Aishling the Airstream Update No 044

 East Harbor State Park

near Marblehead, Ohio

 

From the internets: " East Harbor is situated on a peninsula stretching into the waters of Lake Erie. The park also lies on the fringe of Ohio’s prairie marsh zone. These wetlands are remnants of the Great Black Swamp, which once covered an area 120 miles long and 30-40 miles wide. Nature enthusiasts enjoy viewing an abundance of waterfowl and shorebirds in the park’s scenic wetlands, as well as from the swimming beach and picnic areas along the lake. East Harbor also offers a large campground and great boating, hiking, and fishing amenities."

 

I was a sorta tag-a-long to Craig's Fishing Trip -  

only not really because I was solo camping at the state park 

just across the road from the house they rented. 

 

But this is BIG state park, so in reality, I WAS several miles away - ha. 

And I did my best to not interfere with his 'guy time.' 

So what did I do on my first ever solo-camping trip?

 

I read... and watched a movie or two...

...on my kindle, lol -  

 

I caught up on some of Bible Journaling classes...

and left all my artsy stuff all over the table in the process... 

 

I ate most meals out of the fridge... 

But ride my bike to get ice cream 

at the camp store at least once...

and I enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing spa day! 

I think the thing I enjoyed most was riding my bike to the beach 

a few times each day -

  

I didn't set an alarm so I got there as close to sunrise as I could...

For me, there's something special about starting a new day seeing the sun shine on God' glorious creation.... 

 

I loved going mid-day and seeing everyone enjoy Lake Erie -- no more than ankle deep in the beach area --- it reminded me of photos I've seen from the 20's...[not sure why, lol] 

 

And seeing the deer and rabbits 

along the way was always fun too! 

 

This campground is HUGE [may be the largest in Ohio] but was not very crowded since I was mostly there during the week... 

I enjoyed my cozy spot with quiet neighbors...

And I think I did okay as a solo camper... even the night that  a wind storm kicked up and I had to go out in the middle night to secure lawn chairs, fire bowls, etc... 

 

And it was the first time to use our bike tent - 

LOVED having a place to put my bike away each evening 

...and of course it was still securely locked to the picnic table. 

[LOVE the windows in #AishlingtheAirstream !] 

 

The guys have an off day in the middle of fishing when everyone does their own thing... so it was wonderful to visit the light house with them - 

 

The weather was perfect! 

Drew has new film camera that we played with -  

 

It's black / white and he develops them himself...

 

Each negative is about 4x6...

It's pretty cool!

 

[...looking through the lens...] 

Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch at a local fish house - 

of course that wall-eye was GOOD.

 

Whenever we're in Ohio we always talk about how gorgeous their flowers are - they just don't get the scorching heat we have down here in the south -  

 

On Saturday morning Craig texted me before 5 a.m. saying he was on the way - It didn't take us long [less than an hour] to break camp and head towards Pittsburgh...

[Photo taken at a gas stop after the sun came up -] 

We dropped our camper off at Pennwood Airstream Park [Update # 045] 

 

then headed straight to the airport to catch a plane home so we could check on Craig's mother in between our two long trips...

We are so glad we are able to do this - 

 

And LOOK - we got to fly on a special plane! 

From the internets:  "A gold Southwest plane refers to the airline's iconic "Desert Gold" livery, an orange, red, and gold color scheme from the airline's early days, now seen on a single retro-jet named "The Herbert D. Kelleher" (N871HK) as a tribute to its founder. After the original Desert Gold livery was replaced in 2001, two Boeing 737-700s (N711HK and N714CB) wore the colors, but they were retired, and the livery now exclusively adorns the Herbert D. Kelleher tribute aircraft..."

But I digress - 

East Harbor State Park

I think it's wonderful! Good cell service!

Rustic bathroom and separate [updated] shower house.

The bike trails were great!