Sunny Sunday

This morning Matt and I awoke and went for an early morning swim. We went to the smaller of the two outdoor pools and had the place to ourselves, so it was perfect for swimming a couple of leisurely laps before heading back home for a breakfast of coffee and croissant with marmalade. Mmmm Mmmm.

After breakfast we packed up a picnic and headed out to Bradley Woods Reservation for a walk around Bunns lake. It was only a 25 minute drive away.

After walking around the lake and following some trails through the beautiful woods we got back in the car and headed towards Huntington Park, another 10 minutes away. We stopped here to eat our picnic.

Huntington Park is right next to Lake Erie and therefore also boasts a swimming beach. The place was very busy towards the lake and, as we had our dogs, we decided that we would head to the beach one night this week after work for a picnic and swim. We haven't yet seen the beach, we assumed that there would be no dogs allowed, so instead we headed back to the quieter area to follow some more trails.

It's really nice to be able to have these areas so close by. They are very well looked after (i.e. the bins are changed frequently, there are recycling dumps in each park and lots of courtesy doggy doo doo bags.). They are also free to get into!!!!

When we got home we had 2 tired but happy dogs who were more than willing to take a nice long nap :)

For dinner tonight we had a Sicilian fish stew.
When he have digested for a while we are going to hit the fitness center for some exercising :)

It's been a great day! We also have a circus and county fair to look forward to over the coming few weeks :)

Hello Lake Erie

This morning Matt and I headed downtown to the LeanDog boat. Downtown Cleveland appears to be much the same as any other downtown I have visited so far in the states. It was nice and clean and I am sure we will explore it some weekend.

This time we just stuck to the boat. It is an old restaurant boat that Matt's company has converted into a floating office. They have retained the kitchen and bar, and at 5pm every night a 'beer gong' is rang and the employees head up on deck to drink some beers.

This is the view from the back of the boat, looking over lake Erie. I am really looking forward to doing some more exploring around the lake. We were told that there are some islands on the lake with B&Bs that are a nice way to spend a weekend. We shall definitely be giving that a go! And we shall also be renting some jet skis sometime soon while the weather is still nice!

After being shown around the boat we headed to a place I've been wanted to try since we decided we were coming to Cleveland: Superior Pho!!

We were a little nervous approaching it as it was in what appears to be a dying part of cleveland. It was in a back alley and not visible from the street. We felt a little more confident when we saw how full the car park was.

I ordered Pho tai (noodle soup with round steak). It was good BUT it was NOT as good as Gold Mountain's Pho. Gold Mountain has set a high standard for fragrant broth. The other Phos I have had all have a lighter broth. It was still good, but certainly no replacement for my drug of choice ;)

I also had a delicious passion fruit bubble tea.

We met up with an old colleague of Matts for lunch with his wife. There was a bit of confusion as they had gone into ANOTHER Pho restaurant behind the one we were meeting at. That made me very happy, it means there's more Pho to be tried!!!!

There is also a korean restaurant inside the same building as Superior Pho and we will give that a try too :)

After returning from our time downtown we took the dogs to the national park next to us to try out a different trail.
There was a horse trail too. Here is Matt and Lucy trekking down the horse trail :)
Tonight we bought a small dinner table from Target and had some roast chicken with wild rice and veggies for dinner, accompanied by a good glass of claret.

Tomorrow we are going to head out to two of the smaller metro parks with the dogs :)

Hello Ohio

Well all I can say is Matt gone done good!

He found us a lovely place to spend the next couple of months.

We are in a little town called Sagamore hills and it's right next to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. One of the entrances is a 3 minute drive away and I took the dogs there today for a walk.



It was beautiful, the sky was overcast and raining which made the greens appear super green. We walked for about 40 minutes along a trail that runs by a small river on one side.



There are old locks along the trail, this one was known as 'whiskey lock'




On the way into our town we cross a tall bridge that covers a deep tree covered ravine. The other morning when I was taking Lucy to the eye doctor there was fog gathering at the tops of the trees and it all looked very magical. It was down in that ravine that we walked today.



There is a scenic railway that runs through the park and if you cycle along the trails you can get back to where you started on the train for only $2. I'm looking forward to giving that a go!



I only covered a small portion of the trails immediately available from the location I parked at today. And there are several more parks around the Cleveland area, so I'm going to have a great time exploring :)

You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos I take, I only manage to point and shoot while also walking when I have the dogs :)