Under the watchful eye of state patrol cars, north-bound Interstate 71 has aged from accelerator-pumping speed contests to sedate scenic drives.
We aim for Cleveland, our neighbor on The Lake, and Cache Owner CarpenterLuvaKatCrew’s hide on Quigley Street. Against the dismally grey sky, one maple lights a flamboyant candle on the autumn birthday cake.
As we cross the great divide, we enter the land of north-running rivers. Like state politics, rivers run in opposition, north to Lake Erie or south to the Ohio River, yet nourish all who depend on them.
Streaming by on each side, vast soybean fields mark the disappearance of small family farms into industrialized agricultural enterprises, as soil is depleted and life-giving microorganisms die out.
Our GPS lands on a still-working quarry, another treasure from the earth, offering us stone for all manner of concrete and asphalt. Upon retirement, this quarry may become a beautiful public park, like other old quarries all over our state.
Across the road, steelworks are operated by the children and grandchildren of those former farmers, adapting to industrial manufacturing.
Our hint says under a rock. There are a lot of rocks behind those gates, but as specified in the large black print, both gates are keeping themselves closed. No worries.
As we find our way back out of the city, we leave space for other travelers, on their own journey through the pages of American history.
Fields of warehouses, full of the goods we will buy tomorrow, follow our trail home.
OH Love Of Geocaching 