Not the Hike I Planned

The Buckeye Trail got me good today. I had a late start due to waiting for a new mattress to get delivered, and I decided I would head up to Lockington Dam and try to look at the Buckeye Trail in that area. However, the parking lot was closed for construction. A sign said I could park by the street, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that this time. I decided to go elsewhere.

I ended up in Lockington itself and came across the locks in the middle of town. They had the blue blazes on them, which I thought was odd since my rudimentary information about the trail didn't match up with that. I parked and began to wander around it, and I decided to hike as far as I could. It wasn't the dam, but hey. I probably should have stayed on the more east side, but I didn't feel like backtracking, so I climbed down a somewhat more technical section. This involved a short drop, which looked really easy. I was wrong. My right foot came down hard, the heel hitting stone instead of the dirt I thought was there, It hurt almost as much as when I almost lost my foot to an office chair back in 2019. I am stubborn though, so I continued the hike. 

I made it practically to the end of the historic area when I turned around. I came across a couple from down near Dayton that were checking out the locks, and I re-hiked much of it talking to them. It wasn't a long hike, but we did make it to the creek and the end of the maintained canal bed. (The part the donkeys or horses or whatever ended there, maybe on purpose, maybe from the 1913 flood.)

We were almost back to the parking lot when the guy from the couple asked if the lens cap on the ground was mine. Now, I like to believe I am very careful with my lens caps. I tend to keep them safe when I take them off, and this was a weird place to drop one. Still, I looked, and sure enough, it was a Sony 40.5mm lens cap. I picked it up, and it had a fine layer of red dust on it, just like my hiking boots. I thought it was weird, but as I held it in one hand, I reached back and grabbed my lens cap out of my back pocket. Yes, it was still where I left it, and an identical lens cap was in my hand. Nobody else we saw on the trail had a camera, so it had to have been there for a while. I guess now I have a spare lens cap. I can't say that in my twenty-five years of using SLR's or better that I have ever had an extra lens cap. I think I only bought one cap on its own in my life, and that was when I bought a used lens that lacked said cap. 

I headed home, actually following the blue blazes along the road in my car as much as I could, and got my shoes off. My foot still hurts, especially if I try to bend it certain ways or to walk on it, but I am optimistic. Work won't bother it, so it should heal quickly. I think I am going to have to buy the real maps of the trail though, but that will have to wait. 

Tricks and Treats

 

With so many things canceled this year, we were lucky enough to still have Kings Island up and running. Not all of the Cedar Fair parks were so lucky, but a trade-off is that Haunt was canceled for 2020. Thankfully, they did replace it with Tricks and Treats Fall Festival. I suspect some things were repurposed from the postponed Carnival festival, as the Mardi Gras colors were really strong in the costumes. Adding in the food festival though was a great thing.

Two years ago we went to a similar festival at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and had planned to take the kids this summer until everything closed. This wasn't quite as nice, but it was up there. There are a few things I tried I might get again, and being that Chef Major is great at his job, it was all great food. That being said, BGW had theirs set by countries, and that made it more exotic. To compare beyond that is like apples and oranges. It just wouldn't be fair. 

Having season passes, we arrived about an hour before the gates opened, and had to drive past the park and turn around to get into the car line. It was strange seeing the line of cars stretching out that far, but we try to get there early. We were in the park about half an hour before it officially opened, and managed to find the line for Orion to be quite short. Luck was on our side, and we managed to get the front row, and it was a great ride. 

We then headed over to the Beast, and I got my first ride on the Beast for this season. It is sort of amusing that I hadn't been on it this year, last year I actually worked on the ride, and I spent a lot of time in that part of the park. 

Once that was done, we were ready to start with the food festival. (It didn't start until an hour after the park opened.) We got our tasting lanyards (6 items for $30) and went into the Brewhouse to pass the remaining time until the tastings would start. 

I think the Brewhouse is probably one of the most underrated parts of Kings Island. It has some of the best food, and the pricing is not really any different than the rest of the park. As a kid, and even as an adult before I had kids, I avoided it because I thought it would be too expensive. It is now among my favorite food spots at the park, losing out to the Coney BBQ. It has great giant pretzels, which is worth it for that alone, but it has a great secret perk. If there is a line, you can get cups of water from the bar, and they use bigger cups. We have drink plans, but sometimes we want water, and the cups there are easily twice the size of the other food places. That and the bartender is great. I've hung out in there a number of times, hiding out from a storm, enjoying the AC, or catching up with friends.

Finally, the time for the food samples had arrived, and we began our next lap of the park. I can't say what my favorite items were, though I am leaning towards either the Death Dog or the Dragon's Breath Wings. (The El Chupacabra was a solid third place though.) Looking at the pictures, definitely the Death Dog. The jalapenos on it were fresh and crisp. I personally love when they are fresh like that, pickled jalapenos are just too salty for me. 

While doing all of this, my wife took the opportunity to do the Trick or Treat event. I think she was only disappointed that there was only one station with Utz Cheeseballs.

She also had the chance to get on one of the "game shows" the park was holding. She was given a Jelly Belly on camera by a host that I swear looked and sounded like Cedric Yarbrough. Hers was not toasted marshmallow. Nay, it was STINKBUG. She did win a box of horrible flavor jelly beans though. Seriously, ALL of them are the trick flavors. There are none of the good ones. (I actually am partial to the grass ones from a few years ago. I might need to eat more veggies.) 

The holiday theming was really great too. It wasn't the Haunt we were used to, but it was still nice. They had a pumpkin carving area where you could buy well-decorated pumpkins, and they had a few that we really liked. None that we would actually buy, but we haven't done pumpkins for many years. The Bender one was tempting though...

We also played a basketball game in Planet Snoopy. I wanted to get this weird pumpkin creature, which only needed four baskets out of seven to win. 

I got zero.

My wife tried after me, getting two, which was good for a winter koala. I think she will hold that against me for years to come, so there is that...

It was a fun trip though, but I still miss Haunt.