Marion cardinals

We left this morning on another mini get away with our camper/travel trailer to Mount Gilead State Park, north of Columbus, the state Capitol, just over a 2 hour drive. We knew we were likely to run into some showers/thunder storms, and as we were approaching Columbus, the sky did indeed look very threatening (see extra). However, we seemed to miss the worst of it, getting by with a few showers, and as we were setting up the camper, the sky was beginning to brighten. We headed to the nearby town of Marion for the afternoon, as I had read about the cardinals they have decorating their streets - 17 of them altogether, created by 13 local artists. The Cardinal is the state bird of Ohio, and Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the Union. As we followed the map showing the Cardinal statues, the route took us past several other attractive features,including an old theater and an impressive mural, so I added an extra collage. I also added a collage of the Warren Harding Memorial, which we visited next before returning to the campground. Warren Harding, 1865-1923, served as the 29th President of the US from 1921 until his death in 1923. Harding lived in rural Ohio all his life, except when political service took him elsewhere. He conducted what was called a “front porch campaign” remaining mostly in Marion and allowing people to come to him. His wife, Florence, died the following year, and they both lie buried in this grand memorial, which was dedicated in 1931 by U.S. President Herbert Hoover.