Next set of Pictures

Here is the next set of pictures that we thought might be of interest..... (Click on any picture to see it enlarged, then click BACK on your browser to return to this Blog.)


Joan is dwarfed by the hill that she is descending. This was just north of Malabar Farm, enroute to Oberlin.




Oberlin, OH. The Underground Railroad memorial on the campus of Oberlin College.

Oberlin, Ohio. This unassuming house served as a safe house during the UGRR days. There were secret crawl spaces in which people were hidden until they could safely continue their travel.

Oberlin, Ohio. We just happened upon this mural pained on the side of a small computer store building.

The Underground Railroad Quilt, made by senior citizens and kept at the Senior Center in Oberlin. Each panel was done by a different woman, and has its own meaning and symbolism.

Riding along a normal rural road, Joan noticed these very odd-looking animals in a field. We think that they are alpacas that have been sheared, but we still are not sure. Looks to me like something out of a Disney movie! (Susan K, what do you think???!)

As we reached the Oberlin area, the hills gave way to very flat expanses. Some roads ran straight as an arrow for 3, 5, even 7 miles. If you are lucky enough to have the wind at your back, you can just fly down these roads.

Covered bridge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is a beautiful park located between Cleveland and Akron, OH.

Now this got our attention. The sign was on what was otherwise a very normal-looking farm. The young bull behind the building got very interested in us as we stopped to admire and photograph the sign, and came over to the fence to say "hi" shortly after this photo was snapped. We declined to come in and visit, though. (Click on this picture to enlarge so as to fully appreciate the sign! Then click your BACK button of your browser to return to the blog.)

The Hubbard House in Ashtabula, OH. Code named "Mother Hubbard", it served as a terminus point on the UGRR. You cannot see it in this picture, but the house backs up to the shore of Lake Erie, where transfers of escapees to boats took place for their passage to Canada. The house now contains a museum which I expect is very interesting, but unfortunately is open only certain days of the week, and not the day we passed by.

And so here we are, on the shore of Lake Erie. We stopped here, somewhere between Ashtabula and Conneaut, to take stock, remembering dipping our rear wheels in Mobile Bay, and thinking about the full breadth of the country that we have covered to get to this point.