If you are looking for a lovely two-bedroom cabin in the Hocking Hills, check out Honey Ridge at www.honey-ridge.com. It will be available for rental beginning August 19.

Honey Ridge is owned, operated and BUILT by our dear friends Beth & Chuck Marousek. The cottage, which is located on top of a heavily wooded ridge, is very private and has a large deck overlooking a ravine. Beth has put her special touch on everything associated with Honey Ridge, so be prepared for a relaxing vacation in a special spot. It’s close to all of the major Hocking Hills attractions including Ash Cave, Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls. . .

Beth and Chuck also have a small herd of dairy goats. Last year, we were lucky enough to get our two girls, Stormy & Crystal, from their herd. They are also bee keepers and gardeners. Plus, Chuck is an extraordinarily talented home builder. You will be well taken care of at Honey Ridge!

So if our cabin at Marsh Hollow is not available, or if you need two bedrooms, be sure to consider staying at Honey Ridge.

Bring a lawn chair or blanket to the Hocking Hills State Park, 8 p.m. on August 12 at the dining lodge, to view this month’s Perseid meteor shower.

Check out the Ohio Department of Natural Resources press release at www.dnr.state.oh.us/news/aug05/0802meteor.htm.

The Perseids come every year, beginning in late July and stretching into August. Sky watchers outdoors at the right time can see colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts and, almost always, long hours of gracefully streaking meteors. Among the many nights of the shower, there is always one night that is best. This year: August 12th. And here’s a a great NASA link concerning this year’s display: science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22jul_perseids2005.htm.

As promised here’s a report on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway’s “Great Train Robbery Special”. Brother Rob & his wife Deb came down from Newark to ride with us. Rob is a major train maniac (in a good way) and is also treasurer of the Ohio Railway Museum in Columbus. And Deb has the cutest train case, even though she was born after “train cases” were the “thing”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are way too young.

Anyway, the robbery worked out very well for the robbers. We left Nelsonville at 6 p.m., and picked up some passengers who were dressed suspiciously along the way. At the turn-around in Logan, the robbers overpowered the train people (who were armed), then took all of our money (which the HVSR people had conveniently given us). After much clever banter, and picture taking, the train slowed to a stop so the bandits could get off and escape on their beautiful horses.

This was a first time robbery special for HVSR and they pulled it off pretty well. The only downer was the sound system. We had a great singer aboard, but the sound system reduced it to something similar to fingernails across a chalkboard. Fix that, and I’d ride again. I wish we could still hop a train to ride to Columbus, or elsewhere. There’s nothing like the rocking of a train.

Here’s a picture from the train before we left on our adventure:

This weekend is the 1st Hocking Hills Rhythm & Blues Festival at the Woods at Kaeppner Place (close to Logan). Sounds like Bill Kaeppner has got some national acts lined up: Duke Robillard Band, Urban Jazz Coalition, Bruce Katz Band, Microwave Dave and the Nukes, the Sonny Moorman Band, Cleveland Fats, Johnny Reed and the Houserockers and more. Check it out:
The Post Online [features] and at www.kaeppnerswoods.com.

We are planning to ride the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway’s “Great Train Robbery” this Saturday, July 16. The train, which will be robbed by bandits on horseback, leaves the Nelsonville depot at 6 p.m. Hopefully, I’ll get some good pictures and will post them.

Geocaching is a worldwide activity in which participants hide small caches of trinkets, etc., post the latitude and longitude on the web, then geocachers use their GPS units to find them. For more information on the sport, including identifying places to look for geocaches, go to geocaching.com. By the way, we are the HockingHunters at the geocaching.com web site.

Yesterday, our good friend Jeff came down to the hills from Grove City for his first geocaching experience. We decided to head over to nearby Tar Hollow State Park and look for the Hollow Cache, which involved a nice hike along and down a ridge, then back up again. Success! Another cache found.

While at Tar Hollow, we learned that there is a lovely little lake there, with a small swimming beach and boat rental.

