http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW Travels and Journeys... Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:27:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2006-2010 heather@heatherdugan.com (Heather Dugan) heather@heatherdugan.com (Heather Dugan) posts 1440 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW 144 144 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?feed=podcast Footsteps Travels and Journeys... Travel, outdoors, adventure, Heather, Dugan, stories Heather Dugan Heather Dugan heather@heatherdugan.com no no http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/19/in-town-tourist-swimming-beach-at-hoover-reservoir-video/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/19/in-town-tourist-swimming-beach-at-hoover-reservoir-video/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:21:10 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=5482 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/19/in-town-tourist-swimming-beach-at-hoover-reservoir-video/feed/ 5 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/14/in-town-tourist-inniswood-metro-park/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/14/in-town-tourist-inniswood-metro-park/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:45:05 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=5371 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/07/14/in-town-tourist-inniswood-metro-park/feed/ 7 2:00 "This is one of the regular parks?"  My daughter Hannah knows most of our area parks for their running trails and frisbee golf courses.  While ... "This is one of the regular parks?"  My daughter Hannah knows most of our area parks for their running trails and frisbee golf courses.  While we've wandered through Inniswood Metro Park many times, this was the first time my daughter had noticed metro on the entrance sign. Most of our area parks here in central Ohio are geared to recreational activity:  hiking, running, biking, birdwatching, fishing and canoeing or kayaking.  Inniswood by contrast, sprawls with cultivated gardens, lush expanses of lawn and woods, and contains kid-friendly creative content such as a "secret garden", a farm (with a watering trough to splash around in) and a tree house playground.  I always support our park funding at election time, and Inniswood is an inspiring example of tax dollars well spent. A favored local destination, Inniswood's nooks and niches have been the focus of many an afternoon's exploration for us.  A few years ago my youngest son and I found some thrills catching and releasing frogs in one of the Inniswood ponds (until management posted a sign expressly forbidding the activity, oops...).  The secret garden, a quiet stone ruins splayed by twining vines and embedded with jeweled marbles, elicits both romance and mystery.  A story walk maze draws visitors from sentence to sentence, tile to tile, reading and walking to the legend's end: a statue depiction of the story's main characters.  The tree house playground includes an elevated walkway with swaying bridges and, of course, a tree house for children and very small(!) adults to explore. Always familiar but ever changing from one season's colors into the next, Inniswood Metro Park is a  year round festival of nature.  There's nothing regular about it at all. Coming up:  Kid friendly fun at Inniswood, Drifting down the Colorado River in Glen Canyon, Boston, Frank Lloyd Wright designs in Ohio... Inniswood Metro Park, Ohio Heather Dugan no no http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/13/in-town-tourist-bald-eagles-at-highbanks/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/13/in-town-tourist-bald-eagles-at-highbanks/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:23:26 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4606 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/13/in-town-tourist-bald-eagles-at-highbanks/feed/ 3 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/01/goodbyes-in-van-wert/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/01/goodbyes-in-van-wert/#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:06:33 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4467 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/04/01/goodbyes-in-van-wert/feed/ 8 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/18/roll-back-the-roof/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/18/roll-back-the-roof/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:47:50 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4191 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/18/roll-back-the-roof/feed/ 5 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/14/springs-soft-opening/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/14/springs-soft-opening/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:15:58 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4313 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/14/springs-soft-opening/feed/ 4 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/12/sea-of-glass/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/12/sea-of-glass/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:58:16 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4278 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/12/sea-of-glass/feed/ 3 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/07/starry-nights/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/07/starry-nights/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:23:26 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4171 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/03/07/starry-nights/feed/ 6 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/26/lights-out-stars-on/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/26/lights-out-stars-on/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:31:54 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4106 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/26/lights-out-stars-on/feed/ 10 1:01 To really see what's going on, it's lights out at Perkins Observatory.  And once the lights are dimmed, any light source such as a cell ... To really see what's going on, it's lights out at Perkins Observatory.  And once the lights are dimmed, any light source such as a cell phone or camera flash is strictly taboo, garnering the same kind of disapproving glare as singing aloud with your mp3 player at the gym might bring.  Our pupils react almost immediately to light, dilating in darkness and contracting with light.  The flicker from one person's text message could be enough to spoil another enthusiast's viewing experience.  You don't want to be the one to blind another to their pristine view of the Pleiades Cluster! We were forewarned by self-proclaimed "Astro-Nerd" Tom Burns about the importance of maintaining the darkness and the wisdom of walking slowly and counting steps.  He reminded us that ambulance lights can really mess up one's telescopic view of Mars!  He worked the crowd like a pro during an informative and utterly entertaining orientation with an enthusiasm that added a little flair to the science of astronomy. More on our Perkins Observatory tour to come... Perkins Observatory: Call ahead for reservations (740-363-1257). Public programs most Friday nights. Private group visits available. Click Google Map link below for more information. View Perkins Observatory in a larger map Ohio, Perkins Observatory Heather Dugan no no http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/23/garden-glass/ http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/23/garden-glass/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:53:46 +0000 Heather Dugan http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/?p=4056 http://www.heatherdugan.com/blogNEW/2010/02/23/garden-glass/feed/ 9 0:47 Our winter white needed a color accent or two.  Last week, my annual mission to survive and even thrive through yet another freezing February took ... Our winter white needed a color accent or two.  Last week, my annual mission to survive and even thrive through yet another freezing February took us to Franklin Park Conservatory near downtown Columbus. The facility is a favorite for school groups and clubs.  Wandering through the lush indoor gardens without the clamor of hundreds of elementary-aged students was an entirely new experience. The latest Dale Chihuly glass installation mimicked and enhanced the natural.  The artists' pieces fit into foliage as  if they'd blown into life on organic pace with the plants growing next to them.  The result? Tranquility tinged with a vibrancy that left one breathless to see what was around the corner and yet, reluctant to move one's eyes from the exceptional beauty already found. More Chihuly at Franklin Park Conservatory photos to come... View Franklin Park Conservatory in a larger map "In-Town Tourist", Franklin Park Conservatory, Ohio Heather Dugan no no