I Love Kentucky!

Hello again. We arrived in St. Louis Sunday afternoon and are staying in just the most charming little cottage house in the Central West End. So far, I love St. Louis, but this blog is about Kentucky. I'll post more about St. Louis in a few days. We haven't had much of a chance to do anything here yet, but will soon.

So, we left Cincinnati Friday afternoon and drove southeast to the Red River Gorge, which is in the Daniel Boone National Forest, which is huge! I went to the Gorge during college once, but that was definitely a different kind of trip! Anyways, we got into the forest area on Mountain Highway through Kentucky. The drive itself was gorgeous. We proceeded to our hotel, which was in Campton - about 10 minutes away from the Gorge entrance. It's really a bummer because we don't have equipment to camp. I know we'd be able to fit a tent and sleeping bags, but we don't have room for coolers, cookware, etc. - especially when we're en route to a new city because our bug is pretty packed! (On a side note, I'm eating the most delicious waffles in St. Louis as I type this. The cottage is considered a Bed and Breakfast, so the kitchen is stocked with all sorts of organic breakfast options!) But, if you ever decide to go to the Red River Gorge, definitely camp inside the park. You're encouraged to only camp in the Backcountry, so finding a sweet camping site is all in your hands.

Alright, back on track... So, we checked in to our hotel and got ready to explore the Gorge on our own. The first trail we did was only a 1/4 mile long, called Whistling Arch. This was cool because there was a huge valley of rocks and also a large boulder. Someone had tied a rope to a tree at the top of the boulder so you could pull your way up. We got to the top for some amazing pictures and also discovered a campsite that would be ideal (someone else discovered it first and were already camping there!).



We then proceeded to Sky Bridge Loop, which wasn't a loop at the time because they were repairing a portion of the trail. Regardless, you were able to walk to Sky Bridge, which is a natural bridge. By the way, the Red River Gorge contains over 100 arches or natural bridges - the most East of the Mississippi. Sky Bridge is one of the largest arches in the park, although it has been graffitied for decades as people feel the need to carve their name into the top of the arch.





The last trail we did that day was Rock Bridge Arch. This was about a 2 mile loop that brought you down into a valley where there was a small waterfall. The arch on this trail contains the only true natural bridge as it crosses over a river. The rest just cross over land. This was a nice hike and we met a professor who recommended we go to the visitor center the next day to find out about more good trails to hike.



After the last hike, it was getting dark and we were pretty hungry. We stopped on our way out of the park at The Crazy Climber's Cafe for some delicious food, Blue Chimay, and games of Connect Four. This was also a hostel and we were bummed we didn't find it before the hotel because we would have loved to stay there. We were told by an employee there to check out Miguel's Pizza, which was about 7 miles west of where we were. He said all of the climbers go there for the night to camp, talk about where they climbed that day and eat pizza. We thought what the hell, we're not climbers, but we'll check it out. So we get there and it's pitch dark, luckily I had my headlamp and fit in with the rest of the climbers! We went in to get a beer and discovered we were in a dry county so settled for Ale-8 (a Kentucky beverage) instead. We then went out back to check it out. It looked like it would be great if you were a climber or friends with climbers. I just wanted to yell that my friend had just climbed Mt. Everest, but held back. So, if any of you climbers ever go down to the Red River Gorge, definitely check out Miguel's Pizza off exit 33 on the Blue Mountain Parkway - you'll find out lots of good tips about the region.

Alright, well I need to get ready for a day of work and I still have a day of hiking to discuss. So, I guess I'll try and post part 2 soon, along with some pics, because I have tons. Enjoy the cool fall weather!

Cinci Pics

Weird mirror thing at International Park

Self Portrait at Krohn Conservatory Desert Room















Cincinnati skyline from Union Terminal















View of Covington, Ky from Ohio side















Plant with droplets of water at Krohn Conservatory

More on Cincinnati below...

Goodbye, Cinci

We sent in our last data shipment yesterday and are waiting on approval to move on to St. Louis. We got ourselves a little cottage in the Central West End, which is about 4 miles west of the Arch. There's a deck and a backyard, so we're looking forward to that. St. Louis also has what has been called a State-of-the-Art public transportation system, so that should be nice. It's called the MetroLink and looks similar to the Metro in DC. Hopefully we'll have better luck with that than we've had with the Cincinnati bus system.

