Day 110- Wednesday, 10/7/09, SETTLED

We treat ourselves to breakfast at the Hueston Woods Lodge, built in 1964. There are life-size paintings of Shawnee Indian tribal games and warriors.

It is a gorgeous day. We hike to Cedar Falls. The fallen leaves in Cedar Creek resemble an Andrew Goldsworthy sculpture - glued by water in perfect patterns on the rocks.

Corinne is photographing Fall flowers when she suddenly sees something moving in her viewfinder. OMG - it's a grey snake with yellow stripes, tongue flicking a mile-a-minute. Unfortunately he scoots away before she can get a good picture of him. Good think I'm not scared of snakes.

In the evening we have a mini Itkoff Family Reunion with as many relatives as we can gather at a Chinese Buffet halfway between Cincinnati, where they all live, and Hamilton, where Harriet and Nancy live. We get representative cousins who are children and grandchildren of 3 of my Dad's 8 siblings. Pretty good turnout.

As we are driving home, we hear the crunch of hickory nuts, osage oranges, and black walnuts under the wheels of the car.

Day 108- Monday, 10/5/09, SETTLED

We help Harriet and her partner Nancy clean out their garage. Nancy's Mom has recently passed away and they are cleaning out and rearranging things in preparation for settling the estate.

For dinner we get Skyline Chili takeout, 4-way. When I was growing up in Cincinnati, I led such a sheltered life that I didn't even know that Cincinnati was famous for their chili! It wasn't until my Mom was ill and I came here every 2 months to assist in her care that I found that out. I love chili with spaghetti, beans, meat and cheese. 5-way would add onions.

After dinner, Harriet follows us back to our campground for a campfire and s'mores. It's a beautiful moonlit night with lots of stars out.

Day 107- Sunday, 10/4/09, ON THE ROAD

Corinne likes waking up in the morning to see what's going on in our campground "village". Most people are leaving. Their activities are all very similar - washing down their camper, packing up the rugs and outdoor gear, shaking out inside mats, sweeping the stairs, hosing out their pipes.

Camping is very much of a playing field leveler. No matter who we are in real life, we are all pioneers here, charting new territories, packing up the wagons, hitching up the mules, and off we go to our next destination.

No matter our income, our sexual preferences, our age, our politics, our occupation, our gender, our family status, our ethnicity, our national origins, our home state, our religion. We all wave in friendship and we are equal in our enjoyment of our freedom and the outdoors.

There is one difference: This pioneer woman likes to have heat and hot water when she can.

BOB'S PROFOUND SAYINGS: The sun is bright.
The full moon is round.

On our arrival in Hamilton, my sister Harriet cooks us quesadillas with turkey and cheese. Yum.