Buckeyes and Blue Jackets
For years I had heard stories about my wild cousin, Tommy, and this was reinforced recently by his storytelling on our WV rafting weekend. So I decided to stop in for a visit with him in Columbus, and I hoped to catch up with another college friend, Jim Colvin who, it turns out, lives just 5 minutes from Tommy. I had also lived with an Ohio State grad after college for a few years and never heard the end of how great Columbus and the Buckeyes are. Unfortunately, Ohio State is playing an away game this weekend so I didn't get to experience the infamous Hineygate, but I did get a chance to go inside the hallowed grounds of Ohio Stadium, aka the 'shoe, and ride my bike on Woody Hays Dr. - Woody Hays being the immortal coach (some disenchanted fans might say 'god') of the once-dominant Buckeyes of years past. It wasn't a life-altering experience, nor did I feel the ghost of Woody, but it was a great day for a ride around the campus.
On Tuesday Abbey and I drove down to Hocking Hills State Park south of Columbus. It's actually five parks grouped into one. It took me a while to figure out where to go, but I finally found a nice gorge with a few hiking trails. It was another beautiful day with temps in the 70s. Fall seems to be late this year. Ever since I left Montana it's been warm most of the time and the leaves have been turning pretty slowly. There have been some colorful trees, but there has been still a fair amount of green ones most places I've been. I think that's starting to change though and I have a feeling the color won't last too much longer. So Abbey and I did a nice hike along the creek which still had enough water in spots where she could swim. It was our first hike in several weeks so it felt good to get out. Abbey really seemed to enjoy being in the woods again. Tommy has been working so I've only seen him at night for dinner and some beers. So far he's been pretty tame leading me to believe that he's slowing down in his old age. It also shocked me to find out that he lives in a pretty respectable neighborhood.
Yesterday I visited with Jim and Andrea Colvin and their five kids. Anyone with kids can just imagine what their schedule is like. All five kids play soccer among other things. I got to see Jim 'coach' the team of their youngest who is only in kindergarten. Jim was right on when he said it was like herding cats. He's definitely got more patience than I. Of course, I did coach Mary Beth's softball team for 4 years, so maybe I have more than I give myself credit for. It was nice to catch up with the Colvin's but there schedule is way too crazy for me. Andrea started describing where she had to take everyone the following day and then asked if they would see me. I was thinking to myself, 'When would you possibly have time' Their kids are wonderful, though, and I haven't seen a whole lot of them so it was real nice to see them again.
Tommy talked me into staying 'til Saturday morning so I could experience a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game and he could prove he's not getting too old after all. Yes, they are in the NHL. If you haven't heard of them it probably means you haven't followed the NHL recently as they were an expansion team 4 or 5 years ago. Tommy was one of the early season ticket holders so he has great seats, 2 rows from the glass and 10 ft. from the bench. Unfortunately, there weren't any good fights in the game so we didn't get any blood spattered on us or anything exciting like that. But the game was a great one for the Blue Jackets. They played real aggressive and beat the San Jose Sharks (if you haven't heard of them it's been a LONG since you've followed the NHL) 4-1. We started off the night with a real nice dinner with one of Tommy's customers and his wife at Gordon Biersch, a brew pub in the very nice and lively arena district. We, of course, had to celebrate the win by tipping a few back at O-Shaughnessy's Pub next door to the arena and Tommy topped off the big night by taking me to his neighborhood pub, O'Manny's. It doesn't get much better than that. It was a great night all around.
Old Man's Cave Trail
Rose Lake