Stop #59: Napoleon - Henry County

Well, here we are on our 59th stop of our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” and we have landed in Napoleon, Ohio. Napoleon is the county seat of Henry County and is located in Northwest Ohio.

Henry County, founded in 1820, is home to over 29,000 Ohioans. This is the first time we’ve “discovered” Napoleon – but if we ever get back this way, we’ll be sure to “Rediscover Napoleon” – as the sign says, “Why Not?”

Ooops!

04/19/2010:

We’re still traveling northwestern Ohio on our ninth day of travels for our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” and oops what is this? Indiana? We definitely made a wrong turn somewhere…

Time to get out the maps and get ourselves back on track for our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” – we think we’ll leave “Indiana Domination” for another trip!

Aaah – this is more like it – back to Ohio and back to our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour.”

Stop #55: Lima - Allen County, Ohio

04/19/2010:

We were up bright and early to begin our ninth day of travels along our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour.” Our first stop of the day was in Lima, Allen County, Ohio. Allen County is in northwest Ohio and is home to over 108,000 Ohioans – most of whom must still be in bed because it was pretty quiet downtown.

These Ellen fans are feeling cannon fever! Everywhere we look on our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour”– we spot another one! This one was in Lima, Ohio – located in Allen County in the northwest portion of the state. We’re thinking a little blast from this baby ought to wake the town up!

We're Halfway There!

We’re Halfway There!

44 Counties Down –

44 To Go

on Our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour.”

We have had so much fun helping "Ellen" to dominate our little part of the world! We're also feeling relieved that we don't live in Texas or Alaska - although, who knows, could be fun!

But for now will stick with our motto of: Today - Ohio. Tomorrow - The World!

(Okay, maybe we are getting just a little carried away ...!)

Our Progress

Our mission is to take a picture of "Ellen" in each of Ohio's 88 counties as part of our "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour".

At this point, we have made it through 28 counties. The map shows the counties we have done marked off in Blue.

Twenty-sixth Stop: Mason, Warren County, OH

Aaah, we had a little fun in Mason, Ohio. Our goal was to get a picture of "Not Exactly Ellen" outside of Kings Island Theme Park. We pulled up outside the gates, got out and prepared to take the shot - when a Barney Fife wannabe came flying up and told us we had to leave and couldn't take pictures. No sense of humor and no sense of adventure. We continued to roam around the perimeter - with Barney watching us all the way - looking for somewhere to get our picture and hit the road. We found it! Thanks to the Great Wolf Lodge - we were able to finish our mission and hit the road for the next stop!

Twenty-fourth Stop: Hamilton - Butler County, OH

03/31/10

 

Stop #24 of our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” brings us to Hamilton, County Seat of Butler County, Ohio. We found a town full of really cool sculptures and monuments. This one, unveiled in 1997, is “First Ride” by sculptor J. Seward Johnson, Jr.

Located in the southwestern corner of Ohio, Butler County is home to over 332,000 Ohioans.

 

Twenty-third Stop: Eaton, Preble County, Ohio

03/31/10
Stop #23 of our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” lands us in Eaton, Preble County, Ohio. Preble County is in the far southwestern section of Ohio, along the Indiana border.

We’re beginning to think that not only does every Ohio county seat downtown have a cannon but they must have one of these clocks, too! We’re doing our part to make sure every county in Ohio has a picture of Ellen in it as well!

Twenty-second Stop: Greenville, Darke County, OH

We had spent the night in downtown Dayton - nice hotel but, compared to hotels in the suburbs, downtown hotels nickel and dime you to death - pay for parking and add tips, pay (far too much) for morning coffees and add tips, pay for Internet access! Enough with all of that - we'll be going back to the suburbs for our stays from now on!

From Dayton we drove northwest to Greenville in Darke County. On our way into town we spotted a one-room schoolhouse, The Studabaker School, and turned around for some pictures:

We then worked our way into the center of town ... grabbed a few more photos and then .... on to the next stop!

Twenty-first Stop: Dayton - Montgomery County, OH

03/31/10
We’re up early and on to Stop #21 on our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour.” We started the day in Dayton and stopped for a pic in front of the Dayton Art Museum.

We then grabbed ahold of this fellow for another quick picture...













We couldn’t leave Stop #21 of our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” without a picture on Erma Bombeck Way at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio.

Nineteenth Stop: Urbana - Champaign County, Ohio

On Stop #19 of our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour” we traveled into Urbana in Champaign County, Ohio and found the Johnny Appleseed Museum located on the campus of Urbana University! Johnny Appleseed traveled west from New England in the 1790s and planted apple seeds throughout the territories. We are currently traveling west through Ohio - maybe we should be planting "Ellen pictures" as we go...



