10-09 Salt Lick Campground

From 10-09 Salt Lick

After leaving Scenic Hills RV Park and Berlin, Ohio, we headed west about 180 miles to Celina, Ohio to attend the Gypsy Gathering Rally. It is put on by Nick and Terry Russell who produce a RV monthly newspaper called the Gypsy Journal. We enjoy the newspaper and Nick's daily Blog.

We had a nice time at the Rally. It was smaller than others we have attended but still had over 120 RV's or about 250 people attending. We met some nice folks and enjoyed various seminars. I especially enjoyed learing more about Picasa and Blogger from the Geeks on Tour.

We arrived on Monday and left Friday when we traveled south to a campground just south of Louisville for two nights. Then we moved to one of our favorite campgrounds, Salt Lick.

From 10-09 Salt Lick

It is a COE campground on Cordell Hull Lake about 15 miles east of Carthage, TN which in turn is about 50-60 miles east of Nashville. We have written about this campground before. We have a full hook up site with a very large lot.

From 10-09 Salt Lick

Only a few people are here during the week, but it is expected to be almost full this weekend, the last before it closes for the season.

On Monday October 12th we head further south to Flat Rock, NC for three nights to tour a bit around the Ashville area. Then we move on to Columbia, SC for a month.

09-09 Berlin, Ohio and Scenic Hills RV Park

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

On September 8th we left Apple Island RV Resort in Vermont and headed to Berlin, Ohio in the heart of Ohio Amish country. Although you hear more about the Amish around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this area has the highest population of Amish in the US. This would be the 3rd place we have visited near Amish settlements (Strasburg, PA; Bath, NY; Berlin, Ohio).

Just before leaving Apple Island, we had a brief visit with our friends Kent and Carol Roberts. We met Kent and Carol at "Life on Wheels" several years ago and have kept in touch via email and our respective travel journals/blogs. It was great to cross paths and see the Roberts again. Just wish it could have been a longer visit.

We had a pleasant drive across NY stopping two night on the way. However we were really tired by the time we reached Berlin. We decided three days of driving is the maximum for us without stopping for at least two nights to take a rest break. Full time RVers all have different preferences. Some only stay a night or two in one place and cover a lot of territory and seldom make any reservations. We much prefer to plan ahead with reservations and stay several weeks to a month in the same spot. That has been our mode all this year. We would move about 250 miles and stay at least a week before moving again. This seems more restful to us, and we get to know each area. Almost every time we got ready to move, we would comment to each other that we could have stayed longer. We have enjoyed each stop.

Berlin, Ohio was just such a stop. We were there three weeks in Scenic Hills RV Park, a very nice campground. We had a good spot right across from a fenced pasture where deer were being raised.

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

All the campers enjoyed walking down to view the deer when they came out in the late afternoon to graze. However it is a bit sad to know these are being raised as prize bucks to sell to a hunting camp somewhere. They stay here until 3 or 4 years old and then are sold for a healthy profit to a hunting camp for some city hunter to come a claim a big prize. Does not seem like much sport to me. Here is a buck that I imagine will soon be sold.

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

Our visit coincided with harvest time as indicated in the picture at the beginning of this post where hay is being gathered. Seeing all the horse drawn farm equipment once again reminded me of time spent as a child with my Grandfather Thompson who always farmed with similar equipment only he generally used mules rather than horses.

Likewise seeing the dairy farms reminded me of Grandfather since he was also a dairy farmer.

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

It was interesting to go to the local market and see all the Amish buggies parked along with cars.

From 09-09 Berlin, Ohio

The best part of our stay in Berlin was the week long visit we had with our son Ward who drove over from Chicago. By his driving over, we did not have to drive the RV to the Chicago vicinity. That was a great help to us since we have not found a campground we like in that area. Nor do we like big city traffic.

A few of the following posts will cover some of the places we visited around the Berlin area.

09-09 Warther's Museum

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

Perhaps the most interesting place we toured while in Berlin was Warther's Museum and Knife Factory. "Mooney" Warther was a master wood carver and knife maker. The museum contains his lifetime collection of carvings, primarily of steam locomotives. They are exquisite and perfectly detailed.

Here is a brief excerpt from one of the movies shown during the tour:



All his carvings are wonderful works of art. He carved many locomotives in different hardwoods.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

Then he switched to ebony and ivory.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

Then he carved in ivory alone. (He carved in ivory before it became illegal to export ivory.)

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

He was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. He carved the train that carried his body across country for burial in Illinois.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

You can look inside and see Lincoln lying in repose.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

Mooney and his wife loved walking through the Ohio countryside. Over the years they amassed a huge collection of Indian arrowheads. Many are on display on the walls and ceiling of his workshop.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

His wife also collected buttons. These were turned into works of art and displayed much like the arrowheads.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

Mooney worked in a steel factory in his early work years. He carved a working replica of the mill where he worked.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

He first became interested in carving when he found a pocket knife in the road as a boy while tending sheep. A stranger he met at the train station carved a working pair of pliers out of a stick of wood without making any shavings, only use precise cuts. Mooney figured out how to replicate the carving and went on to carve hundreds of thousands of them for children over the years. During the tour his Grandson repeated the feat and gave it to a lady in the audience. She revealed that she had another one at home carved by Mooney when she was a little girl. Mooney once carved the pliers on the Johnny Carson Tonight show in under 10 seconds. He went on the figure out how to make more intricate sets with pliers within pliers. Here is a photo of a set showing the original un-carved block. All the carved pliers will fold back into this same shape.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

He went on to make a masterpiece that looks like a small tree with all the limbs being a set of carved pliers. All these pliers can be closed and folded back into a single block of wood.

From 09-09 Warther's Museum and Knife Factory

While working in the steel mill, Mooney began making knives for his own use and then kitchen knives for his Mother. He ultimately stared making knives full time. His family continues to make wonderful kitchen knives.

It is all quite fascinating to see. Dover, Ohio the home of the Warther Museum is just south of Canton, Ohio and is a definite place you will want to visit if in the area.