wild animals in rural ohio. and baskets.

this past weekend, we made a short road trip of sorts into mid-Ohio. the original intent of the journey was the check out the Wilds, North America's largest wildlife preserve (which, surprisingly, most native Ohioans have never heard of...thanks to Michelle for telling us about it a few years ago), but along the way we found some other areas of interest as well.

on the way up, we decided to check out the Longaberger basket company. not only is their corporate office a giant basket (yes, you read that correctly, a GIANT BASKET, i can only imagine what it would be like to work in a giant bottle of shampoo or laundry detergent, but i guess this could provide some inspiration), but they have the "Homestead" (kind of a like a Disney World for basket lovers, minus Space Mountain), where one can see the world's largest apple basket. insanity.

to keep the weekend relaxed, we chose to drive up the night before and stay at a really swank bed & breakfast in Dresden, Ohio, which was aptly named. not counting the many guest houses that we stayed at in Asia (some more personable than others), this was only our second bed & breakfast experience, but when done right, it beats ANY hotel any day of the week. we stayed up drinking wine and cheese, watching Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (far and away the best of the series, having just seen the new one the night before) in the cozy den (leather couch, plasma screen, assorted nature sounds outside).

even WITH the hilarity of the giant baskets and the hominess of the b&b, the real highlight of the weekend was the Wilds:

"...one of the largest and most innovative wildlife conservation centers in the world. Located on nearly 10,000 acres in southeast Ohio, it is home to more than 25 species of rare and endangered wildlife from Africa, Asia and North America, along with hundreds of indigenous species."

if you live ANYWHERE near Ohio, make this trip already (especially all of you peoples in Columbus...it's only an hour east of you!). hippos, giraffes, and camels, oh my! plenty pictures to be found from the respective albums linked below:

a great, random weekend spent with my favorite person. and now back to our regularly scheduled life...