Anyways, Cincinnati has treated me well. I've spent a lot of time with old friends from school and have gotten to re-experience and introduce to Emily, a lot of Cincinnati staples, like Skyline Chili (delicious!). We also were able to hit up Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, where some good 'ole German beer day drinking occurred. We ate bratwurst and listened to German music and saw lots of lederhosen, which are those short shorts the men wear. We have made our way across the river to Newport (where there is a great view of the Cincinnati skyline) and Covington, Ky to see more bluegrass music. I'm not really sure what we're going to do in St. Louis because I'm pretty sure there's not going to be places playing bluegrass every night of the week there!
We've also visited some other artsy places like the Contemporary Arts Center, which was much larger than I expected. There were 3 featured artists there, including one that designed a large linear piece that was installed on the outer walls of a parking garage, plus two floors of permanent collections. The Fiber Arts Gallery was also worth checking out. There were installations there by the same artist that owns that farm in Blue Ash. Lastly, we went to what is called Final Friday, which occurs in Over-the-Rhine on Main St. on the last Friday of every month. There are tons of galleries there and they stay open late for viewings and cheese and wine offerings. I've liked all of the art I've been seeing so much that I've even started my own little art project. I'm trying to recreate all of the places we've lived in so far using colored pencils. We'll see how that turns out!

What else... we've become big fans of the Findlay Market and have tried to do as much of our grocery shopping there as possible. We were also taken to a Burlesque show in an old church that has been turned into a venue of sorts. There were lots of different acts and a magician-type masochist who had people throw darts at him and staple money to his chest. Very interesting to say the least. Moving on, the Midpoint Music Fest took place downtown last weekend - it is the largest Independent Music Fest in the Midwest. We got wristbands for $10 and were able to go from venue to venue checking out all of the different acts.

Of course, we've done our share visiting different parks and gardens. We've been down to International Park and Bicentennial Park, which are both on the Ohio Riverfront. Bicentennial Park has two of the best playgrounds I've ever seen and a geological timeline that runs parallel to the river. International Park is broken down by continent using artist-influence from that region and also tries to connect the regions using Cincinnati's various Sister Cities (more information on Sister Cities can be found at our favorite website, www.wikipedia.com). Today, we visited Krohn Conservatory which had different rooms, including the Tropical Room, Desert Room, Orchid Room, and Bonsai collection. Well that's my tourism heavy life I'm living right now - in between driving around these cities, getting to know them better than there own residents.

We should be leaving on Friday. We're going to leave early (granted we get the ok from the company) and head down to Red River Gorge. I've been there once before during college, but it's beautiful and Emily keeps hearing about it and I'd love to go back. There are natural bridges and cliffs and it should be beautiful this time of year. We're going to do some hiking Friday and Saturday and then head on over to Louisville for Saturday night. For some reason, I've always wanted to check out Louisville. Then it's on to St. Louis. See pics above of Cinci. Hope everyone is doing grand.

Zinzinnati

Hey everyone. We've been in Cinci for about 2 weeks now. It's been good times so far. We've went to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky and we've seen a few bluegrass shoes at different venues. We also had some friends come down last weekend to see Umphrey's McGee play at the Taft, which is within walking distance of our place. Went up to Miami University to collect the campus and give a presentation to the geographyds, which was nice. It was crazy seeing all of the changes that have been made to the campus and also good to see some of the geography professors. After our presentation, I was able to show Emily what Jungle Jim's was all about. It's a huge grocery store with a large International Section, and even better, the best beer and wine department you will ever see! She thoroughly enjoyed that trip! Last weekend, we also went to a farm up in Blue Ash that has a sculpture installation. There were different local artists who installed various sculptures on this private farm. There were definitely more sculptures than I was expecting and it was a beautiful day for the adventure. Lastly, the Browns beat the Bengals last Sunday, which was awesome. I was at BW3's with a bunch of Cincinnati Bengals fans (aka Miami buddies from Cinci), so it was nice to pull out the win. I've found out I'm going to St. Louis for the month of October and then to Kansas City for November. The Browns are playing at St. Louis on October 28, so if anyone wants to make their way over, I'll be there! I'm excited to be heading Out West. I'll also be home for Thanksgiving - can't miss that Wednesday before Thanksgiving bar night! This weekend is the downtown Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. That's what it's called. So, we'll probably make our way down to Fountain Square for a bit. Tonight, we're planning on going to the Art Museum and to dinner in Mt. Adams. Alright, well we're about to leave for the day. Hope everyone is doing well! Also, I've posted some pics on the last few posts that were pic-less, so check them out!

