By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In our last blog post, Ruth told the story of the fun we had with some people we met at lunch in Shawnee, Ohio in the spring of 2012. What she didn’t tell you was what happened prior to lunch that day and a related occurrence a day and a half later many miles away.
Prior to arriving in Shawnee, we had stopped to get gas and bought a big bag of ice for the cooler. Rather than mess with the cooler at the gas station, we decided we’d wait until we got to a park in Shawnee to do that. Irwin, our trusty GPS, does a fairly good job of telling us where parks are located, so we followed his directions to take us to the one park he knew about.
Irwin guided us along the main street where there were many old historic buildings that we would have liked to photograph immediately. But we knew we needed to get to the park to take care of the cooler. So, we turned down a side street off the main drag and followed Irwin’s directions. He said the park was at the end of the block. When we got there, unfortunately, there was no park. After expressing our frustration to Irwin, we turned around and headed back towards the main street to find someone who could tell us if there was another park in town.
But we were worried about the ice melting in the bag, so we pulled over on that street to deal with the cooler. On one side of the street, there was just a wooded area. On the other side there was a hill with a house on top. And near that house was a storage shed that had been painted with a “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” sign. We pulled the cooler from the cargo area, unloaded all the food, drained it, replaced the ice, and reloaded it. Then we tried to find someone who could tell us if the town had another park. Luckily, it did and that’s where we met the two women with the hungry children.
That night, we stayed at a motel in Athens, which is about 40 minutes south of Shawnee. The next day we started heading north (in our usual roundabout way). We planned to stay overnight in Berlin so we could explore the Amish countryside the following day. As the crow flies, Berlin is about 2.5 hours from Athens, but we spent the day zig-zagging along the backroads of central Ohio, admiring many beautiful farms along the way.
And we passed through many small towns where we explored the streets for special treasures, like this service station sign for Buick and Ford cars, along with Firestone Tires.
That evening, we checked into our motel in the heart of Amish country and, as we were unpacking the car, we noticed a woman watching us and looking like she had something she wanted to say to us. Finally, she approached us and said, “I feel like I know you.” Well, she didn’t look familiar to us and we didn’t have the same feeling about her. So, we waited to hear more.
She then asked us if we had been in Shawnee the day before. We said that, yes, we had been in Shawnee, and we were thinking that maybe she had passed us on the street while we were busy photographing. But then she asked if we had pulled over on the side of the road and emptied our cooler. Again, we said that we had, and we were trying to figure out how she knew that because no one had passed by while we did that. Also, here we were two hours north of Shawnee and someone was describing our exact movements in Shawnee the day before.
The woman then sheepishly explained that she lived in the house on the hill, with the Mail Pouch Tobacco shed, and that she was watching us the whole time, trying to figure out what the heck we were doing. Well, we had a good laugh over that and we ended up talking with her for quite a while before wrapping up our day and figuring out where we would be at first light the next morning.
As the famous radio storyteller Paul Harvey used to say at the end of his broadcasts, "And now you know the rest of the story."
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Haven’t We Seen You Somewhere Before?
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
In the middle of our spring trip to southern Ohio in 2012, we made our way to the historic town of Shawnee.
As is usual for us, we were on the backroads for too long, and it was past lunchtime when we got into town. But, as is also usual, after a local told us they did have a town park and where it was located, we couldn’t stand to drive past anything on our way. We decided we could wait just a little longer to eat, and to photograph our way to the park down one street. And, after lunch, we would come back up the next street photographing our way back.
When we arrived at the park, there was a playground area, with two small children playing, and their mothers nearby at a picnic table with a baby in a stroller.
We drove on past and went to a shelter further down the road. We got our food out of the cooler and headed to a picnic table. We built our sandwiches and fixed a quick side dish and began to eat.
And then we saw the two young ones from the playground equipment heading our way. They came over and said hello, and then climbed up onto the picnic table and started chatting away.
They told us how hungry they were and that they weren’t allowed to go home until their mothers said they could. They kept chatting away, asking us questions, but they kept emphasizing how hungry they were.
Soon, the mothers gathered their things and came over to collect the kids. They said they hoped they weren’t bothering us and we told them they were no trouble, but they were hungry. They laughed, and said they were heading for home.
After they left, we finished our lunch and packed up the car. Then we headed for downtown to see what other historical things we could find.
Down the road from the park, we could see the mothers and children up ahead walking towards home, and Joann couldn’t resist putting the window down and calling out “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” They laughed, we laughed, and we each headed on our way.
There was a lot to see in this small town, and you’ll find out more about that in a future blog, but suffice it to say, we still had several hours of photographing in town. When we thought we were finally finished, we started to head out to the highway. But then we noticed an old brick building that we knew we had to capture before we left.
Joann got out and was setting up her equipment, when a van went slowly past on the road we had just left. Someone rolled the window down and shouted, “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” and then everyone in the car laughed. Joann started to laugh as well. It was the two ladies from the park with their children.
After wishing each other a good day, they drove on, and Joann finished up her photographing. Finally we hit the highway and were on our way.
