I have only visited a few national parks, but this one is a true national treasure.  It is the Cuyahoga Valley Naitonal Park in Ohio

It runs along the old Ohio and Erie canal…an engineering feat!

It is also the Cuyahoga river, derived from the Mohawk word for “crooked”.

We have been biking the path for years.  This was the first year without my college son.  We stop at all the locks.  Some are dry but some still have water.

Our day started out damp and chilly.

There is an old train that travels through the valley.  We love the “echo” in the tunnels!

The scenery takes my breath away.

The sun came out later.

At the farm stand, do we head for the apples?  No!  We head for the old-fashioned red licorice.  We save it for the ride home, by the end of which we usually have a belly-ache!

You have to be careful not to ride over the woolybears!

We hike the same trails, climb the same rocks, take photos of the kids jumping off….and always end up for a late lunch at Winking Lizard in this charming town.

As we were heading back on the final leg, the sky opened up!

Every one of us had mud stripes and were completely drenched!

Another year of biking was enjoyed.  There is such comfort in our tradition and I can’t think of a better way to spend the day as a family than in this amazing national park.
PS.  Can you tell I’m starting to get tired, along with many of you, of the blizzards, grey skies, cold weather….
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