Prairie Oaks Metro

More than anything, I was extremely eager to sleep beyond 530am. So much so that I slept until the short side of 8am. I woke a few times through the night with petty negative thoughts swirling around my brain, but successfully talked myself down off the ledge and forced myself to think of pleasant things and eventually fell back to sleep.

As I rolled out of bed I asked Mindy if she would be sleeping in longer, although I already knew the answer. Of course she would. She always does. And given that she’s been sick only served to further cement the fact. But that works well for me as I love my alone time in the early morning hours.

I spent my initial waking minutes brushing my teeth and prepping the morning’s coffee before breaking into exercise and walking Ykraps. The morning was absolutely beautiful and very summery. The 8:15am temperature was already above 70 degrees. After enjoying some coffee and downloading pictures I readied for a run. I delivered a cup of coffee to Mindy before setting out. By then it was already 78 degrees.

My run went well, wearing only a pair of shorts. I was quite the sweaty mess by the time my run was in the bag. Mindy was up and asked if I wanted a home cooked breakfast. I did not. She next asked if I'd prefer to dine out on the way to our hking destination. Nah, I wanted neither. I was happy to eat some fruit and some quick hand to mouth stuff. Mindy reported feeling considerably better but still not perfect. However, to my delight, she still agreed to go hiking at Prairie Oak Metro Park. On that note, we wasted little time getting ready, although I insisted on getting a shower. Mindy, on the other hand, passed on a full body wash.

We were ready to head out around 11am. We took only the camera and four bottled waters. The park runs along Big Darby Creek north of I-70 and just west of Amitty Rd. After reviewing the map given to us by Bob Imber we decided to park along Beach Rd (home of the old Beach Bridge) which judging by the map would enable us to cover the most trail. We got to our destination fast even after being detoured by what we’d later learn was a fatal motor cycle accident. We parked in a lot just west of the beautiful new “Beach Bridge” right by one of many surrounding park lakes.

As we initially set out, what was most apparent was the extreme warmth. Here it is October 6th and the temperature is soaring near 90 degrees. It just seemed wrong, but I was careful not to complain being one who despises CGDD. As it turned out, there was no connecting trail to the main trail from the parking lot. We decided to walk the lake trail first. It was very picturesque. We admired the nearby homes whose yards backed up against the new parkland’s watery vistas. They're very fortunate, indeed. The initial trail probably was a mile or perhaps even a mile and one half. Half the trail was wooded while the other more meadow-like. We were pleased at the clearness of the lake water.

From there we walked over the new bridge along Beach Rd to the main trail head. We were surprised that there wasn’t a safer way to get there, but we took as much precaution as we could. Mindy showed signs of over heating as we walked along the open trail along Big Darby Creek. She commented about it being much warmer than she had planned for and also threw in not planning on being ill. I must admit, Mindy rarely complains about such things so I knew she wasn’t feeling well. She made frequent stops in the shade and spread her arms wide to feel the occasional breeze. The trail took us through varying terrain and eventually to a large open area where three small lakes abutted one another. There were parking lots, bridges, shelters, and restroom facilities. After the fact, we now knew this is where we should’ve parked making the various trails more accessible. Still, I enjoyed the trek.

Mindy was eager to find the restroom. I pointed it out off in the distance. We walked that way. You can tell that the park is new just by the signage and construction. All of the permanent infrastructure (buildings, bridges, and shelters) were built with fashionable building materials. In addition, there were signs indicating new plantings. At one point I stopped and read the history of the land and how the lakes surrounding us were once quarries serving the stone, gravel and sand industries once so prominent in these areas. It wasn’t until 2003 that Metro Parks bought the land from the Olen Corporation, which incidentally was named after the Olentangy (red face paint) Indians who were rumored to inhabit the lands up & down Big Darby Creek. And I can’t help but think the tie in with Olentangy is why they built a bridge similar to the one that crosses the Olentangy River on Lane Ave.

