Tag: Blue Compass RV

QUOTABLE: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ~John Wooden

On Monday, June 2, we had a pretty short drive, so we started our day with breakfast at the lodge, then hit the road about 10 AM. Sweet!! We retraced our previous route up to St. Marys and crossed the Ohio River into its namesake state. There we turned north on OH-7, a scenic drive along the river, although you really can’t see it most of the time. At Powhatan Point, we turned west on OH-148 to Burnsville, then took OH-147 all the way through Sarahsville, turning north to Wolf Run State Park a few miles later.

If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, you know that I LOVE a good animal park, zoo, petting zoo, or conservation center, and we’ve been to many all around the country. On Tuesday morning, we got up early to take in what is purported to be one of the largest conservation centers in the world…The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio. This place is AWESOME, and the most amazing part is its roots! All of the beautiful land this place covers was once a coal strip mine! It all started in the 1970s when community leaders had a vision. There were a lot of people involved, but the two most responsible for the coming change were Sam Speck and Bob Teater. Sam was a Representative in the Ohio House who wanted to pass a meaningful strip mining reclamation law despite opposition from many, including some in his own party. It took years, but Governor John J. Gilligan in 1973 finally signed into law the bill that required mining companies to have a reclamation plan before mining, return the land to its “original contour”, and immediately plant grass for erosion control. That law became the basis for the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Bob Teater was director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and had contacts out the wazoo. His contribution was in the form of vision, fundraising through private and public sources, and getting the community on board. His ability to make people see the vision before anything was there was amazing. Through the work of these two men and many other people, The International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals nonprofit, aka The Wilds, was established, and American Electric Power donated the land. Teater began lobbying with the community in January 1985, and it wasn’t until 1992 that the first endangered animal, Przewalski’s (pronounced shah-VAL-skis) wild horses. It was a couple more years before the public was allowed to come check it out.

Today The Wilds is a leader in the conservation of threatened and endangered animals from around the world. In addition to the open fields where a variety of animals roam freely, the facilities include a campground, yurts, food counter, stables, and a gift shop. You can choose to take a zipline or horseback tour, hike or mountain bike on trails in the exterior areas, or get a seat on their open-air safari buses or jeeps. The tours aren’t cheap, but we thought the bus tour was well worth it. (The jeep tours had the added advantage of being able to go off-road, but on the day we were there, they would not have seen anything more than we did, and it cost more than 3X as much.) We were out for about 2-1/2 hours, stopping about half way through at the carnivore exhibit. There they have bathrooms and a snack bar. I was a bit peckish, so had a Bavarian pretzel…best I’ve ever tasted! Back on the safari bus, we meandered through more fields until finally getting back to the starting point. Here are some of the things we saw:

• The Persian onager, sometimes called the Persian wild ass, is a critically endangered species native to Iran. They are small, donkey-like animals that top out at 3′ to 5′ tall and 440 to 570 lbs. Poaching, both for the meat and hide, drought, and competition for food with livestock are their main threats. There have been several programs world-wide to breed and reintroduce them in their natural habitats. The Wilds has the largest breeding herd in North America and has successfully used artificial insemination to grow the herd and introduce new breeding lines.

• The greater one-horned rhino, also known as the Indian rhinoceros, has made a comeback over the last several decades thanks to conservation efforts like those at The Wilds. These giant beasts weigh between 3500 and 4900 lbs. and top out at a little over 6′ tall as adults. They are native to the northern part of India and parts of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Both bulls and cows have the horn, which grow to between 9.5 and 22.5 inches, but often appear as a thick knob with wear. One of the main threats to the current wild population is poaching to use their horns in traditional Chinese medicines.

• The Bactrian deer, which is also called the Bukhara deer or Bactrian wapiti, can be found in the wild in parts of Khorasan, Russian Turkestan, and Afghanistan. In 1999 there were only around 350 of the beautiful animals in the wild, and they are still considered endangered. Their height ranges from 2.5′ to 5′ and they weigh in at between 165 and 500 pounds. That’s a big range! Today there are only three facilities in North America with breeding programs, and The Wilds is one of them.