I hope someday we end up near Shawnee again. It was an interesting, historic town, and I’m sure we didn’t find everything. Plus, you never know who you’ll meet.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
In the middle of our spring trip to southern Ohio in 2012, we made our way to the historic town of Shawnee.
As is usual for us, we were on the backroads for too long, and it was past lunchtime when we got into town. But, as is also usual, after a local told us they did have a town park and where it was located, we couldn’t stand to drive past anything on our way. We decided we could wait just a little longer to eat, and to photograph our way to the park down one street. And, after lunch, we would come back up the next street photographing our way back.
When we arrived at the park, there was a playground area, with two small children playing, and their mothers nearby at a picnic table with a baby in a stroller.
We drove on past and went to a shelter further down the road. We got our food out of the cooler and headed to a picnic table. We built our sandwiches and fixed a quick side dish and began to eat.
And then we saw the two young ones from the playground equipment heading our way. They came over and said hello, and then climbed up onto the picnic table and started chatting away.
They told us how hungry they were and that they weren’t allowed to go home until their mothers said they could. They kept chatting away, asking us questions, but they kept emphasizing how hungry they were.
Soon, the mothers gathered their things and came over to collect the kids. They said they hoped they weren’t bothering us and we told them they were no trouble, but they were hungry. They laughed, and said they were heading for home.
After they left, we finished our lunch and packed up the car. Then we headed for downtown to see what other historical things we could find.
Down the road from the park, we could see the mothers and children up ahead walking towards home, and Joann couldn’t resist putting the window down and calling out “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” They laughed, we laughed, and we each headed on our way.
There was a lot to see in this small town, and you’ll find out more about that in a future blog, but suffice it to say, we still had several hours of photographing in town. When we thought we were finally finished, we started to head out to the highway. But then we noticed an old brick building that we knew we had to capture before we left.
Joann got out and was setting up her equipment, when a van went slowly past on the road we had just left. Someone rolled the window down and shouted, “Haven’t we seen you somewhere before?” and then everyone in the car laughed. Joann started to laugh as well. It was the two ladies from the park with their children.
After wishing each other a good day, they drove on, and Joann finished up her photographing. Finally we hit the highway and were on our way.
I hope someday we end up near Shawnee again. It was an interesting, historic town, and I’m sure we didn’t find everything. Plus, you never know who you’ll meet.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Sunday, June 10, 2018
A New Way to Shunpike with Us
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
For those of you who follow this blog and are not in our Facebook friends list, we want to let you know that we recently released a new Facebook page called Shunpiking to Heaven – Photography by Joann M. Ringelstetter.
We will continue to post to this blog two or three times each month, but we will post to the Facebook page two or three times each week. These posts will feature one photo and the text will be short and sweet. The posts will be about shunpiking on the backroads, historical and rural architecture, nature and wildlife, and whatever else we get ourselves into!
Each week, there will be at least one Feature Day. Magical Mondays will feature photos and experiences that feel magical to us.
On Tombstone Tuesdays, we will share interesting gravestones and cemeteries we have found in our travels.
Wild Wednesdays will feature photos and stories from our natural world, along with any “wild” adventures we get ourselves involved in.
On Thankful Thursdays, we will tell you about all the things and experiences that make us thankful.
Forgotten Fridays will feature deteriorating and abandoned structures and anything else that seems to have been forgotten.
And on Shunpikin’ Saturdays, we will share photos of things you might see while shunpiking on the backroads.
We are also planning a poetry corner, a history corner, a humor corner, and many other types of posts.
If you’re on Facebook and would enjoy seeing shorter, more frequent posts, in addition to these longer stories, we hope you’ll follow us on our Shunpiking to Heaven – Photography by Joann M. Ringelstetter Facebook page.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
For those of you who follow this blog and are not in our Facebook friends list, we want to let you know that we recently released a new Facebook page called Shunpiking to Heaven – Photography by Joann M. Ringelstetter.
We will continue to post to this blog two or three times each month, but we will post to the Facebook page two or three times each week. These posts will feature one photo and the text will be short and sweet. The posts will be about shunpiking on the backroads, historical and rural architecture, nature and wildlife, and whatever else we get ourselves into!
Each week, there will be at least one Feature Day. Magical Mondays will feature photos and experiences that feel magical to us.
On Tombstone Tuesdays, we will share interesting gravestones and cemeteries we have found in our travels.
Wild Wednesdays will feature photos and stories from our natural world, along with any “wild” adventures we get ourselves involved in.
On Thankful Thursdays, we will tell you about all the things and experiences that make us thankful.
Forgotten Fridays will feature deteriorating and abandoned structures and anything else that seems to have been forgotten.
And on Shunpikin’ Saturdays, we will share photos of things you might see while shunpiking on the backroads.
We are also planning a poetry corner, a history corner, a humor corner, and many other types of posts.
If you’re on Facebook and would enjoy seeing shorter, more frequent posts, in addition to these longer stories, we hope you’ll follow us on our Shunpiking to Heaven – Photography by Joann M. Ringelstetter Facebook page.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
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