Flat Stanley arrived in Mansfield, Ohio several days ago. He was tired from his trip so we let him rest before we began a week of adventures.
On Monday Flat Stanley traveled to Huron, Ohio. Huron is a small town on Lake Erie, the smallest of the Great Lakes. We took him to our house in Chaska Beach. Chaska Beach is a community of about 100 homes. The development was started in 1925 and was summer homes. It has a beautiful beach, park, and tennis courts. Isabelle and her family loved to come spend time here with G'ma and G'pa Siegenthaler.
It was a sunny day with temperatures around 50 degrees. Flat Stanley took a chair, towel, and sun screen and headed down to the beach. It was too cold for him to go swimming (the water temperature is 34 degrees!) but he enjoyed walking on the beach looking for river rocks (for Isabelle to paint) and played in the sand.
The ice on the lake has melted but the beach is littered with debris that has washed ashore from winter storms. In the beach picture you can see the lighthouse in the background. Huron is a shipping port for freighters carrying coal and iron ore. The lighthouse marks the mouth of the Huron River where the freighters go into port and unload their cargo. Many freighters come in at night and need the beacon of light from the lighthouse to guide them into the mouth of the river.
After lunch Flat Stanley walked down to the park to play. G'ma Jodi taught him how to pump his legs. The swing took him REALLY high in the air. He felt like he was flying! He wante
d to go on the slide but it is very high and he was scared to climb up by himself. G'ma Jodi helped him up the stairs the first time so he would not be afraid. After that he went up and down the slide all by himself.
After an exhausting day at Chaska, Flat Stanley headed back to Mansfield. It is an hour drive through beautiful farmland. He saw 3 freight trains. The trains go across northern Ohio from the east coast to Chicago and beyond. He also saw several Amish families in their horse drawn buggies. There is a large Amish and Mennonite community about 10 miles north of Mansfield in Shenandoah. Amish families live without electricity, cars, telephones and all modern day conveniences. They heat their homes with wood. They are gentle, kind people who live off of the land. Amish people do not like to be photographed so we did not get a picture of Flat Stanley with the buggies.
Flat Stanley was very tired from his day out. He ate dinner and went to bed. Tomorrow he is going to Malabar Farm where they are in the process of making maple syrup and candy. So long for now!