• Przewalski’s wild horses, also know as take, Mongolian wild horses, or Dzungarian horse, are native to Central Asia. They were the first inhabitants of The Wilds pastures, arriving in 1992. By that time, the beautiful little horses had been extinct in the wild for over 30 years. Competition for grazing, hunting, and harsh winders in the mid-1940s and 1950s are believed to be their biggest problems. Topping out at about 660 pounds and just under 5′ tall, these fellows look like our domestic horses, but are genetically different and unrelated. Thanks to conservation and breeding programs like The Wilds, they have been reintroduced in their natural habitats. These guys meandered to the bus, we thought to check us out. Turned out that they used it as a scratching post. LOL

• Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land, reaching speeds of up to 80 mph, but like greyhounds, their top number is only for a few hundred yards. After that, they are exhausted and must rest. In the wild, their exhaustion sometimes results in losing their catch to lions and hyenas. With a hunting success rate of only around 50%, that would stink after exerting yourself so hard and finally getting nothing!! They are very graceful and lean, reaching just over 3′ at the shoulder and weighing up to 143 lbs. Although not endangered, these beautiful cats from Africa and Iran are vulnerable thanks to habitat loss, poaching, and disease. At The Wilds, we saw at least three cheetahs. They are housed in the carnivore section in a large, open area.

• I have been to a lot of zoos and animal parks and, to my knowledge, have never seen a Dhole (pronounced dole). This is a gorgeous, fox-like animal that is also known as an Asiatic wild dog, but looks like a really red fox with a slightly less fluffy tail. They top out at about 44″ long (not counting the tail), and 20″ tall at the shoulder, weighing in at 22-46 lbs. In the wild they hunt in packs of up to 30 animals and will take down prey (mostly hooved animals) up to 10 times their weight. Wow! They can also jump up to 7′ straight up! Native to Asia, current wild populations are endangered and have disappeared from up to 60% of their historic range. Their largest threat is habitat loss, inbreeding, extermination to protect livestock or game. At The Wilds, they have at least three that are siblings and are housed in the carnivore area. They were really adorable, playing just like your puppies at home.

• INTERESTING NOTE: The other animal housed in the carnivore section was the African Painted Dog. I couldn’t get a good pic, because they were moved to a smaller area while their field was mowed. Our tour guides said that they don’t move the cheetahs or the dholes, but these dogs can’t be trusted to leave the guy on the mower alone. I would have picked the cheetah as the most dangerous, but they have actually been tamed for thousands of years and do well with humans. Who knew??!!

• The Père David’s deer, also known as the milu or elaphure, was once totally extinct in its natural habitat in China. Named for the French missionary who first brought it to the attention of Western scientists in 1866, this deer can be up to 7.2′ long and almost 4′ tall at the shoulder and weigh in at 300 to 440 lbs. Their antlers are interesting and unlike other deer in that they point straight up and back, and can come in twice a year. In 1900 fewer than 30 Père David’s deer remained in the Nanyuan Royal Hunting Garden near Peking, property of Tongzhi, Emperor of China. During the Boxer Rebellion, troops from the German Empire occupied the garden and those deer became food. Thankfully a few had been transported to zoos in Europe, and that is where the breeding began. In 1985 the deer were reintroduced to the site, which is now Beijing Mile park. Since then the population has grown to 6,000 on reserves in China and another 600 in the wild thanks to an escape during flooding. The Wilds has the largest breeding herd in North America.

• The largest bird in the world, the Ostrich, is not in any danger of extinction. They are just cool looking! Standing between 5.5′ and 9′ tall and weighing from 198 to 287 lbs., these fellows have no trouble sticking their heads up in the bus. Their top speed is 43 mph, and they don’t use their wings for flying, but for balance. Their brains are smaller than their eyeballs (hey, I know some people like that *wink**wink*), and their eggs, the largest among land animals, are the equivalent of 2 dozen of the chicken variety. Some folks associate this giant bird with Australia, thanks to feral populations that escaped captivity, but their natural habitat is in Africa. (It’s the emu that naturally lives down under.) Ostriches are farmed everywhere for feathers, eggs, meat, and oil.

• The beautiful Grévy’s zebra is the largest of the zebra family, weighing in at up to 990 lbs. and reaching 9′ long and a little over 5′ at the withers. Native to Eastern Africa, there were around 15,000 in the wild in the 1970s, but hunting, habitat loss, and competition for food and water have caused a drastic drop to less than 2,000. The Grévy’s zebra is a perfect example of how introduction of new plants to an area without understanding the consequences can have a grave outcome. When mesquite was introduced to Ethiopia in the late 1990s, it began quickly replacing the grass species that makes up the majority of the zebra’s food. Can you tell them apart? Look closely, because those stripes are just like fingerprints…unique!

