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This is the second of a two-part series. You can also read about the first part of our trip to Hocking Hills here.

Day 2 Continued:
After lunch, we drove over a bit to the most impressive feature of Hocking Hills – Ash Cave.

Ash Cave

This is the other picture you are most likely to see if you look for pictures of HH without specifying which area.

This is the approach to the cave:

And this is what it looks like from the bottom, just past the waterfall:

The trail itself was nothing of note – it’s more a means to get to the waterfall. Unlike other trails like Old Man Cave which maintained interest the whole time.

Fire Tower

The fire tower was not on my original agenda, but it’s there and the kids wanted to see it, so we did.

It is just a tall tower but on top of a ridge for the park rangers to go up and look around for forest fires. Climb at your own risk, and no more than 6 people at a time.

The cabin at the top was locked – you could climb up the stairs until you got to the bottom of the cabin, which is just higher than the treetops so it was windier up there.

I wouldn’t say it was fun, but it was memorable. A few members of our crew did not go up.

At this point, we were done with our planned hikes, but there was still more time in the day. My brother had heard about another cave that is not one of the main features and not on the popular trail maps that you get at various places, so we figured we give it a try.

State Rockclimbing and Rappelling Area
I don’t know the official name of this place, but the sign at the road said “State Rockclimbing and Rappelling Area” so that’s what I’m putting here.

Our goal was a certain cave, and we pulled into a parking lot that was where we heard it should be. We all got out of our vehicles, and while my brother and I discussed expected hiking time, our wives started chatting with a couple of other women, one of whom had a professional-looking camera.

I figured they found someone they knew, but when they waved us over we found out that our hiking plans had changed. They happened to find the lady who had written the book on various day hikes in Hocking Hills. Her name was Mary Reed and she told us that the trail to the cave we wanted was a horse trail, so it was very muddy because horses are rough on the trails, and we were better off going across the street. And I think she was right. Since she was nice enough to give us that advice, I’ll return the favor and tell you all to go buy her book “Hocking Hills Day Hikes”.

We were parked in the right spot, we just needed to go south from the parking lot instead of north.

Shortly after crossing the road, the path split (more like a T). We went right first, to visit the waterfall. We had seen a few other waterfalls this day, but this wasn’t supposed to be a long hike so we tried it.

The path started out rather similar to things we have back in Michigan.

Then it turned into more caves and slopes

And above that were cliffs with many nooks and crannies for them to go through:

It turned out the kids had the most fun on this hike because there was so much more to traverse. Not being an official tourist stop, the trail was less structured, so the kids went off exploring. The adults, not wanting to sprain anything, decided not to scamble up the slopes after them, so we stayed near the path and chatted while still listening for the noises of the children. Mostly “Hey, over here!” or “Look at this!”.

We finally had to yell for them that we were moving on to the waterfall.

The waterfall wasn’t much. Mostly a jumble of rocks. Here’s the view from the rocks at the waterfall, but looking back to the trail.

Balancing Rock
The we headed back toward the parking lot. At the split where we came in, a few people headed back to the vehicles but most of us continued on (as if we had turned left at the beginning instead of right). This is the path to Balancing Rock.

Two notes on the trail to Balancing Rock. One: it goes along private property, so you’re walking along a backyard or two. Don’t worry, you’re in the right spot, just stay on your side of the fence. And two: whatever length Mary Reed says the hike is, it feels double that because of the terrain and elevation changes. The waterfall path was mostly flat, but this one you’re hiking uphill most of the way there.

It wasn’t that impressive most of the way there. It was scenic but nothing worth stopping and photographing. But near the end it got a lot better.

This part of the trail reminded me of our trip to Nelson Ledges.

And then the path puts you right next to the top of Balancing Rock.

You could, as the kids did, scramble through some fissures to get to the base of Balancing Rock. I was busy taking various pictures of the top of Balancing Rock so I didn’t make it down there before everyone started leaving.

That was it for hiking for the day. We went back to the rental house, had dinner, read books and watched TV until bedtime. And it was evening, then morning the next day.

Day 3:
The agenda for day 3 was not so solid. We had seen most of the things on day 2, and we were starting to grow weary of hiking to waterfalls. Nevertheless, we set off to Conkles Hollow.

