Crooked River

Too hot, so no one would get out of the car for my pic!

For this Independence Day, what could be better than visiting a national park?! Yes, there is an actual national park (the same designation as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, or Yosemite) just outside of Cleveland -- Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It preserves and reclaims the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland. Cuyahoga is the Mohawk word for "crooked river". For us, this visit is #24 of 58 national parks. Making progress on that bucket list!

But before we headed into the park, R and I drove a few miles north to the Leonard Krieger CanalWay Center to get a passport stamp for the Ohio & Erie Canalway. (The boys stayed behind in the hotel room, playing cards with Uncle K.) Like the Illinois & Michigan Canal, which connected the Illinois River to Lake Michigan, the Ohio & Erie Canal provided a successful transportation route from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

At the canalway visitor center, we watched a video about the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969. The river, like so many others near industrial cities, had become so polluted that an oil slick and other debris caught fire, likely from a spark from a passing train. The fire only lasted 30 minutes, but it brought attention not only to Cleveland, but also to other environmental problems across the country, and eventually led to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Seeing the footage of how bad the condition of the river was then compared to what it has recovered to now is amazing!

After picking up the boys and checking out of the hotel, we headed a few miles down the road to the Canal Visitor Center to get some information on things to see/do inside the park and start on their Jr. Ranger booklets. Unfortunately, because of the extreme heat and humidity, we weren't going to be able to do much exploring outside. But I imagine that it must be gorgeous here to see the leaves turn colors in the fall!

One place that I definitely wanted to see was Brandywine Falls. It was just a short walk from the parking lot to the falls, and thankfully, it was a little cooler in the shade!

Patriotic Avengers!

From Brandywine Falls, we headed over to the Boston Store Visitor Center to take a break in the A/C and to turn in the boys' booklets for their badges. Despite the heat, we saw so many people riding bicycles today along the Towpath Trail. The trail was formerly the path that mules used while towing boats along the canal.

Across the road from the visitor center was the Boston Trail Mix store. Can't keep us away from ice cream!

Just a couple more quick stops at the remaining visitor centers within the park to collect cancellations for my national park passport and a short detour to see a covered bridge...

Everett Road Covered Bridge

Our last stop was Szalay's Farm Market. Roasted corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, and what else...

ICE CREAM!