Chihuly Art

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens where Chihuly had a blown glass exhibit. It was amazing how they incorporated the art into the gardens. I know my pictures don't do it justice but here are a few pictures to give you the idea. Our favorite was the butterfly pavilion. There were many butterflies around the glass. It was so beautiful to see God's beauty and man's beauty side by side. Gary said that it is ironic that we came to Columbus to see a Seattle artist. But it works. Betty

Canan Boat Ride Alpine Horns & German Town

Sorry I couldn't blog last night we didn't have internet in the room, just the lounge. So I'll catch you up on our activities. We actually got to take a Canal Boat ride. The other day when we were near the boats it was raining and we couldn't do a ride. But Friday was a beautiful balmy day, perfect for a ride. The boat man had us close our eyes and no talking for a minute. It is so peaceful. Because the boat is pulled by horse or mule there is no engine sound.

Then we found a Swiss museum and learned about Alpine Horns. they were made in Switzerland so then when the men took the cows up the hills to greener grass, he could communicate with his family. Each horn had it's distinct sound that his family knew who he was talking to. We also learned how they were made. The horn maker carved the whole outside first. Then he split it in half and carved out the inside. He then glued it together and wrapped it with chair canning. Didn't you always wonder?

Today we found a section in Columbus called German Town. there was a beautiful park with many flowers. Around the park they had stones with philosophy saying on them, in English and German. I took several pictures of them but this was our favorite. Sorry it is on it's side, not sure why, but that's the way it turned out. Betty

Canal Boats, Ice Cream. Covered Bridge & Amish

We've covered a lot ot territory these last 2 days. We toured Roscoe Village and learned all about the Ohio Canals used in the early 1800's. then we went to Velvet Ice Cream for a tour and taste. Next we found the World's Longest Covered Bridge. While walking though the bridge, an Amish buggy came riding through. It is a rare site to see the Amish and we felt very lucky to be there just at the right moment. Betty

Day 2 - Making Baskets

Today we toured Longaberger Homestead. We got to see where they actually make the baskets. And we were also lucky enough to make a basket for ourselves. As part of our package deal we had a box lunch in a special Longaberger basket that we keep. There were many places to take pictures with baskets of course, including this large apple basket. Not sure if I will get to post tomorrow, we are dong some sightseeing in the area. It is really beautiful here, green and rolling hills. the major drawback is the humidity, but we are adjusting. Betty

We Are Here

We have arrived in Newark, Ohio. Tim was the lucky person to get up and take us to the airport at 6 this morning. We flew to Dallas/Ft. Worth where we changed planes. We all boarded and put all our luggage in the overhead bins and the Pilot came on and said we have a fuel leak and had to change planes. It really wasn't too bad and we took off only 1 hour later.

In Ohio we got our rental car a PT cruiser. What a fun car to drive. Now we are in Longaberger country. Even the rooms have baskets in them for us to use. We took a drive out to the headquarters building this evening, which is shaped like a basket!
Tomorrow we get to tour Longaberger and make our baskets.
It is hot and humid here, but we did have a little afternoon rain and a rainbow. More to follow another day. Betty