After looking on the Internet to get some information and an address for Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, Ohio, we figured it was only 47 miles from our campground in Zanesville, Ohio. An easy drive we thought, we'd be there in no time. About two hours later we are wondering how we could have missed the darn entrance to the park, and had no idea where we were! The only thing we knew for sure was that it wasn't where the GPS said it was. We later discovered that most GPS's take folks to the same spot we went to in the middle of no where!
No problem, we thought, we would simply follow a sign we saw for the tourist information center. After driving for several more miles and passing numerous farms, we finally decided we were not in the state park any longer and turned around heading back to the campground sign we had seen several miles back. Surely, someone there could tell us were the tourist information center was located.
We followed the road sign arrow and turned down the road leading to the campground. We had heard this was a really nice campground and were anxious to see it. This road let us to an open area with a dumpster, but no sign of anything that resembled a campground. Alas, we spotted a map posted on a park sign board and got out of the car to read it. The map did not have one of those "you are here" notes and we had some difficulty getting our bearings. We finally figured out we were in a group camping area and saw where the lodge was located. Great! Now we are on the right track! Of course, by now, it's after 1:00 pm and some lunch at the lodge sounded like a great idea.
We ran back to the car and jumped in....well, actually, we sauntered back to the car and tried unsuccessfully to pry our bodies into the car seats with out making a big collective thump. "I am so hungry I could eat a horse", I said. "I am so hungry I could eat an elephant", Kitty replied.
We brilliantly followed the map from our memory. "Look, there's the campground we were looking for. Let's stop and check it out". The campground office was a nice modern brick building complete with a gift shop. We asked if we could drive through the campground so we could check it out. "That'll cost you a dollar, sir!" I have never paid to look at a campground and wasn't about to start now. So, we inquired where the lodge was locate and if they served horse meat and elephant meat. "They don't serve either that I know of, but they do serve lunch," was the reply.
We brilliantly followed the verbal directions from memory. Go back to the stop sign and trun left, then make another left. Got it! "We're getting closer to the lodge, I can see a lamp post, now I see a roof", I exclaimed excitedly! Yes! At last we found the lodge!
We found it alright, but there was no one there! A sign on the door said they were closed for a few days to install some new carpeting. Carpeting? What the heck! Don't these people know we HUNGRY!!
Putting our two cool heads together, we decided to head back to town where we saw a sign for a Dutch restaurant. Dutch, Swedish, German, anything sounded good at this point! We got half way back to town and decided to turn around, again, and head to the small group of cottages that we had seen an hour ago while looking for the darn state park entrance. They had a restaurant there and it was a lot closer. Does all this remind you of the old Keystone Cops movies, or what?
We pulled into the parking lot of this cozy quaint little lodge/restaurant and saw a sign that said lunch served until 1:30 pm. It's now 1:25 pm! "Quick, get out of the car and run to the darn restaurant", Kitty yelled! Well, we made it just in time and this turned out to be the first right decision we made all day! We had a great meal and then made our way to the state park.
After getting lost, and having a late lunch, we only had enough time to visit Old Man's Cave in Hocking State Park. Old Man's cave is a cave where a recluse named Richard Rowe lived back in the early 1800's with his hound dog. He came from the Cumberland Mountain area and hunted in this area, later establishing a trading post.
Here's proof we made it!!
The Old Man's Cave is just in front of these people.
This is another view of the Old Man's cave, which is actually more of an overhanging rock.
The rest of these pictures I took as we walk along the trails by the cave.
I find it amazing how these trees grow out of the cliff side!
There is a falls nearby, but we heard the water was too low and no water was going over the falls. So, we chose not to make the two mile hike to see it. Plus, the footing on the trail was a little slippery and both of us almost fell. I had visions of Kitty having to carry me out of there! Ha!
As they say, "getting there is half the journey", but in our case it was a little more than half, maybe three fourths!. But, we had a few laughs and enjoyed our little adventure, and that's what we like to do.
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