Car Shopping and Wine

Replacing my car has been a goal for quite a while now. I've had issues with Kia, and after finally getting the radio replaced after two years, which was part of a separate shitshow, I was done with them. Almost done, actually. I gave them a second chance in November, with an upgraded version of my Niro they had set for delivery. After work, I stopped at the dealership the day it was delivered, and we began the process. However, the numbers all came back a lot higher than expected. I walked away from the dealership after two hours, finding out a few days later that they had raised the price of the car by $3000. They ran the credit checks without telling me about the drastic price change. They didn't care that I caught them, so I knew I was done with the local Kia dealer.

Then, just as the year came to an end, I saw two Nissan Kicks listed in Indiana, about an hour away. It was funny, because they had two that appeared identical, but was about a $500 difference in price. I finally figured out why, and it was because one of the models lacked a spoiler. A quick check with Saris showed me that my old Bones rack that I hadn't been able to use since I traded in my Blazer about 4 years ago was able to be used on the Kicks, but only without the spoiler. The lack of a spoiler was a huge benefit, so my wife and I got in the Kia, and headed to Indiana. 

The dealership happened to be part of the same company that sold us the Kia in the first place, which had been great to deal with, but they were two hours away. It helped a bit with trade-in, getting a better offer than the local Kia dealer made, and we were offered lower payments and a lower interest rate. We even were able to use the refund of the Gap coverage as a down payment. I did take a hit on fuel economy, but it is a much nicer ride. It doesn't center in the lane, but it has better safety features and a remote starter. It reminds me a lot of the Jeep Renegade I used to have, which I don't miss nearly as much now. 

Since we had the day largely filled, with going to look at the car, and with the previous experience of the process not working out, we planned to hit a winery or two on the way home. Time-wise though, we only had time for one, and we went with the Olde Schoolhouse Vineyard and Winery near Eaton, OH. Somewhat obviously, it was an old one-room schoolhouse converted into a winery. I got a cider flite, and my wife got a wine flight. There were some really good ciders in the flite, and my wife took interest in one seasonal wine that tasted like cotton candy.  (It was called Circ Ass, but I couldn't find it on the website.) We brought a bottle home, and I think she would have been happy had we picked up two bottles instead. 

An interesting thing is that the winery is part of the Darke County Whiskey, Wine, & Ale Trail, which I found amusing since it is actually in Preble County. I think another one of the locations is in Miami County, for what that is worth.  Aside from The Winery at Versailles, we haven't been to any of them before. (We have had products from a few of the others though.) We will need to stop in Versailles sometime and get the booklet we got stamped. I don't know which location will actually be next, but the Olde Schoolhouse was a nice surprise. 

Postponed Concert

It has been a long 4 months, the job hunt had a few ups and downs, but nothing permanent yet. I fell behind in the blog, again, and with so many things. In early December, we were supposed to go to the Evanenscense / Halestorm concert in Cincy, but it got canceled at the last minute. (Actually, about an hour before we were to leave. Close enough. The official email was less than 90 minutes before the doors were set to open.) Now, I already paid $235 for the night at the hotel, and it was too late to cancel, so off to Cincinnati we went. 

We arrived about when we had expected, and checked into the AC Hotel. I know I may have paid a bit extra for a river view, but it was more of Moerlein Lager House. I mean, sure, we were a few stories over it, but that was the main thing it felt like we could see from the hotel room.

We went for a quick walk around the stadiums, curious how many people missed the memo. There were a few, though what really caught our attention was a group that came from the parking lot, with signs and wigs and so on, who were upset that it was canceled. They stated they drove two hours just to be sure because they didn't really believe it when they got the email. 

We doubled back to Moerlein Lager House for dinner, which was nice since we never got to go there during the Flying Pig. It was pretty good, and it wasn't too crowded. Though, to be fair, there was a home Bengals game, just a few hundred yards away. 