Five States in One Week

Camping in Indiana - lots of playground time!
















Niagara Falls

We left Cleveland and headed back to Pittsburgh to re-collect a few streets and go to court. We got to Pittsburgh a few Thursday's ago and court was on Monday, August 27. We stayed at a hotel in the Southside, which is a street with about 20 blocks of bars and restaurants. It's a more eccentric area of the city. It was pretty fun being able to hang out in Pittsburgh again, especially on the Southside, but we were definitely ready to get out of there. So, we decided to head up to Buffalo, NY to see Team 5. We trained with them in Portland and then drove across the country to Austin with them. This is the closest we've been to them, so we decided to go up for a visit. We hung out in Buffalo for a night and then drove up to Niagara Falls for a bit before heading back to Pittsburgh. It was really great to see Niagara Falls again because I hadn't been since 6th grade. We only went to the American side, but it was still cool, especially since Emily had never been there. It was also really fun out in Buffalo because all of the bars there are open til 4am! We then went back to Pittsburgh and had a nice night of lounging. Court was the next day and we won and got the money on the spot, which was awesome. We were then ready to head to Toledo where we stayed with my good friend, Meredith's, sister, Missy. She has the cutest house about 15 minutes away from downtown. She also has DVR and a dog, so both of those things have been nice. We've spent lots of time at the local bar called Doc Watson's. They have $2 beer specials that change monthly, so we got to experience Molson Canadian in August and Warsteiner in September. We also went to the Toledo Art Museum and Glass Pavilion, which both were great. The art museum was huge and cased a lot of different time periods and styles. The Glass Pavilion contained 7 galleries and a lot of local glass work from Toledo, which is knows as the Glass City because much glass was produced here starting in the late 1800's though today. For Labor Day weekend, we went camping near Wolcotville, Indiana. We camped at a 75-acre campground called Gordon's. It was very family oriented, which was cool because there were a LOT of playground type places to play. Swings, teeter-totters, slides, etc. There was also a pool, but we decided not to frequent that. There really wasn't a lake or anything nearby so we drove about 30 minutes north to Pokagon Lake State Park which did have a lake, so we rented a paddle boat and swam out in the middle of the lake. We then went on a hike after we were able to break into Emily's friends car because we accidentally locked the keys in the trunk! We also went to the Nature Center where we were able to learn about all of the critters running around in the park. We went back to our spot at Gordon's and proceeded to play Bingo and get extremely drunk! It all started when we decided to make Bingo a drinking game - easy to play - if you don't have what they call, you drink! We then went to sing and dance to Karaoke, which is what Gordon's really tries to advertise. We didn't get to sing though because it's so very popular. Then, I was able to find a party (which is something we were looking for all weekend) and drank more and played beer pong. Good times! Oh, and the fifth state we visited was Michigan - they don't sell beer on Sunday's in Indiana, so it was a good thing we were only 30 minutes from Michigan. We also bought sweet bi-colored corn there. Alright, so now we're back in Toledo and we are leaving tomorrow (which is Thursday, September 6). We're heading down to the Nati (Cincinnati) where we are staying in a really nice apartment with a rooftop terrace right downtown. We should be there for a couple weeks and it should be fun! So, if you're able to come on down, let me know. Umphrey's McGee is playing next weekend (September 15) and Oktoberfest is the weekend after that (September 22-23). Should be good times! Oh, and sorry for the lack of photos, hopefully I'll get it together in Cinci.

