Where is Waldo? {Ohio}

Old Buddy Nick and I finally got in a dual sport ride of length on our own yesterday...the destination was one that I was familiar with, and Nick had been there as well, on several occasions....but not on 200cc Motorcycles via the back roads. 

Harvest has began, the leaves are just starting to change, but not that colorful just yet....however the weather was perfect, not a cloud to speak of, in the blue skies above.  We started out from Nick's place in Montezuma on the south side of Grand Lake at 8:30am, the temps were in the mid 50s, with a bit of haze, by the time we rode back into his garage to down a couple of beers, it was nearly 5pm and temps on the plus side of 80...low humidity and winds make it perfect riding weather.

First we arrived in New Bremen, Ohio, where Nick had worked at Crown Equipment for 38 years, since we left our college days at Athens, Ohio....we stopped at a little restaurant he had frequented in his early years...the breakfast was good, and the prices fantastic...between the tow of us we had the BIG breakfast and coffee, all for less that $5 each...by 9:30 we rolled out of NB and headed east via the back roads of early fall towards Waldo, Ohio....a small town some 100 miles east and slightly south of Celina and on the Marion/Delaware County Borders, about 22 miles north of downtown Columbus:

Waldo is famous for 1 thing{well 2 in my mind, since my ancestors were famous and infamous back in the 1800s}....

First off the Famous Baloney is was the reason, or so we told ourselves, for the trip....G&R Tavern, home of the World Famous Bologna Sandwiches:

G & R Waldo

So we zig-zagged our way down back country {mostly} paved roads....checked out the harvests going on, as the farmers were taking off the beans, and some corn...the weather is allowing for this for the time being.  South of Huntsville, where we stopped to fill up the TW's small 1.6 gallon tanks, I thought I saw a dead cat on the roads....I should have stopped and taken a photo, it turned out to be a Albino with Red tinges

Opossum ....in all my years I had never seen one in person, sadly he didn't survive the trip across the country road...

Being armed with a compass and Ohio Road Map, don't need no stinking GPS{although both our phones are equipped with same} we were not concerned with getting lost....I did however have to use the map one time, I came up on Ohio 347 between Marysville and Delaware, and checked out the map to get us going back east and slightly north towards Waldo...we ended up putting on 115 from my house to get there, about 18 miles longer than a straight shot...that after all is what we wanted, back road miles....

Once to Waldo we hate the usual fare, I had a Baloney with Pepper Jack and Sweet Pickle, Nick ordered the same, he had a side of Onion Rings, me?  I had a side of Deep Fried Mushroom with Horseradish Sauce...we each had a long neck to go with the meal.

We filled up at the BP station on the north side of town and then wandered our way back to the Town Cemetery where many Houseworth ancestors are buried, including my GG Grandma Ursula,  a descendent of the Mayflower Bunch and  who owned large tracks of land in Waldo back in the mid and late 1800s.  Great Great Uncle "Maish" the longest living Civil War Veteran {98+ years} in Marion County is also buried nearby...a couple of photographs and we headed a different course, somewhat more north, back towards Montezuma...about 1/3 way back we stripped off the riding coats, it had become much to warm for those....as we passed Bayview Lodge less than a mile for Nick's the time and temp sign read "81"  A full 35 degrees more than when we had taken off some 8 hours earlier...

A good ride finished, we tossed down a couple Amber Ale Long Necks....


Back Later>>>

Photos-from top to bottom:

Arriving at G&R and ready to eat..{2} A refurbished one room school house near Kettlersville {3} Crossing I-75 on separate overpassed both ways to and from our destinations...{4} Ohio still has several active covered bridges, this one between Indian Lake and Jackson Center we came across quite by accident on the way home..{5} Great Great Grandma Ursula Scribner Houseworth grave stone needs dome cleaning, some mold has grown it....maybe I will do that next trip to Waldo, I usual make 2 visits to town every year, mostly for the G&R fare....{6}  Solomon "Maish" Houseworth's stone....the guy would make book material by himself, he was quite the famous resident of Waldo for a variety of reasons....you can find more about him in the page of my Blog on Houseworth Family History:

Houseworth Family Genealogy

Looking back at the upper Great Lakes Ride 2015

It's been about 5 1/2 weeks since we got back from our Great Lakes Ride on the TWs....since that time Kurt has rode his TW as far north as James Bay in Canada, about 3200 miles round trip in 8 days, making our ride, half that much in the same time frame, seem pretty tame.  Fact of the matter is however, I would rather average 150-175 miles a day and take in the sites and scenery, much more enjoyable, especially if the weather is like it was back in July and early August...since our trip, some rains have returned and the  heat and humidity has been brutal...not something you want as football officiating season begins.

 

 

I though I would put down some of my favorite photos of the trip that may or may not have been posted before....I will probably make one more "Road Trip" before putting the  TW away for the winter....that will be at my old stomping grounds from here to Waldo, Ohio, where the family ancestors lived back in the mid 1800s and some remained until the early 20th Century...Nick and I will likely do that as the leaves change in early October....Waldo is also home to the world famous Baloney Sandwiches at G&R Tavern, which we will surly partake in.

In the meantime, here are some of the Great Lake Photos I enjoyed taking and looking back at:

Riding Northern Wisconsin and Michigan's "Yooper" aka  The U P