9/19 Punderson State Park, Southwest of Cleveland, OH

These photos are actually of a couple of stays I made in this state park in the last month.  I used to stay here only in the cooler weather in spring and fall because this state park had only 20 amps of electric on its hookups, which meant you could not run air conditioning.  A couple of years ago, they upgraded the entire park to 30 and 50 amps, and also added a dozen or so full hookups sites including water and sewer hookups.  

In addition, they have built a new sewer treatment plant, which meant removing a lot of trees in the new sewer construction area.  This resulted in my finding a handful of new full hookup sites in this area that also had a clear southwest exposure for my Dish satellite TV service.  YEA!!!

One of the nice things about this state park is that it is one of the larger ones, so it has a hotel, restaurant, beach area, archery site, hiking and equine trails, sledding area in winter, and a lot of other things to do.   

 

This is the campground check-in area and small store.   You can get firewood and rent bikes here. 

 

 There is also a nature center, but it is open only on weekends, I believe. 

 

Overall, Punderson is heavily wooded, and many of the tent sites are tucked up in the woods, so are mostly hidden from the roadway.  These numbered parking sites indicate that tent sites are located at each of the marked sites.     

 

 

Before they put in the new full hookup sites near the new sewer treatment facility, my favorite spot in this campground was on top of the hill where the water tower was located.  There are fewer sites up here and not much traffic so it has always been a quieter place on busy weekends.   

 

One of the nice things about Ohio state parks is that each of the restroom and shower buildings also contains a laundry room with $1 per load washers and dryers.  I had to run three loads today!! 

 

These are some of the electric-only hookup sites near the water tower.  Got good cell service up here also!  

 

 

Most of the camp sites, however, are down by the lake.  This roadway is typical, and it has some of the older full hookup sites. 

The older full hookup sites are not bad, except most of them are under trees and in places that get muddy after rain. 

 My site here is one of the newer sites.  The parking area is a little wider and the hookups are on a cement pad, which means they don't get muddy or turn into ponds after rains.   They are also a lot more level than the regular sites.  From the second photo below, you can see how much longer these new sites are!!  A wider parking pad means you no longer will have to step out of your RV and land in mud!!   That is a HUGE improvement, as if the paved picnic area. 

My site is directly across from the new sewer treatment plant.  It is working, but they are tearing down an older building and putting gravel around the new areas.  I assume they will be doing landscaping in the spring.  The building in the back is the new one, and the one being torn down using jackhammers and a bulldozer is the brick building in the front.  They were working on the roof today, and apparently it was very strongly built and they seemed to be doing a lot of work with little result.  

 

 

They seem to be adding another full hookup site here, but it is very noisy this close to the treatment center, so I don't think it will make campers very happy with all the noise.   

Not too far down the road from Punderson is this county nature center.  I stopped in and took a look at the nature center, but it was too hot to walk any of the trails.  I'll come back in the spring.  

 

8/4 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: No need to keep clicking!

I have noticed that some readers have been clicking on my site dozens and dozens of times.  I publish this blog for my family and friends to know where I have been recently.  It also helps me remember things months and years later.  It helps remind me of where I have been, and I enjoy going back over photos of places months and years later to refresh my memories. 

I also write about campgrounds and places I have been to help fellow campers and travelers to choose places they also might want to go.  I have learned a lot from other people's blogs and conversations in campgrounds, and I want to repay this debt to others.   

However, I don't make money on this blog and don't advertise products. This was my choice when I began and I still think it was a good choice.   

So please, if you are trying to help me by clicking a lot, it really isn't necessary because I have never made a penny from this and don't plan on doing so in the future.  Just enjoy reading it or not.  

Thanks 

 

8/4 Visiting the Detroit Zoo after 45 years!

Anyway, I have always liked zoos and took my own children several times when they were babies up until they were in their teens.  But all of this was a very long time ago.  I now live in my motorhome and am legally now a resident of Ohio, but I try to get up to Michigan and Detroit at least once or twice every summer I am in the area.  

Unfortunately, I always seem to be rushed for time on these visits, but this time I was determined to get to the zoo and see what it looks like now.  Luckily, the big water tower at the entrance looks similar, but I am happy to see that the current mayor of Detroit has not included his name, as most of the others in the past did. 

 

 

I have a photo of what was probably the first time I ever was taken to the Detroit Zoo.  Normally, I don't post photos of myself or relatives, but I think the one below is appropriate because it was taken in about 1945 when I was barely two years old.  It shows my grandparents, some aunts, uncles, and cousins, and me.  It is not a good image of me, but I am standing slightly hidden by my grandmother's hand.  My mother is next to me, but she is holding a cousin who younger than me. We were a year apart, lived across the street from one another, and were often dressed alike when we were very small. 

It was a nice day for going to the zoo, cool and slightly cloudy, but no rain.  Also, it was very empty because it was one a school day after Labor Day, and most families were getting kids off to the first day of school for the year.  

The first thing you always did at the Detroit Zoo was to take the train from the entrance to the far end of the property.  That way, you could walk the length and be at the entrance/exit when you were done.   

 

   

And we arrived in Africa, of course.   

 

 And a very nice sculpture of a lion and her cubs.  

  

 

Most animals were out of sight, no doubt relaxing after the busy weekend.  However, at about this point, I got stung on the tip of my little finger very painfully by one of the animals, namely a bee, who was NOT taking the day off. I have not had a bee sting for over 50 years, so I was really surprised at how painful it was. I asked a volunteer guide if they had a first aid station so I could get something for it, but they did not.  However, she called for the safety person who is responsible for such things, and he removed the stinger, which I could not even see.  He also gave me a ride back to my motorhome in the parking lot so I could get some benedryl I had. 

Anyway, below are some of the outdoor animal exhibits, with no animals visible.    

 

 

Frankly, none of this looked like the zoo I remembered, but that's OK because came to see how it had changed, not necessarily how it used to look. 

 

I am really happy to see so much art around the zoo.  This was just outside the chimp exhibit:

 

 

 

One interesting thing to know about this zoo is that way back when I used to come here as a child, there was a trained chimp show.  Chimps were dressed up in little suits and rode bicycles and did other tricks before a seated audience.  That kind of exhibit disappeared in the 60s and was replaced in nearly all zoos by more natural animal exhibits like the one shown below.  Also, instead of trying to have examples of all of the great apes, zoos started to specialize and focus on only one type, so the Detroit Zoo does not have gorillas or orangutans. 

It is much kinder to animals to show them in more natural situations and really more interesting to see their natural behavior.  The zoo has 17 chimps, which is a very large troop, and each animal has access to the outside or inside spaces, depending on their personal desire.  

I remember these long roads in the zoo, and they are still there next to the fountain and pool.

 

 

Not sure where this came from, but it was not there 45 years ago.   

 

  This is part of a long, central garden area that I remember. 

 

 

And some art.  Not sure what animal this is!! 

I remember this commemorative drinking fountain and the large fountain it refers to below. 

 

 

I remember kids wading in this shallow fountain.  Not sure if that was really allowed, but they did it on hot days.  

 

 

A new education building.  

 

 

The entrance to the reptile building and some of its residents.  

 

 

I liked how neatly this snake curled itself up!  

All of the snack bars were closed on this day. 

 

 

I forgot to take a photo of the outside, but this is the penguin house.  

 

 

I do remember this building, but don't know what is in it now, as the zoo was closing, and I had to leave.  

 

 

So, maybe I will come back for a longer another day next year.