quite the families and they take great care of them. Finally rode out by the park and got the third photo of the horses. I love horses and in fact just have a blast checking out the many wonders to be found here in Ohio. Glad to be here and it is certainly a remarkable place to live.   

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.