296: A ride to Kent

We're in the summertime flight path for hot air balloons

I’ve been keeping busy since my last post.  Friends who were on their way to Chicago from eastern Pennsylvania arrived early yesterday evening.  M and I took them to Akron where we celebrated happy hour at 69 Taps, listened to a Blues Brothers tribute band (The Alabama Blues Brothers) at Lock 3, and had grilled cheese sandwiches at The Lockview (where they specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches).  After all that fun, we came back to Breezy Acres and sat on the deck for a little while enjoying the night sky, the fireflies, a small glass of J’s homebrewed beer, and the good company.

We had a lovely pancake breakfast this morning and after our friends left to continue their journey west, M and I loaded the bikes on the car and went to a place called Towner’s Woods in Kent.  Towner’s Woods is a 175-acre park with a mix of forest, wetlands, and meadows.  M and I used to hike there frequently when we lived in Kent.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been out that way, although we did come close on one of our first bike rides.

On the Portage Hike and Bike Trail

We didn’t go to Towner’s Woods to hike.  We went to ride our bikes on the Portage Hike and Bike Trail.  It’s another very warm (upper 80s) day here in the Bogs so we got a relatively early start.

Finding where you are

Because we’d had a late night, I really wasn’t up for a long bike ride.  However, once we got started it felt so good to be exercising that we decided to stretch the ride out a little more than originally planned.  We only did 6 miles total, but I wasn’t sure I’d do 2 miles when M suggested we go.

Railway light tower

The trail runs along an old interurban railway line.  It will eventually hook up with the Summit Bike & Hike Trail (parts of which we rode on, starting in Akron, a month or so ago).  The ride is fairly easy as there are few hills.  We did notice the slight decline on the first part of the ride (which meant a slight incline coming back).

I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but the seeds look like giant dandelion seeds.

The trail is lined with all sorts of wildflowers in bloom.  There were blues, purples, yellows, whites, reds, and pinks.  I took a few photos of the flowers, but I rushed through it and nothing came out well.  As a side note, my camera seems to have fixed itself overnight.  Huzzah!  And another Huzzah! for my new computer which will be coming home tomorrow.

Active rail line

We rode as far as we could.  There is construction going on in Kent, almost 3 miles from Towner’s Woods, and that seemed like a good place to turn around.

Today's view of the pond

Back at Towner’s Woods I took a short walk on one of the trails to take some photos.  I’ll bring you those tomorrow.  The light in the woods was wonderful.

"Weeds" in the garden

We stopped by Natural Abundance (the CSA we’re trying out) on our way home from our bike ride, where we picked up another box of fresh veggies.  We spent a little time getting some of the veggies prepared for serving or cooking as we do a better job of eating fresh produce when we prep what we can as soon as we bring it home.  It makes it more convenient.

Beautiful weeds in the garden

We did a pretty good job of eating most of what we picked up last week.  We decided not to get so many greens this time around since I have plenty of Swiss chard growing in the garden and we still have some collard greens leftover from last week’s haul.  The “new” food for us this week is endive.  I haven’t yet figured out what I’ll do with it.

So endeth today’s outdoor adventures.  Stay tuned for another episode coming your way sometime tomorrow.  😀

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