Located at the AMA's headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio is the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. As the name implies, the focus is as much on the people of the sport as it is on the machines.

This replica of the first working motorcycle (an 1883 Daimler) is amazing. No suspension, outrigger wheels, hand crank starter, and unpadded seat - who would have believed the concept would have amounted to anything.

A large portion of the 100 bikes displayed are machines that have been ridden to victory by many of the sport's notable competitors.

The owner of this 1931 Harley VL actually allows people to mount it - a rare opportunity.

In Sandusky, Ohio (on Lake Erie) is the Merry-Go-Round Museum, one of four carousel museums in the country. The center piece is a restored Allen Herschell carousel. The animals however are not from the original ride and are a mixture of styles from different times (including some with carved wooden bodies and heads with cast aluminum legs which was done for strength).

One of the menagerie animals on the carousel is this wonderful ostrich. At the end of the guided tour, you are treated to a ride on the animal of your choice while listening the the Wurlitzer Band Organ. Our tour was given by Jack, a very knowledgable volunteer at the museum.

Every year, the volunteer carvers at the museum's workshop create a horse to be raffled off to some incredibly lucky ticket holder. This is this year's prize still in progress. There is still time to get your tickets before the drawing.

Part of the work done in the museum is restoration of museum animals and the construction of new animals for special occasions. Most are built around a laminated hollow box. Some carvers used this space as a time capsule for items and signatures of the people involved in creating the animals.

On a tip from several of the people at the Merry-Go-Round Museum, we went back to the Carrousel District of Mansfield to visit Carousel Magic. This is a working factory that gives tours through the facility. Along with finished horses, restoration services, and classes, they offer kits in various forms and sizes.

This horse is nearing the final assembly stage. After that, it will be sanded, primed, sanded and primed a few more times, and on to be painted. Horses and other animals can be carved in any of the classic styles, or can be patterned after your original design.

These two standers and the prancer in the front are ready to be delivered. A lot of new carvings are being done these days, so be prepared to wait a while when you order yours.

Also in Mansfield is the Richland Carrousel Parks which operates the first hand carved wooden carrousel built after the '30s. It has 52 animals and 2 chariots carved in Philadelphia style. It was carved and painted in the Mansfield area.

Along the Cuyahoga (Indian for crooked) River between Cleveland and Akron a canal with a series of locks was constructed and opened in 1827. Canal boats hauled by mule moved goods up and down the canal through the manually operated lock gates. Although these wooden gates weigh tons, they are so well balanced that Ann had no trouble moving them.

Also in the Cuyahoga Valley NRA is the sixty foot tall Brandywine Falls. Although the amount of water flowing through the creek is small, the overall effect as it ripples down the rock face is impressive.

Travelling south we headed into the Amish Country of Ohio. Horse drawn buggies sharing the road demands another level of attention to your riding.

In the southwest corner of Pennsylvania we stopped of a week to visit friends that Jym knew in Turkey. They are in the process of building a new house across the street from the 150 year old farm house they have lived in for the past 18 years. It gave us a chance to regroup after our first three months on the road.

We accompanied the Tame family to the Three Rivers Rigatta where the Allegheny and Monongahela meet the Ohio (with Three Rivers Stadium in the background).

On a day trip, we took a ride to Fort Necessity where, in 1754, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington hurriedly built a fort with 300 men. Along with 100 British troops, he suffered defeat at the hands of the French and Indians. After a 9 hour battle, he surrendered but was allowed to walk away with 'honors of war'.

In order to help keep the house building project rolling, Chuck does a lot of work himself. Here, we help lay a propane line between the tank, the house, and the shop. Ann and Bobi ran to the store for fittings and kept us in line with their excellent supervisory skills.

On the last day of our visit, we took a day trip to Ohiopyle State Park. The Youghiogheny River spills over a hard rock ledge to form these ten to twelve foot falls. The river also supports a large rafting and kayaking industry in the area.

Up the road from Ohiopyle is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house. It was built in 1937 for the Kaufmann family as a weekend retreat. The design used a new material (reinforced concrete - used only on bridges at that point) to cantilever the main parts of the house out over the falls. Although halls and passages are dark and narrow, the rooms are large, open, and full of natural light. A truly amazing place.

Back on the road, we stopped at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site where canal boats, cargo, and passengers were hauled over the Allegheny Mountains by railroad and a series of 10 'inclined plane' lifts. This engine is actually a full scale wooden model.

On our way north, we stopped and took a coal mine tour. A lot of Pennsylvania mines were small, family owned and worked operations. Our guide had started in a family mine and retired after 38 years of mining coal.

Travelling into the side of the mountain on the mine's railcars, the coal veins are quite apparent. The main vein is about three feet thick, capped by ten inches of limestone, then another foot of coal. The miners were payed by coal tonnage brought out of the mine, not laying track, shoring up the roof, or any other 'support' tasks. The tour was interesting and very informative.