We then made our way up to another interesting place down in the Banks district, titled rather logically as Fishbowl at the Banks. We sat inside for a few minutes before making our way to an igloo they had outside. We had that space to ourselves for a while, before two women joined us, carrying four jello-shots in syringes. They were also there for the postponed concert, and they handed both of us one of the jello shots. (We looked, but even with the Fishbowl logo on them, we didn't see them on the menu. They were good though.)

After some time in the igloo, we headed back to the hotel. It was a shame that we both had to work the next day, but that was part of why we had the hotel in the first place. I was still a little groggy on my way back to work, but having to drop my wife off at work on the way meant an early start for me. 

Mini: Surprise Art (Video)

Due to how chaotic things are this week, I don't know if I will have a post for this weekend. But, I might. I didn't quite get a queue going like I had hoped. I did happen upon something odd between interviews though, and it isn't enough for a real post, but sometimes the blog needs to remember that err is part of the name.

King's Island Grand Carnival

 

One of the big events I looked forward to this year was the return of KI's Grand Carnival. [note: at the time of this post, I owned two units of Cedar Fair, the parent company of Kings Island.] It was something I was really looking forward to, especially since it was canceled last year due to Covid, and the year before I only got to see it once. Well, I actually did see it a little more than once, because that year I worked at the park, and trained a day to work the festival before an injury involving a swivel chair almost cost me my foot.

Part of what I love about the festival is that it reminds me a bit of New Orleans. After missing the event in '19, we made plans to go to NOLA for my birthday in 2020, and actually officially left there a week before they claimed Covid arrived. It is one of my favorite places, for reasons I may not ever fully understand. I love it there, and I always feel like I am missing so much on my visit. The parades there that I caught were similar in some ways to what KI had and very different in others. KI kept it family-friendly, and a lot of the parades in New Orleans are also family-friendly. I still hope to watch the Krewe of Thoth's parade one day, but that didn't align with our trip. 

We made three trips this year to KI for the parade, and also the food festival that came with it. We did go a little overboard with the tasting cards, and as a result, we may have about 5 packages of Macaroons still. I really enjoyed the Chinese food section, but I really preferred the Food and Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. 

A few of the floats were different this year, there was at least one I know was missing, or it was changed a lot. I can not say for sure, and since they ran this at another park at the same time, it might have shuffled them a little. 

I don't know if they will do it again next year, maybe they will send it to other parks. Maybe it would be worth seeing how other parks do it, and we might have the opportunity to travel to the other parks next summer. Of course, with the normal pattern of changing shows up after two years, Grand Carnival might be gone after this. Time will tell, as the world hopefully gets back to whatever normal really is. 

More photos...

Gem City Comic Con

 

I really didn't have a lot to do last weekend, other than a dinner at the local Masonic Lodge, and one of my friends called up and asked if I wanted to tag along to a local comic show. He had a computer repair job in the afternoon, so it was just going to be a short trip. Since admission was only $10, I couldn't resist. 

We headed down to the Dayton convention center and got a decent parking spot, arriving about half an hour before the show opened. Since we were there before it opened, we got a free signed print from Stuart Sayger, which was nice. (If awkward to carry around.) It did take a few tries to find his booth, but we did it.

I was just looking for anything that would catch my eye, and I did pick up a few things. Like the Funko Pop Deadpool Trex that I have been looking for all summer. (I bought two, my son wanted one as well, and it was becoming a competition to see who would get to find it first. I drive and have money, so there was a bit of an advantage.  There were other things that I might have bought if I had a real job, like a bust of Captain Picard face-palming. It was really tempting though! 

Even though the show was Comic specific, there were a few cosplayers, at least two that I saw from My Hero Academia. It was a small show though, and we actually paid the parking garage fee two minutes shy of two hours. (Saved a dollar or two!) 

My friend didn't quite find what he was looking for (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics) and he was told by one vendor that they had them in their store nearby. So after the Con, we headed to Bell Book and Comic where he may have spent almost $200 on comic books. I'm not judging, I quit collecting comics in college, but I transitioned to Anime Cels for a while, then ran out of money. (I may have over 100 manga books now though. I would rather not count them. Most of Inuyasha and Full Metal Alchemist, and a number of others.)