• The Sichuan takin, also called the Tibetan takin, is another animal that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. Although they look a little like the Arctic muskox and even have a musky smell, they are not related. This native of Tibet and China’s closest cousins are goats and sheep. They love thick bamboo groves and are as agile as mountain goats on steep, rocky terrain. Currently classified as a vulnerable species, these giants are threatened by poaching for food and fur. It is unknown how many are currently living in the wild, but there are several populations in conservation and breeding centers. The Wilds has the largest breeding herd in North America.

• I had no idea that my favorite, the giraffe, is vulnerable to extinction! (All the more reason for me to bring a few to the barn in Tennessee!!) There are nine different types of giraffe, and their native habitats are spread out in central and Southern Africa. The tallest animal living on terra firma, they can weigh as much as 4,300 lbs. and be almost 20′ tall. Identification is all about color and spot shape and can sometimes be tough with several types grouped together. The Wilds is home to two types of giraffe – reticulated and Masai. The former has distinctive spots of reddish-brown polygons close together on a white background. The Masai has a hodgepodge of different shaped spots on a background that is more creamy yellowish. So can you identify them now? In the pics below, the one looking at us, the one standing at the feeder alone, and the one on the right with the truck are Masai. The one sticking out his tongue and the one to the left in the pic with the truck are reticulated. See the difference?

• The only land animal bigger than the southern white rhinoceros is an elephant. These things are HUGE, and have two horns, one significantly larger than the other. They can be as much as 14′ long and over 6′ tall and weight up to 3 TONS!! Interestingly, it is now believed that the southern and the northern white rhinoceros are not just close kin in different places, but actually different species. Unlike the greater one-horned rhino, which appears to be covered in armor plating, this fellow mostly just looks chunky with lots of love handles. I wouldn’t try to snuggle up, though! They come from southern Africa and nearly all live in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Uganda. This amazing beast was nearly extinct a hundred years ago due to sport hunting and loss of habitat with only 20-50 remaining. Legal protections and conservation efforts have increased those numbers greatly, and now there are estimated to be over 18,000. However, poaching for the rhino horns, also used in traditional Chinese medicine, is still a big threat. The Wilds houses the American Institute of Rhinoceros Science (AIRS), that collaborates to study challenges to breeding populations. So, they really do “put on airs”! See what I did there?

• In America some call pronghorns “antelope”, but Elands really are. In fact, they are the largest species of antelope. Hailing from southern Africa, these beefy beauties are similar in size to domestic cattle. They can be up to 6′ tall, 11.5′ long, and weigh as much as 2200 lbs. They have beautiful, almost straight horns that have twists and can grow to more than 2′. While not endangered, The Wilds has a pretty good herd of these fellows. As we were driving between two large fields, someone spotted one lying down a good ways away. The rest of the herd was nowhere in sight, and pretty soon we spotted why. We spotted a very small fawn, and when I zoomed in, we realized just how new…he was still damp and covered with mama’s lick marks. Our guide called it in to the staff before we continued our tour.

• I think the Scimitar-horned oryx, also known as the Sahara oryx, is incredibly beautiful. They once ranged across most of north, west, and central Africa, but are sadly extinct in the wild today, mostly due to hunting for the horns, which can grow to almost 4′ long. This oryx is pretty beefy, growing to a little over 3′ at the shoulders and weighing up to 460 lbs. There are quite a few breeding programs world-wide, and a herd had been reintroduced to the wild in Chad in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Game Reserve. The Wilds had contributed to that project by providing animals with new bloodlines to ensure diversity.

I whole-heartedly recommend checking out The Wilds. I only wish we had realized they had a campground and other stuff to enjoy, too. After we finished up there, we headed back to Caldwell, Ohio, and had lunch at Patty’s Place.

Wednesday it was time for some relaxing. I stayed in my pajamas and did some more writing, and later, MW went to pick up Domino’s for supper.