A little more… The old “Beach Bridge” was not destroyed. Instead, it was moved to Westerville providing a bike path over Alum Creek.

The rest of our hike took us along the Big Darby into open meadows full of local wild flowers. I got loads of great pictures. We happened upon some horseback riders and took a break along the creek itself. I feel very drawn to Big Darby. My Paternal Great Grandfather owned a cabin overlooking the Big Darby. Perhaps that’s its natural draw.

Mindy toughed out the rest of our hike and eventual return. We guesstimated that we hiked for two hours. I know I was happy to return to our vehicle. I can just imagine how happy Mindy was. Nice trip!

We were both famished after our hike. But before we’d seek to satisfy our mounting hunger, we agreed to drive around the area and look at some of the homes we saw from the park. We’ve talked a time or two about the possibility of moving out this way. We found the road leading to the houses abutting the first lake we hiked around. And to our surprise, there sat a 3800 sq ft. home on 11 acres for sale. Mindy grabbed a flyer out of the reality box. Hmmm?

That served only to whet our appetite for more. So, we drove a bit further north and happened upon a street hosting some beautiful new-looking upper tier homes – still along the Big Darby. Wow! I think I found my dream home. It was gated and sat at the back of the deadend street – probably Creekside – and complete with an absolutely gorgeous private pond winding around the back of the property.

We were done looking at homes and now ready to seek out food. We talked of Gyros but ultimately decided on a simpler choice – Burger King. We were right by one. We each ordered the same thing save for the drink. Good thing Mindy checked the order before we pulled way, however. They gave us the wrong food. I took it inside and got the right order still setting on the counter. What surprised me was that they took the order I returned and passed it right out the drive-thru window to another waiting customer. That prompted me to ask if mine had been passed out the window to another. They assured me that it hadn’t. I believed them and left. We ate our burgers on our drive home. Again, we were both famished!

The day had really heated up by now, and it was fast approaching 3pm. Mindy worked to finalize her grocery list while I took a very brief siesta. Fifteen minutes later I rose to my feet and decided to get cracking on my yard chores despite the intense heat. I was 30 minutes into my chores when Mindy kissed me goodbye on her way out to the grocery. We had lots to do in preparation for Bella’s party tomorrow. I continued working on the lawn for the next 1.5 hrs. She looked great when I finished. I wasted little time moving right to watering, not wanting to risk browning out the green grass heading into deep autumn. I watered the rear flower beds by hand before attaching the sprinkler head and hitting the front lawn.

Mindy came home with the groceries while I was busy tinkering in the garage. I stopped to give her a helping hand. It was now after 5pm. We had talked about doing a “date” (going to dinner and possibly the gallery hop) but realistically we still had too much to do before tomorrow morning. Mindy had more decorating and food to prep. I volunteered to make my homemade salsa. It was well after 6pm when we finished up our food prep and decorating. We agreed that an evening out was simply out of the question. We were happy to just stay home and enjoy the Buckeye game and perhaps a drink or two ... or three. :)

I whipped up a plate of nachos topped with cheese, salsa, and sour cream for dinner. Aside from having one hell of a kick, they were very tasty. I tapped my jug of Barley’s Double Dog Dare IPA too. I’m afraid to say, however, that the new jugs (crappy cap) don’t seem to keep the freshness in so well. In just one day the beer had already lost quite a bit of the bite I crave. About the time we finished the nachos the Buckeye game was kicking off. Purdue came into this game undefeated and promising a “Black Out”. We kicked their ass. I am still not sure if there was a black out. If so, it went largely unnoticed. :)

Mindy headed to bed even as the Buckeye game carried on. But honestly, the outcome was never in doubt. Late in the game it was announced that USC went down to defeat. And pehaps equally entertaining, LSU was losing to Florida. If that score held there was talk of the Buckeyes leaping to one or two in the nation. Not so fast fellas!! I stayed up and watched the end of the LSU game. They came back and won. I was up until midnight.