While it wasn't as large as GalaxyCon was in Louisville, not by a long shot, it was still a nice local show. I might go back next year. It wasn't exactly expensive, and I could have (should?) completed my youngest son's Assassination Classroom manga set, so he would want to go for that alone. And besides, maybe next time I will have the money to burn just for Picard's Facepalm statue. 

Run to the Moon

I finally returned to the Run to the Moon race in Wapakoneta, after quite a few years. I avoided it due to issues that happened the last time I ran it, such as the finish line getting pulled due to a storm, and getting assigned a finish time that was not accurate. Honestly, that was 8 years ago, which was a bit too long to hold a grudge. 7 years, maybe, but by year 8...

Much like 8 years ago, it didn't take long for the rain to start. It didn't get as bad this time, but with my breathing problems, it was still rough. It also dug in how much speed I have lost. While I didn't take any walking breaks (I am sort of proud about that) I still only averaged a 16:53/mile for the 5k. 8 years ago, I averaged 13:43/mile for the 10k. (I also weigh a lot more than I did last time.) 

That being said, with my youngest and my wife both running, and my son being a bit faster than me last time, I hoped to improve over Fly Me to the Moon 5k. I was successful, cutting about 30 seconds/mile from my time. My son was more successful, no only setting a PR for himself, and only about half a minute behind my PR. From 9 years ago at a cemetery run. Neither of us even came close to my wife, who set her new 10k pr and got 3rd female overall. So yeah... She got an extra medal from a few astronauts. 

Since this was the sister race to Fly Me to the Moon, this race also gave out a series medal. I came home with two medals, as did my son. (My wife came home with three, counting her place award.) 

I don't know if I will do this again next year, but I probably won't skip it for another 8 years.

 

Davey Woods SNP

 

Getting back out to hike somewhere new is a rare thing anymore. It always feels like I am short on time, which doesn't help. Still, I managed to pull off a new location for a hike about half an hour from my house, and it was a nice change of scenery. My wife and I headed to Davey Woods, a State nature preserve not all that far from home. I bookmarked it last year to go to, but didn't ever make it. 

I found that the park was quite nearly the middle of nowhere, though I know there are a few State Parks nearby. Parking was just a small grass field, and a gate that was just there to keep cars out. 

I think this was the first time I have been to a State preserve, instead of a County based one. It was also the first time I have ever seen a warning about Feral Swine in Ohio. I remember a girl in college that I used to talk to, and she used to work with a blind person to hunt wild boar in South Carolina. I heard a few stories from her, and also some family members of mine that had moved down there. Honestly though, I had no idea wild bacon was a problem in Ohio. (I looked it up, and it seems like a problem on the far side of the state, but... they are edible. Thank you ODNR for that information.)

Walking past the wild pig sign, I have to admit, I still have the wild pig / wild boar joke from Robin Hood Men in Tights stuck in my head. Seriously, I don't think I saw any signs of pigs, but I could be wrong. Maybe it was just a pig-free day? 

There are only two trails at the preserve, and we were able to hit both of them easily. I think the trail was a bit more technical than we are used to, but not difficult. It wasn't nearly as bad as the trail at Kiser Lake last summer.

One thing that did stand out on this trail was a small cemetery. With what looked like three graves, and not really near anything else, it was a strange sight to see. 

Now, to be fair, they died about 150 years ago. I ran the numbers, and it was after the revolution, and we need to recognize that the local forest are often young growth.  There might have been trees before, maybe most were cleared out for lumber, and this is just reclamation. I am curious what it looked like there a century ago. I suppose I could just start carrying a tape measure in my hiking gear and measure a few trees to estimate their age. Maybe they are older than I thought, maybe not. (Part of me thinks it is too much hassle, but writing that into a program might be useful in a classroom. I think curiosity will win out.) 

Either way, I am glad to have gotten another hiking location out of the way, even if it wasn't going towards filling out my State Park guidebook.  I don't know if I would go back and hit this location again, purely due to it being out of the way, and not being all that long. At least it was a change of pace.