Wolf Run State Park is located on about 1,000 acres of woodlands around Wolf Run Lake north of Caldwell, Ohio, in the Appalachian foothills. Amenities include a small camping store, picnic areas, pavilion, beach, amphitheater, playground, bathhouse, dump station, boat launch, laundry, and several miles of hiking trails. Visitors can enjoy boating (10hp or less), fishing, hunting, swimming, hiking, cross-country skiing, and ice fishing. Lodging includes one cabin and the campground. The latter is divided into two sections with all sites including a fire ring and picnic table. Area 1 has 69 sites, and all but two are non-electric. Area 2 has 71 sites, all are electric. Potable water is available at the dump station, and electric sites are all 30-amp. There was some cell signal on Verizon, but no over the air tv. This one does not make our list of parks to visit again. On the plus side, a Sheriff’s Deputy patrolled the campground on a regular schedule, and they are modernizing the bathrooms. However, the sites were very short and not terribly level. In some cases, you would have to park your rig on a short, paved area, then climb down a hill to your fire pit. Although the park is technically on the lake, you could only see the lake from a handful of sites and would need to walk a bit to fish. Oddly, at the bathhouse, there are sinks and showers only…no toilets. Finally, the dump station is on a pretty good hill, which means, depending on your setup, you might not be emptying much. For this visit in May 2025, we paid a little more than $26 per night for 4 nights.

Thursday we left about 8 AM, attempting to time our arrival after the rain. We retraced our route up to Cumberland, Ohio, then took OH-146 all the way up to OH-16 past Nashport. We passed through Newark heading west, then turned northwest on OH-37 and took that all the way to Delaware, Ohio. Just short of town, we stopped in at Blue Compass RV to pick up the part they ordered for us. Zack was super nice and just as helpful in person as he was during my distress a couple of weeks ago. Next we made a lunch stop at Panda Express and picked up a few groceries at Meijer, before heading north out of Delaware on US-23. At Findley, we turned west on OH-15, then north on OH-186/231 up past Weston, then zig-zagged over to Grand Rapids, where we finally made it to Mary Jane Thurston State Park. It was a little cloudy when we started out, but was mostly a pretty drive until near the end. We saw more deer on this leg than we have in a while. Everything was wet when we were setting up, and every time we stepped into the grass, lots of what looked like mosquitoes swarmed up. They never bit either of us, though, so that’s good.

Friday it was, once again, laundry day. Amazingly, there was a laundromat just about 3 minutes away in the small town of Grand Rapids, Ohio. Although it was still a little damp and misty, MW got under the rig to solve the hind leg problem. By the time I had everything loaded up to head out, he had it installed. However, it was still throwing the same error on the app and the controller in the cabinet wouldn’t move the rear legs. Ugh! I left him to do some research so we could fix it later and headed to town. Washer’s Laundromat was probably at the top of the list of all I have ever been to. There were lots of sparkling clean washers and dryers and the cleanest floor I think I’ve ever encountered in a place that has lots of random traffic in and out. The owner just happened to be there, and she said she has wonderful people who keep it up for her. She’s not kidding there! After finishing up, I headed over to Snyder’s Pizza & Subs for a sandwich and place to sit. Before too long, I headed back to Priscilla.

SHOUT OUT TO LIPPERT: After I left to do the laundry, MW kept fiddling with the leg issue. He went to the Lippert site and began a chat, which ended with the person saying this issue was more than they could handle in a chat and he needed to call in. I’m certain he sighed and rolled his eyes at that point, but he did pick up the phone and call. Amazingly, it took about 15 seconds on hold to reach a person who was absolutely terrific. After a quick explanation of the issue, he knew exactly what the problem was. He walked MW through the entire thing and stayed on the phone while he completed every step. Within about 5 minutes, our hind leg was working with the rest of the system and everything was restored to normal. (He essentially just reset the ground control system and reestablished “level”.) MW really wishes he could remember the guy’s name, but I think he was probably so excited to have it working again that he blacked out. LOL. If any of you ever have a problem with the Lippert Ground Control 3.0 system, you can override ALL error codes on it by turning it off, pushing the forward leg arrow 5 times followed by the back leg arrow 5 times. Then the system comes on and you essentially just re-level (manually measuring with a level) and follow the instructions on the pad. Voila!! I guarantee that, next time we have a problem with any Lippert part, we will just pick up the phone though. They were incredible!!

Saturday started with another walk around the park along the river. There are canals on either side of the river in this area that were originally designed to help barges bypass the rapids. Donkeys would tow them through the canals, and today you can still ride a barge doing that on the other side of the river at times during the summer. While we were checking out the canal on our side, we saw a snake trying to get to a spot to get out. Later we went to Knuckleheads Kafe in Grand Rapids for lunch.

