Great day for a hike!

Instead of using the gas to haul the boat today, I decided to head down to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to do a little exploring with my two sons, Nick and Sam. It's always fun to get outside, and walking the beautiful Furnace Run was a blast.

We were looking through all the gravel deposits, gazing at fossils, watching for different kinds of rocks (sedimentary or igneous), looking for animal sign, watching for minnows and whatever else we could stumble on. It was a ton of fun and very educational.

We found a TON of fossils from corals to shells. The kids really thought they were neat. Every once in a while, we'd see a pair of goldfinches fly by in all their yellow splendor. A Great Blue Heron almost dragged its legs on Nick's head as we disturbed it from its roost. We saw deer tracks, raccoon tracks, and even beaver tracks, along with the trail between the prints made by its big, wide tail. Like I said, a lot to see if you look close enough.

We saw a few butterflies, including a big tiger swallowtail, and the pesky black flies dined well on me, I can tell you. I don't think the boys noticed them too much. They were too excited about the discoveries around every turn and under every rock.

The CVNP is a great place to get out and see a lot of diverse wildlife and habitats. I know my kids really enjoyed themselves today. Any time kids can get their feet wet chasing minnows and toads, or running down flying grasshoppers is a great time. I know I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get back out. The boys will tell you their favorite things of the hike in the video, but for me it was seeing their eyes light up when they saw new things, the questions they asked about the area, and the pleas to return to the creek as soon as we could for another day of exploring.

Great day for sure.

Talk to you later.

Carl "Big Daddy" Bachtel