Camping in Hocking Hills - Labor Day weekend

We returned to Top of the Caves Campground and this time friends came with us, Jonathan and Becca. We picked out two spots when we were camping 4th of July weekend and hoped for good weather - we got it!

We got to the campground around 7pm Friday night and got our tents set up and our tables situated near the fire ring. We were the last two spots in a row of sites in the trees. As Jason got the fire going, night set in... and our neighbors started showing up. Along with two couples who decided to share a spot next to us, about 20 children showed up with (what we think was) 2 adults. We watched a tent go up near Jonathan & Becca's tent, then a screened in awning, also very close to their tent. And then another tent - even closer to their tent! We were assuming that in their attempt to stay away from the children on the warpath (seriously!) they ended up partially on our site. (This was verified in the morning.)

Quiet hours start at 11pm and we headed to bed. I believe we were the only ones. I was exhausted and fell asleep even with all the noise. Becca had enough around midnight and went around asking people to quiet it down. The people next door were nice, but suggested she talk to the sites with the children. Becca said she intended to. Of course, finding an adult amongst the children running around the fire was difficult. When she finally found an adult, she asked "are we being too loud?" If you have to ask, you already know. The neighbors were quieter, but the children were still wound up for awhile. (This is when you wish it would start raining.)

The next morning we were in better spirits and decided not to say anything to the neighbors about being on our spot. We had plenty of room (we could have fit on the end site) so we just left things as they were. Besides, the neighbors had a cutie little dauchaund dog that we enjoyed saying hi to. The next two nights were much quieter, so we didn't need to worry any further.

Breakfast Saturday morning was bacon and eggs with Jonathan cooking and Jason tending the fire. After breakfast we headed out to see Cantwells Cliffs and Conkle's Hollow.










We had a picnic lunch at Conkle's Hollow and then made a stop at the Grandma's place to get forgotten items and some ice cream. We vegged back at the campsite afterwards while Jason went to get gas. (He finally found a gas station about 15 minutes away!) That evening Jason made a great dinner of cheddar smokies and baked potatoes. Afterwards we made pie iron pies with cressant crusts, cherry (or apple) pie filling and cream cheese. Yummy!!

We also had a great time with the huge bubble wand I had found at Walmart. We quickly discovered the bubbles above the campfire would float upward until they hit the trees or came back down. I'd blow the bubbles (actually wave the wand above the fire), Jonathan would shine a flashlight on it, and Becca would try to capture the bubbles with her camera. They look like UFO's in the pictures, but really, they're just bubbles.

That night we had a visitor. Becca heard rustling and wasn't sure what was going on outside our tent. When she peeked out she saw a raccoon hanging upside from our trash bag. She and Jonathan scared off the scavenger and locked the trash bag up in their car. Jason and I slept through the whole thing.

We got up at 7am Sunday morning and got ready to go hiking at Old Man's Cave. We grabbed some snacks, bottles of water, our cameras, and headed out. Our reward for getting up so early was getting there with basically no one else around. It was wonderful! (And quite a contrast to the pictures I took the 4th of July weekend.) We really enjoyed walking around at our own leisure, taking as many pictures as we could, and then heading back to the campsite to make breakfast. We had breakfast burritos with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. Yummy!

Oddly enough, most of the children left that morning. About half our neighbors packed up their cars and headed out. This gave us the opportunity to walk around and scout out good spots for the next trip. We also decided to check out the state campground while we were driving around. The upkeep seemed better, but the bathrooms were lacking and the sites didn't have as many trees. We decided shaded spots and private bathrooms at Top of the Caves would keep us coming back there.

That afternoon we headed out to Lake Logan and just hung out watching the boats and the people on the beach. We then headed to Millstone BBQ (same BBQ place we ate at last time) for an early dinner. Our waitress (different than last time) loaded us up with their mini corn muffins to eat for breakfast the next morning. The food there is good, you get plenty to eat without having to get appetizers, and the service is great. Once again, we highly recommend this place!

After dinner we went to play putt putt at Adventure Golf. This was the first time all weekend that it was really hot. There was plenty of goofing around, several holes in one (I got 2!) and Becca learned that if she claimed she could get the ball in in 2 shots, she usually did. Camping just doesn't seem complete without a game of putt putt. (Jonathan got the best score.) Afterwards we headed back to the campsite to veg for awhile.

One last evening of campfire stories and smores. One last attempt by the raccoon to get food. This time it was Jason and I who got up and put the trash and all the food in our car. It was also a horribly cold night. We really need to get sleeping bags!

Monday morning we got up, ate our left-over mini muffins and got our campsite packed up. We took our time and got done around 10:30 am. Much faster than last time! We decided to hit one last cave, Ash Cave, before heading back to Dayton. We were quite impressed by the enormous size of the cave and ended up getting quite a few pictures!





On the way out we saw women with dresses on in the distance. Amish tourists? No, a bridal party! The bride had a gorgeous white dress on with her bridesmaids in apple red. (All David's Bridal dresses.) The mom with them invited us to the upper ridge to view the wedding at 1:30 pm. All I can say is that was one brave bride!

Jonathan and Becca headed back to Dayton but Jason and I decided to stop at Chillicothe to eat lunch at the park where we had our first date. (Yoctangee Park) It was fun reminiscing while walking around and feeding the ducks. One thing though, there were a lot of strange people at the park. We probably won't visit there very often. (Were they there the first time we were and we just didn't notice???)

We got home about the time the temperatures were hitting 90 degrees. We were so thankful for the beautiful weather we had the whole weekend. Such a relaxing and fun weekend. And Jonathan and Becca kept things silly and fun. :) (I'll see if I can't get them to post some thoughts and comments after this post.)