Day 116, May 21, The Ohio and Erie Canal

 Three amazing things:

#1- Biking today along the historic Ohio & Erie Canal was quite similar to our 4-day pedal along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in Maryland several weeks ago but with a few notable differences. Being later in the year, it’s much more hot and humid. And being in a national park, it’s also more heavily used. Which is why I figured to spend only one day on this lovely bike path which wends its way gently along the Cuyahoga River on one side and the remnants of the canal on the other. Was a perfect day for a 20-mile peddle; although last nights forecast called for rain all day, the storms held off until the evening. Lucky us!

#2- Brandywine Falls are the iconic symbol of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. They appear on every picture of the park and for good reason:  these falls are most impressive. Only a 3-mile round trip hike from the towpath bike trail, Aaron nevertheless chose to sit out the hike to nurse a bum knee, so I turned it into more of a trail run. The trail was a hot and humid venture despite being quite forested, but the falls were beautiful and well worth the sweaty climb.

#3- The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad carries passengers up and down the valley for purely site-seeing adventures. During the summer, one can bike ride down the towpath and hitch a return trip on the train. But because their summer season hasn’t yet opened, we opted instead for a trip up and down the rails on a 3-hour nighttime ride. The engine, dubbed “Old 765,” is a restored behemoth, a mighty coal-powered steam locomotive originally built in 1944. Belching black smoke and possessing a wicked loud iconic steam whistle, the historic engine is rather quite impressive. I’m grateful the rain held off all day until just before we boarded; the rain has popped the green of the riverside forest and made for a beautiful evening/night run. 

Good deeds:  Aaron’s service to another came in the form of his profusely thanking a police officer for putting himself on the front lines to protect us. He’s always so complimentary to our officers, and he will seek them out to personally express his gratitude.                                                                                 My good deed came when, while waiting for our train ride, the rain came up in violent fashion with wind driving it sideways into the group of 6 men performing big band music on the platform. The trumpet player on the outside of the group was getting drenched but just kept on playing. I took my umbrella over and acted as a shield for him against the driving rain. He gave me Mardi Gras beads in return.