We continued on into downtown Urbana in Champaign County, Ohio and had to take a picture in front of “My Old Ohio House” for our “Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour.”

We tried to jump on the train in Champaign County but discovered this one was going anywhere anytime soon!

Eighteenth Stop: Marysville - Union County, Ohio

We were still on our third day of travels through Ohio with the eventual goal of getting a picture of "Ellen" in each of Ohio's 88 counties. So far on Day 3 we have been to Canton in Stark County (Northeast Ohio), Millersburg in Holmes County (that was seriously a dangerous leg on the trip - the roads wind around and around and up and down and, while the speed limit is often high, we were afraid to do more than crawl at many points after coming upon a horse-drawn carriage at the other side of a hill shortly after entering into Holmes County - scared the daylights out of us [probably them, too!], moving west we next stopped in Mt. Vernon in Knox County, then Delaware in Delaware County. Around 3:30 in the afternoon we made it to Union County.


Another stop in our "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour." This time it's Stop #18 and we've brought "Ellen" to Marysville in Union County, Ohio.










Along with our mission of Helping Ellen Achieve World Domination, as we roll into Stop #18 we've begun to feel as if we are also on a scavanger hunt to "find the cannon" as we are seeing cannons aplenty!

Seventeenth Stop: Delaware - Delaware County, Ohio

These Ellen fans are moving "Ellen" through the state of Ohio. On the 17th stop in the "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour" we land pretty much in the center of the state in Delaware which is the county seat of Delware County, Ohio.






One more picture in Delaware, Ohio and then these Ellen fans are "movin' on." Seventeen counties down - seventy-one to go in our quest to help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010 ... gotta run!

Sixteenth Stop: Mt. Vernon - Knox County, Ohio

Traveling a little farther west into Central Ohio brings you to Mt. Vernon in Knox County and our 16th stop on our "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour."

While roaming around Knox County we turned a bend and found: A Rolls Royce Plant right smack in the middle of Ohio!

Who knew!

Fifteenth Stop: Holmes County, Ohio

Our 15th stop in the "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour" led us to Holmes County - Amish Country.

Horse-drawn carriages are a common sight around these parts and the landscape is hilly, twisty and winding. After one heart-pounding close encounter and near collisiob with a buggy, these Ellen fans found themselves holding their breath at the crest of each hill!







We found a quaint little downtown in the county seat of Millersburg and stopped for a pic in front of the Hotel Millersburg.









On our way out of Holmes County, we couldn't resist grabbing a Heini - oops, that's not right - I meant to say "grabbing a picture at Heini's!"





We'd better move on to the next stop before we get ourselves in trouble...

Thirteenth Stop: Elyria - Lorain County

03/18/10

The day was long and the sun was starting to set - but that doesn't stop these Ellen fans! Stop #13 on this "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour" in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio brought up to this perplexing monument - we just couldn't figure out the "diseased" part... and we are pretty sure we don't want to know!






While in Elyria these fans knew we just couldn't leave until we found the cannon - mission accomplished!

Twelfth Stop: Cleveland - Cuyahoga County, Ohio

After days of traveling through the more rural areas of Ohio, seeing too many farms, courthouses and cannons, Stop #12 was greeted with much excitement! Here we are in downtown Cleveland - home to, among many things, the Cleveland Browns and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We didn't see any football players but we did have fun roaming around the Dog Pound!

What's a stop in Cleveland without a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? We didn't see "The Boss" but we did do a little dance in Ellen's honor!

We've had a lot of fun in Cleveland - even though we did get a parking ticket - but it's time to tell the Browns "See you in the Fall" and move on to our next stop...

Eleventh Stop: Chardon - Geauga County

03/18/10


Stop #11 is a late morning visit to Chardon, Ohio, located in Geauga County in Northeast Ohio. Chardon is a quaint little town where one friendly young resident told us a little about the town and invited us to return for the Maple Syrup Festival at the end of April.

Tenth Stop: Painesville - Lake County, Ohio

03/18/10


Our next stop, #10, on our "Help Ellen Achieve World Domination in 2010: Ohio 88 County Tour" was in Painesville, which is the county seat of Lake County, Ohio. Lake County is nestled between Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties and is also bordered by Lake Erie.

Ninth Stop: Jefferson - Ashtabula County, Ohio

03/18/10


Stop #9 brings us up to Ashtabula County in the uppermost corner of Northeast Ohio. Located along the shores of Lake Erie, Ashtabula is the largest (in area) county in Ohio.