Views by Valerie: In Ohio 10-10

I hope this works...Blogger and Google are pains in the butt...they want you to use the new Google Chrome browser so half of my toolbar here in internet explorer is hidden and the whole thing looks different to me, so I apologize if something weird happens!

I have taken about 400 + pictures since late Thursday evening. Traveling out here went fine, the usual hold ups with inconsiderate people and the pilot landing us like a rock but I lived through it...thats all I care about it. Lori met me and we went to Lindsay and Jesse's lovely apartment in Columbus...Jaclyn was there too. After dinner we went to Lori's favorite ice cream place Jeni's and I tried four different kinds...lavender, pumpkin, dark chocolate and salty caramel...they were all wonderful and have settled in my left rear cheek.

Friday Lindsay took us to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus where there was an exhibit of Dale Chihuly's stunning glass artwork and then outside in one of the gardens was a fun and whimsical display of fruits and vegetables by the Cohn-Stone Studios from of all places Richmond, California. The gardens were beautiful and it was a wonderful sunny warm day. Lindsay lives and works in Columbus and knows her way around and took us through Short-North and German Village...two beautifully unique areas. Columbus has really beautiful architecture and huge trees...it is pretty for a city.

Lori and I headed north to Bellville and Lori's lovely little abode Friday evening and I got to meet her 70 pound puppy Piper the English Mastif...and she is smart, lovable and annoying all at once. If she steps on your toes it can prompt a bad word from you mouth because she is heavy and her toes are as long as my fingers with those curved black nails...ouchy. If I ever get another dog it may have to be a Mastif...low key animals...my speed.

Saturday it was back down to Columbus to check out the Universal Light Expo ( a new age thingy) and we had chicken soup made from scratch by Lindsay which I can say is the best ever I have had anywhere! On the way home we drove around the city enjoying it at night (it was a warm lovely evening) and we stopped at another favorite ice cream place called Graeters. Here I tried pumpkin spice and chocolate coconut almond ice creams which are residing on the right rear cheek.

Yesterday we went to church to see Lori's friends and enjoy a hog roast which turned out to be a church pot luck. The most entertaining and horrifying part of the morning was Lori's speed racer flying over hill and dale race to the church so we wouldn't be late. We got to laughing so bad that we only slightly got it under control as we crossed the threshold of the church...and yes in spite of my entering it is still standing...haha. The drive home was a lovely meander through the country so I could get pictures of all the stunning fall colors.

Today we just took it easy and ran an errand and then made a couple of stops at some beautiful nursery gift stores and I got a bunch more pictures of the trees. The weeds here are green where ours are brown and with the leaves...so pretty!!!! A bit cloudy today but still in the 70's. I am posting a bunch of pictures from the last few days and I hope I can stay caught up now. We had to get rested and settled in before I could figure out Lori's computer set-up to get my pictures off loaded, resized and the uploaded here. I hope this crazy program cooperates.