Saturday 9/7/02
Day Nine
KOA, Butler, OHStarting mileage 90827 / Ending mileage 90857
Departing KOA @ 9:35am to go see the [homeowners] and find out if they’d like to sell their home to us. It’s another beautiful, sunny day. We’re wearing nice jeans, collared shirts, & t-shoes, and have brought a more casual change of clothing for later.
Arrived slightly early, and entered the *“new” driveway. [She and he---hereinafter referred to as S and H] greeted us in the parking area, and after getting the dogs settled in the truck in shade, we went inside to see the house. It was an interesting tour in that it was David’s first time inside, and my first time in 20 years, and not that much had changed. In fact some of the carpeted areas have the same carpet. The wood built-ins all look in good shape, and the views to the outside are as much of a treat as I had hoped for.
Still no other houses in sight, just greenery of trees, grass, grazing land and of course the pond. The pond was a bit of a shock to see because various water plants have taken over, and the level is way down, giving the whole thing the look of only being ½ as big as before. We’re confident we could bring it back up to speed. The creek is currently dry, partly due to summer heat, and partly due to digging & fence work done by *Malabar Farm.
We made a nice lunch salad at the [house]; fresh romaine & produce from the *M.F. stand down the hill. We all seemed to get along well, and when we left it was decided that we will contact them on Monday to get together and show them some pictures & S asked if we’d want to go out on their boat to see Pleasant Hill Lake.
After departing, we drove through Perrysville and into Loudonville. David liked the country driving with few stoplights, and I kept taking in the scenery. Tried to get into a real estate office in Loudonville, but they were closed, so we just mailed a couple letters at the P.O. (PO boxes are $36 & up per year for 4”x6” and up) then headed back to the KOA. We are liking the countryside near Butler, and will definitely check out properties in the area.
Tried to call my Dad after arriving back at the KOA main office area, but the cell phone & pay phone kept reaching some lady’s voice mail. Finally gave up, but decided to try again later so we can set up a visit to Columbus tomorrow. As we were talking about this, we met a vehicle coming down the road from our campsite area – the driver rolled down the window, and there was my dad, Elsie & Lars! I was totally surprised.
Their visit was wonderful, especially since they were able to stay overnight. After talking awhile and taking a few pictures, Elsie pulled some food out of the van & we had an excellent dinner of cold salmon and a shrimp noodle dish. Also drained some bottles of Chardonnay.
We all sprayed bug repellent on, and had a super experience dining in the great outdoors with fabulous temperature and the steady cadence of the insect brigade. The dogs are being fairly well-behaved, with Tessa trying to curb her excitement.Once the decision was made to stay over, Dad & Elsie made up the back bed with some of their linens, Lars got set up outside in the add-a-room with an air mattress & sleeping bag, and David & I bunked on the pulled out couch. The plan was for the dogs to sleep on the converted dining area bed, but Vince kept jumping on us & waking us up. We also decided to pad the couch bed with a sleeping bag next time because of the support bar.
Before bed we looked at photos via Dad’s laptop & the TV screen. I had a nice chat with Lars outside while he had a last smoke.
*new driveway: driveway relocated to safer area
farther below the crest of a hill
*Malabar Farm: A landmark property turned State Park
*M.F. stand: small produce stand set up when seasonal
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