Wanda is rock-hopping across a creek at the Wooster Memorial Park.

There is something special about the first full day on the road. We woke up in V-Jer. I had forgotten just how comfortable V-Jer’s bed is. Although the morning was cool, cloudy, and windy, to the east we could see a clearing of the sky giving promise to the day. We headed east towards Wooster, Ohio. Wooster is just a few miles away from Sugarcreek, Ohio, the birthplace of V-Jer. The Nucamp camper factory is located there and we made an appointment for a couple of minor repairs since we were coming this way anyway. 

We were here last Spring for some major repairs and upgrades to V-Jer, so we know the area. We couldn’t find any campgrounds nearby that weren’t the cost of a motel room, so we booked a room at the Wooster Econolodge, the same motel we stayed in last Spring. It is a bit of a dive, but it is just for one night, it is clean, and it has unlimited hot water for a long luxurious shower. The total cost with all the room taxes added in was $57.

Wooster is a cool historic town. Downtown is especially nice with great old buildings well maintained. There are many grand homes from the turn of the last century. I saw one nicely maintained farm just on the outskirts of town that had “established 1827” painted on it.

One of the finest buildings in downtown Wooster. 

We googled hiking trails in the area and found several candidates. We chose the Wooster Memorial Park. This nearly 500-acre combination of prairie and woods straddled a deep shale ravine carved by an intermittent stream that must have been a raging torrent at one time. The park is threaded with 11 miles of rugged but intelligently laid out trails. We logged over five miles of steep up-and-down trudging that took us all afternoon. Using our algorithm of multiplying mileage by a factor of three for steep hills, we figure that we hiked the equivalent of 15 miles. You may be skeptical of this mileage inflation, but our legs embraced the notion. 

Wooster Memorial Park is a terrific and beautiful place to spend an entire afternoon at. It was a great tuneup for our upcoming visit to the Shenandoah National Forest in Virginia. We believe that we have timed it perfectly, allowing the remnants of Hurricane Ian to be gone by the time we get there.

The Wooster Memorial Park boasts 11 miles of well-laid-out trails surrounding a deep ravine. 

All the trails are well marked.

The trails are rugged but beautiful and soothing.

While most of the park is thickly wooded, there are some lovely meadows.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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