Ohio Adventure

We visited Ron and Paula in Ohio from March 28th to April 2nd. Paula was on spring break, but Ron had to work during the day. Kathie attended a conference in dayton on the 29th, so Paula and I went out for an adventure. Here she is driving us to our first destination while we catch up on various "Billy and Paula" memories, stories, and recent news.

Among other things, I had asked Paula if she knew of any chainsaw wood carvers in the area. She said she did, so off we went. To say that the carver we found was a character would be a definite understatement. He had some interesting carvings, to be sure. I especially like "The Eye" and was tempted to buy it. But he was also something of a talker, a liberal, a rebel, a philosopher, claimed to be a one-time highly successful insurance businessman, but was clearly an eccentric artist who knew every kind of wood he had available, on and on. He seemed to own the old opera house in which he had set up business. We made the mistake of encouraging him with our questions and conversation, so he offered us a tour. If you think of the most cluttered, run-down, five-story massive structure you may have ever seen, and then think of it being literally filled with piles of wood scraps, antiques, and junk, and then if you make your image ten times worse, you still won't be there. Mr. Johnny Bookwalter insisted on giving us the full treatment. We became quite uncomfortable as we climbed higher and higher, hoping that no electrical shorts would start a fire, that no floor boards would give way, and that our host did not have some nefarious deed in mind. We lived to tell about it, as you can see, and, really, it was kind of fun.

Next, we picked up some flax for Paula's garden and then stopped by Bob Evans for lunch. Some of you will fondly remember stops at Bob Evans as a part of annual treks to Ohio for Thanksgiving.

We then climbed back into Paula's trusty Honda Element and headed to Paula's least favorite store to pick up a replacement Pyrex dish. Sure, we could have stuck to our liberal guns and driven miles to another outlet, but Wal-Mart was just next door. Oh well, we got to see a good bumper sticker in the Wal-Mart parking lot, of all places. (In case you can't read it, it says, "Bush-Cheney Screwing Up Since 2000!")
The next day, Paula, Kathie, and I visited the Kitchen Aid store in the town where the Kitchen Aid plant exists. There was a cool museum showing all the appliance models over the years. And if you think you have seen every Kitchen Aid color available, you're wrong!