Day 2

18 June (Punderson State Park, OH)

I woke up feeling calm and at ease. Things are finding their place around the campground and in the camper. We went for two bike rides - the first a bunch of stops along the Punderson Lake trail; the second taking us to Punderson Manor, a Tudor-style hotel and manor built in the 1600s. 

The kids got to dip their legs in Punderson Lake and met a Rhodesian ridgeback (and his owner) who was so excited to run, leap, and swim in the lake.

It was still pretty cold for them to jump all the way in (and it also didn't look the most exciting for swimming -  a bunch of water grasses were all along the beach). At the Manor, the nature guide showed us a bunch of pelts and the kids played "Guess the skull." This game (and the people and place here) feels very "Ohio," as we've joked the past two days - simple, kind of country, friendly, accessible. On our way back to the campsite, we saw and beautiful oriole and feel so excited to already be seeing fun, exciting nature. We watched an osprey fly over our campsite with a fish in its clutches. It looked so happy and content and a bit tired and heavy carrying the fish - it was beautiful and I'd (still) like to write a poem about it!

Having bikes on this trip is an amazing gamechanger! We were able to see the entire campground and most of the accessible parts of the park without getting into our car!  

We ate camp tacos for dinner and they were delicious (and felt like a remnant of home).    

Move back to Day 1

Proceed to Day 3