After lunch at Granny’s Kitchen outside of Londonderry, we headed over to another cache near Tar Hollow, the Lost Cemetery. Compared to the Hollow Cache, this was an easy hike and find. Several Civil War soldiers are resting here, on a quiet hill side.

Mary at Marsh Hollow Vacation Log Cabin

The 14th annual Lilyfest is taking place this weekend, July 8-10th. We went 2 years ago and hope to stop by again this year. It is held at the Bishop home in the Hocking Hills, 13200 Little Cola Road, Rockbridge, OH. If you are particularly interested in shade gardening, this is the event for you. The large grounds have been landscaped in a pine forest that was “cleared” by an ice storm. Gorgeous lilies and hostas.

In addition to walking the grounds, you will be entertained by a variety of musical groups. Be sure to check the web site at www.lilyfest.com for performance times. Over 60 fine artists and craftspersons will be displaying their work, and selling it too. Bring cash or checks because credit cards are not always accepted. OSU Extension trained master gardeners will be on hand, so bring your gardening questions. Plus various annuals, perennials, water plants and dried flowers will be on sale.

Food will be provided by Annie’s Cheescake of Lancaster.

No charge for admission, but donations accepted for educational funds. No pets, please.

DogFriendly.com just announced its 2005 Top 10 Dog Friendly Resorts. And the Hocking Hills region is number 10! Many cabins in the area allow pets, including our log cabin at Marsh Hollow. Plus, you can take your dog on all of the trails in the Hocking Hills State Park. Dogs aren’t allowed in the Conkles Hollow & Rockbridge nature preserves, but they don’t seem to mind.

We have had many canine guests at Marsh Hollow. With woods, fields and a creek to run through, most leave here happy and exhausted. Our cabin has an elevated deck with a railing and gates so pets can be secured.

In case you’re wondering, number 1 on the DogFriendly.com list is Monterey, California. Not bad company!

A quick report on wildlife: this morning I walked along the creek to our adjacent property. Two deer popped out of the woods, and I thought they looked kinda short, or the grass was high. When Mom arrived, I finally realized the short deer were fawns. They kept hopping around, playing with each other, just like kids (the human kind and the goat kind)! Mac caught sight and took chase, so they all scattered.

There’s more evidence of deer around our apple trees. The deer come down from the hill in the evenings to have a late snack. And leave droppings everywhere!

And this fine fellow was under our bridge. Very handsome!

Saturday morning (6/18), as we were enjoying our morning coffee, our dogs Mac & Juice raised such a racket I had to go check out what the hullabaloo was all about. Turned out to be a very frightened raccoon up our flag pole. Here’s another view. We dragged Juice inside, which being a 70 lb redbone coonhound, was not easy. However, we are experienced in this “procedure”. Mac, we could not catch, but being a shepherd/Doberman mix, he was not really into raccoons, and lost interest.

Generally, we don’t see raccoons in the day time, so this poor thing made a mistake I don’t think he, or she, will ever make again!

Friday, Dave’s business partner Tom arrived from Georgia. When we have company, we often like to go out to dinner…and the Grouse Nest is one of our favorite restaurants. It offers gourmet dining (at gourmet dining prices), but has also started to offer a “neighborhood special” every day, priced at a very reasonable 10 bucks or less and they are excellent! However, this Friday, we all opted for the fancy stuff (Tom and Dave each had grilled prime rib, and I had the chicken in a gorgonzola cream sauce). Too wonderful for words.

The following evening, we took Tom to the annual Hocking Hills Chapter of the Ohio Horseman’s Council’s hog roast and ride at Palmerosa Horse Campground. We didn’t ride, but partook of the fabulous roasted hog and chicken prepared by the Anderson boys (Danny & Donnie). Plus, it’s a potluck so there were great side dishes and desserts. There was also a silent auction and I won a great purse with a cowgirl outlined in sequins – my kinda stuff!

Finally, we saw a doe and very new fawn up on Thompson Ridge Road. Mom crossed the road, but baby dropped to the ground and stayed still while we passed. I believe that is the youngest deer I have ever seen – still quite wobbly!