Goodbye, Cleveland

We finished up Cleveland this past Wednesday. We had our biggest collect day yet - 299 miles. It was great being home in the summer and seeing friends and family. There were also some festivals I attended while home. The Burning River Fest is held on an annual basis at Wendy Park which is on Whiskey Island. There is a great view of the city from the park and it's also on the Cuyahoga River. The fest is held to raise environmental awareness of the river and lake and is named so from the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969. There was live music, local food, and other various vendors. The next day, I was able to go to the Midwest Reggae Fest, which was held at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park. I hadn't been to the ledges since high school, but it was everything I'd remembered. The Quarry is absolutely gorgeous. The water is extremely clean and very deep. You can basically dive in from almost any spot along the Quarry edges because it gets so deep so fast. There's also a spot about 30 feet up that you can jump off of into the Quarry. Lots of fun to be had there! And, I can't forget about the MelonHead Gainer. I was also able to go to the first Browns pre-season game against the Chiefs. We won, so let's hope it's an indication of the rest of the season. Emily and I were also able to take the Mega-Bus to Chicago for a weekend. I was able to visit my very good friend, Meredith and Emily was able to visit some of her friends as well. I also got to see some of my neighbors from college, so that was fun. We had drinks on top of the Hancock Building and the view is absolutely amazing. The drinks may be expensive, but it's worth it for the view. It was actually really strange - it was raining down below, so we thought the view wouldn't be that great, but it was spectacular. You couldn't even tell it was raining from the 95th floor. So, basically, it's a great thing to do - rain or shine! I got to have one last night out with my girlies before we left for Pittsburgh (yes, we're back in Pittsburgh). We went to a Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of 31st and Superior called #1 Pho. It was delicious - huge portions, good beer, and good service for a reasonable price. Definitely recommended! So, we're back in Pittsburgh for just a few days. We're staying at a hotel in the South Side, which is a really cool area. It's basically 20 blocks of bars, restaurants, and odd shops. We went out last night for sushi and drinks on East Carson Street, which is the main strip of the South Side area. Tonight, we think we're going to hit up the Strip District which is an open-air market by day and a bar/club scene by night. So, we're here because we had to recollect 12 scenes from our previous collect here and then we go to court Monday to sue that lady who won't give us our money back. So, we are looking forward to a victory followed by Pamela's Pancakes. Then we're off to Toledo - we think we'll be there for about 2 weeks and then Cincinnati - we'll probably be there for about a month. So, I'm thinking Toledo for the end of August, beginning of September and Cincinnati for the end of September through mid-October - just in time for Oktoberfest! So, if anyone will be in those areas during those times, let me know! Cheers!

C-Town

Hi All! I've been in Cleveland for two weeks now. Things are going well. We've had a couple of rain days since we've been here (today included). We're hoping to be done by August 17 with Cleveland, but it's all depending on the rain right now. I've seen a lot of music since I've been here, starting with Xavier Rudd at the House of Blues - he is just amazing! I also went to the Tri-C jazz fest to hear some Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood. The Jazz fest was located on what's called The Mall downtown. It's right by Lakeside Ave. in between Ontario and East 6th. It was a great location for a concert and I really hope the city decides to play more music there. Last weekend I went to Matisyahu and 311 at Tower City Amphitheater (I will not call it Time Warner) and it was great. I've really wanted to see Matisyahu for a while, so I'm glad I was able to. Then, Emily and I went to Blonde Redhead at the House of Blues - they're a band she likes, but were also really good. We also went to see Hurricane on the Bayou at the Omnimax Theater at the Science Center and the Rockefeller Gardens in University Circle. Omnimax movies make you feel like you're actually in the movie and the footage was just amazing, so it was a good time. I didn't even know the Rockefeller Gardens existed - it's a small outdoor garden and indoor garden, but it's free and it was kept up really well. Other than that, I've just been hanging out with the fine folk up here in Cleveland. It's really nice to know people in the city we're working in. It's also really strange to see Cleveland how I'm currently seeing it. My outlook of the city were always definitely swayed living out in B-town. There's so much of this city that I have never seen and is quite sad. Almost the entire East Side of Cleveland is boarded up. You can see there things used to flourish, but everything moved out to the suburbs since the 1960's and 1970's. On the positive side of things, there is construction EVERYWHERE, so it looks like a lot of efforts are being put forth to turn this city back around. Pictures to come soon - everyone have a good week!