Next we drove up to the Cinemark in Maumee, Ohio. I’d been seeing ads for The Last Rodeo with Neal McDonough. He played a pretty terrifying bad guy, Damian Dark, in The Flash, but I like him better on the good side. The movie was a little predictable, but good, and as with all Angel Studios pics, clean. There are some great bull riding sequences filmed at PBR events and even scenes with several real PBR riders. Afterwards we checked out the Fallen Timbers State Monument just across the highway. The 9-acre site sits about 1/4 mile south of the actual battlefield and commemorates the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the last battle of the Northwest Indian War in 1794. There is a statue of Major General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, who led the U. S. forces, with an Indian guide and a settler. Wayne’s victory here led to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville. (Like the other treaties with Native Americans, I’m pretty sure we didn’t honor this one either.) There are also markers recognizing U. S. troops killed and wounded in the battle, and another memorializing the Indian casualties. Turkey Foot Rock, where Chief Turkey Foot of the Ottawa Indians rallied his warriors and eventually died, was also moved to the site and is still said to be used ceremonially by some native individuals and groups.

Once we were done there, we stopped for groceries, then took the road along the river south. Along the way we passed a gorgeous building that turned out to be Nazareth Hall. Built in 1927, it was originally a Catholic boarding school for boys that opened in 1928. In 1935, it converted to a military school format still run by the Ursuline Nuns. The school operated for 53 years and educated 4,300 students, closing at the end of the school year in 1982. The beautiful property remained vacant until purchased by the Bettinger family in April of 1991. The new owners transformed it into a premier venue with modern amenities while keeping the Hall’s historic architecture.

First up on Sunday was services at Bethany Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Ohio. The young interim pastor there, Josh Lobach, gave a very nice sermon on John 3:16-21. One analogy he used was pretty good: Would you loan your car to someone if you knew up front that it would come back dented, wrecked, broken, etc.? God did that with His son, knowing what the outcome would be. That’s just takes my breath away. Their former head pastor, Tim Coley, retired and is now the visitation pastor. He was very welcoming, as were quite a few of the congregants.

Afterwards we headed over to The Log Cabin Tavern in Liberty Center, Ohio, for burgers. On the way we saw a flock of sandhill cranes in a field. One was limping pretty badly, which may be why they did not fly off when we stopped. (If you have never heard one, check this out. It is a few seconds in.) Activity-wise, that was pretty much it for the day except for a little napping and some writing back at Priscilla.

We’ve been watching the wildfire smoke situation coming out of Canada. At one point, our Upper Peninsula destination was covered up in thick smoke, and we even had a little upper atmosphere stuff here in Ohio. This afternoon the situation up there looks much better, so we will continue as planned. Hopefully good winds will keep things relatively clear. I certainly don’t want a repeat of the 1/4-mile visibility in Jasper a couple of years back!

Mary Jane Thurston State Park was alright. Located just a few miles outside of Grand Rapids, Ohio, on the Maumee River, and about 35 miles from Toledo and Lake Erie, there is plenty to do within driving distance. The 105 acres offers a variety of activities including fishing and boating on the river (kayak rentals available), hunting in season, archery, disc golf, picnicking, and hiking Facilities include a marina, boat ramp, boat dock, a rental day lodge, a children’s storybook trail, 2.5 miles of hiking trails, a playground, an amphitheater, and a dump station. The campground had 23 RV and 16 tent sites with picnic tables and fire rings. The former had 30-amp electric in all, two were pull-thru and the rest back-in, and only 4 had water hookups. The sites up near the river were tighter with perpendicular back-ins, but spacing on the road side was better with more angled sites. The bathroom situation was not ideal with portable toilets in the campground, a regular bathroom within walking distance, and the bathhouse at the marina a mile away. Cell signals were okay, and we did have some over-the-air tv stations. We enjoyed the spacing of the sites and many were long enough for any sized rig. It rained several days and the mosquitoes were terrible during our stay, so we did not get to enjoy the outside areas as much. We would stay again if in the area, especially if we could get the same site. For this stay in May 2025 we paid just under $35 per night for 4 nights.

Another week gone. Time is flying. Next up…Michigan! See you on the path!!

Talisa

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