Day 80 – Rob & I woke up around 5:30 a.m. and saw the beginnings of a great sunrise outside the bedroom window. I went back to sleep and Rob watched as the sunrise continued, deciding it was going to be worth the trip outside to take pictures. Luna & Gracie were thrilled because this meant an early breakfast. 48 degrees with light rain.
Sunrise, Pymatuning State Park, Andover, OH
Supposed to rain all day so we headed out for some sightseeing since there wouldn’t be that kayaking opportunity we’d wanted. Took the Covered Bridge road tour route which just happened to be on the way to a coffee/bakery place we’d read about. We stopped at several covered bridges and barn quilts, passed thru some Amish countryside and small towns; the streams were running high and the rain increased at times. It was cold, windy, and raw out & we were happy to arrive at All Things Coffee House in Kingsville for coffee and a huge cinnamon roll. Altogether we may have seen 20% of the barn quilts & covered bridges in Ashtabula County, OH. This is a beautiful, peaceful area and we’ve loved it.
Warmed up and with happy tummies, we headed North to the beginning of the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. This road tour starts at Conneaut Harbor in northeastern OH and meanders West along Lake Erie. We saw, through the fog and rain, Conneaut and Ashtabula Lighthouses from parks on the Lake; wineries; and many small towns reminiscent of towns along the Finger Lakes of NY with beautiful tree-lined streets. Many of the trees were flowering; it was lovely even though it was raining fairly hard. Lake Erie is huge, just the small part of it we saw, and the waves were really rolling in. We continued thru Geneva-on-the-Lake which was the only town along the drive that was at all touristy and commercialized with resorts, McMansions, and large RV parks. Just beyond this point we headed south after driving through Geneva State Park to see if they were crowded & if they had good campsites. Crowded? No, hardly anyone was camping in the rain; and the sites were fine.
There are many wineries in Ashtabula County, particularly those clustered near each other in this section of the Winery Tour (South of Geneva-on-the-Lake and near the western border of the County). We decided to stop at one – M Cellars – 6193 S. River Rd., Geneva, OH, (440) 361-4104, www.mcellars.com, after looking at their website & liking what we read about their history & their practices. We drove thru beautiful, scenic wine country and it was similar to the area above San Francisco. We hadn’t eaten since that cinnamon roll and hoped they also offered something to eat along with wine tasting, and they did. We spent hours there, a very fun & informative afternoon. The winery was beautiful and the wine was, too, LOL. And we had some really good hummus & crackers to go with it.
All this casual driving had placed us about an hour from the campground, so we headed back in heavy winds & rain, stopping for pizza to take home with us for dinner. We had a good day and like this area very much. We’re leaving Ohio tomorrow, but we’ll definitely be back.
Pymatuning State Park, 6100 Pymatuning Lake Rd., Andover, OH 44003, (440) 293-6030, “http://ohiostateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/pymatuning-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=OH&parkId=960067#sr_a”. Nice area and nice campground, lots to do in the vicinity. Very large campground with more than 300 sites, 29 are right on Pymatuning Lake. Twenty sites are dry camping with no electric; all other sites have electric hook-ups. Only 18 sites offer full hook-ups; those are reserved quickly. Many campsites are close together, and many of the sites are not level. The camping pads are too short at most sites. Our site, #177, was too short but it was right on the Lake and was surrounded, as are many sites, with large, beautiful trees. During heavy rains, many sites are flooded. Nice area for bike riding, boating, and fishing. All sites are electric except for the 20 dry-camping sites, but many are just 20 amps. There’s good and not-so-good things to consider. Would we come back? Yes, and for the future we took a look at all of the sites noting the ones that were large enough & level enough for our RV and towed car.