Conkles Hollow

Conkles Hollow has a very nice paved trail…

…for the first half of the trail. You don’t get to see the waterfall at the end if you’re in a wheelchair, but you can see views like this:

After going down the unpaved path the rest of the way, we found ourselves at the actual hollow. The sides of the gorge gradually converged together and that’s where the small waterfall was.

In that area, there are various ledges and rock formations that are accessible to the kids, so they took advantage of that.

There was also a path along the top of the gorge, but that was much longer and we didn’t feel doing that.

Since the first two days were packed, we though it would be good to take a break. So we left Conkles Hollow and went to eat at the Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan. We chose that because it was a buffet with a decent price. There’s a gift shop attached to it, so we wandered around there while waiting to be seated. One of the kids wondered why people had southern accents, I explained that we are closer to Kentucky and West Virginia than we are to Michigan, so it makes sense the dialect would be different.

My review of Olde Dutch Restaurant: it’s fine. The food was good, prices were decent. The only warning would be dessert. Desserts are not buffet-style, you get to order one dessert item at the end of your meal. They have a lot of pies, or you can choose ice cream. I chose blackberry pie, I think I got blueberry instead, and it was not worth it. I should have gone for chocolate cream pie or maybe just ice cream, like the rest of the family did.

Then we went back to the cabin and had a relaxing afternoon. I got to finish reading the books I brought, and otherwise did nothing. But after a while, doing nothing in a small cabin starting wearing on people, so I rounded everyone into the van for one last hike, this time to Cedar Falls.

Cedar Falls

Cedar Falls was fairly deserted, since we were there around dinner time. We ended up parking near the falls, so there wasn’t much of a hike to get this view:

But it was about 100 steps down.

Then, since it took us 20 minutes to drive to Cedar Falls but only 5 minutes to walk to the waterfall, we decided to go on a little walk on the trail that loops around the area. It also was a short trail, so it didn’t take too long, but it had a variety of interesting features.

There’s wasn’t any one thing that was spectacular on the trail, just a smattering of different things.

Then, since it was 80 degrees outside (making a lot more icicles fall this day), we decided to stop at the Dairy Queen on the way back to the cabin. Us and about half of Logan, it seemed. We eventually got up to the window, placed our order, and we got the new guy who had just started. He was nervous about having to tip our Blizzards upside down as he had never done that before (he was that new). But we got our stuff and headaed back to the cabin to start packing a bit.

Then it was evening, then morning the next day.

Day 4:
Day 4 was simple: eat breakfast, pack up, clean, and leave. We were out the door well before checkout time of 11:00. We stopped for lunch at some friends’ house on the north side of Columbus, then made it home before dinner.

The End.

Like many Michiganders, we headed south for our spring break.

Unlike many Michiganders, we stopped heading south after only one state and we spent our week in Ohio.

Our friends spent their days on the beach. Our kids had fun seeing who could grab the biggest icicle off the rock ledges.

Our destination was Hocking Hills. We found a VRBO in Logan and set out from there each morning for some trails. For those of you not familiar with this part of Ohio, you are best off picturing West Virginia for the terrain.

Day 1:
We couldn’t check in until 4:00, so we didn’t need to leave that early. It was 10:00 or so when we left.

Normally, when we drive somewhere, we stop at around the 2.5 hour mark for a break. Use the bathroom, stretch the legs, etc. So we usually have lunch around the 2 hour mark. On this day, Some Wife handed out the lunches we had packed, everyone ate as we drove, then we scouted for the upcoming rest stops. I took a survey and no one needed to stop, so the plan was to drive until someone needed to stop.

We ended up going the whole 4+ hours without stopping. I think that’s the first time we’ve ever done that. Turning point for family vacations right there.

We got there early enough so we did everything else before checking into the house: visit the visitors’ center, tour the pencil sharpener museum (right next to the center, and only about 10’x15′ – one of the tinier musea around), hike Rock House, hike Rock Bridge, pick up groceries for the week (hooray for curbside pickup), and grab a carryout pizza (hooray for no cooking the first evening).

Rock House
We chose Rock House for the first afternoon because it was close. Rock House is like a cave with many large openings.

