BACK IN OHIO

Having left Kentucky and the Big party in Indiana, we traveled on to Amish country near Loudonville, Ohio. We checked in at Wally World Campground for a five day stay. This campground as well as many others run along the Mohican River where there is a lot of rafting and canoeing. What, is that a cell phone to her ear? When a group would come down the river behind the campground, Gary would take off with the camera to get some shots. It did look like fun, but my knees would make it difficult getting in and out of the craft. These looked to be having fun . Wonder what he is pouring? This young fellow looks to have been deserted while being passed up by a kayak. But sure looks like leisurely fun with some father-son time also . Most of the campers were back along the river for the scenery. However, our motorhome neighbor had just been pulled by tractor out of that row after the rains got him mired in. You can just barely see his unitnext to us, but you can see that he pulls a trailer with their motorcycles for sight seeing. They did all of the country winding and dirt roads in the area. They must have had loads of fun as they were late getting back at times. I also met a couple at the library who were parked in Wally World , when I was trying to use the library's wi-fi. Thank goodness he was able to help me with the computer. I took Gary to meet them later as they are from Ontario and he spends his winter months supervising at a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Florida. They later stopped by our site to drop off his Habitat card and phone number for another winter, if we return to Florida. In spending the evening talking we found that they had also stopped at a little country church in Claysink, FL for a gospel musical by the Terrestrials. It was the same one that Gary went to when I was in Ohio helping my brother. Gary had even remembered where they sat as he remembered the Montana plates from the truck of the couple they were with. We run in to so many of these coincidences. It is fun! Gary thought that this campfire grill was interesting. People use all kinds of ideas!! Gary had picked up this idea at Mohican over a year ago and copied it. You can even hang a pot to raise and lower from the tri-pod. We have been in so many states where it was too dry to permit fires, that we got away from using it very much. I cook inside just like you at home! Wally World was a nice campground with a large building that housed a community room and game rooms, an adult lounge , laundry room, showers and restrooms and a store. The activities range from the Wally Woo-woo to a swimming pool , little kids playground and miniture golf behind and basketball. As usual, we looked for a church upon arriving in the area and found another coincidence when we attended that Sunday. At First Baptist we met the pastor, John Fitch, who is also from Salem. Both Gary and I had contacts with his family many times over the years, but we did not know that he was in Loudonville. The service that sunday was done by the youth and very enjoyable. The young never cease to amaze us! The pianist, if you closed your eyes and listened, sounded like Elvis when he sang! He was a graduating senior and we thought that he sure could pay his way through college doing impersonating performances. There are so many of them out there, but they always seem to have work. There was also a beautiful soloist. One evening we sent to the Lodge for dinner at the Mohican State Resort along one of the lakes. It is a lovely place and great food. I finally had my prime rib! Going into Loudonville we found this interesting cabin in the center of town.

In Millersburg we walked the streets and looked at all of the buildings and through a couple antique shops. We found a neat book store that also had wi-fi connections which we could use even when parked along the street. This sure was a convenience since this area is only serviced by Verizon! We also went on down the road to Berlin and through all of their shops. It is so touristy and really not all that authenic Amish. But I guess they are all getting that way to keep the economy up.

When driving between Mohican State Resort and our campground, Gary saw a little red and white sign that said "Castle" with an arrow. It did not indicate how far or what the name of it was. So we decided to follow the signs. It seemed to go on forever and some of the roads were even gravel. But we finally did find a sign and a little parking lot with the "castle" back in amongst the trees . We felt like we were intruding so did not go up to the building. Gary did find out that you can go on line and find out about reservations. It is not very old. Seems to me that they sure need better signs and roads. Maybe next time we will look into having dinner there.

Now it is time to move on home and see the family!! See you there!!

Bardstown, KENTUCKY - Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral

Kentucky has celebrated 200 years of faith-filled history of the Catholic Church. In 1808 as the young nation grew and developed, allowance needed to be made for the growth of population and the pastoral needs of Catholics. That year the large territory served by the sole diocese, located in Baltimore, was divided to form four new diocese: Bardstown, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. St. Joseph Cathedral was dedicated in 1819 in Bardstown . The first work was the excavation by hand and the foundation stone work was deep, with a pyramid shape, the widest part at the bottom of the excavation and is five or more feet in depth and likely about five or six feet wide at the bottom of each wall. The materials were all quarried and made in the area. Since central Kentucky was filled with enormous trees: poplars, various oaks, maples, pines and cedars, straight and clear poplar logs were chosen to provide the eight columns that carry the vast majority of the roof load. They have cut away floor and outer surface of a column so that you can see the size of these timbers . The structure rises more than 60 feet and then a steeple to more than 140 feet high. A width of 64 feet and length of 120 feet required some of the longest timbers of any structure ever built in the country. Lighting the interior was limited to candles, gas lights and natural light from the sun. The hanging oil chandeliers found in the 1900 photograph lighted the nave of the church where the pews were, but candles were the only available light for the sanctuary. The oil chandeliers were later turned upside down and converted to electric. Most services were conducted during hours of daylight, in part because of limited lighting. Therefore, the original windows were white glass and were later changed to colored glass as they remain today. An enormous selection of gifts was presented to those returning to Europe seeking investments and furnishings for the new cathedral in the wilderness of a brand new nation. Large paintings adorn the massive walls of the cathedral, gifts from benefactors in France. Included in these are the Flaying of Saint Bartholomew by Preti , The Crucifixion by Van Bree , and several others by Draghi of Genoa, Italy painted in the 1600's. In 1952 thieves broke into the cathedral, and cut away several of the paintings, transported them to Chicago and sold them to an art dealer. The FBI investigated and about six years later the paintings were found, returned to the cathedral, and the thieves were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. The paintings were located just as they were being prepared for shipment to a buyer in Europe. In recent years, a gallery in California had a painting by one of these artists and wanted to compare the two to be sure of their authenticity. So St. Joseph's painting was carefully shipped to California and in the process the gallery there also had it cleaned before they returned it to Kentucky. This was a VERY expensive project, thus it is the only painting that has been cleaned. It does make it appear a little lighter than the other paintings gracing these walls. The present organ is a pipe organ with a two manual console , electronically connected to the valves that play the approximately 3900 pipes. Built by Kilgen and others, it was installed in 1942. The center of a Catholic church is always the altar of sacrifice. A simple stone slab was the first altar used in this cathedral. Weighing more than 4000 pounds, and about 12 feet in length,this altar top likely was drug into place while the roofing was not yet installed and perhaps before all of the walls were up. During the pastorate of O'Connell from 1879 to 1920, a carved wooden altar likely a product of craftsmen in Germany , was in-stalled in the sanctuary replacing the original stone altar table. The original stone altar table was rotated and then deposited beneath the floor, where it remained until 1978. A marble communion railing was put in place and ornate confessionals were installed, closing major access to the calefactories. These statues were sent over from Europe also. This painting in the center of the ceiling and paintings on the upper walls above the columns were painted later by American artists. We were so fortunate to have a tour guide to ourselves as we were the only ones touring at this time. She grew up an raised her family in this church so she was very knowledgeable. It was an enjoyable tour. Next we move on into Ohio Amish country before returning to our hometown and family.