Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad and National Park

Everyone was up early so we could be at the train station by 10:00 a.m.  We were 30 minutes early but the train came early and we were able to board. 

Here comes the train!

Here we are waiting for the train to leave the station.  For the first hour or so we were the only ones in this car so Carol and I moved to the other side of the aisle to sit by windows.  The next car contained a small gift shop and snack bar so we walked to that car for popcorn and drinks to enjoy while we were traveling.

Scenery along the rails.

This was the last stop on this trip.  More people boarded the train but our car was still nearly empty.

Scenes from the rails.

Both boys took time out from sightseeing to look at their devices.

More scenes from the rails.

All along the rails, we saw this huge pipeline.  We wondered if it were a water pipe but when we asked the conductor, we were told it was a sewer line.  

This guide had coyote and beaver pelts for us to feel.  He said that the population of beaver had been nearly eliminated but in the 1970's when the government enacted the clean water act and the Sierra Club helped clean up the Cuyahoga River, the beaver returned to the area.

The Cuyahoga River is 75 miles long but the beginning and end of the river is only 20 miles apart.  The river twists and turns in a U-shape those 75 miles.  This river has an interesting history.  It starts at the Erie Great Lake and Cleveland was built around the lake and river.  The industries around the river would dump their wastes into the river and it became known as the dirtiest river in the US.   It was not unusual for there to be fires of the refuge on the river but in 1969 there was a fire on the river and it took 18 hours to put it out.  This made national news, Congress got involved, and passed the Clean Water Act.   There was no more dumping into the river and it was eventually returned to a clean river that people can enjoy today.  A 75-mile long river made a huge difference in the other rivers and water sources.

This statue is by the rails at the southern most point of the Cuyahoga River.  The Ohio Basin Indian Tribes would canoe down the Cuyahoga to this point and then physically portage their canoes to the larger Ohio River to continue their movement farther west and eventually reach the Mississippi River.

This is the train car in which we rode.

A couple of the conductors on the train.  The train is staffed by retired volunteers,

This national park is really different in that a lot of the land is occupied by private houses and businesses.  There are state  and county roads woven throughout the park.  Because these businesses and homes need access to the park, there is no entrance fee.  It is similar to the Great Smoky Park National Park.  It is a beautiful park with lots of hiking trails and history but we only scratched the surface in the afternoon we were here.

Six years ago we took Hunter on a trip and we were taller than he was and now look...he's taller than both of us.

Cuyahoga River

One of the hikes we did make was to the Beaver Marsh.  This statue of beaver and otter were the only beaver and otter we saw but supposedly they both live in the marsh.

Beaver Marsh

We did see several fish.

We did see this painted turtle sunning himself.

This is a picture of a homeless encampment along the rails.

A huge snapping turtle.

More sunning turtles.

After this hike, we headed back to camp hoping to get in a little earlier than the past few days.  We decided to grab milkshakes at McDonalds to tide us over until we made it back to camp.  The drive-up was very busy, so we parked and went in.  What a mistake that was.  There was one register open and a kiosk to order.  We don't like ordering from a kiosk so we stood at the one register that was open; however, we did not realize that the employees did not like to take orders from that register.  We stood and waited and one employee said she would take our order but we would have to wait...so we waited...and waited...and waited.  Finally, the employee won because we walked out and took our car to the drive-in.

We got back to camp around 4:30 and started a campfire to roast wieners and marshmallows for s'mores for supper.  After supper I began to work on this blog.  Nothing seemed to go right...pictures wouldn't download, I misspelled every other word...etc.  so I put it away .  Here it is Saturday after we got home on  Thursday and I am finally finishing up Thursday's blog.  I am coming to the conclusion that I may need a more up-to-date laptop.  That might avoid some of my frustration.  

PHOTOS ADDED AFTER BLOG COMPLETED 7-9-23

This KOA was not our favorite but we did love this chair and everyone wanted to sit in it.

This was the one washing machine for the entire sub crew to do laundry.

This banner shows the "hits" scored by the USS Cod during it's war years.

This is the oxygen mask used if needed.

Two of the torpedo tubes on the USS Cod.

Memaw and the boys on the deck.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Keegan's turn.

Hunter wants one of these for his room.

Rare time when it was empty so Memaw could sit in it.