I’ll start with a picture of a tree that looks like a snail, which is on the trail to the actual Rock House

Next is a couple of the kids clambering around the path to Rock House. Notice the icicles. In many areas the path led you under icicles, and we witnessed several of them falling.

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This is continuation of last week’s blog post about the start of our spring break trip to Texas.

Now on to the chronological recap:

Day 4: Cave Day
There a number of caves around the San Antonio area. There was a big tourist-trap one that I avoided due to cost reasons, and I ended up picking Cascade Caverns.

It’s a smaller affair, so if you like a low-key tourist event, I’d recommend this one. The lady sold us our tickets, then locked up the building so she could be our tour guide, then went back to the building after the tour and we bought souvenirs from her. And we were the only people on the tour.

Here are some photos. First up, the gift shop:

We had a few minutes between the ticket purchase and the start of the tour, so we went on a short (1/2 mile?) hike in their trails on the grounds. Not much notable on that hike, other than some informative signs about native fauna. Plus we saw cactus growing wild. That’s something of interest to a Michigander who sees cactus only in special buildings.

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Like most people in Michigan this year, we took advantage of spring break to leave Michigan for warmer pastures and to find out what it’s like to dine in at restaurants.

Unlike most people in Michigan this year, we went to Texas, not Florida.

Since it was only a week, we chose to fly rather than drive to Texas. Our destination was a VRBO house with a pool. Staying for a week, and with kids that can be loud, we figured renting a house was the way to go. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, which is a good layout for a family of 6. Plus a kitchen, dining room, living room, washer/dryer, and back patio and pool. Better features, less crowded, and a similar price compared to staying in a hotel.

Now on to the chronological recap:

Day 1: Travel Day
We left our home around 10:00am, flew to Austin, got a rental car, and headed out to San Antonio. Direct flight to Austin, that’s why we didn’t fly to San Antonio. The rental car process was easier than I remember. The only mishap was that the Alamo and National counters were manned by only one person so there was only one line, but they didn’t tell you that until you went through the ropes course and got to the front of the empty Alamo line, only to be sent to the back of the National line. How hard would it have been to put a sign at the entrance to the Alamo line saying “Go over there to National” or something?

Anyway, we arrived to San Antonio just before dinner their time. We stopped at the Costco just outside SA to get some supplies for the week, plus a Costco pizza for dinner. The only real traffic we had was getting into SA.

All in all though, I’d say Texans weren’t bad drivers. I didn’t have a preconceived notion of Texas drivers, but for the most part they were competent. Which is above average if you check in other states.
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Continued from last week

Day 8

This was a travel day. A few hours through the UP and then the upper LP. A lot of 2-lane highways and not much of the freeways, which made for some scenery. I was doing most of the driving, so I didn’t get to take many photos of the scenery.

Except for this one: our rest stop before the Mackinac Bridge:

Followed closely by this one:

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Continued from last week

Day 6

We had a typical breakfast that we would have at home – cereal and bagels and stuff like that. And then we were off on our day of adventure in the greater Marquette area. First up: Presque Isle.

Fun fact: Presque Isle was designed by the same guy who designed New York City’s Central Park. Maybe “designed” is the wrong word for it – more like “conserved”.

Our first stop was to the mini lighthouse. I think officially it is a beacon, not a lighthouse. But either way, the walk out there was something that the boys liked. It was somewhat harrowing, but the lake was rather calm so it could have been worse.

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Continued from last week

Day 3

Our hosts offered us the use of their jetski. But not just any jetski – it was a stand-up jetski.

For those of you who have ridden a jetski: it’s not like a normal jetski. The difference is like between driving a car and driving a motorcycle. It requires a lot more balance and a lot of concentration. With a normal jetski you can slow down or stop and not have to do anything. With a stand-up jetski you must balance all the time. Imagine riding a bike or motorcycle and not being able to put your feet down, or a kickstand either. Because there’s not ground under you.

And the handlebar moves up and down when you don’t want it to. That was the hardest part for me – I wasn’t keeping the handlebar down all the way when I was starting and I couldn’t steer very well. Anyway, here’s some guy on a stand-up jetski:

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