Milford-Mansfield Ohio Tour 2008

Day 2 - Waynesville Frontier Campground to Trapper John's 4-Mile Campground

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Dave G buying coffee at the Potato Festival.

The morning started out bright and early. Dave G and I were all packed and ready to roll. We woke Craig up in his van before hitting the road. Instead of backtracking the way we came in, we meandered out of the Frontier Campground campsite and circled around some local roads, intercepting the trail about 1 1/2 miles away.

Old scooters and cars at the Potato Festival.

As we entered the town of Spring Valley, we happened upon their 31st annual Potato Festival. This was a relatively big event. The main street was populated with booths, trailers and exhibits for a number of blocks. Dave G started out by getting a cup of coffee. We then walked up the street and looked at all the sights. Food services, hand-crafted goods, clothing, there was even a miniature freak show exhibit called the "Atomic Fish" although we didn't bother to check it out. One BBQ place was also offering fruit smoothies. Being bicycle riders, we hungerly eyed their bananas. Dave asked if they were for sale, but the lady initially said they were only for their smoothies. But, after a bit of smooth talking by Dave, she soon modified her business model and sold us a couple of bananas so we could get our potassium fix. Dave then got a BBQ pork sandwich while I purchased a delicious cup of chicken and sausage gumbo. Walking on a bit more, I found a place hawking vanilla cream soda and bought a bottle (good stuff!) We finished our food, walked around a bit more and took pictures of the motorized corn meal grinder, then hit the road towards Xenia.

Dave P. at Xenia Station.

Nearing Xenia we came across the short section of the closed off trail and bridge that John — from Cleveland had mentioned to us yesterday. There were exposed metal rivet heads on the bridge deck. It was easy to imagine a bicycle rider losing traction, balance and subsequently falling if the rivet plates were wet. And while we were content enough to slip underneath the ropes closing off the bridge, another bicyclists heading south met us to 1) tell us that Craig was waiting to ride with us at Xenia Station, and 2) that he was going to take down the ropes and signs (which he did).

Xenia Station train enthusiasts restoring an old caboose.

We rode into Xenia soon enough and hooked up with Craig. He told us a bit about the station. I grabbed a couple of excellent Greene County Green Ways maps from Xenia Station and then three of us took Trail #4 towards London. This is a segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail system. Greene County has some excellent multi-use trails. This section of the trail was pretty much long and straight, paralleling US Route 42. Along the way we stopped off at Cedarville for more snacks and drinks (couldn't stock up on beer though since it is a dry town). We took a brief safety break further up the trail, and I got a few more nice shots of Ohio countryside. A bit further along, we came across an immensely large concrete building that probably stored grains and other crops. I don't think any of my photographs really give a correct perspective of this building's size. We added more miles towards London where Craig turned around and headed back towards Xenia. One of the more interesting sights we saw was a squad of military guys (perhaps 8 or so dudes) running down the trail, opposite our direction of travel. I don't remember exactly where we saw them, but I believe it was somewhere between Wilberforce and Clifton. I gave them a fine "hoo-ya", but got no response. Well, hell, I'm just an old retired Air Force MSgt, so what do I know about Army or Marine ground pounders? Actually, more than you may think, but that's an another story...

Ohio roadside corn harvest.

Dave G and I rode on towards Darbydale, enjoying great scenery, sunshine and temperatures. London to Darbydale along Ohio State Route 665 was a retrace of our final leg of the Tour de COhio trip, only this time Dave G and I made the trip together!

Large sycamore at Trapper John's Campground #4.

We reached Trapper John's Canoe Livery in Darbydale mid-afternoon and got directions to our campsite, Trapper John's 4-Mile Campground, which was two miles down Harrisburg-Georgeville Road and situated on the Big Darby Creek. The campground was nice but right next to I-71 (which we didn't realize until I built this web page and found the spot on Google Maps - no wonder traffic didn't die down too much through the night!). There was an immense sycamore tree at the campground, very interesting with its large hole at its base and hollow trunk, yet the tree still looked stout and very much alive. Gary drove in and joined us, bringing a healthy supply of water and beer. Plenty of birds (sounded like starlings) flew overhead at dusk. As evening was setting in, Dave G blew harp while our campfire crackled, the beer flowed and cigar smoke scented the air. There were a few planets visible in the night sky, I believe Venus setting early in the west and Jupiter hanging above the southern horizon above the trees.

Within a short bit of time, I hit my sleeping bag, Dave and Gary stayed up for a little while longer, and so ended our second day of the tour.

Total miles ridden this day: 58.0

Total tour miles: 100.5

Trails ridden:
FYI: Trails may overlap each other

Videos

Potato Festival Corn Meal Grinder

Riding East of Xenia

Paralleling US Route 42 Towards London

Campfire Harp with Jupiter in the Sky

Additional photographs

Click on any photograph to enlarge.

Enlargements may be big files!

Frontier Campground departure shot. Spring Valley Potato Festival. Bourbon chicken. Spring Valley Potato Festival street scene.

Spring Valley Potato Festival side street scene. Spring Valley Potato Festival main street scene. Spring Valley Potato Festival vendor. Halloween themed house in Spring Valley.

Old vehicles displayed at Spring Valley Potato Festival. Black Jack's at the Spring Valley Potato Festival. Cajun Specialties at the Spring Valley Potato Festival. Vanilla cream soda at the Spring Valley Potato Festival.

Finishing our stopover at the Spring Valley Potato Festival. Xenia Station. Dave G and Craig at Xenia Station. Riding the Ohio-Erie Trail outside of Xenia.

Ohio-Erie Trail panorama.

Ohio farmland along US Route 42. Ohio farmland along US Route 42. Ohio-Erie Trail paralleling US Route 42. Farm structures from afar.

Craig and Dave G approaching a trail curve. Autumn Ohio countryside. Railroad hopper cars along the trail. Large grain storage facility.

Large grain storage facility. Grain facility railroad siding. Ohio farmland. Trail dairy farm scene.

Dave G watching corn harvest. Dave G relaxing after camp setup at Trapper John's 4-Mile Campground. Trapper John's 4-Mile Campground scene. Gary and Dave G relaxing.

Evening bird flight. Gary and Dave G by the campfire. Evening campfire with moon. Fixing supper as evening descends at Trapper John's 4-Mile Campground.