Defiance

We detoured again this morning to see one of the many historic covered bridges Washington County, Pennsylvania is famous for. This one was a short drive from the motel at the end of a very beautiful road. It would make a nice garage for Vanna.

We saw a huge wild turkey on the way there, which thrilled Poppy.

We crossed West Virginia briefly and then into Ohio.

Southeast Ohio was surprisingly beautiful too, with rolling hills and well-tended farms.

Each town seems to have a beautiful courthouse. This one was in Cadiz, Ohio.

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Here is Henry county's courthouse:

Today was a red letter day for Vanna;  she finally passed another vehicle on the road.  I was so proud of her I took a pic of the vehicle she passed. Here it is:

Yes, we passed thru Amish country. 

It was fascinating to see their immaculate farms and black buggies parked out front.  Although an atheist, I respect anyone who truly lives a life of conviction as the Amish do.  John was impressed by them too.

We then headed to the town where I was born and raised, Defiance, Ohio, made briefly famous by the movie "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" starring Woody Harrelson and Julianne Moore. (It's a true story; you can Netflix it)

I parked Vanna in front of the house where I grew up.

It was white when we lived there 50 years ago, the very first in town with aluminum siding.  The current owner is the fourth owner of the house, and they had it painted two years ago.  He had heard of us and my dad, but he eyed me suspiciously the whole time we talked.  Two middle aged men, two dogs, and a beat up old hippie van parked in front of his house- what's suspicious about that?  

I did fill him in on the history of the house, the fire, the neighborhood.  He told me nobody I knew as a kid still lived in the neighborhood, until I mentioned the family behind us, the Busteeds. They were still in their home and now almost 90 years old.  But they remembered me well and we had a nice visit, catching up on almost 50 years.

Amazingly the  swing set my dad had built for us as kids is still there, and the seats were just recently replaced.

We stopped by the library where there is a plaque to a statue honoring my Uncle John, library patron, and Jane Small, the town librarian for many years.

(unfortunate title to the statue.  no, I don't think my uncle and Mrs. Small were "playmates")

History of Defiance:

My elementary school is now a senior center. How appropriate.

We ended the day back in a Florida.  Florida, Ohio that is.

One final note about Defiance: pick up a copy of "Ship of Gold in the Deep a Blue Sea".  

It's the true tale of two Defiance boys we grew up with, Barry Schatz (he lived directly across the street from us) and Tom Thompson and how they found a sunken ship with literally hundreds of millions of dollars in gold from the California gold rush.  My sister Gina is in it.  Neither Barry nor Tom has been heard from after they recovered the gold.  Fascinating read.  And written by a Seattle author too.