Our plan in leaving Hocking Hills State Park this Monday morning was to start with a bracing hike at Ash Cave, which people have been telling us is pretty dramatic and spectacular, and then drive on to our next stop... but as we were getting the rig ready to go, the rains began. Given how slippy-slidey the rocky paths at Old Man's Cave were when things were otherwise DRY there, we decided not to risk life and limb, and simply headed for our next state park.
Another pretty drive through farmland and Ohio's gentle towns. We can't help but notice that there are many, many boarded-up, but nice, homes here. Reminds us of photos a friend has sent us of Detroit... Apparently parts of Ohio are having very rough times financially.
We stopped for lunch at the first opportunity we came across to taste Cincinnati's "Way Chili" and Cheese-dogs, and they are both quite wonderful!. We'd been told that there are dueling Way Chili masters here, Skyline and Gold Star, and the Skyline sign came just as we realized our tummies were grumbling. One can have chili here a number of ways: 3-Way is spaghetti, chili topping, and cheese.... 4-Way means the addition of raw chopped onions.... 5-Way means red beans are added to the mix. Of COURSE we had to try the 5-Way, and it was.... sumptuous!
Our source mentioned that Skyline chili is made the old Greek way (yes, I said Greek - apparently it was a Greek immigrant who brought this dish to Cincinnati), so it has spices such as allspice and nutmeg in it. They are subtle, and add wonderful flavor to the hot spices. Gold Star is said to have more savory flavors - well, we'll just see about this, won't we? We also have the names of a couple of small, more intimate shops that are said to make excellent versions. We'll be trying these, too. We plan to eat LOTS of chili while here. AND we bought several cans of the Skyline chili to take back to Maine.
We got to our lovely campsite beside a lake - just gorgeous, and very isolated, with very few other RV's in this off-season time. We settled in, quiet day ahead. So imagine our surprise when, an hour or so after our arrival, a kitten came mewing toward us! We could only assume it had been dumped by someone, and that was affirmed when some locals who were walking in the area said they'd been seeing "that cat" for the past few weeks, and that campers had been feeding it.
And imagine our surprise when about an hour later, ANOTHER kitten came mewing up! We gave both some cheese and water, and decided then and there that if we can, we will try to bring these little ones home with us (after all, God seems to have sent them to us). "Stony" is pure black and very brave and smart. "Buckeye" is tiny and scared of everything. She tends to 
follow Stony (we think they are both females), and when Stony went into the RV, Buckeye followed! They ended up sleeping with us for the night.
Now... how on earth will we convince two little kitties that they should come home to Maine with us? Especially when one of them won't let us anywhere near her? And how, logistically, will we travel all that way with this furry cargo?
Stay tuned...
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