On Monday, Mer and I had “our” Christmas, where we exchanged gifts. I got Mer some clothes and a few books, and she got me the two Batman movies and two outings to Cleveland – one to see an illusionist/hypnotist and one to see an improv/skit comedy group. Those should both be much fun. It was a nice and mellow morning.

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s, so I wanted to go for a walk. Mer agreed, so we hopped in the car. I had every intention of going down to Peninsula to walk on a part of the Towpath on which Mer had never been, but partway there I decided to go to Brandywine Falls, on a whim.

We had been to Brandywine Fallls before, but we have had a lot of rain of late, so I figured the falls would be impressive. As we pulled up to the parking lot area for the falls, I noticed that the park district had been doing several improvements to the area. In the past, the hike and bike trail had to use the road for about one mile in the Brandywine Falls area, but the park district has made a new extension that connects the hike and bike segments. The path is wide and scenic as it winds through the woods. That made me very happy, as it gives me a new place to run. Also, there was a new, paved parking lot, and new walking paths around the falls area. It was great. I am glad Ohio still invests in the park system.

Mer and I walked down to the observation platform for the falls, and the falls were in good form, with lots of water rushing about. We watched the falls for some time and enjoyed the warmth of the day, along with a whole lot of people out walking their dogs. We then went to the upper observation deck to see the falls, and then I thought we should explore the new hike and bike extension. We walked the whole length of the new section, and we both thought it was very well done. After we got to the end of the new extension, we turned around and walked back to the hiking trail that follows the river. We were a little worried that the water might be high and cold since the footpath forded the river at one point, but I half-jokingly told Mer that maybe the park system had installed a bridge. In fact, they had – a new wood-and-steel walking bridge that is only two or three feet wide, but kept us perfectly warm and dry. Once on the far side of the river, we headed back to the car.

At that point, we still had daylight and sun left, so I decided to try the Towpath Trail section that runs north our of Peninsula. The trail follows the Cuyahoga River fairly closely, there are two locks still standing next to the trail, and there is a long boardwalk through a marshy area, all of which I wanted Mer to see. She was delighted with the walk – it was very pretty and scenic. We did walk back at a brisk pace since we were losing daylight quickly, and things were cooling off rapidly. Still, any walk we can take in December is a great time, so we had a pretty good Boxing Day.